At‐home meat consumption in China: an empirical study*

The remarkable economic changes occurring within China since 1978 have resulted in a striking alteration in food consumption patterns, and one marked change is the increasing consumption of meat. Given China’s large population, a small percentage change in per capita meat consumption could lead to a dramatic impact on the production and trade of agricultural products. Such changes have major implications for policy makers and food marketers. This paper concentrates on meat consumption patterns in the home in China. A censored linear approximate almost ideal demand system model was employed in the study, and major economic parameters were estimated for different meat items. Data used in this study were collected from two separate consumer surveys – one urban and one rural in 2005.     

Effects of an animal disease shock on meat markets and producer income

This paper simulates pig producer and slaughterhouse income losses due to a classical swine fever outbreak in Finland. The analysis explicitly takes into account that an outbreak of a highly contagious animal disease can shrink export demand for pig meat. After having observed the disease and its impact on pig meat price, producers can optimize animal stocks thought insemination decisions, which affects the number of animals in a dynamic manner. The income losses of pig industry were estimated to be less than €30 million. The losses were mainly due to price movements caused by an export demand shock. The results suggest that if the outbreak causes distortions in meat trade, the disease can cause substantial losses to the industry even if it has directly a small impact on the number of animals on farms. We also found that the optimization could reduce disease losses significantly, even more than 50%.     

Interaction Effects among Labeled Attributes for Eggs in the United States

New labels for food products continue to be introduced in the United States. This paper estimates interaction effects among labeled attributes for eggs to investigate cases where affixing labels of “premium” attributes would indeed gain additional premiums in the U.S. market. A latent class analysis identified four consumer segments (Attribute Seekers, Price Checkers, Local Supporters, and Combination Responders). Several interaction effects were sufficiently large in magnitude to neutralize the main effects, but differently for each segment. While the combination of certified-organic with cage-free or local label yielded negative premiums in certain segments, the premium Attribute Seekers were willing to pay were considerable. Across all segments, preferences for locally produced products were robust singly or in combinations. Consideration of interaction effects and consumer segments are recommended for effective labeling strategies.     

Food scares, advertising, and the demand for meat cuts in Great Britain

Retail demand systems for 19 different cuts of meat for beef, lamb, pork, bacon and poultry in Great Britain are estimated from monthly time series of consumer expenditure from 1989-2000 using a two stage budget allocation process and an LA/AIDS specification. The unconditional expenditure, own and cross price elasticities are derived for the individual meat cuts. The impact of adverse publicity from meat scares, especially BSE, and of positive publicity through consumer promotion and advertising are incorporated into the modelling. Meat scares produced a reallocation of consumer spending from red to white meats during the 1990s. The impact of species-based advertising was shown to have complex spillover effects both within and between meat species, and the response of consumer demand to advertising was considerably less than to adverse publicity.     

Consumer Welfare and the Livestock Economy in the United States

This paper analyzes the responsiveness of the U.S. meal and poultry economy to government policies and other exogenous shocks. In particular, it focuses on the measurement of changes to consumer welfare. An explicit econometric model represents the supply of fed beef, non-fed beef, pork, and poultry. The interaction between the livestock and feed grain markets is captured by an econometric model of the supply and demand for corn. Consumers are represented by a complete system of consumer demand equations. The model is used for a partial analysis of the welfare effects of an actual agricultural policy decision – the sale of large quantities of grains to the Soviet Union in the third quarter of 1972. The loss to consumers that is attributable to the increased grain exports did not reach its maximum until the second quarter of 1975. It is estimated that from 1973 to 1975 consumers suffered a reduction of meat consumption that they valued at $4.5 billion (U.S.). Furthermore, the effects of grain exports proved far larger than the losses due to the poor harvests of 1973 and 1974. Finally, attempts to shelter consumers from the effects of the increased corn exports, either by increased beef imports or increased grain price supports, would have had little success in compensating for the welfare loss actually suffered. Ce papier fail ?analvse de la réponse des secleurs de ?économie quant au bétail et à la volatile aux Flats-Unis, leur reponse à la politique gouvernementale et à?aulres coups exterieurs. En particulier, ce papier se concentre sur la mésure des changements au bien-étre des consommateurs. Un modèle économélrique qui est explicite représente ?approvisionnement du boeuf brouiè, du boeuf non-broutè, du pore el de la volatile. Lcar;action réciproque entre le marché de bélail et ie marché de grains est monlré par un modèle economelrique de ?offre et de la demande pour mats. Un système des équations représente la demande des consommateurs. On utilise le modèle pour ohtenir une analyse parlielle des effeis en ce qui concerne le bien-étre des consommateurs par suite ?une décision faite ?une politique agricole – celle de la vente de grandes quantités de grains à?Union soviétique au troisième quartier de ?année 1972. Laperte aux consommateurs qui est imputable aux exportations augmentées de grain n'apas alteinl son maximum jusqu'au deuxième quartier de 1975. On a eslimé que de 1973 à 1975 les consommateurs ont essuyé une réduction de la consommation de viande qu'ils ont evaluée à$4.5 milliard (en dollars des Etats-Unis). En outre, les effeis des exponations de grain se sont révélés bien grands que les effets des moissons maigres de 1973 el 1974. Finalement, des efforts de protéger les consommateurs contre les effets des exportations augmentees de maìs, ou par des importations augmentees de boeufou par augmenter le soutien pour le prix du grain auraient eu peu de succès à remplacer les pertes en fait essuyées.     

