What labelling policy for consumer choice? The case of genetically modified food in Canada and Europe

Abstract. Faced with divergent opinions among consumers on the use of genetically modified (GM) foods, Canada has adopted a voluntary labelling approach for non‐GM foods, whereas the European Union has a mandatory labelling policy for GM foods. Interestingly, both labelling systems have resulted in very little, if any, additional consumer choice. Using an analytical model, we show that the coexistence of GM and non‐GM products at the retail level depends on the labelling policy, consumer perceptions, and the type of product. Although voluntary labelling tends to favour the use of GM products, it is more likely to provide consumer choice.     

Explaining International Differences in Genetically Modified Food Labeling Policies*

Many countries have adopted labeling policies for genetically modified (GM) food, and the regulations vary considerably across countries. We evaluate the importance of political‐economic factors implicit in the choice of GM food labeling regulations. Using an analytical model, we show that production and trade‐related interests play a prominent role in labeling decision‐making. This conclusion is validated by an empirical analysis of GM food labeling policy choices. We find that countries producing GM crops are more likely to have less stringent labeling policies. Food and feed exporters to the European Union (EU) and Japan are more likely to have adopted stricter labeling policies. Labeling regulations in Asia and Europe are similar to those of Japan and the EU. Countries with no labeling policies are less developed, with important rural sectors and are more likely to have ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.     

Democracy and environmental quality

We develop and estimate an econometric model of the relationship between several local and global air pollutants and economic development while allowing for critical aspects of the socio-political-economic regime of a State. We obtain empirical support for our hypothesis that democracy and its associated freedoms provide the conduit through which agents can exercise their preferences for environmental quality more effectively than under an autocratic regime, thus leading to decreased concentrations or emissions of pollution. However, additional factors such as income inequality, age distribution, education, and urbanization may mitigate or exacerbate the net effect of the type of political regime on pollution, depending on the underlying societal preferences and the weights assigned to those preferences by the State.     

Conditions for Sustainable Optimal Economic Development

This paper shows that, for dynamic optimizing economies with different types of natural resource, environmental, and human‐made capital stocks, a necessary and sufficient condition for permanently sustaining an optimal utility/consumption level is the stationarity of the current‐value Hamiltonian. For economies whose development is not exogenously and directly affected by time (i.e., time‐autonomous economies), this stationarity condition generalizes Dixit et al.’s (1980 ) “zero‐net‐aggregate‐investment” rule of sustain‐ability, which in turn generalizes Solow‐Hartwick’s sustainability rule. For non‐autonomous economies, the stationarity condition is not generally fulfilled, and the current‐value Hamiltonian under (over) estimates the true welfare level by an amount equal to the discounted value of the net “pure time effect.” For the non‐autonomous case of a time‐dependent utility discount rate, a general condition on the discount rate function (of which the hyperbolic discount rate function is a special case) upholds the results obtained for autonomous cases. The paper concludes with a discussion of policies that promote both optimality and sustainability objectives.     

Is an Exhaustible Resource Economy Sustainable?

The paper focuses on two alternative concepts of sustainability dominating the literature: (i) maximum permanently maintainable consumption level (Fisherian income) and (ii) the amount of consumption that leaves total value of wealth intact (Hicksian income). In the context of a pure exhaustible resource economy, the author derives an explicit relationship between the two sustainability criteria and shows that while such an economy is not sustainable in the former sense, it is in the latter sense provided social preferences are represented by a logarithmic utility function. The implications of the two concepts for greening of national income are derived. Finally, the paper shows the range of values of the parameters of the model for which the utilitarian optimal path can be close to paths satisfying the alternative sustainability criteria, suggesting that such outcomes are less likely for very poor resource‐dependent countries than for the rich ones.     

