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

Adegbola, Patrice Ygue; Adekambi, Souleimane Adeyemi.

In spite of the socio-economic importance of yam, his production is still facing serious constraints as no availability and inadequacy of seed tubers. In order to cope with these constraints, International of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has developed improved varieties of which we have TDrs’ varieties. Many years after their extension in Benin, it’s then important to evaluate their adoption rate and identify factors which determine this adoption. This study’s aim is to contribute to this evaluation. Data used came from 202 yam producers randomly selected in villages pertain to Borgou and Collines’s regions. The framework developed by Reed et al. (1991) and the counterfactual outcomes framework estimating the Average Treatment Effect have been respectively...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Yam; Information; Adoption; ATE; TDrs varieties; Benin; Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95915

Risk, Information, and Trust in the Food Chain: Factors Explaining Consumer Willingness to Pay

Demand for and Value of Credence Characteristics: Case Beef

Latvala, Terhi.

This paper analysed factors contributing to consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for increased quality information. The empirical scope of the study was restricted to beef, because the beef labelling system enables reliable tracing of quality attributes. The results showed that consumer perceptions of specific risks in food partly explain their WTP. Also negative experiences heard from other people increased the probability of WTP. Trust seems to be extremely significant factor in WTP models. This study implies that the majority of the respondents trust the food safety authorities and the co‐operation of all stakeholders in the food chain.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Risk; Trust; Information; Beef; Willingness to pay.; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Industrial Organization; Risk and Uncertainty.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/101282

Latvala, Terhi; Kola, Jukka.

The aim of this study is to evaluate both qualitatively and quantitatively the value of new information about and the information systems set for credence characteristics of beef. Economics of information is our theoretical framework. The quantitative approach focuses to measure the ex ante value of credence characteristics, and the method of contingent valuation is applied for this purpose. Results indicate that 59 % of Finnish consumers are willing to pay more to get information about safety and quality of beef products. Consumers are most concerned with diseases caused by food of animal origin. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not considered as the mosthazardous risk factor in food products. However, if the beef products contain GMOs used in...

CONSUMER FOOD SAFETY BEHAVIOR: A CASE STUDY IN HAMBURGER COOKING AND ORDERING

Palavras-chave: Beef; Information; Credence attributes; Contingent valuation; Willingness to pay; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24841

Starke, Yolanda; Ralston, Katherine L.; Brent, C. Philip; Riggins, Toija; Lin, Chung-Tung Jordan.

More Americans are eating hamburgers more well-done than in the past, according to national surveys. This change reduced the risk of E. coli O157:H7 infection by an estimated 4.6 percent and reduced associated medical costs and productivity losses by an estimated $7.4 million annually. In a 1996 survey, respondents who were more concerned about the risk of foodborne illness cooked and ordered hamburgers more well-done than those who were less concerned. However, respondents who strongly preferred hamburgers less well-done cooked and ordered them that way, even after accounting for their concern about the risk of illness.

Tipo: Report

Palavras-chave: Hamburger doneness; Ground beef; Food safety; Food safety education; E. coli O157:H7; Consumer behavior; Survey; Risk; Foodborne illness; Risk perceptions; Palatability; Information; Microbial pathogens; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/34061

Social Limits to Trust. The Significance of Embeddedness for Consumers Coping with Uncertainty

Dulsrud, Arne; Norberg, Hans Martin.

Except for few studies, not many have analyzed the significance of embeddedness and networks for consumers coping with uncertainty. In our explorative study based on focus groups in Norway and Germany, consumers attitudes to purchasing of seafood are further explored. We find that fish in various contexts is conceived as spooky, which signifies its credence attributes. According to a conversational analysis, we find that consumers classify seafood along various dimensions associated with both health risk and sensory quality. Most salient is the distinction between fresh fish and frozen fish. Whereas frozen fish very seldom entails notions of risk, purchasing of fresh fish evokes scepticism and uncertainty. We discuss strategies among consumers for...

Financial segment reporting in the function of building a motivation and rewarding system

Palavras-chave: Consumers; Trust; Information; Embeddedness; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Risk and Uncertainty.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7760

Gajic, Ljubica; Medved, Ivana.

One of the main factors of a company's business performance is complete mobility and orientation of the employees towards realizing common interests and goals of the company as a whole. Activities aimed at that goal are also related to building a motivation system in the company. One of the means of motivation policy is the system of incentive rewards, where the information input is the calculation of costs and business results of a company, relying on complete tracking of business processes, according to functions, fields and centers of responsibility for achieved success or failure. Profit, as the final financial product of the company's activities, is basically the main activating force for all the employees. Their motivation helps successful...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Organization; Segment; Cost accounting; Information; Motivation; Rewards.; Labor and Human Capital; M41.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/95968

Brand Information Mitigating Negative Shocks on Animal Welfare: Is It More Effective to “Distract” Consumers or Make Them Aware?

