In developing countries, modern production contracts offered by supermarkets or agro-export firms entail a loan component under the form of input advances. Like traditional moneylenders, supermarkets want to make sure that this investment is not diverted. However, unlike moneylenders,...

We examine contracts used in the North American sugarbeet industry. Though quite similar in many respects, the contracts we study vary across processing firms in the set of quality measures used to condition contract payments to growers. This is somewhat surprising given the homogeneous nature...

Widespread malnutrition in developing countries calls for appropriate interventions, presupposing good knowledge about the nutritional impacts of policies. Little previous work has been carried out in this direction. We present a comprehensive analytical framework, which we apply for Malawi....

Nutritional value is an important attribute of foods whose benefits can only be experienced by repetitive consumption in long run. Consumers’ knowledge about the importance and usefulness of specific nutrients in a food product may influence their subjective expectation of the product’s...

This paper provides quantitative estimates of the effect of proximity to fast food restaurants and grocery stores on obesity in urban food markets. Our empirical model combined georeferenced micro data on access to fast food restaurants and grocery stores with data about salient personal...

This study examines the impact of a healthy dining campaign on consumer's menu choices. Four restaurant chains operating in the greater San Diego area participated in the "Treat Yourself Well" (TYW) campaign. Menu entrees, which contain at least 2 servings of fruits and/or vegetables and less...

Data from NHANES are used to analyze the effect of the WIC program on the health of U.S. preschool children's health. A household health production model shows that WIC does improve the health of children, along with a higher poverty income ratio. Region of the country or county is also significant.

Although so-called "Heart Healthy" menu items exist, restaurateurs rarely promote them and consumers seem to avoid them. Still, concerns over obesity and poor nutrition have become priority policy issues. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a social marketing campaign in promoting the sale...

While China's economic reform has brought about significant economic growth, there is a considerable debate about the impact of such market-oriented reform on income and welfare distributions. This paper examines the changes in income and welfare distributions in urban China from 1981 to 1998...

A choice experiment (conjoint analysis) was used to investigate consumer demand for several beef ribeye steak attributes. Respondents indicated that they would prefer a "hormone free" ribeye steak priced up to $6.68/lb. more than a "non-hormone" free ribeye steak. Tenderness was also identified...