The appearance of organic produce is often less than perfect because of limited methods of avoiding plant diseases. We combine hypothetical and real auction mechanisms to investigate how cosmetic damage affects consumers’ willingness to pay for apples. We find that 75% of the participants...

This study used and compared hypothetical conjoint analysis and nonhypothetical experimental auctions to elicit floral customers’ willingness to pay for biodegradable plant containers. The results of the study show that participants were willing to pay a price premium for biodegradable...

The EPA has imposed mandatory refuge requirements for Bt crops to prolong the efficacy of Bt. Growers have no economic incentive to plant the required refuge because refuge crops are on average less productive and more risky. This paper evaluates refuge insurance--insurance that pays indemnities...

A bioeconomic model is developed to evaluate the tradeoff between the risk of resistance and increased productivity when refuge is planted in conjunction with transgenic pesticidal corn. The model is used to evaluate controversial refuge recommendations when producers are allowed to treat refuge...

Final (updated) version posted Dec. 1, 2014

Prices of basic food staples and feed crops have soared in recent years, renewing concerns about the ability of global food supplies to meet the projected growth in aggregate demand. Notwithstanding these concerns, and apparently at odds with a vast body of economic evidence reporting...

Commissioned by the CGIAR Science Council and prepared as a Background Paper for the 2008 World Development Report of the World Bank.

This study investigates worker shares of the returns to scale and returns to technology adoption on U.S. hog farms. The wage analysis controls for a matching process by which workers are linked to farms of different sizes and technology uses. Using four surveys of employees on hog farms...