Projects

Contract Design in Futures Markets

A June 9-10, 2009, workshop, Contract Design in Futures Markets, brought together leading professionals and academics working on contract design to discuss critical issues and market conditions that impact the design and performance of commodity futures contracts.

The workshop was a collaboration of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), and Farm Foundation.

Sarahelen (Sally) Thompson, Director of the ERS Market and Trade Economics Division, and Jeffrey Harris, CFTC Chief Economist, chaired  the event.  As available, workshop presentations are posted here.

Whose Markets? Revisited

Jeffrey Williams, University of California, Davis

Poor convergence Performance of CBOT Corn, Soybean and Wheat Futures Contracts: Causes and Solutions

Scott H. Irwin, Philip Garcia, Darrell L. Good, and Eugene L. Kunda, University of Illinois

Contract Design and Trading Bans on Indian Futures Contracts
Amit Kumar Vasisht, Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Electronic vs. Open Outcry Trading in Agricultural Commodities Futures Markets
Samarth Shah and B. Wade Brorsen, Oklahoma State University

Why is the U.S. Ethanol Futures Contract a Success?
Roger Dahlgran, University of Arizona

Designing New Futures Contracts: Experience with Dairy Markets
T. Randall Fortenberry, University of Wisconsin

The Role of Actively Traded Multiyear Futures Contracts In Price Discovery
John S. Roberts, University of Maryland.

The CFTC is an independent agency with the mandate is to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. ERS is a primary source of economic information and research in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Foundation serves as a catalyst for sound public policy by providing objective information to foster deeper understanding of issues shaping the future for agriculture, food systems and rural regions. Farm Foundation does not lobby or advocate