Suchergebnisse

This study assesses consumers' willingness to purchase genetically modified (GM) food products with two different types of benefits: an input (i.e., reduced pesticides) and an output trait benefit (i.e., nutritionally enhanced). Data were collected using a telephone survey of an Italian households sample. Discrete choice approach is used to elicit the purchase intentions of the respondents. Four separate probit models are estimated to examine the effect of various factors on choices. Results suggest that majority of Italians are not willing to buy GM food products even if they are nutritionally enhanced. However, more consumers are willing to buy a nutritionally enhanced plant based GM product than a traditional plant based GM (with input trait benefit). Willingness to buy for a nutritionally enhanced animal based GM product and for a traditional animal based GM product with input trait benefit are similar. Consumers unwilling to buy GM food would not buy it even if it is nutritionally enhanced and has lower price. However, there is a niche of consumers who are willing to buy nutritionally enhanced GM food products even at a premium. Knowledge of science and trust in scientists consistently affect Italian consumers' willingness to buy the GM products.

This article examines the business relationships in the cold chain used for exporting food to new markets in developing countries. The American Potato Trade Alliance, a cross‐network alliance that includes all levels of the value chain, is the subject of case study research involving participant observation and fieldwork in the Philippines and Thailand. Multinational restaurant companies manage technical challenges in target markets with tight specifications and exclusive supply chains, while smaller firms use extensive networks to supply imported frozen potatoes. Pricing strategies for cold chain services are closely related to quality and potentially affect the availability of outsourced cold chain services. Opportunistic behavior by buyers could reduce incentives for private investment in cold chain infrastructure, while long‐term commitment by chain partners would strengthen the potential for private markets to provide cold chain services in newly developing markets.

AbstractEconomic analysis assumes that consumer behaviour can be rationalised by a utility function. Previous research has shown that some consistency of choices with economic rationality can be captured by permanent cognitive ability. No other known study however has examined how a temporary load in subjects' working memory can affect economic rationality. Using two controlled laboratory experiments, we exogenously vary cognitive load by asking subjects to memorise a number while they undertake an induced budget allocation task (Choi et al., 2007a, b). Using a number of manipulation checks, we verify that cognitive load has adverse effects on subjects' performance in reasoning tasks. However, we find no effect in any of the goodness-of-fit measures that measure consistency of subjects' choices with the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference (GARP), despite having a sample size large enough to detect even small differences between treatments with 80% power. We also find no effect on first-order stochastic dominance and risk preferences. Our finding suggests that economic rationality can be attained even when subjects are placed under temporary working memory load, despite the fact that the load has adverse effects in reasoning tasks.

Childhood obesity is rising in Taiwan and is becoming a major public health issue. This article examines the effect of children's TV viewing and fast‐food consumption on childhood obesity. Using a nationwide survey data in Taiwan and a two‐step estimation procedure, our results show that TV viewing hours and fast‐food consumption are correlated. After controlling for the endogeneity, we find these two activities positively contribute to children's body weight and the increased risk of being overweight. Results suggest that public health/childhood obesity programs should educate parents of the critical influence of TV viewing and fast‐food consumption on childhood obesity. The government can also encourage the fast‐food industry to develop and sell healthier foods for children and provide point of sale nutritional information of these products. (JEL I12, I18)

AbstractWorker scarcity in US agricultural field jobs has occurred often, particularly before COVID‐19. Because US domestic workers typically forgo field jobs, their participation could potentially alleviate the scarcity. We implement an attribute‐based discrete choice experiment administered before and during COVID‐19 to evaluate US domestic workers' willingness to accept field jobs and valuation for non‐pecuniary benefits. Domestic workers' average pre‐pandemic reservation wage rate of $23.57 per hour was 68% larger than the 2019 national average field‐worker wage of $13.99. Non‐pecuniary benefits (insurance, housing, food allowance, and transportation) lower their reservation wage. Respondents' willingness to accept agricultural field work increased during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

AbstractThe impacts of COVID‐19 on labor in the food supply chain and on workers' decisions to accept essential jobs are discussed. We then analyze surveys administered to low‐skilled domestic workers before and during the pandemic to assess respondents' attitudes toward food production, guest workers, immigration policy, and the government's response to COVID‐19. Results suggest the outbreak resulted in respondents, on average, shifting their view toward food being a national security issue and a higher degree of empathy for H‐2A workers. Regression analysis shows that gender, current agricultural workers, and information on COVID‐19 and agricultural field workers influenced respondents' answers.

AbstractThis paper combines national‐level retail food availability information with data on actual purchases to determine the effect that availability of different types of food stores and income have on fruit and vegetable purchases. The results of our mixed effects analysis suggest that the densities of supermarkets and other retail outlets in metropolitan statistical areas do not have significant effects on household fruit and vegetable purchases. Income, however, has a positive significant effect on fruit and vegetable purchases. Results also indicate that while neither food access nor income account for the variability in fruit and vegetable purchases, the interaction of these terms has a small but significant impact indicating that policy actions designed to address access and affordability issues in isolation are not likely to succeed.