Factors affecting consumer acceptance of chilled ready meals on the island of Ireland

The chilled ready meal market on the island of Ireland is relatively young but is growing rapidly. This paper focused on a consumer questionnaire (n = 702), designed to examine consumer attitudes to and consumption of chilled ready meals, in both the north and south of Ireland. This formed part of a larger study, with the questionnaire findings contributing to an in‐depth sensory study on a selected range of chilled ready meals. For a significant number of Irish consumers, consumption of these products is higher than on the UK mainland. For others, the products are purchased as a convenient alternative or a weekly treat. Respondents in urban locations were significantly more likely to consume chilled ready meals, as were men and younger, single respondents. Irish consumers are becoming more accustomed to ethnic cuisine although traditional meals remain popular. There is a clear need for developers to continue to enhance the sensory quality of these products, particularly as the primary barrier to consumption was a preference for home cooked food. However, they must also strive to maintain consumer interest in the sector, fulfil the desire for convenience and satisfy a more discerning palate.     

Administrative cooperation and disease control in cross-border pork production

In recent years, the continuous structural change in the value chain of modern food production has been characterised by an increasing international division of labour among manufacturing companies. A regional specialisation of primary agricultural production is especially apparent in meat production. Thus, the German–Dutch border area has developed into a region of unprecedented intensive pork production. While The Netherlands specialises in piglet production, the production of fattened pigs continues to grow in northwest Germany. As a result of this increasing transnational value chain development, German imports of Dutch piglets have risen continuously since 2000. However, this structural interweaving of pork production between The Netherlands and Germany has resulted in many new challenges for the cooperation between the various participants and in particular for the administrative authorities in the field of food and feed safety as well as efficient animal disease control. The motivation for this exploratory study stems from the lack of scientific work on this topic to date. The aim of this research is to illustrate the relevance of functioning cross-border cooperation in the food sector, using commodity flow structures and disease spread analysis. Results indicate that cross-border cooperation between authorities during a CSF epidemic can reduce the risk of recurrence and the duration by 50%.     

湖南省猪肉产品国际竞争力研究

运用国际市场占有率、贸易专业化指数、显示性比较优势指数和显示性竞争优势指数对湖南省及其参照省(广东、山东、河南和四川)猪肉产品的国际竞争力进行了评估。通过研究发现,不管从现实状态来看还是从发展趋势来看,湖南省猪肉产品的国际竞争力都是最强的。建议湖南省在农业结构调整中,将生猪产业作为重点发展的产业之一,并提高科技研发水平,以增加猪肉产品的附加值。     

Birthplace favoritism and the distribution of budget amendments in Brazil: Evidence from nondistrict elections

In this paper, we investigate whether federal deputies in Brazil display birthplace favoritism in allocating discretionary resources to municipalities via budgetary amendments. The data include information on three electoral cycles and on more than five thousand municipalities. Unlike previous research, we match data on an elected deputy’s share of votes by municipality and the value of the legislative amendments per capita obtained for each municipality by that deputy. Our results suggest that although resource distribution through amendments is smaller than targeted pork spending, birthplace favoritism is still an important driver of local politicians’ behavior. On average, when a Brazilian municipality is the place of birth of a deputy, it obtains 8.7% more amendments per capita than its counterparts. Additionally, our findings suggest that some deputies display birthplace favoritism because they plan to run for mayor in their hometown in subsequent elections.     

An experimental approach to valuing information

This article proposes a method to directly measure the value of information (VOI) conveyed in a label. Using data collected from a field experiment conducted in two grocery stores in Texas, we find the VOI contained in U.S. federally mandated country of origin labels for beef and pork is 36% lower using the new direct elicitation compared to the conventional approach. The mean value‐of‐origin information, in the context of our experiment, ranges from $0.016 to $1.08 per pound of steak/chop purchased, depending on the valuation method used and assumptions about labeling knowledge and average volume purchased per choice. The VOI is substantively influenced by ethnocentrism and meat consumption frequency.     

Tariff rate quotas: structural and stability impacts in growing markets

This paper examines several aspects of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) as adopted during tariffication of agricultural policies under the Uruguay Round of GAIT. Quota rents and non-tariff barrier effects may remain under TRQs, contrary to the objectives of the tariffication process. Further, price stability impacts of a TRQ are more complex than those for either tariffs or quotas, and under certain circumstances TRQs may be more stabilizing than either case, since TRQs truncate domestic production distributions much like price bands policies. This complexity results from the possibility of regime switching, and may reflect behavior under either a tariff, a quota, or a combination of cases. A TRQ policy may affect the timing of import decisions based on incentives created under quota allocation procedures envisioned for this institution. It may also allow increased imports as demand growth occurs because the quota is not necessarily a binding constraint. This means the above quota tariff is the critical policy instrument. An empirical study of Philippines port: imports illustrates these issues.     

Relationship and quality management in the Chinese pork supply chain

This article attempts to integrate transactional and relational governance perspectives to investigate interfirm exchange relationships and quality management in the pork supply chain in China. Data from 229 pork processors from eastern China were used for analysis. Path analysis results reveal positive relationships between the degree of asset specificity and uncertainty and the degree of vertical coordination and between the degree of vertical coordination and quality management practices. However, insignificant positive relationships were found between asset specificity and relational governance in the upstream chain and between uncertainty and relational governance in the downstream chain. A discussion of the results and of the implications of the findings is provided.     

Restructuring of the Danish pork industry: The role of mergers and takeovers, 1960–2010

This article examines the origins and effects of the evolution of the Danish pork industry characterised by three main merger waves resulting in 43 realised mergers and takeovers. The findings illuminate – in contrast to the traditional strategically motivated rationale – that the majority of the mergers were realised by cooperatives due to the inability to give the pig farmers competitive yearly refunds vis-à-vis local competitors, to financial difficulties or to the lack of investment capability of one of the merging parties. Despite a high-risky strategy, mergers and takeovers became the preferred consolidation mean due to capital constrains and the ‘close’ ownership structure of the cooperatives. Moreover, the study demonstrates that the outcomes of the M&A activities were generally positive.     

卫生和植物检疫措施影响农产品贸易的理论模型--以猪肉为例

本文从卫生和植物检疫(SPS)措施导致的遵从成本出发,建立了经济学局部均衡分析模型,研究SPS措施对中国猪肉贸易的影响效应。分析表明:SPS措施对猪肉贸易的影响在宏观上表现为贸易禁止、贸易限制和贸易扭曲。微观上的影响在短期和长期是不同的。文章还分析了在一对一歧视、多对一歧视和非歧视情况下遵从成本的大小。研究发现,当所有进口国对所有出口国无歧视的采用同一SPS措施的情况下,遵从成本被各国分摊,对于单个出口国来说,这时遵从成本最低。因此,对于贸易商来说,最重要的是追求贸易中的公平待遇。     

Technology and evolving supply chains in the beef and pork industries

The U.S. beef and pork industries have achieved dramatic productivity growth in recent decades; however, the supply chain and market structure of each industry has evolved in different ways. Technological advances have been a key reason for productivity growth, with pharmaceutical innovations playing a major role. This article canvasses the similarities and differences in how beef and pork flow through their respective supply chains and documents the changes, causes, and benefits of the increased efficiency in each industry. Past research is summarized in a broad view of the livestock industry and policy and trade issues are discussed. Such a perspective allows for the consideration of what the future might hold for each industry, and how technological innovation influences product quality, trade, and market structure.