Edward C. Jaenicke

A Soil-Quality Index and Its Relationship to Efficiency and Productivity Growth Measures: Two Decompositions

This article reconciles two notions of soil-quality indexes with the economic concepts of technical efficiency and productivity growth. An example uses data from the U.S. Department of Agricultures experimental fields in Maryland and data envelopment analysis techniques to estimate a soil-quality index consistent with the notion of technical efficiency. Common regression techniques shed additional light on the role of individual soil-quality properties in a very restricted linear approximation of the estimated soil-quality index. Copyright 1999, Oxford University Press.

Testing for Intermediate Outputs in Dynamic DEA Models: Accounting for Soil Capital in Rotational Crop Production and Productivity Measures

Inagricultural production, a stylized fact known as the rotationeffect says crop rotations generate higher yields or productivitythan identical crops grown in isolated monocultures. This paperdevelops a dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) model of cropproduction that accounts for the rotation effect. The model isapplied to data from an experimental farm in Pennsylvania toinvestigate the role soil capital plays in observed productivitygrowth and the rotation effect.

Simulating The Impacts Of Contract Supplies In A Spot Market-Contract Market Equilibrium Setting

This article embeds a principal-agent model within a market equilibrium model of contract and cash markets to analyze the impact of contracting on the spot market for hogs. The equilibrium model incorporates both quality differentiation in the contract market and an endogenously determined cash market price. For three types of contracting scenarios, market equilibrium conditions are derived, and results are presented for a numerical example. Contrary to some empirical results, our model shows that the increased supply of hogs under typical formula-price contracts can increase or decrease the cash market price, depending on the relative size of overall contract supplies.

Resident vs. Nonresident Employment Associated with Marcellus Shale Development

There is much debate about the employment effect of shale gas development, especially as it relates to extraction counties. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of the jobs created are filled by nonresidents. We examine the impact shale gas development has on local employment in Pennsylvania using a data set that links workers to their personal residences. We find that activity in the Marcellus shale has had a modest positive impact on job growth. The impact is cut in half, however, when we use data for county residents only. Thus, traditional employment data may overestimate employment impacts from shale development.

Food Environments and Obesity: Household Diet Expenditure Versus Food Deserts

OBJECTIVES To examine the associations between obesity and multiple aspects of the food environments, at home and in the neighborhood. METHODS Our study included 38,650 individuals nested in 18,381 households located in 2104 US counties. Our novel home food environment measure, USDAScore, evaluated the adherence of a households monthly expenditure shares of 24 aggregated food categories to the recommended values based on US Department of Agriculture food plans. The US Census Bureaus County Business Patterns (2008), the detailed food purchase information in the IRi Consumer Panel scanner data (2008-2012), and its associated MedProfiler data set (2012) constituted the main sources for neighborhood-, household-, and individual-level data, respectively. RESULTS After we controlled for a number of confounders at the individual, household, and neighborhood levels, USDAScore was negatively linked with obesity status, and a census tract-level indicator of food desert status was positively associated with obesity status. CONCLUSIONS Neighborhood food environment factors, such as food desert status, were associated with obesity status even after we controlled for home food environment factors.

Examining U.S. Food Retailers’ Decisions to Procure Local and Organic Produce From Farmer Direct-to-Retail Supply Chains

U.S. food retailing is a competitive sector that has undergone rapid changes. The U.S. market for organic products has expanded rapidly over the last decade, while local foods have become a more visible marketing strategy. Studies focusing on the marketing of these products by retailers are sparse and generally qualitative. This article is the first quantitative examination of the connection between the local and organic retailing. A sample selection model is used with data from a 2008 national survey of organic retailers to study supplier interactions and company characteristics that influence a retailer’s decision to procure local organic produce directly from farmers, and the rate at which they procure these products. The results show that the number of years a store has sold organic products and the size of the company, as well as aspects prioritized in choosing suppliers and past problems interacting with local suppliers, affect the outcomes.

SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH DURING THE TRANSITION TO ALTERNATIVE CROPPING SYSTEMS

Traditional measures of productivity growth may not fully account for all sources of growth during the transition from conventional to alternative cropping systems. This paper treats soil quality as part of the production process and incorporates it directly into rotational measures of productivity growth. An application to data from an experimental cropping system in Pennsylvania suggests that both experimental learning and soil-quality improvements were important sources of growth during the systems transition.

International trade of organic food: Evidence of US imports

Over the past decade, organic food sales and farmland have grown rapidly worldwide. As the US market for organic food has expanded, anecdotal evidence indicates that imports of organic food have increased. US organic handlers may be importing to meet consumer demand for out-of-season products, as well as products not grown domestically. Handlers may also be importing organic products that are in short supply or to reduce input costs. This paper provides the first examination of imports of organic products into the USA. Data from a national survey of certified organic handlers in 2007 are used to examine the extent, types and origins of imported organic commodities. A Heckman model is employed to investigate the factors that influence an organic handlers decision to import organic products, and the level at which organic handlers import a product. Summary results show that while many of the products being imported into the USA are those that cannot be produced domestically, such as coffee and tropical fruits, some oft-imported commodities are those that can be produced in the USA, such as soybeans, wheat, barley and berries. The summary results also show that organic handlers are procuring almost a half of their imported products from a few countries, including Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia. In the econometric analysis, we found those handlers prioritizing local suppliers negatively affected the facilitys decision to import products. The use of a social label, such as Fair Trade, positively affected a handlers decision to import. The size of organic sales was important to both the decision to import and the share imported, with larger firms more likely to import and smaller firms less likely to import. However, once a smaller firm had decided to import, they imported a larger share. Finally, our analysis found that experiencing limited supplies or prioritizing price with suppliers did not influence a handlers decision to import products. Based on the findings, we suggest future research avenues, including studies that address consumer preferences and the impact of increased imports on domestic organic farms.

Unconventional Shale Gas Development, Risk Perceptions, and Averting Behavior: Evidence from Bottled Water Purchases

Technological innovation has made extraction of natural gas from deep shale formations economically viable. While unconventional shale gas development is seen as an economic benefit, concerns have been raised about the environmental and health risks associated with the extraction process. We combine GIS data on unconventional shale gas development in Pennsylvania and Ohio with household data on bottled water purchases to assess the impact that perceived risks to drinking water from unconventional shale development have had on household well-being using a treatment effects design. In our preferred triple difference models with time-varying treatment effects, we find per household averting expenditure in 2010 ranges from

Food Processors’ Use of Contracts to Purchase Agricultural Inputs: Evidence from a Pennsylvania Survey

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