This project addresses three different problems. The first is the unusual dynamics of managed domestic farm-animal populations, which requires detailed investigation to understand the extreme volatility of this important component of our food supply. More realistic and, thus, more complicated models based on reproductive technology and demographic considerations will be specified, simulated, and estimated. Intertemporal linkages of some animal species through final demand substitution and feed grain competition provides an unusual source of dynamics for study. A better understanding of the economic forces operating the livestock market could have important implications for government policy and economic efficiency in this sector which is notorious for boom and bust conditions. The other two project are concerned with labor market issues. The first problem concerns the unusual wave-like pattern that describes the time-series for both student tuition and faculty salaries at all ranks and levels of higher education in the U.S. from 1965. This time series will be documented and analyzed. The demographics of changing student enrollments, changing subsidies to colleges and students, trends in staff to faculty inputs, and changes in the rate of return to schooling are possible causes for the observed patterns. The second project involves a major survey of the recent theoretical and empirical work on the determinants of executive pay, as connected to emerging theories of agency, contracts and internal organization. This work will provide a better understanding of the functioning of academic and professional labor markets.
