An Economic-Engineering Modeling Approach for Cotton Ginning Costs

A computerized model for estimating cotton ginning costs over a wide range of assumptions has been developed employing an economic-engineering or synthetic modeling technique. Resulting cost relationships are useful for both policy analysis and providing information to the industry. This paper presents an overview of the model structure and gives examples of the output. Application to selected situations demonstrates the model's capacity to analyze the economic impact of technological and regulatory changes on the cotton ginning industry.