Labels address a market failure—asymmetric information—through costly expenditures borne by consumers, firms, and taxpayers. In this review, we explore when mandatory and voluntary labeling policies may be socially optimal. Although the analysis ostensibly revolves around simple comparisons...

ABSTRACT We analyze recent and intended transactions of used farm equipment and find the quality of buyers' relationships with local equipment dealers influences whether their most recent purchase came from an Internet source and whether they will consider future purchases from Internet sources....

The US Department of Agriculture applies a cost-of-illness approach to value reductions in morbidity, which may understate the projected benefits from proposed food-safety improvements by ignoring costs such as pain, suffering and worry. We use a national survey with a hypothetical food-choice...

I compare the risk attitudes of a large, representative sample of farmers to representative samples of the general population and of non-farm small business owners using a robust survey measure of risk tolerance. I find no difference between farmers and the general population in average risk...

We find sale prices and net revenues received by sellers in the Midwestern club pig market are higher at traditional face-to-face auctions than at comparable Internet auctions. The comparison overcomes adverse selection issues that commonly plague such analyses by using data from sellers that...

Results of a nationally representative survey of US farmers link previously validated survey measures of risk aversion and interpersonal trust to farmers’ intended use of online venues for transacting used equipment. Other factors affecting online purchase propensity includes the quality of...

Vaccines against several common foodborne pathogens are being developed and could substantially alter the policy tools available to address foodborne illness. However, little analysis is available to suggest how social welfare would be affected by these new vaccines. To address this void, we use...

We provide a systematic examination of the differences between Internet and in-person auction prices for used tractors. A hedonic model estimated with transactions pooled between eBay and in-person auctions reveals statistically distinct price surfaces for the two auction venues and predicts...