To create and sustain a competitive advantage in markets that increasingly value animal welfare attributes, meat companies need to meet public and private production standards while communicating to final consumers through their brands. Data are collected from a representative sample of 460 U.S....

Labels, certifications and endorsements signaling the quality of food have an impact on the purchasing choices of multiple segments of US consumers. At the same time, not much is known about the relationships between the sources providing information through these quality signals and consumer...

Starting from the generalized notion of a vertical coordination continuum introduced by Williamson and others, the article more specifically defines the nature of the continuum, especially the array of hybrid strategies. The continuum as presented includes five distinct groups of strategy –...

The qualitative and quantitative results of a study undertaken to test a decision framework firms might consider in choosing a vertical coordination strategy are presented. The posited five-step decision making process tested that a change in coordination strategy would occur if and only if a...

This paper provides an empirical validation of the Peterson, Wysocki & Harsh (PWH) framework for coordination strategy decisions, drawing evidence from four firms' procurement strategies in São Paulo's fresh produce markets. The results support the hypothesis that the PWH framework provides...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In the Fall of 1994, researchers in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University identified the following two questions: 1.To what degree (if any) are smaller agribusiness and food industry firms involved in international markets? 2.To what degree (if...

This paper reports the results of market place and consumer research for hard apple cider. The objectives of the research were to determine potential demand for and constraints to the supply of hard apple cider in Michigan. The research was undertaken using on-site and focus group interviews of...

The emergence of biotechnology in crop and livestock applications has been an issue of great controversy. Proponents argue that the potential benefits are dramatic while opponents have raised many concerns about the technology's risks. The Starlink debacle is a prime example of the undesirable...

Transaction cost economics revolutionized economists understanding of coordination strategy decisions, bringing into the economic equation questions of how the attributes of a transaction affect the governance decision, particularly given the reality of bounded rationality and possibility for...

Over the years agricultural technology has created remarkable commodity production growthrates and enhanced general economic growth through food production, manufactured goods and tradefor most nations. Biotechnology holds the promise of continuing this remarkable record. There is a longlist of...