[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The main objective of this study is the analysis of the impacts of the Korean-United States Free Trade Agreement. On April 2, 2007, Korea and the ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Brain drain, the out-migration of the college educated especially from rural areas, poses a serious threat to the economic viability of many rural ...

This dissertation analyzes the impact of social networks on Latino immigrant's livelihoods strategies and outcomes. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods framework, this dissertation hypothesizes that social capital such as ...

Parochial (Amish and Mennonites) agriculture producers have been known for their stability (historically large numbers) (Kollmorgen, 1943). Though, more recently, the percentage of parochial members who are ag-producers ...

The Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program was created in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. The program is intended to help offset years of low market revenues for agricultural producers. However, those ...

The EU has undergone two major expansions in just three years, enlarging from 15 members (EU-15) to 25 members in May 2004, and then adding Bulgaria and Romania in January 2007. Agriculture has played a central role in all ...

The Andean Highland region in Bolivia possesses a harsh climate environment that is highly variable. This study combines risk perception literature and livelihood strategy literature to examine climate risk perceptions. ...

Phytase is an enzyme that frees the phosphorous and other nutrients bound in phytate so they can be digested by non-ruminant animals. Phytase has the potential to decrease the cost of feed and decrease the phosphorous in ...

In recent years, there has been a push to increase biofuel production in the United States. The biofuel of choice, it seems, has been ethanol produced from corn. The effects of increased corn-ethanol production on the ...

This research addresses the issue of an investment constraint in user-owned agricultural organizations called the horizon problem. Scholars have suggested the restrictions on the transferability of residual claimant rights ...

Adjusting cattle to grain based diets from predominately forage diets remains one of the production problems facing beef cattle producers. When cattle are introduced to grain based diets they have a tendency to experience ...

Farmers are increasingly conflicted between maintaining the integrity of the land and trying to succeed in a competitive market place. Agroforestry may offer opportunities, but awareness of the various practices is very ...

The governance of economic organizations is complex. The theoretical and empirical literature on organizational governance implies that one form of governance mechanism functions the same for all economic organization, ...

Organic agricultural production in Missouri has grown since the inception of national organic production and labeling standards in 2002. Underlying the growth of certified organic operations and land area in Missouri are ...

This dissertation provides an empirical linkage between New Institutional Economics and the United States alcohol industry, with a specific look at the wine industry. Using an institutional economics framework, it analyzes ...

Two case studies are the focus of this research. The first focuses on promoting collaboration in the market chain to reach markets with higher returns. The second analyzes efforts to improve the quality of the products to ...

Mainly due to the potential of knowledge spillovers facilitated by spatial proximity biotechnology firms may benefit from the spatial collocation of similar firms so that they increase their venture capital funds. Essay 1 ...

This study uses panel data to test the impact of Wal-Mart on the rural retail wage. There are observations from 2,986 counties in the contiguous United States from 1990-2005. Previous studies have reported mixed findings ...

The Caribbean is a developing region of the world that has struggled to overcome corrupt governmental programs and agencies. Poverty and crime are commonplace, and a strong distrust of government is often present. With ...

This paper draws on theories of regulation from the political entrepreneurship and political economy fields to explore the dynamics of the US biofuels market. The conducted case study addresses questions regarding the life ...