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

Antoci, Angelo; Sabatini, Fabio; Sodini, Mauro.

This paper addresses two hot topics of the contemporary debate, social capital and economic growth. Our theoretical analysis sheds light on decisive but so far neglected issues: how does social capital accumulate over time? Which is the relationship between social capital, technical progress and economic growth in the long run? The analysis shows that the economy may be attracted by alternative steady states, depending on the initial social capital endowments and cultural exogenous parameters representing the relevance of social interaction and trust in well-being and production. When material consumption and relational goods are substitutable, the choice to devote more and more time to private activities may lead the economy to a “social poverty trap”,...

Decoupled Programs, Payment Incidence, and Factor Markets: Evidence from Market Experiments

Palavras-chave: Economic Growth; Technical Progress; Social Interactions; Social Capital; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; A13; D03; O43; Z13.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50401

Bastian, Christopher T.; Nagler, Amy M.; Menkhaus, Dale J.; Ehmke, Mariah D.; Whitaker, James B.; Young, C. Edwin.

We use laboratory market experiments to assess the impact of asymmetric knowledge of a per-unit subsidy and the effect of a decoupled annual income subsidy on factor market outcomes. Results indicate that when the subsidy is tied to the factor as a per-unit subsidy, regardless of full or asymmetric knowledge for market participants, subsidized factor buyers distribute nearly 22 percent of the subsidy to factor sellers. When the subsidy is fully decoupled from the factor, as is the case with the annual payment, payment incidence is mitigated and prices are not statistically different from the no-policy treatment.

Climate Change and Individual Decision Making: An Examination of Knowledge, Risk Perception, Self-interest and Their Interplay

Palavras-chave: Laboratory market experiments; Agricultural subsidies; Subsidy incidence; Land market; Ex ante policy analysis; Agricultural and Food Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Q18; D03; C92.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/104108

Determinants of Meats Purchase Behavior by Ethnic Groups

Pongiglione, Francesca.

In this essay, three separate yet interconnected components of pro-environmental decision making are considered: (a) knowledge, in the form of basic scientific understanding and procedural knowledge, (b) risk perception, as it relates to an individual’s direct experience of climate change and (c) self-interest, either monetary or status-driven. Drawing on a variety of sources in public policy, psychology, and economics, I examine the role of these concepts in inducing or discouraging pro-environmental behavior. Past researches have often overemphasized the weight of just one of those variables in the decision making. I argue, instead, that none of them alone is capable of bringing about the behavioral change required by the environmental crisis. Evidence...

Tipo: Working Paper

Palavras-chave: Individual Behavior; Climate-Change; Psychology; Uncertainty; Environmental Economics and Policy; D03; D80; Q00.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/119094

Garcia-Jimenez, Carlos I.; Mishra, Ashok K..

Farmers and food companies need to assess their production and marketing strategies for nurturing business opportunities that will arise from the simultaneous increase in population and income of Hispanics in the United States. Previous studies on demand for meat products have not received much attention on the determinants of meats purchase behavior by Hispanics in relation to other ethnic groups. This study investigates the impact of ethnicity and the determinants of meats purchase behavior in the U.S. by using single Probit equations. The analyzed data comes from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey. The results indicate that ethnicity plays an important role in the purchase behavior of meat products, as well as household size and income.

WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE MEAT WE EAT IS SAFE?

Palavras-chave: Consumer behavior; Marketing; Food demand; Hispanic food; Hispanic food market; Latin foods; Comida latina; Alimentos; Ethnic foods; Agribusiness; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Industrial Organization; Marketing; D01; D03; D12; L14; L66; M31; M37.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61073

Erdem, Seda; Rigby, Dan; Wossink, Ada.

We report results of an analysis of the attribution of relative responsibility across the stages of the food chain for ensuring food safety. Specifically, we identify perceptions of the share of the overall responsibility that each stage in the food chain has to ensure that the meat people cook and eat at home does not cause them to become ill. Results are reported for two groups of stakeholders: consumers and farmers, and for two types of meat: chicken and beef. The stakeholders’ opinions regarding the relative degrees of responsibility of the sequential food chain stages (feed supplier, farmer, livestock transportation, abattoir,… consumer) are elicited via surveys using the Maximum Difference technique (best-worst scaling). The data are analyzed using...

Transcending the Limitations of Environmental Economic Framing: Toward a Metaeconomics of Environmental Choice

Palavras-chave: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Q18; Q51; D03; D12.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91813

Czap, Natalia V.; Czap, Hans J.; Khachaturyan, Marianna; Lynne, Gary D.; Burbach, Mark E..

This paper further tests dual interest theory and the metaeconomics approach to environmental choice, recognizing a possible role for empathy-sympathy (the basis for an internalized, shared other-interest) in tempering and conditioning the more fundamental tendency to pursue self-interest. To test, we focus on rivers flowing through agricultural areas carrying sediments, chemicals, and fertilizers which are making their way into downstream rivers and lakes. We use data from a framed experiment. Farmers decide on the usage of conservation technology to lessen impacts on the water quality in downstream areas, which is more costly. The results confirm our hypotheses, demonstrating that upstream farmers who practice conservation are tempering profit...

Comparison of the Investment Behavior of German and Kazakhstani Farmers: an Experimental Approach

Palavras-chave: Dual-interest model; Metaeconomics; Empathy; Sympathy; Selfism; Environmental experiment; Behavioral economics; Water quality; Conservation tillage; Conservation policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; C9; D03; Q25; Q53; Q57..

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/102866

Tubetov, Dulat; Maart, Syster Christin; Musshoff, Oliver.

Revised April 2012

Tipo: Working Paper

Palavras-chave: Experimental Economics; Investment Timing; Real Options; Kazakhstan; Germany; Agricultural Finance; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Risk and Uncertainty; C91; D03; D81; D92.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/122422

Does Scarcity Exacerbate the Tragedy of the Commons? Evidence from Fishers’ Experimental Responses

Maldonado, Jorge Higinio; Moreno-Sanchez, Rocio del Pilar.

Economic Experimental Games (EEGs), focused to analyze dilemmas associated with the use of common pool resources, have shown that individuals make extraction decisions that deviate from the suboptimal Nash equilibrium. However, few studies have analyzed whether these deviations towards the social optimum are affected as the stock of resource changes. Performing EEG with local fishermen, we test the hypothesis that the behavior of participants differs under a situation of abundance versus one of scarcity. Our findings show that under a situation of scarcity, players over-extract a given resource, and thus make decisions above the Nash equilibrium; in doing so, they obtain less profit, mine the others-regarding interest, and exacerbate the tragedy of the...

Potential Impacts of 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Palavras-chave: Tragedy of the commons intensified; Economic experimental games; Resource abundance; Resource scarcity; Dynamic effects; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Land Economics/Use; Public Economics; D01; D02; D03; O13; O54; Q01; Q22; C93; C72; C73; C23.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/91170

USING BEST WORST SCALING TO INVESTIGATE PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL AND CONCERN OVER FOOD AND NON-FOOD RISKS

Knutson, Ronald D..

Tipo: Article

Palavras-chave: Behavioral Economics; Dietary Guidelines; Food Policy; Local Foods; Supply Chain; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; B30; D03; I18; K19; L11; Q18.

Ano: 2012

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/122793

Erdem, Seda; Rigby, Dan.

This research locates a series of risks or hazards within a framework characterized by the level of control respondents believe they have over the risks, and the level of worry the risks prompt. It does this for a set of both food and non-food risks. The means by which this is done is novel and differs from past risk perception analyses in that it asks people directly regarding their relative assessments of the levels of control and worry regarding the risks presented. The cognitive burden associated with people ranking and scaling items in large sets is notoriously heavy and so this study uses an elicitation method designed to make the process intuitive and cognitively manageable for respondents. The substantive analysis of the risk perceptions has 4 main...

