| This dissertation is a collection of three essays. The first essay is titled,"Avoiding biases from data-dependent specification search: an application to the tillage choice model". The study evaluates the gains of avoiding data-dependent specification search on an estimation sample in an application to discrete choice models. The second essay is titled,"Empirical Ag-Environmental Model for Iowa". This research develops an empirical model to estimate the effects of domestic policies like taxes on input prices, restrictions on input use and subsidy for adopting more environmentally benign crop rotation, on water quality and wildlife habitat. The third essay is,"Further Investigation of the Effects of Meat Recalls and Correlations on Consumer Demand and Volatility", Closely related US beef, pork and poultry data are examined for the presence of correlation between the recall events. A static model is used to determine the change in the shares of expenditure for different recall correlation patterns. This study is further extended to test whether recalls increase the volatility of retail prices. |
