As an increasing number of consumers shift to demand products on the basis on production practices, animal welfare protocols, human rights initiatives, it is becoming important that we develop new tools for evaluating the decision-making frameworks in the ethical products market place. This...

This paper assesses the potential for function based benefit transfer to inform farmland preservation policy, with emphasis on distinctions between welfare estimation and policy prioritization. Data are drawn from a parallel choice experiments implemented in six communities and statewide in...

According to Ricardian rent theory, the value of farm assets is equal to the discounted present value of future expected net rents from farm returns, and the discounted expected value of the land if converted to nonfarm development. Some recent research has considered modifying this standard...

We build upon international trade literature to analyze the direction of causality between market participation and productivity. Cross-country household data from Tanzania, Vietnam and Guatemala are used in a 2SLS approach with market participation and productivity as endogenous variables....

Phytase represents a potential win/win management practice for non-ruminant producers since it can reduce the need for phosphorous supplementation and also result in lower phosphorous runoff. Cost of phytase has decreased and cost of phosphorous has increased. The reported adoption rate for...

Using a model of vertical product differentiation, we show under what institutional circumstances welfare gains will be maximized as economies integrate and harmonize labeling and certification policies for credence goods. Specifically, we show that harmonized mandatory, exclusive discrete...

Replaced with revised version of paper 10/17/08.

A canvass of the resource economics literature of the last thirty years yields a limited number of applications of economic theory to the problems of recreational fishing, especially compared to the depth of contributions to commercial fisheries over this era. This neglect may be linked to the...

This study integrates theoretical and empirical models to facilitate understanding of human obesity and the factors contributing to rising obesity in Russia during the transition from a planned to a market economy. Recent individual level data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for...

The organic market sector is one of the fastest growing food sectors in the United States with growth rates in organic food sales averaging 17 percent per year between 1998 and 2006. The largest segment within the organic market is fresh produce, comprising 34 percent of retail sales in 2006. To...