The Food Stamp Program (FSP) administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the cornerstone of the U.S. federal income and food safety net policy. The FSP has subsidized the food budget for millions of American households for over forty years, spending more than $60 billion per...

Many economists and others are interested in the phenomenon of rising alcohol content of wine and its potential causes. Has the alcohol content of wine risen—and if so, by how much, where, and when? What roles have been played by climate change and other environmental factors compared with...

The Effects of the Food Stamp Program on Energy Balance and Obesity

type="main" xml:id="ajar12045-abs-0001" <p>Several complicating issues arise in evaluating the returns to research into varietal improvements for perennial crops compared with annual crops. We elucidate and address these issues in the context of a case study of research aiming to develop varieties...</p>

Wine grapes contribute significantly to the economy of California, with a gross production value of more than $2 billion in 2010. Studies on economic issues in the industry require measures of demand response to price, but despite the economic importance of this industry, estimates of...

The sugar content of California wine grapes has increased significantly over the past 10–20 years, and this implies a corresponding increase in the alcohol content of wine made with those grapes. In this paper we develop a simple model of winegrape production and quality, including sugar...

Recent theoretical work suggests that government policies may in°uence the quality mix of a commodity. This paper provides empirical evidence of quality responses to government policies for wheat policy implemented in France. Analysis is conducted using a detailed data set that includes the...

Estimated rates of return to research are distorted by problems of attributing the credit for particular research results, or for particular research-induced productivity increases, among research expenditures undertaken at different times, in different places, and by different agencies. A...

The effects of functional forms for supply and demand on the size and distribution of the returns to research are examined under a range of forms of competition. Under perfect competition, the choice of functional form is relatively unimportant for the estimation of research benefits. Under...