The existence of a wide disparity in labor returns between the farm and nonfarm sectors and considerable variations in agricultural wage rates among regions suggest that there may be real differences in factors affecting the supply of and demand for labor among sectors and regions. A knowledge of these supply and demand structural relationships could be of use to policy makers in developing measures that will help to minimize some of these income and wage discrepancies. In this study, regional supply relations for hired agricultural labor are developed and estimated. Two hypotheses are tested: (a) that members of the hired farm labor force respond to economic stimuli with a distributed lag, and (b) that they participate in a national rather than a regional labor market. The results support both hypotheses. One of the policy implications is that programs which increase nonfarm wages are more effective in the long run in raising farm labor income than programs which raise prices of farm products.O UR QUANTITATIVE knowledge of the markets for agricultural inputs continues to increase.' Heady and Tweeten's recent book [11] in particular has contributed significantly to our knowledge of the demand for agricultural inputs. Much remains to be done, however, on the supply side.The general objective of the research discussed here was to provide a more complete picture of the market for hired agricultural labor through the development of regional supply models that would complement previous studies of the national market [24] and the regional demand [25] for hired agricultural labor. Essentially this study applies a national model to regional problems.That regional analyses can be useful and are perhaps necessary in understanding the market for agricultural labor can be seen from Tables 1 and 2. Some historical data on regional differences in monetary wage rates in agriculture are shown in Table 1. Ruttan [21] and Wolfson [32] have shown that even after these money wages are corrected for regional variations in price level and the composition of the labor force, sizable differences remain. Wolfson [32] and Weatherford [31] argue that such o Purdue Agr. Exp. Sta., J. Paper 2703, Project 1107. Helpful comments and criticisms on an earlier draft of this article were received from

Previous research on the market for agricultural labor is extended through the use of a simultaneous‐equations model consisting of six equations. The model treats the markets for unpaid family and operator labor, both of which have been slighted in previous work, and takes account of the interdependence among the three components of the agricultural labor force. The demand and supply elasticities were found to differ substantially among the components. Economic implications suggested by the statistical results are analyzed, and the structural models are used to evaluate a number of alternative policies that bear on labor use and labor returns.

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is a monopoly seller of wheat, durum and malting barley from western Canada. This paper examines the question whether the CWB monopoly can extract a premium in the international market place. Using actual transaction data (i.e. actual transaction prices) we estimate that the CWB charged importers an average price premium of $13.35/tonne for wheat over the period 1980-94. In periods when high quality wheat was in short supply the CWB was able to charge higher premiums.We also show that during the period of export subsidies the CWB earned farmers a premium by avoiding subsidized markets.State Trading, Wheat Marketing, Price Premium,

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SUMMARY This paper analyzes the potential impact of Canada's newest trade preference agreement with the Caribbean Basin. The analysis shows that overall static trade expansion gains are limited to £536,000 per year and are confined to a narrow range of commodities. Greatest potential is found to exist in fresh vegetables, cocoa and chocolate products and sauces. The analysis also shows that more than 87% of the gains from trade expansion will redound to the benefit of Jamaican entrepreneurs.