SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Rickertsen, Kyrre; Tegene, Abebayehu; Huffman, Sonya Kostova; Huffman, Wallace E..

Replaced with revised version of paper 11/29/06.

AGRICULTURE IN AN ECOSYSTEMS FRAMEWORK

Palavras-chave: Health Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18211

Aillery, Marcel P.; Hrubovcak, James; Kramer, Carol S.; Shoemaker, Robbin A.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

By broadening the definition of an ecosystem to include economic activities, can we better characterize the interactions and relationships among agricultural activities and important indicators of ecological system health? This paper addresses research approaches for assessing the role of agriculture in an ecosystems context. Environmental regulation and resource management policies have heightened the interest in understanding interactions among agricultural activities and the natural resource base, including the impacts of agriculture on environmental quality and the impacts on agriculture of ecosystem restoration efforts. What are the most meaningful indicators of environmental quality? Which agricultural practices and policies should be considered,...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/31398

The Economics of Obesity-Related Mortality among High Income Countries

Huffman, Wallace E.; Huffman, Sonya Kostova; Tegene, Abebayehu; Rickertsen, Kyrre.

The high and rapidly rising adult obesity rates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are associated with major health risks, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancer; large health care costs; and premature deaths annually. For example, the death rate from diabetes mellitus has been rising in the U.S. In contrast, death rates from circulator diseases have a strong negative trend, but rising obesity rates almost certainly have slowed this trend. This paper focuses on obesity-related mortality from diabetes and circulatory diseases and establishes the econometric underpinning of an aggregate household health production function and an aggregate household health supply function using data for 15...

BETTER DEAD THAN GM-FED? INFORMATION AND THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMERS' RESISTANCE TO GM-FOODS IN HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES

Palavras-chave: Health; Over nutrition; Obesity; Obesity-related mortality; High income countries; Economic factors; Household models; Food prices; Health Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25567

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

This paper addressed the puzzling resistance of Presidents of southern African countries to food aid in 2002, given near certain starvation and long-term negative health effects of malnutrition of their constituents. First, I show that NGOs led by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are disseminating information claiming that GM foods are dangerous to human health and are "Frankenfoods." Second, people in European Union countries, who are not in any danger of starvation, have strong preferences for non-GM foods, which they can easily afford. Over the long term, however, the tastes of EU consumers matter to southern African countries because some of these countries hope to export agricultural products in the future. GM-food aid, which most likely would...

U.S. FRESH PRODUCE MARKETS: MARKETING CHANNELS, TRADE PRACTICES, AND RETAIL PRICING BEHAVIOR

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18208

Dimitri, Carolyn; Tegene, Abebayehu; Kaufman, Phillip R..

Retail consolidation, technological change in production and marketing, and growing consumer demand for produce have altered the traditional market relationships between producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Increasingly, produce suppliers are asked to provide additional marketing services and incentives in exchange for volume purchases and other commitments by buyers. This report synthesizes the results from a multiphase project that examined the dynamics of produce marketing, the produce shipper-retailer relationship, and how changes in the produce market affect the relative market influence of producers, retailers, and consumers.

CONSUMERS' RESISTANCE TO GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS IN HIGH INCOME COUNTRIES: THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN AN UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENT

Palavras-chave: Fresh fruits and vegetables; Fresh produce; Fresh produce marketing channels; Supermarket; Market power; Competition; Trading practices; Crop Production/Industries; Industrial Organization.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/33907

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

This paper examines the market characteristics that push consumers in high income countries to resist GM foods, with an emphasis on negative information from environmental groups and third-party, verifiable information. For this study, unique data were collected from adult consumers in the United States who participated in laboratory auctions of three food types with randomly assigned labeling and information treatments. Using U.S. consumers is important because U.S. consumers are generally supportive of GM foods and free from the BSE "food scare" fears and bias towards "natural" that are hypothesized to lead Europeans to reject GM foods. Key findings are that negative GM-product information supplied by environmental groups pushes some consumers out of...

THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION ON CONSUMER DEMAND FOR BIOTECH FOODS: EVIDENCE FROM EXPERIMENTAL AUCTIONS

Palavras-chave: Consumer/Household Economics.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25837

Tegene, Abebayehu; Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F..

Consumers' willingness to pay for food products decreases when the food label indicates that a food product is produced with the aid of modern biotechnology. This bulletin presents empirical evidence on consumers' willingness to pay for biotech foods based on the presence or absence of labels advising that the food was prepared with the aid of biotechnology. The authors designed and conducted an experimental auction to elicit consumers' willingness to pay for "genetically modified" (GM)-labeled and standard-labeled foods under different information regimes. The evidence gathered for vegetable oil, tortilla chips, and potatoes shows that labels matter. In particular, under all information treatments, consumers discounted food items labeled "GM" by an...

