Browsing by Author "Masters, W. A."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • How successful are government interventions in food markets? Insights from the Philippine rice market
    Yao, R. T.; Shively, Gerald E.; Masters, W. A. (American Agricultural Economics Association, 2005)
  • Production costs and input substitution in Zimbabwe's smallholder agriculture
    Dalton, Timothy J.; Masters, W. A.; Foster, K. A. (1997)
    This article is based on an economic analysis on production costs for smallholders in Zimbabwe. The study tested production costs among socioeconomic groups. Although statistically insignificant, results show that costs are slightly higher for female-headed households. Prices are also higher for those who can only buy small quantities from local traders, who do not have their own transport, tools and equipment. Female-headed households present lower productivity due to sex discrimination seen in lack of resource access such as extension workers and lenders, and other unobservable variables like nutrition and health. Households without draft animals also show lower productivity. Statistically significant results show infrastructures, such as paved roads, as major factors determining production costs. Remote farmers have higher transaction costs.
  • Technical change in Senegal's irrigated rice sector: Impact assessment under uncertainty
    Fisher, M. G.; Masters, W. A.; Sidibe, M. (Elsevier Science, 2001)
    This paper addresses the prospects for technical change in the irrigated rice sector of Senegal, and measures ex-ante the economic returns to recent research efforts. In 1994, three new rice varieties were released to farmers in the Senegal River Valley (SRV), the major irrigated rice region in Senegal. The productivity advantage of the new varieties is based primarily on early maturity, which permits double-cropping. (The seeds are also higher yielding than existing cultivars.) We use a conventional [Akino and Hayami (1975), Am. J. Agric. Econ. 57, 1-10] partial-equilibrium model adapted to the Senegalese situation, to assess the social benefits of research and compare those to its costs in calculating the internal rate of return (IRR). To account for uncertainty regarding the future values of model variables we use simulation which allows us to generate a distribution of all possible outcomes of the IRR. We find that rice research is almost certain to have a very high payoff over the 1995-2004 period. The expected value of the IRR is calculated to be 121% per year, with a 97.5% probability that it lies above annual capital costs of 18%. --Elsevier/Author's abstract
  • Testing the link between public intervention and food price variability: Evidence from rice markets in the Philippines
    Shively, Gerald E.; Martinez, E.; Masters, W. A. (Oxford ; Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2002)
    This paper applies a model of food price variability to examine the outcomes of government interventions in the rice market in the Philippines. The authors describe the simple econometric model that evaluates the changes in farmgate and retail level prices caused by changes in government stock. They use monthly price and stock data from 1975 to 1992 to quantify the impact of government buffer-stock programs on both seasonal and annual variability in rice prices for producers and consumers. The results suggest that at the aggregate level, NFA stock changes do not exert any significant stabilization on price changes - neither seasonally nor annually.