Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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Browsing Electronic Theses and Dissertations by Department "Agricultural Applied Economics"
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Item A discretized approach for solving for the optimal capacity and profit maximization level for a biomass refinery given supplemental sources of fuel(2012-05) Walker, Michael L.; Farmer, Michael; Knight, Thomas O.; Benson, Aaron G.; Burns, James R.The feasibility of a cotton gin that produces bio-fuels is explored. By utilizing cotton gin trash and supplemental feedstock such as rangeland grass, enough megawatt hours of energy can be produced to satisfy peak and sub-peak energy for power plan requirements. Furthermore, findings have confirmed that the amount of carbon displaced by a power plant relying on biomass energy as source of electricity rather than traditional coal is an additional offset that makes the business model even more appealing. For reasons stemming mainly from the availability of cotton gin trash in the Lubbock area, it has been confirmed that use of biomass already on site at agri-forestry processing centers to manufacture bio-products will also minimize transportation and handling costs. Therefore, at the core of this study is the determination of whether an operator of a power plant chooses to import supplemental biomass in the form of rangeland grass for the production of electricity when there is insufficient cotton gin waste due to a bad season. The decision is based on whether the profits derived from the additional megawatt hours from additional biomass are enough to offset the transportation and harvest costs associated with the imported biomass. A profit maximization model simulating the production and sale of biomass electricity suggests that while lowering the transportation and harvest costs through subsidies does influence an operator’s decision to import, it has a negligible effect on the plant capacity and efficiency. Furthermore, findings in this study suggest that a subsidy applied to the peak and sub-peak prices of megawatt hour prices do in fact have a substantial affect on the capacity and profitability of a plant producing electricity from biomass.Item A finite mixture approach for household residential choices(2010-12) Shiroya, Michael; Farmer, Michael; Belasco, Eric J.; Elam, Emmett W.; Chidmi, BenaissaIn the housing sector, on the demand side, attempts to characterize the nature of housing demand have been primarily implemented through hedonics whereby hedonic price functions relate market value to residential housing stock. Hedonic price models, however, do not identity sub-markets and thus may represent the workings of housing market and the valuation of amenities and dismaenties in a housing market. Identification of sub-markets allows us to have a more precise and reliable understanding of housing markets in general The challenge then becomes how to identify market segments and impute the marginal value of housing characteristics in different market segments. In this paper, I will attempt to identify and delineate residential sub-markets in an array of residential stock demand and derive the predicted marginal value of attributes of housing stock within all sub-markets. These sub-markets can be thought of composing a homogenous ‘type’ of households. Typing households in a statistically is a useful way of accounting for preference and utility differences in a structurally sound manner that offers deeper insight into the welfare of consumers of residential stock. I accomplish the typing of households by implementing a finite mixture model which gives a probability distribution of an individual household being a particular type. The model best fitted the array of households into two types. The types exhibited differences in their attitudinal and demographic characteristics.Item A mechanical design for recovery of corn from field residue(Texas Tech University, 1969-05) Ladd, Earl MiltonCorn grown for grain in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle areas is rapidly becoming a major factor in the economic structure of the region. The acreage devoted to corn production has increased approximately 195 per cent between 1964 and 1969. County Agents of these areas anticipate corn planted for grain harvest to exceed 195,000 acres in the 1969 crop year. A main contribution to this increase in corn production is the availability of mechanical machines to harvest the corn without excessive hand labor.Item A multi-stage hedonic analysis of cotton fiber attribute values in the Texas and Oklahoma producer cotton markets(Texas Tech University, 2001-05) Hoelscher, Kevin RichardThe objective of this study was to determine how changes in cotton fiber attribute values for the Texas and Oklahoma cotton marketing regions are influenced by separate buyer and seller actions with regard to these attributes. This study utilized daily spot market transactions for the 1993/94 through 1999/2000 marketing years for Texas and Oklahoma to formulate hedonics model for each year and capture the effects of fiber quality attributes on spot market prices. These models were used to derive the marginal implicit price of each characteristic for each day of the seven-year period, which were then aggregated to produce an average marginal implicit price for each week of this period. The marginal implicit values were then examined by formulating second-stage hedonic models to represent the bid and offer functions of cotton sellers and buyers for each characteristic. These models were estimated simultaneously using price-dependant offer functions and characteristic-dependant bid functions. The results of the first-stage hedonic analysis and the derivation