Date of Award

2009

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Department

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

College

Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources

Faculty Advisor

Gustafson, Cole R.

Description

The objective of this research is to determine the effect the North Dakota Ethanol Production Incentive has on ethanol plant survivability. This thesis uses a stochastic simulation to show the financial performance of an ethanol plant with and without subsidy support. Historical corn and ethanol prices are used to simulate market conditions a typical ethanol might face. Using the forecast prices, an ethanol plant balance sheet was created to show how a plant would perform in normal market conditions, as well as how the plant would perform with the Ethanol Production Incentive and also with alternative subsidy structures that were developed. The results showed the Ethanol Production Incentive was the most effective subsidy tested and it does appear to improve plant balance sheets to a certain extent during a downturn.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/29635

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