Carlos E. Carpio

A Flexible Parametric Family for the Modeling and Simulation of Yield Distributions

The distributions currently used to model and simulate crop yields are unable to accommodate a substantial subset of the theoretically feasible mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis (MVSK) hyperspace. Because these first four central moments are key determinants of shape, the available distributions might not be capable of adequately modeling all yield distributions that could be encountered in practice. This study introduces a system of distributions that can span the entire MVSK space and assesses its potential to serve as a more comprehensive parametric crop yield model, improving the breadth of distributional choices available to researchers and the likelihood of formulating proper parametric models.

A Structural Econometric Model of Joint Consumption of Goods and Recreational Time: An Application to Pick-Your-Own Fruit

This article develops a structural econometric consumer demand model for goods, which have time and monetary costs, and where time spent obtaining the goods also enters into the utility function. The model is used to analyze customers decision to buy pick-your-own versus preharvested strawberries at North Carolina pick-your-own fruit operations. The analysis distinguishes the effect of time as a resource constraint and time that provides utility. Demand for strawberries sold at the operations is price elastic, and demand for pick-your-own strawberries is less price elastic than demand for preharvested strawberries. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Linking Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development: The Lowcountry Food Bank's Use of Locally Grown Foods

Food banks throughout the South have historically helped meet the nutritional needs of low income families, but are not often involved in community development efforts aimed at creating sustainable agricultural situations. In this paper we seek to critically evaluate a food banks efforts to enhance small- scale farm operations, increase the quality and quantity of their products, and enhance distribution and use of their product to the emergency food assistance system in Lowcountry South Carolina. The discussion is organized by reviewing the results of the project according to the three primary goals of sustainable agricultural programs.