We employed Vickrey auctions to generate willingness-to-pay (WTP) data forred meat traceability and related product characteristics with comparableexperimental auctions in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Japan. Theresults show that subjects are willing to pay a nontrivial premium fortraceability, but the same subjects show even higher WTP fortraceability-provided characteristics like additional meat safety and humaneanimal treatment guarantees. The implication is that producers might be ableto implement traceable meat systems profitably by tailoring the verifiablecharacteristics of the product to consumer preferences.

We model the interaction of off-farm work and adoption of agriculturaltechnologies and the impact of adopting these technologies on farm householdincome from on farm and off-farm sources after controlling for suchinteraction, and estimate the model for the case of adoption ofherbicide-tolerant (HT) soybeans using a nationwide survey of soybean farmsfor 2000. We find that adoption of HT soybeans is positively andsignificantly related to off-farm household income for U.S. soybean farmers,after controlling for other factors. In addition, while on-farm householdincome is not significantly related to adoption, total household incomeincreases significantly with adoption.

We combine econometric and financial analyses of the NAHMS 2000 Swine Surveydata to examine whether evidence exists for reducing risk by usingantibiotics for growth promotion (AGP) in the U.S. swine industry. Astochastic dominance analysis of alternative lengths of time (days) of AGPapplication reveals that AGP used in the range of 65–75 days is preferred byrisk-averse producers. Risk is reduced and profits are increased from use ofAGP. The combined impacts of increased average daily gain and decreasedvariability in pig live weight increase producer profits by $2.99 per pigmarketed.

This study identified the factors that influenced whether farmers in theSoutheastern United States perceived an improvement in environmental qualityfrom adopting precision farming technologies (PFTs). Farmers with largerfarms or higher yields were more likely to believe that they observedpositive externalities associated with PFTs. Farmers who found PFTsprofitable or who believed input reduction was important had higherprobabilities whereas those with higher incomes or who were more dependenton farm income were less likely to perceive such benefits. Interestingly,the importance of environmental quality and length of time using PFTs werenot found to affect the probability of perceiving an improvement inenvironmental quality.

This study uses a hedonic property price method to estimate how wetlandsaffect residential property values in a rural area. The study utilizeswetland inventory data coupled with extensive property sales records betweenJanuary 2000 and September 2004 from Carteret County, NC. Our resultsindicate that i) a higher wetland percentage within a quarter mile of aproperty, ii) closer proximity to the nearest wetland, and iii) larger sizeof the nearest wetland are associated with lower residential propertyvalues. These results contrast with previous hedonic studies that use datafrom urban areas, which found positive associations between wetlands andproperty values. The amenity value of wetlands appears to depend at least asmuch on the characteristics of the area being considered as it does on thecharacteristics of the wetlands.

The effects of various supply and demand shifts on beef price, quantity, andindustry welfare have been widely studied under the assumption of beefquality homogeneity. In this paper, we construct a model of the beef sectorthat incorporates differences in beef quality. The model is used to analyzethe effect of supply and demand shifts on changes in prices and quantitiesof high- and low-quality beef and changes in revenue accruing to producersof high- and low-quality beef. Model results indicate that supply and demandshocks have the potential to alter the average quality of beef on the marketand the price premium charged for high-quality beef, which has importantimplications for retailers selling quality-differentiated beef and producersselling cattle on a grid.

Whereas consumer theory employs several different empirical specificationsfor estimating indirect utility functions, producer theory has relied on theTranslog specification to estimate the indirect production function. In thispaper, we apply Lewbel's more general functional specification andinvestigate its implications for the estimation of indirect productionfunctions in productivity analysis. An attractive feature of the Lewbelmodel is that it nests both the Translog and the almost ideal supply system,offering a method to assess the empirical validity of all threespecifications. Aggregate U.S. production data are used to examine theperformance of the three models in an empirical application.

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is employed as an aid in improving instruction and determining faculty teaching effectiveness. However, economic theory indicates the existence of externalities in SET scores that directly influence their interpretation. As a test of this existence, a multinomial-choice, ordered data estimation procedure is employed to identify course externalities influencing SET. These externalities include student class standing, required courses, class size, days a class meets, class meeting time, classroom location, and classroom design. Results indicate that externalities have a significant impact on teaching evaluations. Thus, failure to internalize these externalities will lead to biases in SET and questionable use of SET as an aid in instruction improvement and determining faculty effectiveness.

Environmental and consumer groups have called for mandatory labeling ofgenetically engineered (GE) food products in the United States, stating thatconsumers have the “right to know.” Herein, we use a nonhypothetical fieldexperiment to examine the willingness to pay for GE-labeled products, usingthe only second-generation GE product currently on the U.S. market—GEcigarettes. Our results suggest consumers pay less for GE-labeled cigaretteswhen marketing information is absent. But, when presented with marketinginformation on the attributes of the cigarette, we find no evidence thatconsumers pay less for GE-labeled cigarettes.

Job satisfaction is likely the most studied work-related attitude and isassumed to influence a variety of behaviors. This study analyzes the jobsatisfaction of agricultural employees using Herzberg's theory, which isbroadly employed in management. Fourteen horticultural businessesparticipated in case studies of labor-management practices. Fifteennonsupervisory employee interviews were analyzed regarding job satisfaction.Components of job satisfaction relevant to horticultural employees werefamily-business values, achievement, recognition, work itself, involvement,personal life, interpersonal relationships, job security, supervision,working conditions, organization, safety, compensation, and information.While support for Herzberg's theory is weak, it is useful for classifyingemployees' attitudes.

The probability of a business paying various amounts of money for ane-commerce presence ultimately depends on demographic features, experienceswith e-commerce from a buyer's and seller's perspective, technologicalexpertise, and knowledge of e-commerce opportunities and limitations.Estimating functions to assign probabilities associated with the willingnessto pay for an e-commerce presence will assist in forecasting regionallikelihood of certain profiles paying various monetary amounts for ane-commerce presence. In addition, if services are provided at no cost by athird party, value to a society will be maximized by selecting profiles withthe highest willingness to pay.

We analyze the effects of crop insurance and the Marketing Loan Program onoptimal nitrogen use and acreage allocation for a case cotton–sorghum farmin Texas. A mathematical programming model is used to solve for the optimalnitrogen fertilizer rate, crop acreage allocation, coverage level, and priceelection factor, along with participation in the crop insurance and theMarketing Loan Program for both crops. Results show that depending on thecrop and farmer risk aversion, these federal risk management programsincrease or decrease optimal fertilizer rates –6% to 3%, increase optimalcotton acreage 94% to 144%, and decrease sorghum acres up to 50%.

This paper reports results from a U.S. national telephone survey ongenetically modified foods (vegetable oil, cornflakes, and salmon). Thesurvey featured a contingent valuation in which respondents chose betweenthe GM and non-GM alternatives with an option of indifference. The binomialand multinomial logit models yielded estimated willingness to pay (WTP) toavoid the GM alternatives. Respondents were willing to pay 20.9%, 14.8%,28.4%, and 29.7% of the base prices to avoid GM vegetable oil, GMcornflakes, GM-fed salmon, and GM salmon, respectively. The inclusion ofindifference option could increase the sample size and moderate the meanWTP.