A generalized Heckman model of purchase decisions is estimated incorporating perceived consumer quality attributes, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets as factors influencing pecan purchases. Economic implications for evaluating consumer purchase decisions and the design of...

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...

Widely-used estimators such as the generalized method of moments (GMM) and quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) are not efficient in general. This study shows how the Hausman specification test may easily be corrected to be used with inefficient estimators. It introduces a related test that has better...

We explore the determinants of usage of six different types of health care services, using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, years 1996-2000. We apply a number of models for univariate count data, including semiparametric, semi-nonparametric and finite mixture models. We find...

The travel cost model is frequently used to estimate net willingness to pay for recreation at remote sites by using the visitor's travel costs as a proxy for the price of recreation. However, some concern has been raised over the validity of using the visitor's stated travel costs as a proxy for...