Microcredit has expanded rapidly since its beginnings in the last 1970s, but whether and how much it reduces poverty is the subject of intense debate. Generally it depends on how the program is implemented and the set of policies that regulate it. In this spirit, microcredit impacts in the...

Insufficient access to assets is the main determinant of poverty. We analyze the role of access to assets in explaining household labor allocation strategies, sources of income, levels of income achieved, and poverty headcount ratios among classes of Mexican rural households. To assess the gains...

Scientific evidence clearly indicates that consumption of raw milk carries substantialdisease-inducing health risks. While federal U.S. policy mandates that milk moving in interstatecommerce be pasteurized; within 41 of 50 states, raw milk can be obtained for consumption.Warning labels...

The main objective of this paper is to present the most relevant findings obtained from in depthinterviews with processors and retailers about the N&H claimed products market in Serbia. Inour research we addressed the following set of topics: motivations and barriers to offer N&Hclaimed products...

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been proposed as a means to improve U.S. dietand health and generate revenue to address obesity-related issues. A related concern is thatchildren’s intake of SSBs, a third that of milk consumption in the late 1970s, now equals milkconsumption....

With current concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment, there is an increasing expectation that products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified. Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may...

This paper is based on an ongoing joint work with David Sahn and Xiaobo Zhang.

Coffee consumption in China is increasing rapidly over the recent years. This study offers one of the few initial attempts to not only understand general consumption behavior associated with Chinese coffee, but to explore the viability of niche markets for coffee with the credence attribute...

There is a widely held view that off-farm income in developing countries tends to reduce poverty, leading to the conclusion that policies should focus on the further diversification of income options of rural households. However, much off-farm employment might be initiated rather as a survival...

An increasing number of studies deals with consumer decisions regarding organic food, but only a few provide quantitative estimates of price and income elasticities. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing own-price elasticity estimates as well as an analysis of the...