Economic benefits from promoting linseed in the diet of dairy cows for reducing methane emissions and improving milk quality

Linseed for feeding dairy cows reduces methane emissions and increases the omega-3 content of milk. In a lab experiment, milk bottles from cows fed a diet with or without linseed were offered to French participants for eliciting their willingness to pay (WTP). Successive messages highlighting the different effects of linseed were revealed to participants. We find that messages including the ones on methane emissions and omega-3 in milk significantly impact the participants’ WTP. These WTP estimates are used for welfare simulations that underline the positive impact of a public advertising campaign informing about linseed. When informing participants via a campaign becomes difficult, some regulatory tools like a quality standard may complement this advertising campaign.     

Estimating the adoption of Bt eggplant in India: Who Benefits from public–private partnership?

The study analyzes ex ante the adoption of insect-resistant Bt eggplant technology in India. Farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) is estimated using the contingent valuation method. Given the economic importance of insect pests in eggplant cultivation, the average WTP for Bt hybrids is more than four times the current price of conventional hybrid seeds. Since the private innovating firm has also shared its technology with the public sector, proprietary hybrids will likely get competition through public open-pollinated Bt varieties after a small time lag. This will reduce farmers’ WTP for Bt hybrids by about 35%, thus decreasing the scope for corporate pricing policies. Nonetheless, ample private profit potential remains. Analysis of factors influencing farmers’ adoption decisions demonstrates that public Bt varieties will particularly improve technology access for resource-poor eggplant producers. The results suggest that public–private partnership can be beneficial for all parties involved.     

Consumer preferences before and after a food safety scare: An experimental analysis of the 2010 egg recall

In August 2010, more than half a billion eggs were recalled in the U.S. because of a Salmonella outbreak. This study examines the effect of the recall with a unique pair of auction experiments investigating willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional and organic eggs, one conducted shortly before and one right after the recall with the same participants. In addition to the before and after bids, participants bid again after a negative information or balanced information treatment about the event. Accompanying surveys showed consumers had a high level of awareness of the recall but less knowledge of specific details, and viewed information on egg farm conditions as very important in their WTP. While there were no significant before and after differences, WTP for organic eggs significantly increased in the negative information treatment, and balanced information had a positive effect on consumer WTP for conventional eggs.     

Assessing holistic economic value for multifunctional agriculture in the US

This study used contingent valuation method to shed light on public preferences on the multifunctional roles of the US agriculture and to present a holistic estimate of the economic value of the nonmarket goods and services of US agriculture. Contingent valuation survey instrument was administered to a sample composed from the Ipsos web-based panel. Fishbein’s model of reasoned behavior and mediation hypothesis were combined to model the relationship between WTP (behavioral intentions) and sets of explanatory variables including attitudes, perceived attributes (about family farms, farmland preservation programs, government involvement in agricultural markets, and ecological state of our world), and socio-demographic profiles. Results show that, while exerting a highly significant impact on WTP, attitudes mediate the effects of the attribute variables on WTP: i.e., the attributes influence WTP directly as well as indirectly through attitudes. The estimated mean WTP was $515 per taxpayer annually. Aggregating individual WTPs across the US taxpayers above 20 years old produces $105 billion, representing a crude estimate of the economic value that the US consumers place on the multifunctional roles of US agriculture.     

公共住房项目PPP模式研究

公共住房建设是政府实现住房领域公平目标的重要手段,但由于其社会福利属性,面临着资金来源不足、后续发展乏力的困境。文章将普遍应用于国内外基础设施领域的PPP模式引入公共住房建设领域,对PPP模式的中国公共住房项目进行内部、外部条件分析,论证研究的可行性;在此基础上结合经济适用房与廉租房的不同特点探索具体操作形式;对保障高效合作的运行机制进行探讨,以推进城镇公共住房建设发展。     

Consumer valuation of health attributes for soy-based food: A choice modeling approach

Given that soy foods possess health-promoting attributes that offer the promise of reducing heart-related chronic diseases, this article employs choice experiments to estimate marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for soy attributes including taste, contents of soy protein, and health claim. Random parameter logit (RPL) models were estimated in consideration of potential heterogeneity across individuals in their preferences for soy food. Standard deviation parameters in the RPL models are highly significant, indicating that individuals have widely varying preferences for soy-based food products. Results suggest that, while taste is the dominating attribute that drives consumers’ WTP for soy food products, consumers do respond to the information provided in the health claim. Yet, consumers do not seem to be recognizing soy protein as the link to health benefits of soy foods.     