The Effects of Emissions Standards on Industry

Industrialists often claim that, by rendering firms unprofitable and hence forcing them out of business, stricter emissions standards reduce the industry output and competition. This paper considers situations where firms' pollution reduction increases the industry demand, but, because of inability to coordinate their emissions reductions, and thus free riding problem, they are unable to act in their own collective interest. For such situations, the paper studies the effects of emissions standards on the equilibrium in an oligopoly market. It shows conditions under which a stricter standard leads to a larger number of firms in the industry, a greater industry output, and a lower total pollution in the long run.     

Soil-specific agro-ecological strategies for sustainable land use – A case study by using MicroLEIS DSS in Sevilla Province (Spain)

To reverse the negative environmental impacts of agriculture, a land evaluation decision support system (DSS) known as MicroLEIS-DSS was used to design the most sustainable land use and management practices for selected Mediterranean benchmark sites in Sevilla Province, Southern Spain. This DSS is based on the multifunctional evaluation of soil quality, using input data collected in standard soil surveys, and with particular reference to the peculiarities of the Mediterranean region. Specific agro-ecological strategies to prevent soil degradation in the benchmark sites were designed within two major topics: (i) strategies related to land use planning at a regional level: segregation of agricultural lands, restoration of marginal areas, diversification of crop rotation, and identification of vulnerability areas; and (ii) those related to land management planning at a farm level: organic matter restoration, formulation of tillage practices and workability timing, optimum machinery use, and input rationalization. The predicted results of applying the 12 agro-ecological land evaluation model constituents of MicroLEIS DSS are presented and discussed for each application site. The main conclusion of this paper is that using soil type information in decision-making is at the heart for sustainable use and management of agricultural land. This agro-ecological approach can be especially useful when formulating soil-specific agricultural practices to reverse environmental degradation, based on the spatial variability of soils and related resources.     

The effect of non-pecuniary motivations on labor supply

People value work not only as a means of earning income to satisfy their consumption needs but also as a direct source of satisfaction for its socio-psychological effects (non-pecuniary benefits). I show that once non-pecuniary effects of working time are incorporated in the standard labor-supply model: (i) the wage rate under-estimates (over-estimates) the true opportunity cost of non-work/leisure time when working time has non-pecuniary benefits (costs), (ii) non-pecuniary work motivations can substitute for monetary wages as work incentives, (iii) at very low wage rates, work can become a net source of utility, and (iv) the implied shape of labor-supply curve differs starkly from those implied by standard theory. I identify conditions under which a greater non-pecuniary work motivation induces a larger supply of labor, and examine the effects of non-wage income on supplies of paid work and voluntary work when there are non-pecuniary benefits associated with both types of work.     

Alternative Sustainability Criteria,Externalities, and Welfare in a Simple Agroecosystem Model: A Numerical Analysis

Using the numerical technique of value iteration, this paper imposes several sustainability constraints on a simple multi-sector agroecosystem model, and provides analysis of the costs tradeoffs of the product and externality is insufficient for intergenerationally equitable welfare paths, while sustaining a physical resource over time in the interests of equitability can result in a less equitable distribution of welfare across generations. Furthermore, a value sustainability constraint imposed on the social welfare maximization problem acts as a welfare transfer mechanism from the productive sector to the sector affected by the externality, but implies growth in profits for the productive sector and declining utility for the non-productive sector.     

Nonpoint Source Pollution Control under Incomplete and Costly Information

We analyze the efficient management of nonpoint source pollution (NPS) under a limited pollution control budget and incomplete information. We focus on the tradeoff between data collection and pollution abatement efforts by incorporating information acquisition into a NPS pollution control model. Comparative static results show conditions under which (i) a favorable change in the abatement costs at one source may lead to an increase in the treatment level at all sources, and vice versa, (ii) an increase in data collection cost leads to an increase in data collection level, and (iii) an increase in the efficiency of information acquisition leads to a decrease in the level of data collection. More importantly, the model simulations illustrate that acquiring and exploiting information on heterogeneity of sediment loading distributions across polluting sources leads to a more efficient budget allocation and hence a greater reduction in pollution damage than would be the case without such information.