Using Biomedical Technologies to Inform Economic Modeling: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Analysis of Environmental Policies

Palavras-chave: Best-worst scaling; Maximum Difference; Food; Risk; Perception; Novel Technology; E.coli; UK; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Risk and Uncertainty; Q18; Q51; D03; D12.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61518

Roe, Brian E.; Haab, Timothy C..

Advances in biomedical technology have irrevocably jarred open the black box of human decision making, offering social scientists the potential to validate, reject, refine and redefine the individual models of resource allocation that form the foundation of modern economics. In this paper we (1) provide a comprehensive overview of the biomedical methods that may be harnessed by economists and other social scientists to better understand the economic decision making process; (2) review research that utilizes these biomedical methods to illuminate fundamental aspects of the decision making process; and (3) summarize evidence from this literature concerning the basic tenants of neoclassical utility that are often invoked for positive welfare analysis of...

WHO IS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE MEAT WE EAT IS SAFE?

Palavras-chave: Neuroeconomics; Neuroscience; Brain imaging; Genetics; Welfare economics; Utility theory; Biology; Decision making; Preferences; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; D01; D03; D6; D87.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/49151

Erdem, Seda; Rigby, Dan; Wossink, Ada.

Palavras-chave: Maximum Difference; Best Worst Scaling; Responsibility; Food Safety; Perception; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Q18; Q51; D03; D12.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61642

Commitment Contracts

Bryan, Gharad; Karlan, Dean S.; Nelson, Scott.

We review the theoretical and empirical literature on commitment devices. A commitment device is any arrangement, entered into by an individual, with the aim of making it easier to fulfill his or her own future plans. We argue that there is growing empirical evidence supporting the proposition that people demand commitment devices and that these devices can change behavior. We highlight the importance of further research exploring soft commitment – those involving only psychological costs – and the welfare consequences of hard commitments – those involving actual costs – especially in the presence of bounded rationality.

Integrating Routine, Variety Seeking and Compensatory Choice in a Utility Maximizing Framework

Palavras-chave: Consumer/Household Economics; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Consumer/Household Economics; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; D03; D14.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/54536

Adamowicz, Wiktor L.; Swait, Joffre.

Given the large number of choices that consumers make each day it seems likely that they will generally adopt decision strategies that minimize cognitive effort, particularly with low price products such as most items found in a supermarket. One such strategy may be to simply choose what has been chosen in the past, i.e. to fall into a pattern of routine choices or decisions. In contrast, there may be preferences for variety in markets for low price, highly differentiated goods. We develop a conceptual and empirical model of routine choice, and the factors that result in transitions to two strategies other than routine selection, to wit, utility maximizing choice among available alternatives and a variety seeking strategy. The empirical approach we employ...

”Thou shalt not covet ...”: Prohibitions, Temptation and Moral Values

Palavras-chave: Choice modeling; Routine behavior; Variety‐seeking; Panel data; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; D12; D03; C25.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/98687

Cervellati, Matteo; Vanin, Paolo.

We propose a theory studying temptation in presence of both externally and internally sanctioned prohibitions. Moral values that (internally) sanction prohibited actions and their desire may increase utility by reducing self-control costs, thereby serving as partial commitment devices. We apply the model to crime and study the conditions under which agents would optimally adhere to moral values of honesty. Incentives to be moral are non- monotonic in the crime premium. Larger external punishments increase temptation and demand for morality, so that external and internal sanctions are complements. The model helps rationalizing stylized facts that proved difficult to explain with available theories.

The Impact of Price-Induced Hedging Behavior on Commodity Market Volatility

Palavras-chave: Prohibitions; Temptation; Self-Control; Moral Values; Crime; Labor and Human Capital; D03; K42; Z13.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90905

Kauffman, Nathan S.; Hayes, Dermot J..

