Browsing by Subject "Agricultural Economics"
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Item Financial Literacy Effectiveness in Central Texas(2014-05-01) Robinson, Lauren PhericheMany psychological and social factors influence financial behavior. Changing financial behavior requires teaching behaviors, as well as content. Evaluation of financial education programs now focus on behavioral modifications made, rather than changes in recitative knowledge. Financial literacy and financial education programs are widely used in the cooperative extension system to promote stability and consumer welfare. Wi$eUp is a program offered by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to increase savings and decrease debts. Wi$eUp was designed with Generation X and Y in mind and was offered to thousands of participants both online and through classroom sessions. Using 125 final surveys of participants who took the course, collected three months after completion, we study the changes made by participants who took Wi$eUp?s savings and debt modules. From these surveys reporting changes in behavior we find that, holding other factors constant, debt behavior changed significantly with Wi$eUp participation in the module on debt. Participants who took both debt and savings modules had the highest gains in healthy debt behavior. Gains in healthy savings scores were not statistically significant, but participants who received both debt and savings education modules did score higher than single-module participants. Savings behavior appears to be not as malleable as debt behavior, potentially because of the psychological nature of saving and the need for a longer timeline. Highest level of education attained before Wi$eUp also contributed significantly to changes in behavior.Item Financing smallholder agribusiness in Zambia: an economic analysis of the ZATAC model(2009-05-15) Mwanamambo, Brian NamushiThis study investigates the case of a Zambian institution providing credit for smallholder agribusiness commercialization and compares this lender?s model with the major microfinance institutions, to identify specific mechanisms employed by the lender and how these have been adapted to suit seasonal agricultural production credit requirements. Econometric models are developed to examine the influence of key economic factors such as nominal and real interest rates, loan fees, and loan term on the supply of credit by the lender. Other important factors considered relevant in the lender?s market include availability of contract markets for financed production and the type of borrower (cooperative or investor-owned agribusinesses). The study uses loan-level and firm-level loan data aggregated from an electronic loan database of individual loan files kept by the lender. Cross sectional data over three years (2005 ? 2007) are used in the study. The study finds that loan fees, loan term and availability of contract markets to borrowers are the key determinants of credit supply. In addition, the study finds that interest rates do not significantly influence the lender?s credit supply decisions, a finding that is consistent with literature on credit rationing in markets with asymmetric information. The study finds no evidence of economies of scale benefit to the lender being passed along to borrowers through lower loan fees. The study contributes to the literature and development needs of agricultural lenders and smallholder agribusinesses in Zambia through the analysis of different factors that influence the lender?s credit supply decisions.Item The Net Effect of Exchange Rates on Agricultural Inputs and Outputs(2012-10-19) Johnson, Myriah D.For more than thirty years, studies about the effect of the exchange rate on exports have been conducted. However, few have considered the combined effect of the exchange rate on imported inputs into the agricultural system and the exports of final agricultural products those inputs produce. This work contributes to the agricultural economics literature by combining those effects. A current concern is for the net effect as the total value and quantity of inputs imported has increased. This research examines the effect of the exchange rate on imported inputs into the corn, wheat, and beef cattle production systems, breaking it down to a producer's budget, examining how the exchange rate affects profitability. Vector Autoregression (VAR) and Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) models were estimated to evaluate the effects. Daily and weekly price data were used for corn, wheat, feeder steers, ethanol, diesel, ammonia, urea, di-ammonium phosphate, and the exchange rate. A VAR model was estimated to model the relationship between the variables. After having incongruous test results in determining the lag length structure it was decided that a BACE model would be approximated. After estimating the BACE model, the price responses of the commodities to the exchange rates were estimated. The price responses were used in demonstrating the effect of the exchange rate on a producer's profitability. It was determined that, generally, a strengthening exchange rate has a negative impact on prices. It was also found that the exchange rate has a greater impact on prices now than it did 14 years ago, implying that the exchange rate now has a greater affect on profitability. A one percent increase in the value of the dollar led to a decline in profitability ranging from $0.02/bu in wheat to $0.56/cwt in feeder steers. However, agricultural producers should not be overly concerned about a lower valued dollar from the perspective of their agricultural business.