Bob Myers joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 1986 to undertake research and teaching in the area of commodity market analysis and agricultural policy. His primary research focus has been on risk management in agriculture, with an emphasis on market-based mechanisms for risk management, such as futures, options, and crop insurance. He has published numerous articles in professional journals, been associate editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Review of Agricultural Economics, and worked as a consultant to the World Bank. He is currently an editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Selected Publications

Mghenyi, E., R.J. Myers and T.S. Jayne. The effects of a large discrete maize price increase on the distribution of household welfare and poverty in rural Kenya. Agricultural Economics 42(3):343-356).

Mason, Nicole N., Jayne, Thomas S., Chapoto, Antony, Myers, Robert J. 2010. A Test of the New Variant Famine Hypothesis: Panel Survey Evidence from Zambia. World Development 38 (3): 356-368.

Robison, Lindon J., Shupp, Robert S., Myers, Robert J. 2010. Expected Utility Paradoxes. Journal of Socio-Economics 39 (2): 187-193.

Guan, Zhengfei, Kumbhakar, Subal C., Myers, Robert J., Oude Lansink, Alfons. 2009. Measuring excess capital capacity in agricultural production. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91 (3): 765-776.

Liu, Yanyan, Myers, Robert J. 2009. Model Selection in Stochastic Frontier Analysis with an Application to Maize Production in Kenya. Journal of Productivity Analysis 31 33-46.

Lasco, Christine, Myers, Robert J., Bernsten, Richard H. 2008. Dynamics of Rice Prices and Agricultural Wages in the Philippines. Agricultural Economics 38 (3): 339-348. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/journal/117962754/home.

Jayne, Thomas S., Myers, Robert J., Nyoro, James. 2008. The Effects of NCPB Marketing Policies on Maize Market Prices in Kenya. Agricultural Economics 38 (3): 313-325.

Guan, Z., S.C. Kumbhakar, R.J. Myers, and A. Oude Lansink. “Measuring Excess Capital Capacity in Agricultural Production.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(3); 765-776, 2009.

Negassa, A., Myers, R. J. Estimating Policy Effects on Spatial Market Efficiency: An Extension to the Parity Bounds Model. American Journal of Agricultural Economics.  89(2): 338-352, 2007.

"Crop Insurance Under Catastrophic Risk." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Nov. 2000 (with John Duncan).

"Hedging with Futures and Options Under a Truncated Cash Price Distribution." Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Dec. 1999 (with S. Hanson and J. Hilker).

"Regime Shifts and Technology Diffusion in Crop Yield Growth Paths with an Application to Maize Yields in Zimbabwe." Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, December, 1997 (with T. Jayne).

Funded Research Projects

• Time-series properties of commodity futures
• Spatial distribution of agricultural production facilities