Capturing structural changes in French meat and fish demand over the period 1991 2002

A time-varying coefficient demand system, the Markov switchingalmost ideal demand model, is proposed to shed new light onchange over time in the structure of French meat and fish demand.The main feature of this model is that the switching mechanismfrom one structure of demand to the other is controlled by anunobserved variable that follows a Markov chain. Our model accuratelycaptures the two Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisesof recent years. We estimate that the 1996 BSE crisis lastedalmost three years, whereas the second BSE crisis for just lastedfive 4-week periods.     

Health care expenditures of self‐employed farm households in the United States

For self‐employed individuals and their families, purchases of health care services and health insurance policies have the potential to impact their health status, as well as the financial viability of their businesses. Most people in the United States receive health insurance coverage through employer‐sponsored programs. Self‐employed individuals and their households, such as farm households, may face a greater challenge in getting affordable health insurance. Using a large cross‐sectional farm household level dataset, we estimate the impact of the source of health insurance on health care expenditures of farm households in the United States. Results suggest that farm households purchasing individual health insurance directly from vendors are likely to spend more on health care than those with other sources of health insurance. After controlling for a variety of personal and local area characteristics, having health insurance was negatively related to total health care expenditures. Age and income, not surprisingly, were also found to be significant in explaining health care expenditures.     

An Error Corrected Almost Ideal Demand System for Crustaceans in the United States

We have employed an error-corrected almost ideal demand system (ECAIDS) for major crustaceans at a disaggregated level in the United States. The proposed model can provide short- and long-run price elasticities. This article makes an important empirical contribution by reporting a set of reliable, policy-relevant estimates of the elasticities of demand for crustaceans in the United States. The habit formation behavior was significant only for crayfish. The value pricing strategy and the promotional pricing strategy are expected to benefit the domestic shrimp industry. Increasing prices through various marketing strategies can benefit domestic producers of lobsters and crabs.     

Acceptance of genetically modified food: comparing consumer perspectives in the United States and South Korea

This study examines public perceptions of biotechnology, specifically the consumer approval of genetically modified food products, from plant as well as from animal origin, based on data collected from national surveys conducted in both the United States and South Korea. South Korean consumers reported better understanding of food production, science, and technology relative to U.S. consumers. South Korean consumers also recalled having heard more about genetic modification than did U.S. consumers. Findings also suggest that consumers in the United States and South Korea who possessed an accurate knowledge of the applications and outcomes of genetic modification technology were more likely to approve of its use for the creation of foods than those who had inaccurate or no knowledge of the technology. Results also indicate that consumers who considered labeling of genetically modified foods to be necessary are less likely to approve of the genetic modification of foods than those who did not. Consumers in both countries are less approving of genetic modification of animals than the genetic modification of plants. However, U.S. consumers are more approving of using genetic modification technology to create animal‐derived foods than are South Korean consumers.     

A markup over average cost pricing rule for meat and poultry in the United States

This paper tests the hypothesis that meat and poultry wholesalers choose their inventory levels together with wholesale price so as to maximize profit made over the sales time of their stock. The behavioral assumption predicts that markup over average cost will match the inverse of the price elasticity of the sales time of inventory. Price elasticity of inventory sales time is estimated for beef, pork and poultry accounting for the simultaneity between these pricing decisions by adopting a systems approach. The estimated range for the inverse of these elasticities includes all the markups applied over the sample range of the time series.     

