Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-8l2sj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T06:00:21.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Markov Chain Analysis of Pork Farm Size Distributions in the South

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

W. Terry Disney
Affiliation:
Agricultural Economics and U.S.D.A. National Needs Graduate Fellow at Auburn University
Patricia A. Duffy
Affiliation:
Agricultural Economics at Auburn University
William E. Hardy Jr.
Affiliation:
Agricultural Economics at Auburn University

Abstract

Concerns over declining farm numbers, shifts in farm size distribution, and associated infrastructural problems have led to a heightened awareness of structural considerations within policy making circles. Future policy decisions will have substantial structural consequences for the agricultural industry. Often, however, the indirect effects of grain pricing policies on the livestock sector have been overlooked in these policy decisions. The incorporation of price effects into a Markov chain analysis of pork farm size distributions and the simulation of those projections to the year 2000 under various price scenarios should provide some insight into the future structure of livestock farming in the South.

Type
Submitted Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T.W., and Goodman, L. A.. “Statistical Inference About Markov Chains.Annals Math. Stat, 28(1957):89110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashar, V.G., and Wallace, T. D.. “A Sampling Study of Minimum Absolute Deviations Estimators.Oper. Res., 11(Sept.-Oct. 1963):747758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, R.F., Dempsey, J. A., and Cobb, C. W.. “Farm Numbers and Sizes in the Future.” In Size, Structure, and Future of Farms. Ed. Ball, A. G. and Heady, Earl O.. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1972.Google Scholar
Ethridge, D.E., Roy, S. K., and Myers, D. W.. “A Markov Chain Analysis of Structural Changes in the Texas High Plains Cotton Ginning Industry.So. J. Agr. Econ., 17, 2(1985):1119.Google Scholar
Friedman, M.Price Theory. Chicago, Illinois: Aldine Publishing Company, 1976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldshmidt, W.As You Sow. New York: Harcourt/Brace, 1978.Google Scholar
Hallberg, M.C.. “Projecting the Size Distribution of Agriculture Firms—An Application of a Markov Process with Non-Stationary Transition Probabilities.Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 51(1969):289302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judge, G.C, and Swanson, E. R.. “Markov Chains: Basic Concepts and Suggested Uses in Agricultural Economics.” Dept. Agr. Econ., University of Illinois, AERR 49, 1961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karst, O. J. “Linear Curve Fitting Using Least Deviations.J. Amer. Stat. Assoc., 53(March 1958):118132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, T.C., Judge, G. G., and Takayama, T.. “On Estimating the Transition Probabilities of a Markov Process.J. Farm Econ., 47(Aug. 1965):742762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansfield, E.Entry. Gibrat's Law, Innovation, and the Growth of Firms.Amer. Econ. Review, 52(1962):10231051.Google Scholar
Padberg, D.I.The Use of Markov Processes in Measuring Changes in Market Structure.Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 44(1962):189199.Google Scholar
Peltzman, S., “Entry in Commercial Banking.J. of Law and Econ., 8(1965):1150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B., and Dardis, R.. “Inter-Fiber Competition and the Future of the United States Cotton Industry.Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 54(1972):207216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanton, B.F., and Kettunen, L.. “Potential Entrants and Projections in Markov Process Analysis.J. Farm Econ., 49(1967):633642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Telser, L.G.. “The Demand for Branded Goods as Estimated From Consumer Panel Data.Rev. of Economics and Statistics, 44(Aug. 1962):300324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Telser, L.G.. “Least-Squares Estimates of Transition Probabilities.” In easurement in Economics; Studies in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics in Memory of Yehuda Grunfeld.Ed. Christ, C. F.et al. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963. 270292.Google Scholar
Telser, L.G., Best, W., Egan, H., and Higginbotham, H.. “The Theory of Supply With Applications to the Ethical Pharmaceutical Industry.J. of Law and Economics, 18(1975):449478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Department.of Commerce. U.S. Census of Agriculture, (various reporting years). Volume I. Bureau of the Census. Washington D.C. Government Printing Office, 1972-1985.Google Scholar
Veloce, W., and Zellner, A.. “Entry and Empirical Demand and Supply Analysis For Competitive Industries.J. of Econometrics, 30(1985):459471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar