To justify public subsidies for export promotion, export markets must fail to provide incentives for exporters to recognize the benefits of spillover or long-term benefits of promotion. This paper tests for these failures in dynamic dual model for horticultural export supply. Results show...

Widespread obesity in the U.S. is a relatively recent phenomenon, reaching epidemic proportions only in the last 15 years. However, existing research shows that while calorie expenditure through physical activity has not changed appreciably since 1980, calorie consumption has risen dramatically....

Many public programs promote diets rich in fruits and vegetables based on evidence on the derived health benefits. Sill, produce consumption in the U.S. lags behind other nations, even its most culturally similar neighborCanada. This study uses a structural latent variable model to test the role...

Native American obesity and the associated health conditions are generally thought to result in part from a genetic predisposition to overeating fats and carbohydrates, called the "thrifty gene." Although coined by nutritional scientists, this study maintains the origin of the thrifty gene lies...

Government-supported promotion in foreign markets may justified when market failures exist, such as spillover externalities, where promotion of one commodity positively influences exports of another, or when market uncertainties cause planning horizons to be shorter than the persistent effects...

Food safety has become an important issue affecting public health and grower profits. Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are typically accompanied by press accounts of the incident and a decrease in demand. This study estimates the short- and long-run impacts of adverse and positive information...

A structural latent variable model tests the role quality and information play in explaining observed differences in Canadian and U.S. produce consumption (5.0 vs. 3.5 servings/day). Dietary health information is significant in expanding demands. Quality promotes fruit consumption in Canada,...

Contracting directly between produce shippers and retailers is growing in importance. Retailers seek to obtain reliable supplies, while reducing their reliance on recurring market transactions. Producers seek stable prices and market access. These private transactions diminish spot market...

Existing empirical studies do not provide a unifying explanation for retail price fixity. However, economic hysteresis, or the persistence of an economic phenomenon after its initial cause has disappeared, offers a general explanation. Estimates of an empirical model of retail-price hysteresis...

"Commodity promotion" consists of many activities, each designed to contribute to a consumer's product knowledge or influence tastes. However, both knowledge and tastes are unobservable, or latent, variables influencing demand. This paper specifies a dynamic structural model of fresh fruit...