Tipo: Report

Palavras-chave: Biotech; Bioengineering; Biotechnology; Food labels; Auctions; Experimental economics; Random nth price; Willingness to pay; Demand and Price Analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/33577

SHOULD THE UNITED STATES INITIATE A MANDATORY LABELING POLICY FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS?

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

In many countries, including those in the European Union, Japan, Australia, and China, labeling is required for foods that contain genetically modified material. Other countries, including the United States, do not require mandatory labeling of GM foods. The United States, however, does allow firms to voluntarily label their products as non-GM. This raises the question of whether a mandatory labeling or voluntary labeling policy is more efficient. Proponents of voluntary labeling policies say they are less expensive, because only the firms that wish to label their products must incur the labeling costs. In a mandatory labeling regime, all firms would need to incur additional costs, whether the costs are due to product testing, label design,...

THE VALUE TO CONSUMERS OF GM FOOD LABELS IN A MARKET WITH ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION: EVIDENCE FROM EXPERIMENTAL AUCTIONS

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19857

Huffman, Wallace E.; Shogren, Jason F.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

With the controversy over genetically modified (GM) foods continuing to grow, there has been a major push for mandatory labeling of GM foods by consumer advocacy and environmental groups in the United States. These groups maintain that consumers would benefit from labels. Other groups think that requiring mandatory GM food labels would be too costly, or could confuse consumers. Currently the United States has voluntary labeling policy for GM foods, but several other countries require mandatory labeling. Implementing a mandatory labeling policy in the United States would involve costs, both variable and fixed, and would have benefits. This paper presents empirical evidence on consumers' willingness to pay for foods with and without GM labels using...

Taxing Snack Foods: What to Expect for Diet and Tax Revenues

Palavras-chave: Consumer/Household Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20553

Kuchler, Fred; Tegene, Abebayehu; Harris, James Michael.

Health researchers and health policy advocates have proposed levying excise taxes on snack foods as a possible way to address the growing prevalence of obesity and overweight in the United States. Some proposals suggest higher prices alone will change consumers' diets. Others claim that change will be possible if earmarked taxes are used to fund an information program. This research examines the potential impact of excise taxes on snack foods, using baseline data from a household survey of food purchases. To illustrate likely impacts, we examine how much salty snack purchases might be reduced under varying excise tax rates and possible consumer price responses. We find that relatively low tax rates of 1 cent per pound and 1 percent of value would not...

Tipo: Report

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Public Economics.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/33607

WHO DO CONSUMERS TRUST FOR INFORMATION: THE CASE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

To be effective, groups that disseminate information need the trust of consumers. When multiple groups provide conflicting information on a new product or process like GM-foods, consumers place different levels of trust in the various sources. We present a model of the contributions of personal and social capital of a consumer, and test a multinominal logit model of relative trust in five different sources of information on genetic modification using a unique data set. Among our findings is that an increase in consumer's education lowers the probability of trusting information from government, private industry/organizations, consumer and environmental groups, or other sources relative to information from an independent, third-party source, and...

AGRICULTURAL LAND USE CHOICE: A DISCRETE CHOICE APPROACH

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18205

Claassen, Roger; Tegene, Abebayehu.

A discrete choice model and site-specific data are used to analyze land use choices between crop production and pasture in the Corn Belt. The results show that conversion probabilities depend on relative returns, land quality, and government policy. In general it is found that landowners are less inclined to remove land from crop production than to convert land to crop production.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Land Economics/Use.

Ano: 1999

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/31490

OBESITY AND NUTRIENT CONSUMPTION: A RATIONAL ADDICTION?

Richards, Timothy J.; Patterson, Paul M.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

This study tests for a rational addiction to food nutrients as a potential explanation for the obesity epidemic. A random coefficients (mixed) logit model applied to household scanner data finds evidence of a strong, forward-looking addiction to carbohydrates. Consequently, price-based policies may be effective in controlling excessive nutrient intake.

DOES EXTENSION WORK? IMPACTS OF A PROGRAM TO ASSIST LIMITED-RESOURCE FARMERS IN VIRGINIA

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20079

Akobundu, Eberechukwu; Alwang, Jeffrey Roger; Essel, Albert E.; Norton, George W.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

Qualitative evidence suggests that 1890 institutions play a significant role in delivering extension information to limited-resource, particularly minority, farmers. However, there is little empirical evidence of economic impacts of public investments in 1890 extension programs. This paper quantifies the economic impacts of the 2501 extension program for limited resource farmers in Virginia.

