Two approaches to formal multiple objective decision analysis are described, illustrated and compared. These two approaches, generating techniques and goal programming, are illustrated by the solution of a simple numerical example. This solution combined with some lessons from the field of psychology provide a basis for some judgments on the relative merits of the approaches.

Transportation costs between production regions affect interregional competitive relations. Rising fuel costs have substantially changed the transfer cost function for motor truck transport. A method for estimating the direct impact on consumer and producer prices of fuel cost increases is presented. Example computations are made for long distance transport of vegetables, eggs, meat, and milk to illustrate the methodology. The implication of markup procedures by marketing firms on consumer prices is shown. Differential impacts on producers depend on the type of food product and scale of operation in New England. Impacts on consumer food budgets are suggested.

The feasibility of reducing delivery frequency as a means of lowering energy and transportation costs is examined. Four reduced delivery situations are examined using a net present value criteria. While substantial energy savings are possible the cost of equipment necessary to accommodate these reductions outweighs the energy savings at current fuel prices. Substantial fuel price increases are required before such reductions are worthwhile. Good management requires examination of the net effect of energy savings on net revenue.

This paper examines agricultural use-value legislation in light of statewide reassessment in New York. Historically, farm real estate has been underassessed relative to other classes of property. Thus, statewide reassessment at full value would significantly increase farmland property taxes. These increases could be more than offset by widespread application of use-value assessment. In 1979, the tax reductions, when compared with full-value assessment, would be about $8 per acre. The tax bases of some rural communities may be reduced significantly by use-value assessment.

The purpose of the analysis is to forecast livestock and poultry numbers for New England and the U. S. The effect of increasing feed transportation rates on these numbers is also examined. The direct estimates of the reduced form equations are utilized in forecasting numbers for seven livestock and poultry classes. Forecast rules of thumb are specified in the simplified lag model. A large model consisting of 26 predetermined variables yields very high degrees of accuracy with errors mostly less than one percent.

Control of sediment has become increasingly important as an element of many water quality improvement programs. An analytical method using the universal soil loss equation and linear programming to determine the cost-effectiveness of alternative sediment control practices is developed. Applications of this method to four case study farms and a hypothetical watershed are analyzed. The analyses illustrate the need for developing priorities so as to achieve greatest reduction in sediment losses per dollar of cost. The costs per unit of sediment reduction vary greatly with area, soil, and strategy or technique used.

A cost curve for livestock auction markets was estimated using a frontier function estimator. This estimator has the advantages of consistency and asymptotic efficiency (for certain disturbance specifications). The one-sided residuals satisfy theoretical requirements for cost curves and allow estimates of operational efficiency. Results indicate little size savings above 50,000 LMU, (12 percent of markets in 1976). Estimated operational inefficiencies ranged from 0 to 45 percent. Total technical efficiency (size diseconomies plus operational inefficiencies) are high for some markets and some size groups. Little consolidation is predicted for the industry because the estimated cost of technical inefficiency is small compared to distance related costs (e.g., transport and shrink).

Milk supply response by dairy farmers in Delaware was analyzed employing distributed lag price structures for number of milk cows and milk production per cow. A polynominal distributed lag model is fitted to quarterly data with deflated prices for the period 1966 to 1978. The variations in the number of milk cows is explained by about 98 percent. Farmers react positively to milk prices after 1–2 years, while wages and feed prices have a negative impact on cow numbers. Milk production per cow shows positive adjustments to milk prices after 6 to 15 months. Technology and feed prices influence also milk production While the short-run price elasticity of milk production is only .2, the long-run aggregate elasticity grows to 2.8 percent. Intermediate-run projections of milk supply were also performed with the model.

Seasonal incentive plans, such as the base-excess plan, have been initiated to encourage producers to shift their production to be more similar to seasonal consumption patterns. The effectiveness of the seasonal incentive plan was evaluated by examining Maryland milk production data for the period 1966–78. The analysis indicated that month-to-month variation in milk production has increased in recent years, and suggests that current seasonal incentive plans be evaluated to encourage dairy producers to shift their production schedules.

In an update and extension of prior work this study found that the potato futures markets continued to provide very unreliable forecasts of subsequent spot prices. On the other hand and contrary to some past studies an extensive study here failed to turn up any convincing evidence of a cobweb pricing relationship. Moreover the increasing volatility of potato futures prices in the more recent time period raises questions regarding their value as hedging vehicles. Finally it is argued that the market's efficiency might be improved by expanding the current Maine potato contract to permit delivery of round white potatoes grown outside Maine.

This study used least squares regression techniques to estimate the demand for fresh choice beef in the U.S., 1950–1978. From the demand equation, estimates of price, income and cross elasticity of demand were derived. An objective was to determine if elasticity of demand has been decreasing. Problems with pooling of data, serial correlation and multicollinearity were dealt with. Estimated price elasticity of demand was found to be .62. When this figure was compared to results of other studies (with the consideration that different estimating techniques and time periods were used) it was judged that elasticity of demand for fresh choice beef in the U.S. probably had declined between 1950 and 1978.

Conventional economic theory suggests that economists’ contribution to local government is primarily with respect to the production function type of knowledge. A characterization of local government decision making exposes some limitations on applicability of economic analysis of that kind. Public choice perspectives to local government help to redefine and elaborate the role of economic analysis in instructing local government decision making.

This study reports the development of a computer assisted testing (CAT) system and the use of this system over the past five years to develop a normative testing tool in an introductory microeconomics theory course. The CAT system is more than a testing tool and can be used to aid in instructional improvement by pinpointing difficulties in technical material areas, levels of learning abilities, general lack of understanding and patterns of mathematical, graphic and written problems. It would appear that the techniques used to develop the normative tests in this report could also be used to develop individual standarized examinations tailored to the learning objectives in other courses.