Lester M.K. Kwong

Semiparametric versus parametric hedonic wine price models: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACT In this article, we conduct formal statistical tests to compare a semiparametric hedonic wine price model with its parametric counterpart using a Canadian data set. The relevant test results turn out to be overwhelmingly in favour of the semiparametric specification. The estimated semiparametric model also provides clear evidence of nonlinearity between wine prices and quality when other wine attributes are controlled for.

Eco-Labels as a Signal of Quality

Using a canonical model of signaling, we show that if the cost of organic viticulture is strictly increasing in the quality dimension, then the use of eco-labels as a signal for quality cannot possibly occur as an equilibrium outcome. Conditions for the existence of such a signalling equilibrium as well as some general properties regarding its configuration are herein characterized. (JEL Classification: L15, L66, M3)

What is Making Investment in the Texas Vineyard Industry Tick? A Real Options Analysis of Entry and Exit

The Texas wine industry of the United States has experienced substantial growth in recent years and yet is constrained by a significant lack of supply of Texas grown grapes. Using a real options framework we examine the role that wine grape price uncertainty plays on the financial decision to invest in vineyard operations in the state of Texas. Given reasonable estimates of required rates of returns, investment and operating costs for typical Texas vineyards, it is found that grape price uncertainty results in a delay in investment and subsequently a lack of grape supply. This delay in investment, known as hysteresis, is often found in situations involving large fixed investments combined with uncertain returns. In general the results indicate that average prices for Texas grapes would have to increase by 30 to 40 percent in order for a significant expansion in Texas vineyards to take place. (JEL Classification: Q120, Q140, G310, D920)

On the Revelation of Provenance in Online Wine Auctions

This paper examines the social desirability to disclose pertinent information to participants in an optimal auction environment. In particular, we consider aspects of information which will affect all potential buyers in a uniform fashion. In the case of wine, such information may be interpreted as an unobservable dimension such as the quality or the storage condition of a bottle of wine. We show that when the participants in the auction are symmetrically uninformed in such a dimension, it may be socially optimal not to resolve this common uncertainty. Under the sufficient conditions provided to generate this outcome, efficiency will be restored in the optimal auction. (JEL Classification: D44, D82)