An inverse demand analysis with introduction of quality effects: an application to Spanish consumption of fruit and vegetables

This article analyzes consumer preference for fruit and vegetables when, by using time series with socioeconomic characteristics of households, there can be seemingly unobserved quality effects, which are increased by aggregation. The changes in Spanish demand for fresh and processed fruit and vegetables over the period 1987–2000 are discussed. Following previous tests and analyses, quantities are taken as predetermined and prices as matching the offer conditions. Thus, quality effects (based on the nutritional and/or health value of the product) are estimated from the error terms associated with the functions of the unit values. Quality variables are introduced as taste shifters in the inverse demand system (Laitinen–Theil model). The results show the positive effects of quality differences on the normalized price for the group of products through own‐quality flexibilities, and the negative effects between fresh and processed products through cross‐quality flexibilities.     

Demand for rural tourism: the effects of quality and information

The development of rural tourism is regarded as a promising diversification strategy especially for lagging and mountainous areas of the European Union. Research concerning the demand and/or supply of rural tourism services has been limited within the agricultural economics domain despite the significance attached to rural tourism by various rural development policy measures and initiatives. The article examines the expenditure behavior of rural tourists within a framework of demand for composite (heterogeneous) goods. The proposed framework captures the quality of the tourism experience as the commodity's unit value, a quantifiable economic variable, examines its effects on expenditures and allows for the estimation of elasticity in prices regarding expenditure and quantity. Empirical analysis is facilitated by a survey recording the expenditure behavior of 465 tourists in two rural and lagging areas of Greece. The quality of the tourism experience is significantly and positively affected by the income, the source from which information about the trip is retrieved (Internet, newspapers as well as general press and special travel press) and by the amount of information sought by the consumer prior to the trip. In turn, the quality of the tourism experience is the major endogenous factor that positively influences expenditures for rural tourism. Further research is needed before evidence provided in this work can be used to draw policy conclusions and recommendations.     

Energy price reform and food markets: the case of bread supply chain in Iran

Reforming energy price is the core of Iranian economic reform plan during 2010–2014. However, increasing price of energy may have adverse effects on the agricultural and food markets. This study was conducted to address these problems in the most important food of Iranian people “bread” by developing a spatial supply chain model. Results show that consumers’ welfare would experience a sharp decrease though the impacts on farmers are trivial. Also, results indicate that the key to success the reform without political backlash in the short‐run is the cash transfer program under which the government redistributes part of the reform's benefits among consumers. Per capita compensation payments would be equal to 51.50 and 46.09 US$ per year for a typical rural and urban person, respectively. Moreover, the results provide more detailed information about the market characteristics and the payments both in nationwide and regional scale as well as in different income groups.     

Determinants of off‐farm work and its effects on farm performance: the case of Norwegian grain farmers

Limited attention has been given in the literature to the impact of off‐farm work on farm performance. More knowledge about the determinants of part‐time farming and its effects on farm performance could help policymakers to introduce better targeted rural development policies. The aim in this article is to fill part of the above‐mentioned gaps by analyzing factors that influence the choices of off‐farm work by either the farmer alone or jointly by both the farmer and partner; and simultaneously examining how off‐farm work influences farm performance. These analyses were based on an unbalanced panel data set from Norwegian grain farms during 1991 to 2005. Among the determinants of off‐farm work hours, we found that, in addition to demographic, time trend, and some regional effects, there was a significant negative effect of farm output on farmers' off‐farm work hours. The production function results revealed that off‐farm work had a positive effect on farm output, at first increasing but then decreasing with increase in hours spent in off‐farm work. Furthermore, our analysis revealed no systematic effect of off‐farm work on farm technical efficiency.     

The economic impacts of technology and climate change: New evidence from U.S. corn yields

Over the past century, U.S. farmers have been offered a steady stream of new agricultural technologies, and more recently, experienced climate change. Because these two events have been occurring simultaneously, identifying their separate effects is difficult, and misimputation is easy. This article explicitly examines the economics of technical change and the interaction between weather and technology as revealed in a half century of panel data on U.S. Midwest rainfed state‐average corn yields. Observed yields reflect two components: yield potential and damage to the potential caused by weather and pests. Yield potential is modeled as a stochastic production frontier where nitrogen fertilization, public corn research, and introduction and adoption of biotech corn seeds impact yield potential and excess heat impacts nitrogen productivity. The yield‐damage/damage‐control function permits biotech corn plants to abate adverse effects of weather and pest events. Results include the following: nitrogen use, public corn research, and biotech seed‐corn adoption increase yield potential; soil moisture stress reduces yield potential, and excess heat severely reduces nitrogen productivity. Biotech corn plants abate yield damage caused by soil moisture stress but not excess heat.     

Productivity and Environmental Performance in Marketing Cooperatives: An Analysis of the Spanish Horticultural Sector

The paper analyses the productivity of marketing cooperatives incorporating environmental inputs/outputs. In the European agriculture, expectations for attaining sustainable and competitive agriculture rely to a great extent on the cooperative sector's ability to adapt to new market conditions. These challenges have led marketing cooperatives in the fruit and vegetables sector to consider improvements in productivity and sound environmental performance. The study analyses the total factor productivity related to environmental variables in this sector using a parametric‐stochastic approach and panel data on Spanish cooperatives over the period 1994–2002. Additionally, the determinants of environmental productivity are examined econometrically. The estimates obtained show an increase in efficiency for the period under study and a relationship between productivity changes and management factors, such as labour quality, capital intensity and environmental spillover.