Fixed search costs associated with locating and purchasing pecans invalidate the Tobit model. Factors such as perceived quality, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets influence the fixed costs of pecan purchases. These factors have differing impacts on the probability of...

We examine consistency with economic theory of markup decisions for a risk averse firm facing demand uncertainty. We derive testable comparative static results that describe the influence on the markup of expected demand, demand uncertainty, average variable costs and exogenous demand shifters....

We develop a flexible model to examine competitive conditions in the food retailing industry based on the Box-Cox transformation of the demand and industry equilibrium conditions. The impact of key technological and market developments on shifts in the competitive index is examined. Adoption of...

Farmer's willingness to voluntarily reduce insecticide use is not considered when regulatory approaches toenvironmental protection are proposed. Regulations that require behavior that would voluntarily be undertaken are excessive and economically inefficient. Using survey data from a contingent...

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence earned income of organic farmers explicitly incorporating farmer decisions to engage in local selling. The stochastic frontier model identifies role model producers who are the most technically efficient in achieving the...

In expanding markets, firms face uncertainty about demand response to changing conditions and the appropriate pricing response. Inclusion of retail demand factors in explaining markup decisions by wholesalers is crucial to accurate evaluation of the effects of price and market changes on...

Data from an annual survey of US supermarkets including detailed information on store characteristics, operations, and performance are used to develop an index of Human Resource (HR) practices for food retailers. A stochastic frontier analysis demonstrates that HR policies have a positive impact...

Dual elasticities of substitution from a distance function model of the food retailing establishment are developed based on multiple performance measures integrated with store characteristics, staffing decisions, and employee benefits and incentives. The impacts of organizational and competitive...