AGEC 317 Economic Analysis for Agribusiness and Management

About Your Instructor Dr. Oral Capps, Jr., Executive Professor Office:330 B Blocker Building Phone: Office hours:TR 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. TR 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. TR 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. W 9:30 a.m. to Noon W 9:30 a.m. to Noon W 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. W 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. or by appointment

About Your Instructor, (con’t) Ph.D., Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech, 1979 M.S., Statistics, Virginia Tech, 1979 M.S., Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech, 1977 B.S., Mathematics, Virginia Tech, 1975 Research areas: applied microeconomics, agricultural marketing, food distribution, and applied econometrics. Co-Director, The Agribusiness, Food, and Consumer Economics Research Center (AFCERC) Webpage: Holder of the Southwest Dairy Marketing Endowed Chair (since September 2001).

Your TA: Section 501 Office: Telephone: Office hrs: Office hrs: TBA

Your TA: Section 502 Office: Telephone: Office hrs: Office hrs: TBA

AGEC 317 Goals:  Better understand managerial and economic issues in agribusiness management  Provide exposure in using formal quantitative analysis to solve economic problems  Provide a differentiated product in analyzing real world problems and gain confidence in thinking like an economic or business analyst Textbooks (Reference only):  Managerial Economics, Twelfth edition by Mark Hirschey (Chapters 1-9 and 16)

Prerequisites for AGEC 317  AGEC 217  MATH 142 or equivalent  STAT 303 or equivalent  ECON 323 or equivalent  Junior or Senior classification, AGEC or AGBU majors

Topics RRRReview of Key Algebraic Concepts/Calculus DDDDemand Analysis DDDDemand Estimation RRRRisk Analysis RRRRegression (Estimation and Inference) FFFForecasting OOOOptimization via the use of Calculus LLLLinear Programming

Key Dates EEEExam 1: September 30 EEEExam 2: October 28 EEEExam 3: December 2 CCCClass Project Team Selection: September 24 LLLLast Day to Q-drop: November 5 BBBBonfire 1999 Remembrance Day: November 18 CCCClass Project Due: November 24 TTTThanksgiving Holiday: November LLLLast Day of Fall Semester classes: December 7 FFFFinal Exam Days for AGEC 317: December 10 or December 15

Specific Expectations  Understand demand and supply relationships  Solve optimization problems (either calculus-based or linear programming)  Conduct regression analysis and interpret results  Conduct tests of hypotheses within a regression analysis  Make projections or forecasts  Understand decision-making under uncertainty  Ability to communicate quantitative results to decision-makers

Evaluation of Student Performance  Exam 1100 pts  Exam 2100 pts  Exam 3100 pts  Class Project 100 pts  Daily Review Questions Bonus Points (up to 40 pts)  Final Exam (Cumulative) Optional

Steps Toward Success  Have a positive attitude!!!  Come to lectures, class participation  Review lecture notes  Speak up in class if you are confused or require clarification on concepts  Come to help sessions  Work diligently on the class project  Check material on my webpage

Help Sessions  For Exam 1September 297:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., 149 BLOC  For Exam 2October 277:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., 149 BLOC  For Exam 3December 17:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., 149 BLOC  Help sessions also are scheduled every Wednesday evening beginning September 8 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in 149 BLOC

Can We Study in a Group?  Yes!!! Studying in a group is encouraged.  For the class project, working in a team of five individuals is required.  But...  You take individual responsibility for learning the material  Make sure YOU can do the assignments  The assignments are very similar to in-class test questions