Hudson, Darren

April, 2005

Target Markets for Grain and Cotton Marketing Consultants and Market Information Systems

By: Vergara, Oscar; Coble, Keith H.; Hudson, Darren; Knight, Thomas O.; Patrick, George F.; Baquet, Alan E.
This paper examines the use of market consultants and market information systems by grain and cotton producers. A model of producer demand for marketing information and consultants is proposed that decomposes price received into exogenous and endogenous components. The analysis is based on a survey of over 1,600 producers. The results suggest that expenditures on market information systems and market consultants are not independent and, more specifically, expenditures on marketing consultants substitute for expenditures on market information systems.
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April, 2004

Activists and Corporate Behavior in Food Processing and Retailing: A Sequential Bargaining Game

By: Hudson, Darren; Lusk, Jayson L.
This study examines the strategic interaction between food companies and activists using a game theoretic model of sequential bargaining in the absence of complete information. In a rather confined set of circumstances, findings indicate it is always in the best interest of the food company to comply with activists' demands. More frequently, however, there will be cases where compliance is not optimal, depending on the size of the expected effect of protest, cost of defending against protest, and the cost of protest to the activist.
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April, 2003

Price Volatility Spillover in Agricultural Markets: An Examination of U.S. Catfish Markets

By: Buguk, Cumhur; Hudson, Darren; Hanson, Terrill R.
Price volatility spillovers in the U.S. catfish supply chain are analyzed based on monthly price data from 1980 through 2000 for catfish feed, its ingredients, and farm- and wholesale-level catfish. The exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model was used to test univariate volatility spillovers for prices in the supply chain. Strong price volatility spillover from feeding material (corn, soybeans, menhaden) to catfish feed and farm- and wholesale-level catfish prices was detected.
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December, 2002

WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS: THE CASE OF PRECISION APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY

By: Hite, Diane; Hudson, Darren; Intarapapong, Walaiporn
A contingent valuation survey conducted in Mississippi is used to assess public willingness to pay for reductions in agricultural nonpoint pollution. The analysis focuses on implementation of a policy to provide farmers with precision application equipment to reduce nutrient runoff. Findings suggest public support exists for such policies. This study also finds that inclusion of debriefing questions can be used to refine willingness-to-pay estimates in contingent valuation studies. A nonparametric scope test suggests respondents are sensitive to level of runoff reduction and associated water-quality benefits.
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