As the public expenditure for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - formerly the Food Stamp Program (FSP) - increases, improving the effectiveness of the policy becomes pivotal to limit further surges in public spending. Along with social stigma, transaction costs, associated in...

In the last two decades the Italian food retail landscape has changed considerably also thanks to the LD 114/1998 and subsequent trade liberalization laws. In this study, we investigate the impact of LD 114/1998 on the structure of the Italian food retailing industry and on the food and beverage...

While consumer’s demand for foods delivering health benefits, or functional foods, increases, Reg.No.1924/2006, imposes to food manufacturers in the European market stringent criteria for health claims approval. Facing this trade-off, manufacturers need to assess which claim is more likely to...

This paper analyses factors affecting the likelihood of farmers to participate in short supply chains to market their products. While in literature participation in farmers markets is often emphasised as a re-action to mainstream production strategies, mainly imposed by large retailer,...

Despite the significant interest shown by academics as to investigating the market of functional foods, little empirical research has used market data to infer on the characteristics of functional foods’ consumers via demand analysis. Using a discrete choice (nested-logit) model and scanner...

The debate around the healthfulness of food choices for low-income households is still a relevant point of contention for policymakers as they aim to provide tools to incentivize consumption of healthier foods in different ways. Using fluid milk as a case study, and one year of household- level...

The continued growth and success of farmers markets (FMs) across the US leads one to question whether this outlet can help reduce limited food access via farmers directly meeting consumer needs. To date, however, few analyses have assessed the economic forces determining their existence....

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer worldwide, has been suspected of exercising market power over input providers, both merchandise suppliers and workers. However, in spite of a growing body of literature investigating the beneficial economic impact of the company through its price-lowering effect,...

This paper measures the degree of monopsony power exerted by Wal-Mart over retail workers using a dominant-firm model and data on contiguous U.S. counties where the company operates, presenting for the first time a measure of the anti-competitive behavior of the company. Empirical results show...