AGEC 317

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AGEC 317

• Economic Analysis for Agribusiness and Management

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About Your Instructor

• Dr. Oral Capps, Jr.
• Office 330B Blocker Building
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail ocapps_at_tamu.edu
• Office hours TR 930 a.m. to 1030 a.m.
• TR 330 p.m. to 430 p.m.

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About Your Instructor, (cont)

• 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-founder and Managing Partner, Forecasting and
  Business Analytics, LLC.
• Webpage http//agecon.tamu.edu/people/faculty/ca
  pps-oral.shtml
• Holder of the Southwest Dairy Marketing Endowed
  Chair (since September 2001).

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Your TA Rafael Bakhtyavoryan

• Office BLOC 319
• E-mail rafael1980_at_neo.tamu.edu
• Telephone [phone]
• Office hours Mon. 200 pm - 400 pm

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Your TA Wei Wang

• Office BLOC 341A
• E-mail weiwei8223_at_hotmail.com
• Telephone [phone]
• Office hours Wed. 1000 am-1200 pm.

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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 (References only)
• Managerial Economics, Eleventh edition by Mark
  Hirschey (Chapters 1-9 and 17)
• Introductory Econometrics, Fourth edition by
  Jeffrey M. Wooldridge (Chapters 2, 3 and 4)

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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

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Topics

• Review of Key Algebraic Concepts/Calculus
• Demand Analysis
• Demand Estimation
• Risk Analysis
• Regression (Estimation and Inference)
• Forecasting
• Optimization via the use of Calculus
• Linear Programming

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Key Dates

• Exam 1 September 25
• Exam 2 October 23
• Exam 3 November 25
• Last Day to Q-drop October 31
• Bonfire 1999 Remembrance Day November 18
• Thanksgiving Holiday November 27-28
• Last Day of Fall Semester classes December 2
• Final Exam Days for AGEC 317 December 5 or
  December 10

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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

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Evaluation of Student Performance

• Exam 1 30
• Exam 2 30
• Exam 3 30
• Class Participation 10
• Final Exam (Cumulative) Optional

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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
• Check material on my webpage

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Help Sessions

• For Exam 1 September 24 730 p.m. to 900 p.m.,
  153 BLOC
• For Exam 2 October 22 730 p.m. to 900 p.m., 153
  BLOC
• For Exam 3 November 24 730 p.m. to 900 p.m.,
  153 BLOC
• Help sessions also are scheduled every Wednesday
  evening beginning September 10 from 730 p.m. to
  900 p.m. in 153 BLOC

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Can We Study in a Group?

• Yes!!! Studying in a group is encouraged.
• But...
• You take individual responsibility for learning
  the material
• Make sure YOU can do the assignments