Profit inefficiency of Indian farms: A system approach

This article attempts to measure the level of profit inefficiency of Indian farms using a stochastic profit function. In the process, the degree of misallocation of inputs and nonoptimal supply of output is also estimated. Likelihood ratio tests allow division of total observations into two groups-large and small farms. Results indicate that both groups are profit-inefficient due to misallocation of inputs and undersupply of output. However, small farms are less profit inefficient than their larger counterparts. Within each group relatively larger farms are less inefficient.The editor for this paper was Lennart Hjalmarsson.     

A Model of Direct and Intermediated Sales

We examine a model in which an upstream firm can sell directly online and through heterogeneous intermediaries to heterogeneous consumers engaging in time-consuming search. Direct online sales may be more or less convenient and involve costly returns if the good fits consumers poorly. Direct selling appeals to higher-value consumers and increases the upstream firm's profits by allowing price discrimination. Competition and segmentation due to direct sales results in lower intermediary prices, making all consumers better off. Thus, entry by an upstream firm increases consumer surplus at the expense of intermediaries with the net result being an increase in social welfare.     

Allocation of public funds to R&;D: a portfolio choice-styled decision model and a biotechnology case study

A decision problem—allocating public research and development (R&D) funding—is faced by a planner who has ambiguous knowledge of welfare effects of the various research areas. We model this as a reverse portfolio choice problem faced by a Bayesian decision-maker. Two elements of the planner’s inferential system are developed: a conditional distribution of welfare ‘returns’ on an allocation, given stated preferences of citizens for the different areas, and a minimum risk criterion for re-allocating these funds, given the performance of a status quo level of funding. A case study of Canadian public research funds expended on various applications of agricultural biotechnology is provided. The decision-making methodology can accommodate a variety of collective expenditure and resource allocation problems.     

Re‐gendering consumer agency in mid‐nineteenth‐century America: A visual understanding

The re‐gendering of consumer agency in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, from being a male to an increasingly female prerogative and responsibility, marked an important milestone in the history of American consumer culture. Art from this period can provide a visual understanding of this ideological and social transformation. Accordingly, this paper examines the lives and selected works of two intriguing genre painters, Francis W. Edmonds (1806–1863) and Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902), using concepts and methods from art history, visual culture, and postmodern theory. Implications for household consumption history and theory are also discussed.     

Consumer's Responses to the Potential Use of Bovine Somatotrophin in Canadian Dairy Production

The responses of a random sample of consumers to the use of recombinant somatotrophin (rBST) in milk production were elicited using a stated preference methodology. A conditional logit model of consumer choice was developed and tested to analyze consumers' choices of milk with varying characteristics of fat content, price, freshness and rBST treatment. Welfare calculations for a representative consumer indicate welfare losses with the introduction of rBST. Welfare losses were slightly less for a male than a female household food purchaser and were less for food purchasers with higher levels of income and education. There was a small welfare gain when the representative food purchaser was offered a full range of “rBST” and “wn-rBST” milks. The resiilts suggest that making appropriately labelled “rBST-free” milk available to consumers could decrease consumer welfare losses associated with the introduction of rBST in Canada. Nous avons évalueé par une méthodologie des préférences déclarées les réponses d'un panel de consommateurs choisis au hasard envers l'utilisation de somatotropine bovine recombinante (rBst) dans la production laitière. Un modèle logit conditionnel des choix du consommateur est testé pour analyser les choix à la consommation à l'égard de laits de divers niveaux de teneur en matière grasse, de prix et de fraîcheur et provenant ou pas de vaches traitées à la rBst. Les coûts sociaux pour le consommateur représentatif font voir des pertes éonomiques avec l'introduction de la rBst. Ces pertes étaient légèrement moins importantes lorsque l'acheteur d'aliments pour le ménage était un homme plutôt qu'une femme ou que son niveau d'éducation et de revenu était plus élevé. On observait un léger avan-tage économique lorsque le pourvoyeur du ménage représentatif avait accès à toute la gamme des laits avec et sans rBst. Il ressort de ces observations qu'une indication Claire de l'absence de rBst dans le lait sur l'étiquette des produits offerts à la consommation pourrait diminuer les pertes économiques résultant pour le consommateur de l'introduction de la rBst au Canada.     

Living next to godliness: Residential property values and churches

This article extends the analysis concerning the impact of neighborhood churches on residential property values by investigating nearly 5,000 residential property transactions in Henderson, Nevada, between January 1986 and December 1990. We find that real property values decrease, at a decreasing rate, as distance from a neighborhood church increases. This result is the opposite of that reported by Do, Wilbur, and Short in a previous edition of this journal. We bolster our findings by showing that distance from the site of a future church has little or no impact on residential property values, whereas distance from an existing church is associated with lower property values. Our evidence indicates that neighborhood churches are amenities that enhance the value of neighborhood residential property. Finally, we demonstrate that larger churches (as measured by square foot of lot size) tend to have a greaterpositive impact on residential property values.     

Effects of Product Origin and Selected Demographics on Consumer Choice of Red Meats

A multinomial nonlinear nested logit model is used to test data from a stated preference questionnaire to examine the potential effect of identified product and consumer characteristics on the probability of afresh meat product being purchased. The target market of the study is western Canada, and the questionnaire is directed to randomly selected households in major cities in this region. Fresh beef products from Alberta are generally preferred by these consumers over fresh beef products from other parts of Canada. For pork, consumers are indifferent between products of Alberta and those of other Canadian origin. However, fresh beef and pork products from Canada are preferred to products from the United States. The results support origin branding of Alberta beef, but not Alberta pork. Consumer age, household income and family size all have an effect on meat choices.     

Non-Governmental Organizations, Shareholder Activism, and Socially Responsible Investments: Ethical, Strategic, and Governance Implications

In this article, we document the growing influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the realm of socially responsible investing (SRI). Drawing from ethical and economic perspectives on stakeholder management and agency theory, we develop a framework to understand how and when NGOs will be most influential in shaping the ethical and social responsibility orientations of business using the emergence of SRI as the primary influencing vehicle. We find that NGOs have opportunities to influence corporate conduct via direct, indirect, and interactive influences on the investment community, and that the overall influence of NGOs as major actors in socially responsible investment is growing, with attendant consequences for corporate strategy, governance, and social performance.