Rodrigo Echeverría

Willingness to pay for carbon footprint on foods

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to elicit the willingness to pay (WTP) of Chilean consumers towards the carbon footprint of food products (fluid milk and bread), controlling for several consumers attributes. Design/methodology/approach – A contingent valuation method (double bounded dichotomous choice) was used to analyze the WTP, wherein personal interviews were applied to a sample of 774 supermarket consumers. Findings – Chilean consumers show a positive attitude towards the carbon footprint concept. Consumers are willing to pay 29 percent for fluid milk and 10 percent for bread, over their average prices. It seems that WTP for foods is negatively related to the share of the product on the monthly household expense. Research limitations/implications – Based on the results of this work, the WTP is unique for each product, and hence, any attempt to extrapolate these results must be done with caution. Further research should include a wider set of products. Practical implications – Local Chilean compan...

Export Behaviour in the Chilean Agribusiness and Food Processing Industry

A B S T R A C T This paper analyzes the export-behavior of Chilean agribusiness and food processing firms and the relative importance of firm-specific and geographic characteristics in this behavior. Using firm level data and regional geographic indicators, a dynamic model was used to study the export decisions and the export intensity of three industries: processing fish, processing fruits and vegetables, and wine production. Results showed that determinants of exporting behavior vary among the three industries, except the effect of sunk costs, which strongly impacts the export decisions of all analyzed industries. This implies that firms with prior export experience will have higher probability of exporting in the future. Foreign ownership positively impacts the export decision of the two processing industries. Thus, firms belonging to these industries that wish to increase the probability of being an exporter should be encouraged to have a partnership with a foreign company or investor. The export intensity is positively influenced by foreign ownership in the fruit and vegetables processing and wine industries. As in the case of the export decision of firms, foreign participation helps increase the scale of exports. In general, firm-specific characteristics significantly impact the export behavior in Chilean agribusiness and processed food industries, while the contribution of geography attributes appears mixed.

Factors that influence the use of contract farming by southern Chilean farmers

A diferencia de la zona central, en la zona sur de Chile la Agricultura por Contrato (AC) es muy poco utilizada, y existen pocos estudios que permiten explicar esta situacion. En este contexto, el objetivo de este estudio fue analizar los factores que determinan el uso de la AC en el sur de Chile. La metodologia considero dos enfoques de investigacion complementarios: uno cuantitativo, en donde se aplico un analisis logistico multinomial utilizando datos provenientes de cuestionarios aplicados a 384 productores de la zona sur, y uno cualitativo, donde se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a profesionales y funcionarios de instituciones publicas y grupos focales a productores. Los principales resultados muestran que aquellos productores que tienen un mayor nivel educacional, con predios de mayor tamano, con una produccion orientada al mercado externo, que se ubican en zonas con una alta concentracion de vecinos que usan contractos, que pertenezcan a asociaciones y que necesiten asistencia tecnica por parte de las empresas compradoras, tienen mayores probabilidades de usar el sistema de AC. Sin embargo, a pesar del efecto individual de cada uno de estos factores, es el efecto combinado de ellos el que esta mas asociado al uso de la AC. Ademas, la falta de una relacion positiva entre los agricultores adversos al riesgo y el uso de contratos podria ser una senal de una falla en la manera en que los contractos son establecidos en el sur de Chile.

A characterization of Chilean farmers based on their market-production orientation

R. Echeverria, V. Moreira, J. Barrena, and M. Gopinath. 2012. A characterization of Chilean farmers based on their market-production orientation. Cien. Inv. Agr. 39(2): 255-264. Chile’s open trade policy, implemented during the last few decades, has greatly transformed Chilean farmers and their production systems. As a result, farmers can be grouped into three categories based on their market-production orientation: domestic, transitional or export producers. The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors underlying the decision to produce for a particular market and compare the three groups of farmers based on data from the 2007 agricultural census. A generalized ordered logit model was used to analyze different methods of production, and non-parametric methods were used to compare the groups. Results show that some farmers change categories in sequence; farmers that produce for the domestic market can later produce for the foreign market and eventually specialize further in the production of exports. The three types of farmers differ in several aspects. Beyond the indisputable role of geographic attributes and irrigation in producing exportable species, export-oriented producers have more modern characteristics than those producing for the internal market: they are more educated, have access to various financial resources, benefit from state-funded programs, have better managerial skills and are active users of technology.