Field Areas
Agribusiness and Managerial Economics
Agribusiness represents a growing area of interest for PhD students. This field covers the application of theory and decision analysis in the food and fiber industry. Linkages among the sectors in this industry and their interdependency are combined with a specific functional focus on the operation of agribusiness firms. This includes farm input manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and fiber manufacturers, and wholesale and retail trade firms. Focus is placed on the theoretical underpinnings of business decision making, quantitative analysis of alternative business strategies, measurement of trends in consolidated business performance, and the implications that public policy has upon business strategies.
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Markets and Information Economics
Markets and Information Economics explores the extent to which markets and other institutions process and convey information. Many of the problems of markets and other institutions result from costly information, and many of their features are responses to costly information. So while information influences many economic decisions, it also complicates many standard economic theories. The Markets and Information Economics Group in the Department of Agricultural Economics is a recognized leader in food markets and information economics research, including specialty areas related to market and demand analysis, product valuation, use of directed acyclic graphs in economic analysis, commodity futures and options, information acquisition, price dispersion, industrial organization, and auctions.
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Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Natural resource and environmental quality issues have become prominent matters at all levels of social decision making. These issues are well illuminated by the theoretical and empirical tools of economics. Coursework within this field of study is designed to improve capacities to understand, analyze, and create policies for addressing a range of natural resource and environmental problems. The Department's faculty are recognized research leaders for specialty areas such as climate change, environmental policy, water management, fishery economics, biosecurity, energy, sustainability, nonmarket valuation, and environmental risk assessment. Several faculty are also members of Texas A&M's water faculty, participating in an interdisciplinary program emphasizing masters-level water management studies.
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