Seafood consumption in the U.S. has increased over the period 1990 to 2003. A large percentage of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported. The most important seafood products imported to the U.S. are shrimp, Atlantic salmon, tilapia, catfish, crayfish, mussels and a mixture of mollusks. In...

The effects of globalization on smaller nation Caribbean states have not been thoroughly examined, and the trade performance of these states has not been evaluated since the WTO came into existence. In this paper, we report on a study that conducted a comparative analysis of selected Caribbean...

Grain prices have risen sharply since 2005 and 2006 affecting livestock markets by increasingfeed prices and leading to significant volatility shocks. The high price levels and magnitude ofsustained high volatilities has raised concerns for many sectors of the economy, in particularthose with...

The objective of this study is to evaluate and model the risks of corn and soybean production. This study focuses on the risk of revenue variability that arises from changes in prices, yields shortfalls or both. There are several models for price and yield risk factors for corn and soybeans. For...

Favorable weather and the adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) cornhybrids are often argued to be factors that explain recent corn yield increasesand risk reduction in the U.S. Corn Belt. The focus of this analysisis to determine whether favorable weather is the main factor explainingincreased...

Economic statistics can be used to inform policy as it is being designed, avoid policy design mistakes, or implement government programs once they are established into law. Oftentimes, statistics are used for all three purposes. This paper considers the relationships between statistics and...

The research undertaken was four-fold. First, to investigate whether government policy provides protection and by extension, incentives for the local table egg farmers to remain in production. To do so, EPC's for all commercial farms in the industry were estimated to arrive at a weighted or...

This paper is based on the premise that if CARICOM’s agricultural sector in general, and more specifically the export sub-sector, is to thrive in the rapidly changing trade environment there has to be a continuous systematic assessment of market opportunities and competitiveness status. Such...

The sugar industry in the island of St. Kitts came to a close in 2005 and so too did a long period of monoculture and possibly a culture and lifestyle of a people that affectionately refer to their country as Sugar City. Sugar was cultivated on approximately 4,500 hectares and there is now a...

Economic theory posits that the removal of impediments to trade should redound to improvement in the overall well-being of all nations. Unfortunately, for many developing countries, this has not been the case; upon significantly reducing their tariffs, they are yet to see any tangible benefits....