Storage and Commodity Markets

by Jeffrey C. Williams, Brian D. Wright

Overview

Storage and Commodity Markets is primarily a work of economic theory, concerned with how the capability to store a surplus affects the prices and production of commodities. Its focus on the behavior, over time, of aggregate stockpiles provides insights into such questions as how much a country should store out of its current supply of food considering the uncertainty in future harvests. Related topics covered include whether storage or international trade is a more effective buffer and whether stockpiles are more useful in raw or processed form. Several chapters are devoted to analyzing such government programs as price bands, buffer stocks, and strategic reserves; other chapters deal with the statistical properties imparted by storage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521023399
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/24/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	520
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.18(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; Part I. The Basic Model: 2. Competitive equilibrium with storage; 3. Solving for the storage equilibrium Appendix: Numerical solution of the storage model; 4. The effects of storage on production, consumption, and prices; 5. Convergence to the steady state; Part II. Implications Of Storage For Reasearch On Time Series: 6. Time-series properties due to storage; 7. Test of rationality; Part III. Extensions Of The Model: 8. The market's reaction to news; 9. The interaction of storage and trade; 10. Inventories of raw materials, finished goods, and goods in process; 11. Market power and storage; Part IV. Public Interventions: 12. Welfare analysis of market stabilization; 13. Floor-price schemes; 14. Public storage under price bands and price pegs; 15. Public policies to supplement private storage; Part V. Epilogue: 16. Lessons about commodity markets and modeling strategies; References; Author index; Subject index.

Editorial Reviews

"...this book has much to say about commodity markets and the role of storage. In addition, it makes a number of important and well-supported points aboutp public policy. It is well worth reading." Journal of Economic Literature

"This book is of major significance in the analysis of commodity markets. It will be required reading for all students of agricultural economics; and will also be widely read by those working on metals markets and the oil market." Economic Journal

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