Import Demand for Malt in Selected Countries: A Linear Approximation of AIDS

Canada has emerged to be one of the major world exporters of malt. However, the European Union (EU) dominates the world malt trade due in part to quality advantages andor export restitutions. A Linear Approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System (MAIDS) was estimated for four major malt importing countries: Japan, Brazil, Philippines and Venezueta. Elasticities of substitution for malt among different sources were computed. Results show that malt imported from the EU is least substi-tutable with malt from other sources, and demand for EU malt is less responsive to changes in price. Expenditure elasticities suggest a preference for malt imports from the EU compared to malt from other sources. For these reasons, the study concludes that price-based export expansion measures for non-EU malt may not be very effective .
Le Canada est sorti comme un exportateur majeur du malt au monde. Mais, la communauté Européen (EU) domine le commerce mondiale due aux avantages des qualités et des restrictions d'exporte. Une approximation linéaire de systéme de demande presque idéale «LA/AIDS>> a été estimée pour quatre pays importateurs du malt: le Japon, le Brésil, la Philippines et la Venezuela. Les élasticités du malt de différent sources ont étaient calculé. Les résultats démontrent que le malt importé d'EU est le moins remplaçable avec le malt d'autre sources, et la demande du malt venant d'EU est le moins élastique par rapport au changement du prix. L'élasticité du dépense suggère une préférence pour le malt importé d'EU par rapport à d'autres sources. Pour ces raisons, l'étude a conch qu'une expansion et l'expor-tation du malt en utilisant le prix ne sera pas effectif en dehors du malt d'EU .     

Standardized Performance Analysis: An Application to the Texas High Plains

The Standardized Performance Analysis method was used to complete a whole-farm financial analysis and crop enterprise financial and production analysis of a farming operation in the Texas High Plains for three years of crop production. The Standardized Performance Analysis procedure is described and illustrated for an individual farming operation in addition to a regional level analysis.     

Reviewing the literature on non-parametric dynamic efficiency measurement: state-of-the-art

Much of the literature on static efficiency measurement models assumes that the inputs are fully used for producing outputs in the same period, with the result that no time interdependence exists between the input utilization and output realizations for a production unit in consecutive periods. A review of the literature on non-parametric dynamic efficiency models identifies five key factors of the inter-temporal dependence between input and output levels over different periods: (i) production delays; (ii) inventories (inventories of exogenous inputs or inventories of intermediate and final products); (iii) capital or generally quasi-fixed factors (and associated embodied technological change, vintage specific capital); (iv) adjustment costs; and (v) incremental improvement and learning models (disembodied technological change). This paper reviews the literature and finds that the dynamic issues associated with adjustment costs and capital have received considerable attention in the literature, whereas the dynamic issues associated with inventories have received less attention. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research such as relaxing the perfect anticipation/knowledge assumption for future variables, prices, and states. Moreover, Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis has provided a unifying framework for some dynamic factors, but further development of these models is necessary including meaningful applications.     

Property value impacts of foreclosed housing acquisitions under uncertainty

Community development corporations seek to stabilize neighborhoods affected by the recent foreclosure crisis through acquisition and redevelopment of distressed properties. One rationale for this work is the alleviation or avoidance of negative foreclosure impacts. We estimate the lost value to proximate properties associated with a single foreclosure through a Markov chain representing probabilistic transitions between foreclosure stages. We apply our model to a case study of foreclosure properties in Chelsea, MA. A rank ordering by estimated property value impacts indicates significant potential gains in social value as compared to current community development practice. We extend our basic model to address the effects of clusters of foreclosed units upon the value of proximate properties. This study provides additional support for the use of decision modeling in foreclosed housing acquisition and redevelopment.     

BUY‐LOW AND SELL‐HIGH INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

Buy‐low and sell‐high investment strategies are a recurrent theme in the considerations of many investors. In this paper, we consider an investor who aims at maximizing the expected discounted cash‐flow that can be generated by sequentially buying and selling one share of a given asset at fixed transaction costs. We model the underlying asset price by means of a general one‐dimensional Itô diffusion X , we solve the resulting stochastic control problem in a closed analytic form, and we completely characterize the optimal strategy. In particular, we show that, if 0 is a natural boundary point of X , e.g., if X is a geometric Brownian motion, then it is never optimal to sequentially buy and sell. On the other hand, we prove that, if 0 is an entrance point of X , e.g., if X is a mean‐reverting constant elasticity of variance (CEV) process, then it may be optimal to sequentially buy and sell, depending on the problem data.