Rural decision makers use taxes and other resources to encourage growth. The session begins with an evaluation of rural employment patterns, then evaluates three economic development policy levers. Moderator: Daniel Rainey, Clemson University. Rural Employment Growth in the "New Economy:" A Test...

Throughout the 1990s, scenic rural areas have experienced faster employment growth than their counterparts. But, rural employment growth relies on a much broader set of county characteristics than just scenic amenities. Analysis provides insight into the role of scenic amenities in rural...

The objective of this paper is to identify factors which limit the ability of Zambian farmers to increase Maize productivity and/or diversify their crop mix. Both may enable wealth accumulation, investments, and further expansion. Specifically, we link variations in agricultural decisions,...

The benefits from increased levels of social capital have been shown to manifest themselves in ways that can increase the efficiency of the use and regulation of natural resources, as well as increase the resiliency of resource dependent communities against fluctuations in abundance. While the...

We employ a multi-region computable general equilibrium model of the world economy to estimate changes in worldwide food insecurity that result from the imposition of the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard.

In the context of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) control in New Zealand cattle, we address the problem of management under uncertain disease prevalence by integrating a model of disease transmission and Bayesian learning from testing. We show the implications of accounting for the full dynamic value...

We empirically address the implications of biofuel policy regarding major grains, to the subsequent evolution of the markets for calories from the three major grains, maize, wheat and rice. The implied market variables, namely, market price, consumption, and stocks, using a structurally...

This paper builds a model determining optimal capacities of diversion dams or water transfer projects. The model incorporates stochastic inflows to the dams and the role of the dam capacity in reducing overflows, and gives a closed-form expression of the marginal benefit of capacities....

Efforts to satisfy global energy demand and improve food security while simultaneously taking action to mitigate climate change pose many key challenges for the world. In this study, the Applied Dynamic Analysis of the Global Economy (ADAGE), a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, is...

Food vs. Fuel, Cointegration analysis, VECM, agricultural prices, fuel prices