Department of Agricultural Economics Seminar Series
Friday, November 20, 2009, 3:00 p.m. - 210 Filley Hall
SEMINAR CANCELLED
Spring 2010 schedule coming soon!
Past Seminars
Friday October 9, 2009
Elena Irwin, Ohio State University
Title - "Spatial dynamics and economic models of land use change"
Paper - New Directions for Urban Economic Models of Land Use Change: Incorporating Spatial Heterogeneity and Transitional Dynamics Abstract: We review the usefulness of spatial economic models of land use change for the study and policy analysis of spatial land use-environment interactions. We find that meaningful progress has been made in econometric and monocentric models extended to account for multiple sources of spatial heterogeneity and in the development of general equilibrium models with spatial dynamics. Despite these advances, more work is needed in developing models with greater realism. Most agent-based computational models of urban land use change currently lack economic fundamentals, but provide a flexible means of linking micro-level behavior and interactions with macro-level land use dynamics. In combination with empirical methods to identify parameters, this framework provides a promising approach to modeling spatial land use dynamics and policy effects.
Friday, October 16, 2009, 3:00 p.m. - 210 Filley Hall
Murray Fulton, University of Saskatchewan
Title - "The Tragedy of the Anticommons"
Abstract - The tragedy of the anticommons is much less well known than the tragedy of the commons. While the tragedy of the commons describes a situation where there is a lack of property rights on usage and/or entry, the tragedy of the anticommons describes a situation where the property rights are in effect too strong. This presentation outlines the close connection between the tragedy of the commons and the tragedy of the anticommons. It then goes on to outline some of the uses to which this model is being put. The particular focus of the presentation is on the role of the anticommons in creating a monopoly situation in grain transportation in Western Canada.
Friday, October 30, 2009, 2:30 p.m. - East Campus Union
Dr. Wes Peterson, University of Nebraska. Book Presentation and Seminar, based on Dr. Peterson's book, "A Billion Dollars a Day: The Economics and Politics of Agricultural Subsidies."
Refreshments will be served.
Abstract: The governments of high-income countries spend about a billion dollars a day on various food and agricultural subsidies. These subsidies encourage additional production by farmers in the wealthy countries much of which is diverted to world markets where it depresses the prices farmers in low-income countries receive for their output. The argument that farm policies in the wealthy countries harm people in developing countries has become an article of faith among advocates for the poor and other critics of agricultural policies in Europe, North America and on the Pacific Rim. In this presentation, Peterson will explain the nature of these policies and explore the reasons why both low- and high-income countries intervene so extensively in food and agricultural markets. He will also report the results of various studies of the economic impact of agricultural policies on domestic and world markets.
Friday, November 13, 2009 3:00 p.m. - 210 Filley Hall
Sean Cash, University of Wisconsin and University of Alberta
Title - The Scarlet Letter: Stigma, price and warning label effects on consumer preference for snack foods
Abstract - There is currently no published research on how food taxes may affect consumer behaviour when the imposition of the tax itself may be considered a source of consumer information. This study addresses this gap in the literature by using experimental methods to enhance understanding on the joint effects of price changes induced by a fat tax and the stigma associated with the application of the tax. Previous studies rely on highly stylized assumptions regarding economic behaviour (Marshall, 2000) or estimates of food price response based on cross-sectional observation (Cash, Sunding, and Zilberman, 2005; Kuchler, Tegene, and Harris, 2005; Schroeter, Lusk, and Tyner, 2008). None of this allows investigation of how consumers respond to a fat tax that is labelled as such – that is, where the imposition of the tax itself is a signal to consumers regarding the quality of the product. More generally, the role of stigma in influencing consumer choice is something that is not well developed in the economic literature, but is clearly relevant to a variety of policy situations.
We employ Attribute-Based Stated Choice Methods (ABSCM) to elicit consumer response to fat tax scenarios that rely only on price changes, and to those that involve both price changes and stigma effects. The study uses a computer-assisted field data collection approach that gathered data from 400 participants at grocery stores across Alberta. The results show that the price-stigma interaction elicited by various taxation and labelling schemes leads to significantly different consumer response than what is elicited by price changes alone. Specific results include that consumers would choose products about half as often if a stigmatizing warning label is displayed, that the effect of price on its own is small, and that respondents with higher BMIs are less responsive to price changes. We use latent class models to further identify groups with distinctive patterns of response to price increases and warning labels.
The study results imply that a fat tax is very limited as a public health tool because it barely affects consumption directly, and that it is least effective for obese consumers. Furthermore, to encourage healthier snack food choices, it is more effective to label the less healthy products as taxed than to actually tax them. The impact of such stigma, and particularly the interaction of stigma and price, is crucial to an understanding of how food price interventions may impact behavior, and, ultimately, health.
This work was supported by grants from the Agricultural Policy Research Network in Consumer and Market Demand and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2008-2009 Seminar Series
Robert Innes - Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona
"Is Dishonesty Contagious?"
Harry deGorter - Associate Professor, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University
"On Analyzing the Effects of Biofuel Policies"
Titus Awokuse - Associate Professor, Departments of Economics and Food and Resource Economics, University of Delaware (Visiting at Iowa State University)
"Does Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Protection Induce More Bilateral Trade?"
Bailey Norwood - Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
"A Calibrated Auction-Conjoint Valuation Method: Valuing Pork and Eggs Produced Under Differing Animal Welfare Conditions"
Boris Bravo-Ureta - Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut
"On Measuring Productivity Impacts of Development Projects: Evidence from Peasant Farmers in Central America"
Richard Just - Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Development Economics, University of Maryland; and President, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
"The Dilemma of Empirical Risk Research: Distinguishing True Identification From Arbitrary Assumptions"
Jason Henderson - Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Omaha Branch
"Macroeconomic Impacts of the Recession and Financial Crisis on Agriculture"
Murray Fulton - Professor, University of Saskatchewan
"Institutional Failure and Underinvestment in Levy-Funded Agriculture Research"
Ellen Hanak - Director of Research, Public Policy Institute of California
"Climate Change and Housing Prices: Hedonic Estimates for North American Ski Resorts"
Bettina Klaus - Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Maastricht University, The Netherlands (Currently Research Fellow at Harvard Business School)
"Matching Theory and Market Design"
Stephan Marette - Director, INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) SAE2 Department (Economic Department), and Chair, UMR Economie Publique INRA-AgroParisTech (Currently Visiting Professor at Iowa State University)