ARE US CONSUMERS TOLERANT OF GM FOODS?

Palavras-chave: Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession.

Ano: 2003

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/22091

Rousu, Matthew C.; Huffman, Wallace E.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

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 in a food product to be GM before the product must be labeled as genetically modified. Japan allows 5% of any ingredient to be genetically modified before the product must be labeled as such. The United States currently does not require mandatory labeling of GM labeled foods and has no standards for what percentage of an ingredient in a food product can be genetically modified for the product to still be labeled non-GM. For the official "organic"...

ARE U.S. CONSUMERS TOLERANT OF GM FOODS?

Palavras-chave: Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/19889

Rousu, Matthew C.; Huffman, Wallace E.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

Genetically modified (GM) foods have caused many controversies. One important controversy relates to tolerance - the impurity rate that is tolerated before a commodity must be labeled as genetically modified. Currently, the United States does not have a specific tolerance or threshold level for GM foods. This paper uses experimental auctions to determine consumers' acceptance of non-GM foods with zero, 1 percent, and 5 percent tolerance for genetically modified material. Our results indicate that consumers would pay less for food that tolerates GM material, but the discount is not significantly different for foods with 1-percent and 5-percent GM content.

The Effects of Prior Beliefs and Learning on Consumers' Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods

Palavras-chave: Genetically modified (GM) foods; Contamination thresholds; Laboratory auctions; Nth-price auction; Vegetable oil; Tortilla chips; Russet potatoes; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18227

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

In most environments, information is critical to consumers' decision making. Consumers have prior beliefs about quality and price of goods and services and obtain new information which is used to update these prior beliefs or to form posterior beliefs, i.e., Bayesian learning. New food products made from herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant crops using bioengineering, have appeared in U.S. supermarkets starting in 1996. The objective of this paper is to examine in depth the role of consumerï¿½s prior beliefs about genetic modification and of diverse, new information on their willingness to pay for foods that might be genetically modified. One hypothesis is that prior beliefs matter and, second, consumers give less weight to information from interested...

Investing in People: Assessing the Economic Benefits of 1890 Institutions

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18231

Tegene, Abebayehu; Effland, Anne; Ballenger, Nicole; Norton, George W.; Essel, Albert E.; Larson, Gerald; Clarke, Winfrey.

The report examines the historical USDA funding levels of 1890 institutions; discusses the outcomes of these investments and potential measurable indicators of these outcomes; and outlines a conceptual model for estimating returns to investment in education tailored to particularities of the 1890's.

Tipo: Report

Palavras-chave: 1890s; Land grant universities; Human capital; Extension service; Agricultural research; Research funding; Labor and Human Capital; Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/33548

SHOULD THE UNITED STATES REGULATE MANDATORY LABELING FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS?

Huffman, Wallace E.; Rousu, Matthew C.; Shogren, Jason F.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

Public debate continues over whether the United States should regulate genetically modified (GM) foods by imposing a mandatory labeling policy. This paper develops a model that shows that a voluntary GM-labeling policy results in higher welfare than a regulated mandatory GM-labeling policy, if consumers can accurately read the signals in each market. We then develop an experiment that shows consumers behave as if they can accurately identify signals for GM foods. Our model and results support the perspective that the United States has been prudent in fending off calls for regulations demanding a mandatory GM-labeling policy.

Obesity and Nutrient Consumption: A Rational Addiction?

Palavras-chave: Genetically modified foods; Mandatory labeling; Voluntary labeling; Laboratory auctions; Nth-price auction; Vegetable oil; Tortilla chips; Russet potatoes; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18215

Richards, Timothy J.; Patterson, Paul M.; Tegene, Abebayehu.

Widespread obesity in the U.S. is a relatively recent phenomenon, reaching epidemic proportions only in the last 15 years. However, existing research shows that while calorie expenditure through physical activity has not changed appreciably since 1980, calorie consumption has risen dramatically. Consequently, any explanation of obesity must address the reason why consumers tend to overeat in spite of somewhat obvious future health implications. This study tests for an addiction to food nutrients as a potential explanation for the obesity epidemic. Specifically, we use a random coefficients (mixed) logit model applied to household scanner data to test a multivariate version of the rational addiction model of Becker and Murphy and Chaloupka. We find evidence...