of the marginal implicit prices of each characteristic revealed results in which undesirable characteristics had an adverse impact on cotton prices, resulting in negative marginal implicit prices. Beneficial or desirable quality characteristics were characterized by positive marginal implicit prices, reflecting their positive impact on cotton prices. Second-stage results showed offer functions in which buyers were willing to pay more for higher levels of desirable characteristics and less for higher levels of undesirable characteristics. These offer functions were affected by external factors such as trends in characteristic values as well as forward contracting and net exports levels. Additionally, the previous month's general level of cotton prices indicated that an increasing general price level caused a reduction in the prices of certain characteristics. Estimated producer bid functions indicated that producers would expect higher payments for higher levels of desirable characteristics and would accept lower prices for higher levels of undesirable characteristics. These bid functions were affected by external stimuli such as characteristic price trends, trends in characteristic levels, forward contracting levels and environmental variables such as rainfall and temperature. The results of this study provide an empirical application of a two-stage hedonic framework, and is the first to present the perspective that second-stage hedonic estimation is the estimation of characteristic bid and offer functions rather than supply/demand relationships. In addition, several questions were raised concerning the relationship between general price levels and characteristic price levels as well as the contribution of characteristic values to the overall price of a commodity. This study provides the groundwork for future research which can be devoted to answering these questions.Item A multi-stage hedonic market model of cotton characteristics with separable supply and demand(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Bowman, Kenneth RayThis study examined the impacts of fiber characteristics on cotton prices from 1976 to 1986 for 4 production and marketing regions of the United States. A set of 11 equations were estimated to determine the effects of cotton fiber characteristics on cotton prices. Trash, color, staple length, micronaire, and strength were found to have statistically significant impacts on cotton prices. Length uniformity was not statistically significant. Characteristic effects were found to vary across time and across regions. However, trends in attribute values were similar for all characteristics across all regions. Characteristic price flexibilities were calculated using the regional base prices and characteristic averages of each year. Cotton prices were not price responsive with respect to characteristic variation. In this context, percentage changes in characteristic levels did not cause equivalent percentage changes in cotton prices. A set of 24 equations found that cotton characteristic values were functions of other characteristics as well as characteristic specific demand shifters, base price and proportion of open end spindles to ring spindles. Characteristic impacts on characteristic values were similar across regions, though some variation of effects were present. The effects of base price were also similar across regions. The proportion of open end spindles to ring spindles affected characteristic values with the largest impacts occurring in the West. Separate systems of equations were constructed to estimate the effects of environmental variables on each cotton characteristic in each production region of the country. Seasonal rainfall and temperature affected characteristics in all regions though parameter estimates and functional forms varied considerably among production areas. There is a growing recognition of the need to understand the values of fiber characteristics. Fiber characteristic values affect the revenues of producers and the costs of buyers. The results of this study demonstrate that there is a functioning market for cotton characteristics. The characteristics model constructed in this paper is useful because it presents an alternative to the current method of determining fiber quality premiums and discounts.Item A parametric spatial equilibrium and response surface analysis of the Texas and U.S. fresh onion industry(Texas Tech University, 1988-05) Lee, Jun-vaeFresh onion production is an important source of income to West and South Texas farmers. Competition to Texas onion farmers for market share is expected to mount due to increased onion production by competing regions in the U.S. Furthermore, data indicate that the U.S. fresh onion industry is highly concentrated in the Pacific and Southwestern states which supply over 80 percent of the domestic crop. These figures are suggestive of the potential distribution and interregional competition problem facing the fresh onion market. The objective of this study was to analyze the competitive position of the U.S. and the Texas fresh onion industry and to develop response surfaces of optimal values under given changes in the parameters of a model for understanding the way in which the fresh onion market might be expected to evolve. The model used in this study was spatial equilibrium analysis based upon a quadratic programming algorithm in which linear demand functions were incorporated directly into the objective function. The model contained 12 demand and 7 supply regions including one importation point from Mexico to South Texas for spring onions, and 6 supply regions for summer onions. Results indicated South Texas has a cost advantage over the Pacific regions in shipping to the Eastern regions. Therefore, as supplies from the