Private and public milk standards in Argentina and Brazil

This article focuses on the development of public and private standards for milk as an input to the dairy processing sector in Argentina and Brazil. From 1950 to 1990, the dominant trend was the development of public standards for basic safety and hygiene of milk. These induced the incipient modernization of dairy farming, post harvest, and processing technologies, even though implementation of the regulations was only partial. The dairy sectors were liberalized and privatized circa 1990. This spurred the rapid rise of private standards set by large processors over the 1990s and into the 2000s. These standards are much more stringent than public standards, and induced rapid concentration at the processing and farm levels due to stiff investment requirements. In Brazil, private standards were set mainly to drive down costs in the supply chain in order to reduce the consumer prices in the mass commodities market. In Argentina, private standards were used to develop quality differentiation in the product market. In both countries, in the 2000s a debate has emerged on new roles and approaches for public standards.     

Creating a Public Good to Fight Monopolization: The Formation of Broadcast Music,Inc.

Entry by vertical integration to defeatmonopolization has played an important role in severalantitrust cases. Yet the source of financing for suchentry is unclear, given that the entrant represents apublic good to the vertically related firms. Whilethere are a number of theoretical and experimentalstudies on the private supply of a public good, thereis little empirical estimation on this topic. Thispaper examis business contributions to the creation ofBroadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) in 1940. BMI was createdby broadcasters specifically to fight monopolization,and represented investment in a pure public good. This study finds that several factors led tocontributions to create BMI. In particular, networkaffiliation increased the probability that a stationwould join BMI. There is also evidence stations inless competitive markets were more likely to join,indicating that the rents from the creation of BMIwere less likely to be competed away in suchmarkets.     

Hen housing system information effects on U.S. egg demand

The U.S. egg industry has been moving rapidly towards “cage-free” aviary housing as an alternative to conventional cages for hens. A choice experiment was used to evaluate the U.S. public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for egg attributes including housing system, color, size, and certifying agency. A significant difference in WTP for hen housing systems was found using video information treatments describing hen housing systems. When respondents were shown videos of egg production systems, they were indifferent between cage-free aviary and the alternative enriched colony hen housing system whereas with no video information the respondents clearly preferred the cage-free system. Results point towards potential public misunderstanding of the costs and benefits associated with the “cage-free” egg label designation and highlight potential discrepancies between industry commitments and informed consumer preferences.     

Acquisitions of private vs. public firms: Private information,target selection,and acquirer returns

The acquisition of privately held firms is a prevalent phenomenon that has received little attention in mergers and acquisitions research. In this study, we examine three questions: (1) What drives the acquirer's choice between public and private targets? (2) Do acquisitions of private targets elicit a more positive stock market reaction than acquisitions of public targets, which, on average, destroy value for acquirers' shareholders? (3) Do acquirers gain when their selection of a public or private target fits the theory? In this paper, we argue that the lack of information on private targets limits the breadth of the acquirer's search and increases its risk of not evaluating properly the assets of private targets. At the same time, less information on private targets creates more value‐creating opportunities for exploiting private information, whereas the market of corporate control for public targets already serves as an information‐processing and asset valuation mechanism for all potential bidders. Using an event study and survey data, we find that: (1) acquirers favor private targets in familiar industries and turn to public targets to enter new business domains or industries with a high level of intangible assets; (2) acquirers of private targets perform better than acquirers of public targets on merger announcement, after controlling for endogeneity bias; (3) acquirers of private firms perform better than if they had acquired a public firm, and acquirers of public firms perform better than if they had acquired a private firm. These results support the expectation that acquirer returns from their target choice (private/public) are not universal but depend on the acquirer's type of search and on the merging firms' attributes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are consumers concerned about palm oil? Evidence from a lab experiment

A lab experiment evaluates the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for food products made with and without palm oil. Palm oil production induces environmental damages, and its consumption presents a health risk. However, the production of alternative oils raises land use issues. In the experiment, successive messages emphasizing the characteristics of palm oil and palm oil-free products are delivered to participants. Information has a significant influence on WTP when it underlines the negative impact of the related product. This effect is stronger for the palm oil product than for the palm oil-free product. The experiment also compares the welfare effects of two regulatory instruments, namely a consumer information campaign versus a per-unit tax. Because of the respective attributes of both palm oil and palm oil-free products, the information campaign improves welfare with a much larger impact than the tax.     

