Over the past ve decades in the United States both total medical expenditures and the proportion of medical expenditures nanced with public funds have increased sig- nicantly. A substantial increase in the prevalence of obesity has contributed to this growth. In this study we measure the...

Many commentators have claimed that farm subsidies have contributed significantly to the ―obesity epidemic‖ by making fattening foods relatively cheap and abundant and, symmetrically, that taxing ―unhealthy‖ commodities or subsidizing ―healthy‖ commodities would contribute to...

Selected Paper presented at the 57th annual conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, Sydney, February 5-8, 2013.

How much has food abundance, attributable to U.S. public agricultural R&D, contributed to the high and rising U.S. obesity rates? In this paper we investigate the effects of public investment in agricultural R&D on food prices, per capita calorie consumption, adult body weight, obesity, public...

Since 2000, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), has spent approximately $40 million per year to contain and control the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter (GWSS), which spreads Pierce’s Disease (PD). Compliance with the program has cost the nursery industry approximately $7...

Powdery mildew (PM) is a fungal disease that damages many crops, including grapes. In California, wine, raisin, and table grapes contributed over $3.8 billion to the value of California’s farm production in 2011 (California Department of Food and Agriculture, 2012). Grape varieties with...

Since 2000, approximately $50 million per year has been spent to control infestations of the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (GWSS), an insect that spreads Pierce’s Disease (PD). This amount includes the costs of state and federal efforts to monitor and control the GWSS, research on PD/GWSS,...