Effects of resin tapping on optimal rotation age of pine plantation

This paper analyses the effects of resin benefit on the optimal rotation age of Simao pine plantation. Timber growth and resin yield functions were first derived, and then an integrated formulation for Hartman rotation was solved by taking both timber and resin benefits into consideration through numerical optimization. Empirical results indicate that: (1) the inclusion of resin benefit results in lengthening optimal rotation age; (2) resin benefit has a greater effect on rotation age when discount rate is low than when it is high, ceteris paribus; (3) with an improvement of site productivity, resin benefit has a decreasing effect on rotation age, other factors being constant. These effects are also true with respect to benefit gains in present value.     

Land change variability and human-environment dynamics in the United States Great Plains

Land use and land cover changes have complex linkages to climate variability and change, biophysical resources, and socioeconomic driving forces. To assess these land change dynamics and their causes in the Great Plains, we compare and contrast contemporary changes across 16 ecoregions using Landsat satellite data and statistical analysis. Large-area change analysis of agricultural regions is often hampered by change detection error and the tendency for land conversions to occur at the local-scale. To facilitate a regional-scale analysis, a statistical sampling design of randomly selected 10 km × 10 km blocks is used to efficiently identify the types and rates of land conversions for four time intervals between 1973 and 2000, stratified by relatively homogenous ecoregions. Nearly 8% of the overall Great Plains region underwent land-use and land-cover change during the study period, with a substantial amount of ecoregion variability that ranged from less than 2% to greater than 13%. Agricultural land cover declined by more than 2% overall, with variability contingent on the differential characteristics of regional human-environment systems. A large part of the Great Plains is in relatively stable land cover. However, other land systems with significant biophysical and climate limitations for agriculture have high rates of land change when pushed by economic, policy, technology, or climate forcing factors. The results indicate the regionally based potential for land cover to persist or fluctuate as land uses are adapted to spatially and temporally variable forcing factors.     

Effects of Milk Marketing Order Regulation on the Share of Fluid-Grade Milk in the United States

The share of raw milk meeting fluid quality (Grade A) standards in the United States rose steadily through the latter half of the twentieth century, but a shrinking portion of that was used in fluid products. Grade A milk exceeds the quality standards for the manufactured products for which it has been increasingly used. We present an econometric model that exploits regional and temporal variation in policy implementation to identify the effect of marketing orders on the Grade A share of milk. Results support the hypothesis that marketing orders significantly encouraged the growth in the Grade A share of milk.     

The quantity and variety of households’ meat purchases: A censored demand system approach

This study investigates the demand for 10 disaggregated meat products by U.S. households. A censored demand system which imposes budget constraints in both observed and latent shares is estimated along with a detailed explanation of the estimation procedure. Additional details about the methodology not provided in previous studies should help researchers to empirically apply the model. An innovation of the study is to introduce the censored demand system model for studying the variety of a household's food purchases. Most households buy between seven and eight different products and hardly change the variety of their purchases with changes in meat expenditure.     

Estimates of the Effects of Canadian Tariff on Fresh Peach Imports From the United States

A spatial equilibrium single period model of the Canadian-United States fresh peach trade was constructed to evaluate the effect of the Canadian tariff on United States fresh peach exports to Canada, Canadian production, consumption and prices. The model consisted of fifteen United States and two Canadian producing regions, thirty-five United States and six Canadian consuming cities. Using historical trade patterns some but not all United States producing regions were permitted to ship to Canada and there were no Canadian shipments to the United States. Comparisons of the nontariff with the tariff solution vectors of production, trade, consumption and prices indicated that the tariff had only marginal effects on Canadian fresh peach imports from the United States and that Canadian consumption quantities and prices were only moderately affected. Un modèle du marché aux pêches au Canada et aux Etats-Unis fut construit pendant une seule période afin d' évaluer les effets du tarif Canadien sur les exportations de pêches Américaines au Canada, la production Canadienne, la consommation et les prix au détail. Le, modèle fut composé de 15 régions de production Américaines et de deux régions Canadiennes, ainsi que 35 villes de consommation d' Amérique et six villes de Canada. En utilisant des données commerciales et historiques, quelquesunes, mais pas toutes les régions de production, avaient le droit d' exporter au Canada, et il n' y avait pas d' exportation aux Etats-Unis. Nous nous sommes servis de ce modèle pour comparer les importations Canadiennes en franchise, la production, la consommation et les prix résultants à d' autres prix où les tarifs s' appliquaient. Les résultats ont montré que le tarif Canadien affectait à peine les importations de pêches fraîches des Etats-Unis et que la consommation Canadienne et les niveaux de prix ne subissaient qu' une légère modification.