| The focus of this thesis is the economic characteristics of Canada's barley export market. Canada has recently become the largest barley exporter, replacing France. On the import side, developing countries have become the fastest growing market segment for barley imports. Developing and Eastern European countries have been expansionary markets while developed countries have imported a decreasing share of Canada's barley exports.;In the Japanese market, barley import demand underwent a structural shift around 1972 when usage of barley changed from a food grain to feed grain. The Canadian dollar-Japanese yen exchange rate is another important determinant of Japan's barley import demand.;The analysis of Colombia's barley import demand reveals that barley imports are influenced by finance related variables such as barley import price and foreign exchange reserves. For China, another developing country, barley imports are affected by the own price of barley imports and by the cross price of wheat imports. (Abstract shortened by UMI.);The main analysis of this thesis consists of time series estimations of barley import demand in four Canadian export markets: Russia, Japan, Colombia and China. Russia's characteristic pattern of import fluctuations is caused mainly by domestic barley and livestock production fluctuations. The price of barley imports also affects Russia's barley import decisions. |