Dentoni, Domenico; Tonsor, Glynn T.; Calantone, Roger J.; Peterson, H. Christopher.

To create and sustain a competitive advantage in markets that increasingly value animal welfare attributes, meat companies need to meet public and private production standards while communicating to final consumers through their brands. Data are collected from a representative sample of 460 U.S. residents through an on-line experiment on McDonald’s chicken breast sandwiches and analyzed with Latent Growth Modeling. This study assesses which content of positive brand information effectively mitigates the risk of negative information shocks on animal welfare. On average, brand information has the same positive impact on consumers’ beliefs and attitudes, regardless of whether it is related or unrelated to animal welfare. However, there is strong market...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Animal welfare; Brand; Information; Consumer behavior; Multivariate statistics; Agribusiness; Livestock Production/Industries; Q1.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/96337

Smart Meter Devices and The Effect of Feedback on Residential Electricity Consumption: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Northern Ireland

Gans, Will; Alberini, Anna; Longo, Alberto.

Using a unique set of data and exploiting a large-scale natural experiment, we estimate the effect of real-time usage information on residential electricity consumption in Northern Ireland. Starting in April 2002, the utility replaced prepayment meters with “smart” meters that allow the consumer to track usage in real-time. We rely on this event, account for the endogeneity of price and plan with consumption through a plan selection correction term, and find that the provision of information is associated with a decline in electricity consumption of up to 20%. We find that the reduction is robust to different specifications, selection-bias correction methods and subsamples of the original data. At £15-17 per tonne of CO2e (2009£), the smart meter program...

USING INFORMATIONAL LABELING TO INFLUENCE THE MARKET FOR QUALITY IN FOOD PRODUCTS

Palavras-chave: Residential Energy; Electricity Demand; Feedback; Smart Meter; Information; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q40; Q41; D8.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/108202

Caswell, Julie A.; Mojduszka, Eliza M..

In the United States, the federal government is increasingly using requirements for informational labeling on food products to influence 1) consumers' knowledge and purchasing patterns and 2) manufacturers' product offerings and marketing practices. We discuss the economic rationale behind these regulations and issues related to judging their success or failure.

The Changing Public Role in Services to Agriculture: The Case of Information

Palavras-chave: Food labeling; Food quality; Food safety; Information; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25989

Zezza, Annalisa.

The paper analyzes the changes that have taken place in the nature of agriculture information and their consequences on the public role of related public services with specific regard to process undergoing in the European Union. Increased interest in food quality and food safety issues in a global consumer driven society, together with major attention to environmental and ethical issues related to food production, enlarge both the object of agricultural information and the audience of stakeholders in the food chain and in the general public. Information policy with regard to a multifunctional approach to agriculture, can be finalized to correct three main sources of market failures as access to information, quality and adverse selection and externalities...

Estimating Economic Health Costs of Not Controlling Toxic Water Pollution

Palavras-chave: Information; Public goods; Food quality; Externalities; Public services; Extension; Public Economics.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24902

Easter, K. William; Konishi, Yoshifumi.

The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of information may be important in determining the welfare benefits of preventing toxic water contamination when a given type of toxification occurs (or is likely to occur) in a given setting. It attempts to identify information and behavior issues that need to be considered when policy makers and others wish to obtain reasonable estimates of welfare benefits and weigh them against the economic costs of removing toxins. This paper also provides reasonable "scenarios" for three toxic pollutants that are found in water bodies (surface water or groundwater). We make use of two country alternatives--one in developing countries and the other in developed countries--to demonstrate, with specific examples of...

INFORMATION ASYMMETRY AS A REASON FOR VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Palavras-chave: Welfare costs; Arsenic; Mercury; Atrazine; Information; Water; Environmental Economics and Policy; Health Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25768

Hennessy, David A..

The Effect of Information and Market Access on Adopters' Income Level

Palavras-chave: Vertical integration; Information; Product quality; Agribusiness.

Ano: 1997

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25945

Nwankwo, Uche M.; Wolfgang, Bokelmann.

This paper is aimed at relating income fluctuation with adoptable innovations, adopter category and their access to some variables than those explained in the neoclassical economics principle of labor market demand and supply equilibrium. Using a quantitative and qualitative case study of some farmers in two States, we considered whether respondents are earning enough income and what constraints they face. The von Hipple’s lead user concept and decision model of risk aversion under uncertainty were used to explain causes of variability. Notably, farmers with enough steady income have access to market, various information and are less risk averse.

The Regulatory Choice between a Label and a Minimum-Quality Standard

Palavras-chave: Variability; Information; Income; Adoption; Market.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/48101

Marette, Stephan.

This paper revisits the issue of the regulatory choice between a mandatory label and a minimum-quality standard. When the cost of regulation is relatively low, we show that the socially optimal choice depends on the producers' cost structure for complying with regulation and improving quality. Under a marginal cost for improving quality, the mandatory labeling is sufficient for reaching the socially optimal level of quality. Under a fixed cost for improving quality, we show that each instrument or the combination of both instruments may emerge at the equilibrium.