Pacific region increased, prices became depressed in the markets closer to South Texas. Hence, South Texas was forced to reallocate supplies to more distant markets. West Texas has a supply and cost advantage over the Pacific regions in the Delta and Southeast regions while New York enjoys a locational advantage in the Northern region. When transportation rates from a specific supply region were perturbed the stability of the flow patterns varied substantially. This indicates that this model has a major pitfall with unpredictability of the optimal flow pattern under changes in individual transportation rates. Variations in demand and supply levels had large effects on consumers' surplus and the total net social welfare functions. The surface for the flow variables was a ridge saddle system which indicates that, if demand and supply levels were changed in a different direction from the axis of the ridge, then the trade pattern becomes highly unstable.Item A preliminary interindustry model for West Texas(Texas Tech University, 1971-05) McCray, William ChesterNot availableItem A recursive optimal farm organization for a region of the Texas High Plains(Texas Tech University, 1976-08) Fish, George BrianNot availableItem A simulation model for the Texas High Plains economy(Texas Tech University, 1970-05) al-Issa, Suliman F.Not availableItem A statistical analysis of the effects of volume and capacity on the cost of ginning cotton on the High Plains of Texas(Texas Tech University, 1970-05) Glass, Louis SingerNot availableItem A study of [the] cotton gin and its operation(Texas Tech University, 1950-01) Young, Jim Chien-ShengNot availableItem A study of the co-operative hospitals incorporated on the South Plains of Texas(Texas Tech University, 1949-08) Groves, Lewis EltonNot availableItem A study of the organization of a dairy cooperative marketing association, as related to vocational agriculture(Texas Tech University, 1950-08) Logan, James MarvinNot availableItem A study of the production, marketing, and consumption of citrus fruits(Texas Tech University, 1950-08) Dawkins, Ellis F.Not availableItem A survey of agriculture in Texas for 1910(Texas Tech University, 1934-05) Escobar, Alberto M.Not availableItem A welfare evaluation of post-Conservation Reserve Program alternatives(Texas Tech University, 1993-12) Johnson, Phillip N.The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a long-term (10 year) cropland retirement program with natural resource, conservation, and farm income support goals. CRP enrollment totals 36.53 million acres nationally. Texas enrollment totals 4.12 million acres, with 3.12 million acres in the Texas High Plains Region (THPR). Future policy regarding CRP lands will impact CRP land owners, the federal budget, environmental quality, and soil erosion levels. The effect of post-CRP policy on environmental quality and soil erosion should be considered along with the net governmental costs and land owner benefits in determining the appropriate policy toward CRP lands when the current contracts expire. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of specified post-CRP policy alternatives by combining the interest of agricultural producers, land owners, consumers, and environmental quality in a welfare economics framework. The study area chosen for this study was Hale County, Texas. Hale County is located in the central part of the THPR. CRP enrollment in Hale County totals 99,161 acres with an average annual rental rate of $40 per acre. The reduction in crop base acres totaled 91,230 acres for corn, cotton, grain sorghum, and wheat.Item Acquired thermal tolerance and heat shock proteins in wheat(Texas Tech University, 1990-05) Porter, David RNot availableItem Agricultural cost of maintaining playa lake hydroperiod to preserve playa lake ecosystems in the Texas High Plains(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Peabody, Phillip J.; Willis, David B.; Smith, Loren M.; Lansford, Vernon D.The Agricultural Policy Environmental Extender (APEX) model was used to simulate playa lake hydroperiod in the Texas High Plains and the effect of sedimentation from agricultural operations on the storage capacity of playa lakes.Item Agricultural sustainabiltiy in the Texas High Plains: The role of advanced irrigation systems and biotechnology(Texas Tech University, 1998-12) Arabiyat, Talah S.The cunent state of ground water utilization in the Texas High Plains area is a reflection of the combined resuh of cunent economic, social and polkical factors. The main reason why ground water resources in the Texas High Plains are being used at a rate higher than the natural rate of recharge, is because of the revenues stemming from their cunent use being higher than the associated cost of extraction. However, water use in the Texas High Plains, given the critical dependence of the regional economy on this resource, is an inter-generational issue that must be evaluated in terms of the sustainability of agriculmral activities in the long-mn. For this reason, given the cunent state of economic, social and polkical factors, the sustainability of this resource needs to be better understood, given cunent and expected technological advances ki agriculmral production. In particular, advanced irrigation system technology can increase the efficiency of water utilization, and thus decrease the amount of water resources needed to produce a crop. However, these advanced irrigation system technologies can also induce the transition of previously irrigated cropland which is cunently under dryland production practices to revert back into krigation (Feng, 1992).Item Allocation of net farm income among major consumption item categories: 17 county area, Texaas High Plains(Texas Tech University, 1969-08) Walker, Olen NealNot available