A variation of the household production theory was used to select relevant explanatory variables for the demand for convenience foods. A convenience food index was used to measure the convenience in food preparation. Because of the nature of the measure of convenience, the tobit regression...

Many countries require labeling for GM food products. These countries often have different levels of genetic modification that they will tolerate before a food product must be labeled as genetically modified. For example, the European Union and Australia allow up to one percent of any ingredient...

Researchers believe that rice in developed countries such as Japan became an inferior good a few decades ago. This study employs the flexible complete demand system for the recent cross-sectional data in Japan. Our results clearly show that rice in Japan is a normal good contrary to the...

Consumers are in general less informed than producers about the quality of agricultural goods. To reduce the information gap, consumers can rely on standards (labels, certifications, geographic indications) that insure quality and origin of the goods. However, these standards do not always fully...

This paper estimates farm household levels of technical efficiency and their determinants in Colombia, with particular reference to political violence (i.e., guerilla fronts, assassinations, kidnappings, and displaced population). An input-oriented stochastic frontier is estimated simultaneously...

We studied consumer demand for more and less healthy breakfast cereals. Using ACNielsen Homescan database and USDA food nutrition data, we developed three cereal nutrition indexes for each household in the data. In addition to the standard demographic characteristics of households and prices, we...

This paper investigates the impact of geographical origin labels on consumers' preferences. Specifically, we consider the preferences of Canadian consumers for extra virgin olive oils marketed with country-of-origin labels (COOL) and geographical indications (GIs). In contrast to previous...

Farm operators are an integral part of some rural economies. The businesses they operate often hire seasonal and full-time employees and purchase goods and services from local farm implement dealers, input suppliers, and financial institutions. Farm household spending on food, furniture and...

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/24/08.

Using insights from economics, pediatrics, psychology, and sociology, this paper examines the effects of income, income inequality, neighborhood characteristics, maternal health, the participation in religious services, breastfeeding, household smoking, and racial/ethnic composition of...