Measurement of quality changes has proven to be an especially difficult aspect of calculating unbiased rates of inflation. We propose a new methodology of capturing quality improvements based on consumer focus groups and apply this methodology in an environment where quality changes might be...

This thesis assesses the methods for pricing heterogeneous assets, with specific examination of the Australian residential real estate market. Each of the three primary methods for controlling for heterogeneity in residential real estate pricing research – median-price analysis, hedonic...

In South Africa various financial institutions and independent vendors have developedresidential property valuation models to estimate the current value of historically tradedproperties. A natural extension to these models has been to develop historical property priceindices. In this...

A time series analysis was performed on medical scheme statistics with the aim of determining current and future demographic and economic trends. This would enable one to reach a better perspective on the current and future financial dilemma presently experienced by medical schemes. Data for the...

The past few years have witnessed the increasing ubiquity ofuser-generated content on seller reputation and product condition inInternet based used-good markets. Recent theoretical models of tradingand sorting in used-good markets provide testable predictions to use toexamine the presence of...

This paper investigates the roles of industrial cluster on the efficiency of rice milling and the improvement of milled rice quality. The data were obtained in Kumasi area, central Ghana because the enhancement of domestic rice production is a urgent policy issue in this country, but little...

The challenge of implementing EU quality and safety standards for food production and trading is one of the driving forces behind the restructuring of the agrofood chains in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). The progress made in the compliance process not only varies amongst sectors...

A repeated-purchases model is developed to explore the fundamental economic factors that lie behind the choice of different quality assurance systems and their associated degrees of stringency by firms. Differences in the quality discoverability of a sought-after attribute, market structure,...

Participants in a supply chain of agricultural value-added products face significant challenges. Many of the costly distinctive traits desired by consumers are difficult (if not impossible) to observe even after consumption. A complicating factor, addressed here, is that in some circumstances...

The Fruit and Vegetables (FV) sector has a relevant and increasing economic value in the EU, accountingfor about 20% of the total value of agricultural production; the Countries with higher significance are Greece, Spainand Italy (from 25% to 35%). Nevertheless the producers are negatively...