"Sustainably produced" food labels have rapidly grown in popularity over the past decade (Batte 2011). Moreover, because there is no government agency overseeing certification of these production methods, consumers are generally confused about the production attributes that may or may not be...

This paper presents the first known assessment of cheap talk effectiveness in a choice experiment conducted online with a focus on the distinction between impacts on stated willingness to pay at the population mean and in targeted sub-samples. Utilizing a large national survey and split-sample...

This study evaluates consumer perceptions of what “sustainably produced†food labels imply and estimates corresponding demand for products carrying these labels. Results suggest that the typical U.S. consumer is not willing to pay a positive premium for beef, tomatoes, or apple...

Research on payments for environmental services (PES) largely focuses on two contract types – cost-share and annual stewardship payments. But other types of transactions, such as tax credits, green insurance, and price premiums tied to environmental stewardship certification, can also promote...

Dairy policy is a contentious part of farm bill negotiations. The dairy title of the next farm bill has been discussed since 2009 with many novel policy proposals considered. This research utilizes best-worst scenario analysis to analyze dairy farmer preferences for policy options including...

This research evaluates the impact of using different starting conditions in estimating meat demand systems. Results suggest that as the econometric task becomes increasingly nonlinear, specification of starting conditions becomes increasingly important. This work demonstrates implications of...

Food safety concerns have had dramatic impacts on food and livestock markets in recent years. Here we examine consumer preferences for various beef food safety assurances. In particular, we evaluate the extent to which such preferences are heterogeneous within and across country-of-residence...

Replaced with revised version of paper 7/21/09.

Paper replaced with revised version 06/13/08