The main area of focus in this paper is variation across regions and over time in the U.S. as estimated by different food price data sets. There are a variety of potential sources for food price data, but it is important to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of the data sources in...

Contractual breaches are very common in developing countries such as China. In order to prevent breaches of contract, the contractual designs between farmers and agricultural processors (Dragon Head Firms) in China are innovating in two ways: organizational innovations and contractual...

We compare the ability of three preference elicitation methods (hypothetical choices, non-hypothetical choices, and non-hypothetical rankings) and three discrete-choice econometric models (the multinomial logit, the independent availability logit, and the random parameter logit) to predict...

Previous attempts at identifying and estimating a time-varying risk premium in the cocoa futures market yielded conflicting results. Using a longer series that includes the most recent cash and futures data, the existence of a time-varying risk premium in the cocoa futures market is...

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

In this paper we investigate the welfare effects of technological convergence in the food industries. We extend Krugman's (1980) monopolistic competition model to allow for technological differences between two (groups of) countries. Technological convergence is reflected in a narrowing...

Over the past 10 years, the growth of nontraditional retail food outlets has been of the biggest changes in the retail food market landscape. Nontraditional retailers have helped to increase the variety of shopping and food options available to consumers, and also have increased the amount of...

This study examines the market structure-conduct-performance relationship for 48 four-digit SIC Food and Tobacco Processing Industries during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The simultaneous-equation analyses are used to explore the relationship among price-cost margin (PCM), market concentration,...

Organic production, while still a niche market in U.S. agriculture, is growing at a rapid rate. This paper argues that organic producers, particularly those seeking certification to sell at the retail level, share many characteristics with conventional producers who opt for contracting over...

Structural adjustment in less developed countries has often mandated removal of state-run marketing boards to enhance efficiency in the marketing chain and to raise farm income. Concerns have been mounting about the negative side effects of cocoa market liberalization, including replacement of...