The impact of consumer demand for quality on the agricultural and food system is an increased emphasis on quality differentiation but not all in the direction of upgrading quality. The more elite market segments are thriving and reaching growing numbers of consumers but the basic price/quality...

The purpose of this study is to identify the level of foodborne illness in the elderly population of the United States and to examine changes over time in these patterns. The analysis is based upon the National Hospital Discharge Survey done by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers...

The three major infant formula manufacturers bid state by state to be the exclusive provider to poor families under the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and all three compete for non-WIC customers at grocery stores. Previous studies explained the low WIC prices and the higher retail...

This paper investigates the impacts of store brands (i.e., private labels) and retail characteristics (scanners, deli, bakery, and pharmacy departments, ATMs, restaurant and store size) on fluid milk prices using 1,740 supermarket-level observations from four cities. Non-parametric results...

The system-wide approach is used to develop an import allocation model based on blockwise dependence. The import demand system is parameterized using the absolute version of the Rotterdam model. Two empirical examples are given to illustrate the approach.

Demand relationships for two closely related products -- grapefruit juice and grapefruit-juice cocktail -- were estimated from grocery-store scanner data to analyze the contention that consumer confusion exists between the two products. Results suggest confusion may exist, with grapefruit-juice...

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three different economic studies that played major roles in the policy debate over the Compact. It draws an important distinction between before-after and counterfactual impact analysis and highlights constraining assumptions in models. Over time the...

Rational choice theory analyzes how an agent can rationally act, given his or her preferences, but says little about where those preferences come from. Instead, pref- erences are usually assumed to be �xed and exogenously given. Building on related work on reasons and rational choice (Dietrich...