Using a stochastic frontier approach, this paper explores efficiency in the commissioning of publicly funded social services among 148 English Councils through a six-year panel database (2002-2007), covering institutional and community care. Our estimates provide key policy evidence in a context...

This paper examines how the aging population affects the generosity of public long-term care (LTC) in Sweden. Theoretically, aging has a direct effect on LTC policy because the elderly become a more important voter group. However, concerns for other citizens may dampen the political importance...

This study provides a quantitative estimate of grain that would be available for biofuel production under different scenarios of dietary requirements in the world in 2050 based on the projected information available in 2007 on population, productivity increase, dietary requirements, and land use...

Biofuel policy in the United States sets minimum use mandates for different biofuels, but the cellulosic mandate, introduced in 2010 has been waived and reduced to nearly zero since then. This waiver has shifted the burden of compliance to other biofuels, but other options exist. We examine some...

We review issues concerning the use of state trading enterprises (STEs) as a non-tariff measure in importing countries. We focus on a tariff equivalent measure that captures the main features of markets where STEs are used, and we identify the factors that influence tariff equivalent effect. We...

This paper investigates how regulation impinged on the launch strategies of international pharmaceutical corporations for new molecules across the main OECD markets between 1960–2008. Comprehensive IMS data is used to analyze the international diffusion of 845 molecules from 14 different...

We examine whether differences exist in the prevailing salary structures for doctorate-granting economics and agricultural economics departments at public, land-grant universities in the United States. Within a sample of 440 economists and 375 agricultural economists, we find that economics...

The 2008 Farm Bill created the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program to be a new commodity support program. Using a multinomial logit model to analyze a mail survey administered before the ACRE sign-up deadline, we identify factors driving farmer intentions regarding ACRE participation....

The pressure to find solutions for high rates of obesity and overweight in the U.S. population has led industry groups to introduce voluntary front-of-package (FOP) nutritional labeling for beverages. This research examines the impact of these labels on consumers' perceptions of the healthiness...

Parameters that characterize markets for livestock feed ingredients and inform an increasing array of policies motivated by a range of environmental, market, and animal disease issues are largely absent from the literature, which necessitates the use of often misleading assumptions in analyses...