You may register for a Pre- and Post-conference Workshop while registering for the annual meeting or by calling the AAEA Business Office at (414) 918-3190.
Note: 2-day workshop
Wednesday, July 31 from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday, August 1 from 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
New Orleans Marriott
Students & ECP $25; General $55
AAEA Student Member Travel Grant Available up to $1,000 Deadline to apply is May 19th
Brief Description: Increases in food price inflation and volatility in recent years have renewed focus on the determinants and impacts of food price changes, as well as on the importance of reliable food price forecasts. The USDA Food Price Outlook (FPO) tracks and forecasts food price changes and FPO forecasts inform USDA agencies, industry, academia, and the public and rank second in web traffic among ERS data products. Even after recent refinements, the current FPO approach to forecasting food prices could be further improved by incorporating market conditions such as energy costs, wages, labor availability, transportation congestion, and market concentration, which have recently been cited as drivers of record-breaking inflation rates. Macroeconomic conditions that potentially affect retail demand, including the money supply, exchange rates, and core inflation, have only been examined in a pre-pandemic context, and it is unclear whether these same mechanisms can explain current inflationary trends. To address these shortcomings and identify new research areas, the workshop will gather top experts from government, academia, and industry to identify stakeholders’ needs, underutilized information, and the best methods for evaluating and forecasting food prices.
Relevance to AAEA Members/Meeting Attendees: Many AAEA members have already been working on food price issues, so we envision this post-conference workshop to bring together researchers working in this area, highlight outstanding ongoing work, deliver high-quality resources for members, and catalyze new and emerging initiatives in this field.
We also anticipate that this workshop contributes to the objectives of the Economic Statistics and Information Resources Committee to help members access data for research. This workshop highlights an additional opportunity for AAEA to establish a committee devoted to initiating and nourishing industry partnerships that can yield fruitful collaborations, including proprietary company data, for AAEA members.
AAEA Student Member Travel Grant Available up to $1,000
(20 travel grants available - Restricted to AAEA Graduate Student Members and Early Career Professional Members)
Deadline to apply is May 19th
Waivers are restricted to AAEA Graduate Student Members and Early Career Professional Members. To apply, submit one paragraph (no more than 200 words) explaining why you should be considered for the waiver, and 2 questions that you want to be asked from the panelists. Complete this application form by May 19th. The travel grant will help cover travel to the 2024 AAEA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, 2024 post-conference workshop, and hotel costs up to $1000 per participant (*Required to stay at the Annual Meeting Hotel - New Orleans Marriott). All travel grant recipients will receive reimbursement for the costs of attending the workshop (receipts required). In addition, all travel grant recipients are expected to attend the full 2-day workshop. Complete and return application by May 19, 2024
Intended Audience: Overall, our intended audience includes anyone interested in learning about drivers of food prices and price forecasting. We expect the content to interest many agricultural and applied economists, government officials, and industry leaders. Given the extraordinary price growth in recent years, we expect to draw participants typically engaged in commodity markets, retail food markets, and food-assistance or healthy-eating research.
Format of Presentations (panel discussion, etc.): A mix of presenters, panel discussions, and breakout sessions.
Overview: Increases in food price inflation and volatility in recent years have renewed focus on the determinants and impacts of food price changes, as well as on the importance of reliable food price forecasts. The USDA Food Price Outlook (FPO) tracks and forecasts food price changes and FPO forecasts inform USDA agencies, industry, academia, and the public and rank second in web traffic among ERS data products. Even after recent refinements, the current FPO approach to forecasting food prices could be further improved by incorporating market conditions such as energy costs, wages, labor availability, transportation congestion, and market concentration, which have recently been cited as drivers of record-breaking inflation rates. Macroeconomic conditions that potentially affect retail demand, including the money supply, exchange rates, and core inflation, have only been examined in a pre-pandemic context, and it is unclear whether these same mechanisms can explain current inflationary trends. To address these shortcomings and identify new research areas, the workshop will gather top experts from government, academia, and industry to identify stakeholders’ needs, underutilized information, and the best methods for evaluating and forecasting food prices.
Wednesday, July 31st **Day 1** |
|
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM |
Workshop Emcees: Ricky Volpe (Cal Poly), Megan Sweitzer (ERS) Registration and coffee |
8:30 AM – 8:40 AM |
Session 1A: Introduction
|
8:40 AM – 9:10 AM |
Session 1B: Keynote Speaker
|
9:10 AM – 9:40 PM |
Session 2: U.S. Inflation in the Context of International Price Changes
|
9:40 AM – 10:10 AM |
Session 3: Policy Responses to Food Price Inflation
|
10:10 AM – 10:30 AM |
Moderated Discussion/Q&A
|
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Break |
10:45 PM – 11:45 PM |
Session 4: Retrospective Analysis
|
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM | Lunch Break |
1:00 PM – 2:15 PM |
Session 5: Methods for Evaluating and Forecasting Food Price Changes [Panel]
|
2:15 PM – 2:30 PM | Break |
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM |
Session 6: Understanding Determinants of Food Prices for Forecasting
|
3:30 PM – 3:45 PM | Break |
3:45 PM – 4:45 PM |
Session 7: Impacts of Food Price Changes
|
Time: 4:45 – 5:00 PM |
Day 1 Concluding Remarks |
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM |
Networking Reception |
Thursday, August 1st |
|
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM |
Registration and coffee |
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM |
Session 8: Public Data Resources
|
9:30 AM – 9:45 AM | Break |
9:45 AM – 10:45 AM |
Session 9: Private Data Collection and Research
|
10:45 PM – 12:00 PM |
Session 10: Breakout Sessions – Identifying Stakeholders’ Needs and Underutilized Information
|
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM |
Day 2 Closing Remarks |
Workshop Emcees: Ricky Volpe (Cal Poly), Megan Sweitzer (ERS) Registration and coffee
- Time: 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Session 1A: Introduction
- Time: 8:30 AM – 8:40 AM
Session 1B: Keynote Speaker
- Time: 8:40 AM – 9:10 AM
Session 2: U.S. Inflation in the Context of International Price Changes
- Time: 9:10 AM – 9:40 PM
Session 3: Policy Responses to Food Price Inflation
- Time: 9:40 AM – 10:10 AM
Moderated Discussion/Q&A
- Time: 10:10 AM – 10:30 AM
Break
- Time: 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Session 4: Retrospective Analysis
- Time: 10:45 PM – 11:45 PM
Lunch Break
- Time: 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Session 5: Methods for Evaluating and Forecasting Food Price Changes [Panel]
- Time: 1:00 PM – 2:15 AM
Break
- Time: 2:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Session 6: Understanding Determinants of Food Prices for Forecasting
- Time: 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Break
- Time: 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM
Session 7: Impacts of Food Price Changes
- Time: 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
Day 1 Concluding Remarks
- Time: 4:45 – 5:00 PM
Networking Reception
- Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Thursday, August 1st **Day 2** (Half Day)
Registration and coffee
- Time: 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Session 8: Public Data Resources
- Time: 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Break
- Time: 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Session 9: Private Data Collection and Research
- Time: 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Session 10: Breakout Sessions – Identifying Stakeholders’ Needs and Underutilized Information
- Time: 10:45 PM – 12:00 PM
(5) Price indexes – Zhen/Aizcorbe, (6) Impacts of price changes – Okrent/Byrne, (7) International – Simogyi/Baffes
Day 2 Closing Remarks
- Time: 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
May 24, 2024
May 31, 2024
June 27, 2024