February issue includes Appendix entitled Directory of United States Government periodicals and subscription publications; September issue includes List of depository libraries; June and December issues include semiannual index

On July 1st 1993, the EU implemented the Common Organization for the Market of Bananas (COMB) to replace the different national banana policies that previously existed in its member countries. As it turned out, the adopted regime became one of the most bitterly internally disputed outcomes of the completion of the EU single common market, and is an on-going source of dispute at the WTO level between the EU on the one side, and the US and Latin American countries on the other side. The most controversial aspects of the COMB relate to the management of banana trade with non-EU countries, and in particular, to the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) imposed on non-traditional ACP and dollar bananas. These issues are at the center of this work which focuses on the German and French banana markets, the two largest single importers of bananas in the EU, characterized by opposed pre-COMB banana regimes. In addition, the US banana market, the single largest banana importer worldwide, characterized by a free trade policy, is also analyzed. The analysis of market performance revolves around pricing efficiency and market integration, as measured by the extent and speed of horizontal and vertical price transmission. A quantitative assessment of the distribution of quota rents among operators on the one hand, and between Germany and France on the other hand, is carried out. A brief analysis of the economic impact on dollar banana operators of a COMB reform towards a tariff-only system, concludes the empirical work.

This textbook addresses the core issues facing economists concerning price determination in commodity markets, especially food and agricultural commodities. This book hones in on the conceptual basis of the various relationships, with special emphasis on market interrelationships, both horizontally and vertically. This book covers key concepts such as consumer demand theory; quality, heterogeneous goods, and cross section demand; derived demand, marketing margins, and relationship between output and raw material prices; retail-to-farm demand linkages, imperfect competition, and short-run price determination; dynamic consumer demand; and dynamic models of the firm. What makes this textbook of particular use to students is its focus on bridging the gap between theory and empirical analysis. Going from theory to empirics requires that we have data—time series or cross section—that match the theoretical constructs. Often the data match is not perfect, either by definition or how the data are computed. In addition to problems of matching data with theoretical constructs, students and researchers need to know how to specify, estimate, and interpret results within the context of imperfect and often incomplete data. This textbook uses several data sets to illustrate how one might address problems in real-world settings. Furthermore, with exercises at the end of each chapter, students are able to test themselves on their ability to bring theory to life.