This study compares hypothetical and nonhypothetical responses to choice experiment questions. We test for hypothetical bias in a choice experiment involving beef ribeye steaks with differing quality attributes. In general, hypothetical responses predicted higher probabilities of purchasing beef steaks than nonhypothetical responses. Thus, hypothetical choices overestimate total willingness-to-pay for beef steaks. However, marginal willingness-to-pay for a change in steak quality is, in general, not statistically different across hypothetical and actual payment settings. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

Experimental methods were used to examine consumer willingness-to-pay for steak tenderness in a grocery store setting. When relying on a taste test alone to determine product quality, the participants paid an average premium of $1.23/lb for a tender versus tough steak. Fifty-one percent of the participants were willing to pay an average of $1.84/lb when they had completed a taste test and were also provided information about the steak's tenderness. Results indicate that most consumers prefer more tender steaks and that many are willing to pay a premium for tender steaks. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.

This analysis empirically evaluates spatial linkages in regional cattle markets using cointegration tests of regional price series. Several markets were not cointegrated over the 1980 through 1987 period. However, significant increases in cointegration of several regional livestock markets are observed through the 1980s. The increased cointegration parallels significant structural changes in the livestock industry. A formal analysis of market characteristics reveals that distances between markets, industry concentration ratios, market volumes, and market types have significant influences on cointegration relationships between markets.

Choice experiments (CEs) are often used to elicit consumer willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for food attributes. A concern about these approaches is that food attributes provided to respondents are assumed independent of attributes not provided. We use surveys containing a series of CEs to investigate effects of adding beef steak attributes. WTP for important attributes in the CEs decrease when the number of attributes increases from three to four, while WTP increases when the number of attributes increases from four to five. Changes in WTP for attributes depend on their relationships with newly added attributes and the number of attributes presented.

Despite increased use of experimental auctions, a myriad of different procedures are being employed without formal consideration of how the procedures might affect results. This study investigates the effect of several procedural issues on valuation estimates from experimental auctions. Results indicate the second price auction generates higher valuations than English, Becker—DeGroot—Marschak (BDM), and random nth price auctions, especially in latter bidding rounds, and that random nth price auction yields lower valuations than English and BDM auctions. We find that endowing subjects with a good prior to eliciting bids can have an impact on valuations, but the effect varies across auction mechanism. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

This study quantifies the socioeconomic factors that affect adoption of improved maize seed and chemical fertiliser by producers in Tanzania. A bootstrapped simultaneous equation Tobit model was used to analyse data obtained from a survey of 246 farmers in Northern Tanzania. The adoption of improved maize seed was positively affected by nitrogen use per hectare, farm size, farmer education attainment level, and visits by extension agents. Fertiliser adoption was positively related to the area planted with improved seed. Larger farms tended to use fertiliser less intensively than smaller farms. Results confirm the importance of recognising the heterogeneity of the farming population not only in terms of differences in the biophysical conditions but also in the socioeconomic, environmental conditions under which they operate. This has important implications in terms of developing different technologies and support systems that take such variation into account. The results also confirm the importance of focusing on producer education as a component in influencing technology and in accepting the concept of a technology ladder in designing technological packages and disseminating extension messages.

Using a sample of 509 Kansas producers, we evaluate factors affecting adoption of forward pricing methods. We focus on producers' human capital accumulation and its effect on adoption of forward‐pricing techniques. Probit models are employed to evaluate producers' participation in educational programs and their forward‐pricing adoption decisions. Tobit models are employed to evaluate individual levels of adoption of these techniques in the marketing of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, and cattle.

The impact of meat product recall events on consumer demand (beef, pork, poultry, and other consumption goods) in the USA is tested empirically. Beef, pork, and poultry recall indices are constructed from both the Food Safety Inspection Service's meat recall events and from newspaper reports over the period 1982-1998. Following previous product recall studies, recall indices are incorporated as shift variables in consumers' demand functions. Estimating an absolute price version of the Rotterdam demand model, findings indicate that Food Safety Inspection Service's meat recall events significantly impact demand, and newspaper reports do not. Moreover, although elasticities related to recall events are significant they are small in magnitude relative to price and income effects. Any favourable effects on the demands of meat substitutes for a recall are offset by a more general negative effect on meat demand. The general negative effect indicates a shift out of meat to non-meat consumption goods.