The utility maximization problem of a grain producer is formulated and solved numerically under prospect theory as an alternative to expected utility theory. Conventional theory posits that the optimal hedging position of a producer is not affected solely due to changes in the level of futures prices. However, a strong degree of positive correlation is apparent in the data. Our results show that with prospect theory serving as the underlying behavioral framework, the optimal hedge of a producer is affected by changes in futures price levels. The implications of this price-induced hedging behavior on spot prices and volatility are subsequently considered.

A CHOICE-EXPERIMENT BASED ANALYSIS OF PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY: HEALTH RELATED BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS WITH CELIAC DISEASE

Palavras-chave: Futures markets; Hedging; Prospect theory; Risk preferences; Agribusiness; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; Risk and Uncertainty; D03; D81; G11; Q13.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103242

Zhang, Jing; Steiner, Bodo E..

The underlying components of protection motivation theory (PMT; Rogers 1983) are explored through choice experiment-based analysis within a random utility framework, to account for some of the motivational, cognitive, and affective processes that likely affect celiacs’ propensity to use a novel health-risk reducing product. Those four groups of variables that are aimed to capture threat appraisal and coping appraisal processes as part of the standard PMT (Rogers 1975, 1983; Floyd et al. 2000) are found to contribute significantly to explaining the adaptive response of celiacs. Self-assessed vulnerability and perceived product efficacy form a most significant part of respondents’ threat appraisal process. Standard socio-demographic and lifestyle...

An Economic-Psychological Model of Sustainable Food Consumption

Palavras-chave: Celiac disease; Protection motivation theory; Choice experiments; Confidence; Risk perceptions; Vulnerability; Efficacy; Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Health Economics and Policy; D03; D12.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/116454

Lombardini, Chiara; Lankoski, Leena.

This paper proposes a novel economic-psychological model of individual food consumption and food waste that recognizes individuals as social and moral beings who are boundedly rational and have limited capacity for self-control. The model identifies five components of individuals’ utility that correspond to five modes of being or selves: the hedonic agent, the social agent, the moral agent, the health-conscious agent and the habits-driven agent. In the model, individuals maximize this composite utility given their budget and effort constraints. We apply the model to analyze policies that can support the adoption of sustainable food consumption practices.

Incentives for Academic Achievement: An Experimental Study

Palavras-chave: Bounded rationality; Bounded self-control; Habits; Identity; Social and moral norms; Sustainable food consumption; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; D03; D11; D12.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/114403

Sharma, Dhiraj.

In recent years, educators and economists have experimented with a number of innovations to improve academic outcomes of students in developing countries. Providing cash rewards to students based on academic achievement may be a cost effective approach to achieve the goal. However, psychologists contend that external rewards undermines students' internal motivation to learn. To test these hypotheses, I am conducting a field experiment among eighth graders in public schools in the suburbs of Kathmandu, Nepal. Students receive cash reward at the end of each of three semesters based on their grades. Each exam is worth 100 points, and each point is worth 5 rupees (approximately 7 US cents). Therefore, each student can earn up to 500 rupees per semester. From...

WHEN DOES THE PRICE AFFECT THE TASTE? RESULTS FROM A WINE EXPERIMENT

Palavras-chave: Cash Incentives; Intrinsic Motivation; Multitasking.; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Labor and Human Capital; D03; I20.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/61032

Almenberg, Johan; Dreber, Anna.

We designed an experiment that examines how knowledge about the price of a good, and the time at which the information is received, affects how the good is experienced. The good in question was wine, and the price was either high or low. Our results suggest that hosts offering wine to guests can safely reveal the price: much is gained if the wine is expensive, and little is lost if it is cheap. Disclosing the high price before tasting the wine produces considerably higher ratings, although only from women. Disclosing the low price, by contrast, does not result in lower ratings. Our finding indicates that price not only serves to clear markets, it also serves as a marketing tool; it influences expectations that in turn shape a consumer’s experience. In...