Uptake of Improved Technologies in the Semi-arid Tropics of West Africa: Why is Agricultural Transformation Lagging Behind?

Palavras-chave: Cost of regulation; Information; Standard; Marketing.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18458

Ndjeunga, Jupiter; Bantilan, Ma Cynthia S..

During the last 3 decades, donors and governments have invested in the development and dissemination of new technologies in the semi-arid tropics of West Africa. Though a wide range of improved technologies has been developed, adoption remains low without a significant impact on crop productivity, rural income and poverty. Agricultural transformation as occurred in East Asia has not yet occurred in the semi-arid tropics of West Africa. This paper uses data from a regional survey of rural households in 3 countries in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger) to identify the determinants of uptake of improved technologies. Limited productivity gain is found to be a major constraint to the uptake of technologies. In addition, poorly functioning...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Institutions; Technology; Markets; Road infrastructure; Information; Agricultural productivity; International Development.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/110146

Looking Beyond the Incumbent: The Effects of Exposing Corruption on Electoral Outcomes

Chong, Alberto E.; De La O, Ana; Karlan, Dean S.; Wantchekon, Leonard.

Does information about rampant political corruption increase electoral participation and the support for challenger parties? Democratic theory assumes that offering more information to voters will enhance electoral accountability. However, if there is consistent evidence suggesting that voters punish corrupt incumbents, it is unclear whether this translates into increased support for challengers and higher political participation. We provide experimental evidence that information about copious corruption not only decreases incumbent support in local elections in Mexico, but also decreases voter turnout, challengers' votes, and erodes voters' identifcation with the party of the corrupt incumbent. Our results suggest that while flows of information are...

Tipo: Working Paper

Palavras-chave: Corruption; Accountability; Elections; Voting; Information; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Political Economy; Public Economics; D72; D73; D82; D83.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/121640

Healthcare Choices, Information and Health Outcomes

Adhvaryu, Achyuta; Nyshadham, Anant.

Self-selection into healthcare options on the basis of severity likely biases estimates of the effects of healthcare choice on health outcomes. Using an instrumental variables strategy which exploits exogenous variation in the cost of formal-sector care, we show that using such care to treat acute sickness decreases the incidence of fever and malaria in young children in Tanzania. Compared to the instrumental variables estimates, ordinary least squares estimates significantly understate the effects of formal-sector healthcare use on health outcomes. Improved information and more timely treatment, rather than greater access to medicines, seem to be the primary mechanisms for this effect.

Health Information Availability and the Consumption of Eggs: Are Consumers Bayesians?

Palavras-chave: Healthcare; Information; Child health; Tanzania; Health Economics and Policy; International Development; I10; I18; O10; O12.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/107257

Chang, Hung-Hao; Just, David R..

This study uses a generalized Bayesian updating model to estimate the impact of health information appearing in the popular media on the consumption of eggs. The framework permits us to explore the possible effects of several known psychological biases in learning. Generalized Bayesian learning allows media publications to have a decaying effect on behavior. Our primary finding is that health information has a significant impact on U.S. egg consumption. Furthermore, the reaction to health information is found to be temporary. Health information will, on average, decay to a point of unimportance in a matter of a few weeks without a constant and consistent stream of confirming information.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Generalized Bayesian model; Health knowledge; Information; Psychological bias; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Health Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/8602

Experimental Evidence on Willingness to Pay for Red Meat Traceability in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan

Dickinson, David L.; Bailey, DeeVon.

We employed Vickrey auctions to generate willingness-to-pay (WTP) data for red meat traceability and related product characteristics with comparable experimental auctions in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Japan. The results show that subjects are willing to pay a nontrivial premium for traceability, but the same subjects show even higher WTP for traceability-provided characteristics like additional meat safety and humane animal treatment guarantees. The implication is that producers might be able to implement traceable meat systems profitably by tailoring the verifiable characteristics of the product to consumer preferences.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Auction experiments; Information; Red meat; Traceability; C90; D44; D80.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43480

The impacts of mobile phone coverage expansion and personal networks on migration: evidence from Uganda

Muto, Megumi.

Personal networks can help rural workers find urban jobs. Moreover, when the information flow increases due to the mobile phone coverage expansion, the new information flow may strengthen the existing personal networks or bypass them, helping those who were previously outside the networks in the latter case. We examine the combined impact of mobile phone coverage expansion and personal networks by using panel data of 856 households in 94 communities in rural Uganda, where the number of communities covered by mobile phone coverage increased from 41 to 87 communities over a two-year period between first and second surveys in 2003 and 2005, respectively. We first find that, when the household head’s ethnicity belongs to a larger ethnic group in Kampala, an...