Coastal coral reefs, especially in the Florida Keys, are declining at a disturbing rate. Marine ecologists and reef scientists have emphasized the importance of establishing nonmarket values of coral reefs to assess the cost effectiveness of coral reef management and remediation programs. The...

Organic farmers make system-level crop protection decisions that combine complementary insect, disease, nematode, and weed management strategies. Data from a national survey of U.S. organic farmers were used in a multivariate count data model to identify the farm and regional factors influencing...

Fixed search costs associated with locating and purchasing pecans invalidate the Tobit model. Factors such as perceived quality, ease of purchase, and familiarity with marketing outlets influence the fixed costs of pecan purchases. These factors have differing impacts on the probability of...

We examine consistency with economic theory of markup decisions for a risk averse firm facing demand uncertainty. We derive testable comparative static results that describe the influence on the markup of expected demand, demand uncertainty, average variable costs and exogenous demand shifters....

An indirect utility model is employed for measuring farmers willingness to voluntarily accept yield losses for a reduction in environmental risk by decreasing pesticide use. Results support the hypothesis that farmers have self-described risk perceptions that enable them to make assessments of...

The study encompasses an analysis of the variation in speeds of profitability adjustment and accounting bias by developed country and firm size for two important agribusiness industries. Evidence of speeds of profitability adjustment and accounting bias varying by firm size was found in the...

A stochastic frontier model is used to explain the performance evaluation of U.S. university extension providers by organic producers. The model makes explicit the nonmanagerial factors that influence both performance ratings and performance efficiency, defined as achieving a rating as close to...

We evaluate agricultural bank management performance, focusing on the impacts of interstate banking laws on productivity change. The generalized Malmquist productivity index decomposes productivity change into technological change, technical efficiency change, and change in scale economies....

Responses from a national survey of U.S. organic farmers indicated substantial dissatisfaction with the extension service. An ordered probit model was used to identify the factors influencing effectiveness ratings of extension advisors by farmers. This study showed that part time, higher income...

Farmer's willingness to voluntarily reduce insecticide use is not considered when regulatory approaches to environmental protection are proposed. Regulations that require behavior that would voluntarily be undertaken are excessive and economically inefficient. Using survey data from a contingent...