Willingness-to-pay for natural,organic, and conventional foods: The effects of information and meaningful labels

Vague food labels and distorted product claims have persisted in the “natural” food industry, while organic claims can be certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Using experimental methods and a sample of randomly selected subjects, we test food label and information treatment effects on subjects' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic, “natural,” and conventional foods. Random nth-price auctions are used to elicit WTP after subjects received one of five randomly assigned information treatments. We find large information effects, including asymmetric cross-market effects for natural and organic foods. Perhaps surprising is that organic premiums increase in response to subjects seeing the “natural” foods industry's perspective on its products. Demographics effects are also important. The results have practical implications for natural and organic food marketing and valuing products where there are vague claims about their attributes.     

Willingness to pay for over-the-top services in China and Korea

The increasing penetration of broadband and multiscreen availability has encouraged the development of premium video consumption through over-the-top (OTT) services. Netflix, the leading global OTT provider, is aggressively expanding its international operations and has ambitiously entered the Asian market. To prepare for the shift that the streaming service giant will bring, a proper understanding of consumer acceptance and intent to pay for OTT services is crucial. Therefore, this empirical study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the key attributes and to examine consumers’ marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for OTT services. We identified recommendation systems, resolution, and viewing options as important product attributes of OTT services that influence the WTP of Chinese and Korean consumers. The most important attribute for Chinese consumers of OTT services was resolution, followed by the recommendation system and viewing options. For Korean consumers, the recommendation system was ranked as the most valuable attribute, followed by viewing options and resolution. The overall WTP of Chinese consumers was 22.6 yuan (3.4 USD) per month, while Korean consumers’ intent to pay amounted to a total of 3530 won (3.1 USD) for OTT services.     

Why makers make what they make: motivations to contribute to open source hardware development

Open source software (OSS) and hardware (OSH) are two expressions of one broader concept and its related movement. One of the most fundamental questions relating to these phenomena is why developers contribute their private resources to these public goods. While this question has been discussed, theorized, and empirically investigated in the context of OSS, there has been no research so far in the context of OSH. Can we really assume the motivations behind the development of the OSH to be the same as those behind OSS? Based on the self-determination theory (SDT), we provide original insights into the motivations behind contributions to OSH development. We collected data from the most common and active 3D printing communities, which are the main loci of OSH development. We thus have a unique cross-sectional data set with participants from over 30 different countries using all kinds of different OSH platforms. Our analysis reveals several important findings: firstly, the motivations are in some aspects very similar to those in open source software notwithstanding different possibilities, hurdles, and incentives regarding the OSS and OSH. Above all, enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation is a major factor affecting contribution levels. Secondly, among internalized extrinsic motivations, expected private benefits through improving own skills stands out. Thirdly, different factors of internalized extrinsic motivations can have different moderating effects on the effect of enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation. Given the imminent changes in business models throughout manufacturing industries in order to adapt to the challenge that OSH will increasingly pose, our findings have important implications not only for OSH communities and 3D development platforms, but also for businesses that want and probably soon have to engage in open innovation.     

退出权和惩罚机制在俱乐部物品供给中的作用——以商会提供企业互助金为例

俱乐部物品有效供给的制度安排既要仿照市场机制设置较低的进入与退出成本,也要解决私人联合供给时出现的搭便车现象,对违约行为进行严重的惩罚制裁。本文基于俱乐部物品的本质属性,对退出权与惩罚机制的经济作用进行了理论分析,并通过商会提供企业互助金的成功案例验证了所得结论的有效性。     

Simple money-based tests for choosing between private and public delivery: a discussion of the issues

The decision when to provide services by the public sector and when to use the private sector is a fundamental one. The economic literature emphasises that the efficiency of the mechanisms of delivery will depend on the contractual nature of what can be achieved by the parties and the political economy forces. Totally separate from this literature, however, governments have tried to implement practical and simple tests to indicate when to use private and when to use public delivery methods. The aim of this paper is to address some of the issues associated with simple money-based tests.     

