Kwansoo Kim

Technological change and risk management: an application to the economics of corn production

The paper investigates the linkages between technological change and production risk, with an application to corn. The effects of technology on risk exposure are characterized based on the properties of the risk premium. We define technological progress to be risk-increasing (risk-decreasing) if it increases (decreases) the relative risk premium. The analysis is applied to panel data from Wisconsin research stations. Conditional moments (including mean, variance and skewness) of corn yield, grain moisture and corn profit are estimated for different sites. We investigate how the trade-off between expected return and the risk premium varies over time and over space. The empirical results indicate that technological progress contributes to reducing the exposure to risk as well as downside risk in corn production, although this effect varies across sites. They also stress the role of the relative maturity of corn hybrid as a means of managing risk.

Universities and agricultural biotechnology patent production.

Using patent data, this work provides an initial empirical investigation into university production of agricultural biotechnology patents. We develop a consistent theoretical methodology for understanding the university patent production process and then estimate count data econometric models of university-owned agricultural biotechnology patents on a series of explanatory variables. The zero inflated negative binomial econometric model used allows inclusion of all major universities, rather than merely those dedicated to agricultural research. The results demonstrate the importance of the US land grant university infrastructure, technology transfer offices, and star scientists. lJEL Codes: L300- Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise: General Q160- Agricultural Technology: Agricultural Extension Services C240- Econometric Methods: Single Equation Models: Truncated and Censored Modelsr

A Dynamic Analysis of University Agricultural Biotechnology Patent Production

This article examines the factors that account for agricultural biotechnology patenting success among universities using a dynamic count data model. It builds a theoretical and econometric model to capture the inherently dynamic and nonlinear process of technological innovation, wherein a feedback mechanism from previous success partially determines current patent counts. The econometric estimates reveal the importance to agricultural biotechnology patent production of land grant infrastructure, quality faculty, patent-oriented technology transfer offices, as well as dynamic feedback effects.

How Do National Markets and Price Policies Affect Land Use at the Forest Margin? Evidence from the Philippines

Agricultural growth in uplands of tropical developing countries is associated with deforestation, land degradation, and diminished watershed function. Using time-series price data from an upland Philippine watershed, we examine market integration and quantify product market links through which policy and macroeconomic shocks –– including instability from the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98––are transmitted to farm gate prices. If market-driven incentives dominate farmers’ decisions, then our results indicate the desirability of using a broader range of policy instruments to address upland problems, and the need for upland projects to devote increased attention to national-level information dissemination and policy advocacy. (JEL Q11, Q23)

A Heteroskedastic Multivariate Tobit Analysis of Price Dynamics in the Presence of Price Floors

This article presents an econometric analysis of the effects of price floors on price dynamics and price volatility in a multimarket context. We investigate the implications of a government price-support program providing a censoring mechanism to the price determination process. The analysis uses a dynamic multivariate Tobit model under time-varying volatility. The model is applied to the U.S. dairy markets with a special focus on the effects of government price-support programs in a period of market liberalization. The econometric analysis provides useful information on the multimarket effects of price supports on price dynamics and price volatility.

Measurement and Sources of Economies of Scope: A Primal Approach

Scope economies (reflecting the benefit of a multioutput firm) have been defined by Baumol, Panzar, and Willig in the context of cost functions. This paperuses Luenbergers shortage function to develop a general measure of scope economies directly from the underlying technology. The analysis applies under complete as well as partial specialization. Our primal measure of economies of scope is decomposed into four additive parts: one measuring complementarity, one reflecting economies of scale, one reflecting convexity of the technology, and one reflecting the role of catalytic outputs. This decomposition appears useful and helps generate valuable insights into the economics of specialization.

Synergies or Trade-Offs in University Life Sciences Research

Major legislative, legal, and technological changes paved the way for a period of remarkable growth in the patenting of life science research by U.S. universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Using a multiple-output cost framework and two decades of panel data on ninety-six universities, this article examines whether economies of scope and/or scale are present in university production of three major life science research outputs: journal articles, patents, and doctorates. The results show strong evidence of economies of scale in life science research production with mixed evidence of economies of scope between articles and patents.

Trends in University Ag-Biotech Patent Production

This work exploits information on U.S. patents to identify trends in university ag-biotech patenting and citation performance. It sets forth some key issues concerning patterns of university ag-biotech patenting and then provides an empirical analysis of the evolving trends. Land grant universities account for most U.S. ag-biotech patents. The data show a path-dependent innovation pattern, in which there also seems to be a culture of patenting that develops at certain universities. Evidence shows that ag-biotech patents are more cited than the average university patent. Inequalities across land grant universities are also evident in the production of ag-biotech patents, although perhaps not to a much greater degree than underlying inequalities in funding and research qualities. The paper closes by considering how the evidence offered might be used to advance the public discussion regarding trends in agricultural biotechnology research in the United States.

Analysis and decomposition of scope economies: R&D at US research universities

This article uses a multi output production function to analyse economies of scope between patents and R&D in US research universities. It evaluates the tradeoffs and/or synergies that arise between traditional university research outputs (articles and doctorates) and academic patents. It also investigates the sources of economies of scope and the relative roles of complementarity, scale and convexity. Nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) estimates of scope economies using R&D input and output data from 92 research universities show significant economies of scope between articles and patents but only modest complementarities except in a few cases. The analysis shows how scale effects (for small universities) and convexity effects can contribute to economies of scope.

Cointegration relationships and hedonic pricing of differentiated commodities: an application to price dynamics in the US dairy sector

This study investigates the implications of hedonic pricing for price dynamics of differentiated commodities. A conceptual model of hedonic pricing is developed under a Leontief technology, showing how commodity prices reflect the underlying value of their components. Implications for the existence of cointegration relationships among commodity prices are derived. An application to the pricing and dynamics of selected US dairy commodities is presented. It provides evidence on the role of component valuation in the dynamics of dairy commodity prices in the short run as well as in the long run. Distinguishing between market regime and government regime (when the government price support is active), the analysis finds significant differences in dairy price dynamics between the two regimes.