农村公共物品供给中存在的问题与对策分析

目前,我国农村公共物品供给存在着很多问题,如财政支农结构不合理、供需不平衡、供给主体单一、政府低效率等。为此,必须加大财政支持力度,引入农民的需求表达制度,明确基层政府提供农村公共物品的职责,拓宽农村公共物品建设的融资渠道,建立多元化的供给模式,建设服务型乡镇政府,建立政府与农民合作共治的管理体制,以保证农村公共物品的有效供给。     

Assessing consumer willingness to pay for Arctic food products

The food industry increasingly seeks to differentiate food products based on sustainability assurances, the use of traditional or ‘authentic’ production methods, a unique origin, or an association with a distinct cultural identity, often relying on certification to enhance the credibility of a quality claim. The natural conditions of the Arctic circumpolar region, its pristine environment, and the relational tie to Indigenous cultures in many circumpolar Arctic nations, distinguish Arctic foods from other commercially available foods, however, little is known about how consumers respond to foods from the Arctic. This paper examines consumers’ perceptions of and willingness to pay (WTP) for foods originating from the Canadian Arctic, and their receptivity to certification for sustainability, authenticity, and origin in the presence of multiple credence attributes. Data from an online survey of 1342 Canadian consumers show that preferences for Arctic foods are driven by the unique geographic origin and a connection with Indigenous cultures and traditions, as well as a desire to improve social and economic conditions in northern Canada. A discrete choice experiment featuring Arctic char elicits consumers’ WTP for attributes related to origin, certification, wild vs farmed fish, and Indigenous vs non-Indigenous fishers. Random parameters logit and generalized mixed logit models allow for both preference and scale heterogeneity. The analysis informs strategies to promote the Arctic food system, both from a Canadian regional economic development context and across the broader Arctic circumpolar region. Limitations imposed by the current seafood labelling regulatory environment in Canada are noted.     

Value Creation by Toolkits for User Innovation and Design: The Case of the Watch Market

This study analyzes the value created by so-called "toolkits for user innovation and design," a new method of integrating customers into new product development and design. Toolkits allow customers to create their own product, which in turn is produced by the manufacturer. In the present study, questions asked were (1) if customers actually make use of the solution space offered by toolkits, and, if so, (2) how much value the self-design actually creates. In this study, a relatively simple, design-focused toolkit was used for a set of four experiments with a total of 717 participants, 267 of whom actually created their own watches. The heterogeneity of the resulting design solutions was calculated using the entropy concept, and willingness to pay (WTP) was measured by the contingent valuation method and Vickrey auctions. Entropy coefficients showed that self-designed watches vary quite widely. On the other hand, significant patterns still are visible despite this high level of entropy, meaning that customer preferences are highly heterogeneous and diverse in style but not completely random. It also was found that consumers are willing to pay a considerable price premium. Their WTP for a self-designed watch exceeds the WTP for standard watches by far, even for the best-selling standard watches of the same technical quality. On average, a 100% value increment was found for watches designed by users with the help of the toolkit. Taken together, these findings suggest that the toolkit's ability to allow customers to customize products to suit their individual preferences creates value for them in a business-to-consumer (B2C) setting even when only a simple toolkit is employed. Alternative explanations, implications, and necessary future research are discussed.     

Public policy for fibre-to-the-home

Integrated broadband networks are very costly, but many US industry analysts believe their introduction to the residential sector should be a national policy goal. Unfortunately current policy towards fibre-to-the-home is inherently unstable, and pits public and private needs against one another. A choice must be made between a public infrastructure approach, in which social costs and benefits are given greatest weight, and a private market paradigm, where communications networks develop according to market forces. This article examines some of the implications of each approach.