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The persistence of malnutrition resulting from micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries has led to a recent movement for better linkages between agriculture extension and nutrition education in development work. Few empirical studies have examined this link, and previous studies in the agricultural development literature have primarily focused on the link between nutrition and farm diversity, productivity and profitability. Smallholder farmers are often faced with the decision to consume or sell farm products. These joint production and consumption decisions impact household nutrition and dietary diversity. Furthermore, the farmer’s decision may be driven by access to markets for selling products produced by the household or for purchasing food for home consumption. Using primary data from a household-level survey in Bangladesh, this study investigates the effect of agricultural production and market participation on food group consumption. The data was collected from over 1,000 households from two districts in Bangladesh from August to November. The empirical analysis models consumption of various food groups as a function of farm production diversity, access to markets, household income and household characteristics such as age, gender and education of the household head.

The Tanzanian government has banned the exportation of maize on several occasions since the 1980s. The government argues these bans ensure an adequate domestic food supply and help stabilize consumer prices. While low domestic prices benefit urban consumers, the bans negatively affect farmers’ and traders’ incomes by hindering their access to lucrative prices in international markets. Because the bans are often ad hoc and impromptu, the policy causes market uncertainty which may have long-run implications for future food security and trading opportunities. This study uses cross-sectional household data from 244 randomly selected households collected in October and November of 2015 from the Mufindi district of Tanzania, a key maize producing region, to analyze the policy’s effects on agricultural production decisions, farmers’ responses to price risks generated by the export bans, the implications of the bans on long-run food security, and the effects of the bans on engagement in agricultural activities and investment. While none of the respondents indicate that they stopped producing maize because of the bans, 43 percent indicated that they decreased maize production and started growing other crops. Approximately 63 percent of respondents now produce maize only for household consumption. The survey findings indicate maize farmers are affected by export bans through lower prices and unpredictable markets. The bans caused some farmers to incur negative profits while others were unable to pay inputs suppliers. The bans also reduced investment in maize farming businesses. The majority of respondents indicated that they would reduce acreage allocated to maize production but continue producing maize to meet household consumption needs if the bans are reinstated.

Using data from an Alachua County, Florida elementary school, we analyze how intermittently offered à la carte items, such as ice cream and other desserts, affect the selection of more healthful National School Lunch Program (NSLP) lunch components (fruits and low-fat dairy). We find NSLP participants are more likely to select the fruit component on days à la carte items are offered; however, NSLP participants who purchase à la carte items, when available, are less likely to select a fruit. If students consume all of the foods that they select, this substitution effect reduces micronutrients consumed and increases caloric intake. Such a substitution over the long term could have implications for childhood obesity as well as overall health. Our results have implications for the on-going debate pertaining to competitive foods sold in school lunchrooms.

In this paper, we estimate the indirect economic losses to U.S. shrimp consumers as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Using a combination of national fisheries market data and the results of an experimental auction, we identify three sources of economic damages to shrimp consumers: (1) higher prices paid by consumers for shrimp in 2010, (2) a loss of utility in the form of substituting consumption of preferred wild-caught Gulf shrimp with less-preferred substitutes, and (3) a loss in utility in the form of stigma attached to wild-caught Gulf shrimp.

he National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one of the largest nutrition assistance programs in the United States, providing free and reduced-price lunches for income-eligible students as well as minimally subsidizing paid lunches for students that do not qualify to receive free or reduce-price lunches. Although the levels of nutrient deficiencies vary slightly across studies, the majority of the research concedes that NSLP participants consume more fats and sodium than non-participants, which may lead to higher rates of overweight and obesity. Furthermore, differences across income in dietary intake among NSLP participants may be an underlying cause of the previous mixed results. In this study, we investigate the relationship between income-eligibility status (Free, Reduced, or Paid) and entrée selection. Using a unique dataset tracking daily entrée choices and their nutritional value among elementary students at a suburban school district, this paper provides a novel approach to understanding the healthfulness of the NSLP. We find that while controlling for age, gender, and race, students that purchase free lunch choose entrees with less sodium than students purchasing either reduced-price or paid lunches. Relative to students purchasing free-lunches, students purchasing paid lunches also choose entrees with more protein and fat and entrees with fewer carbohydrates.

This study examines the role that the right behavioral cues can play in changing lunchroom habits and transitioning children towards healthier eating habits. We accomplish this by encouraging middle school children to pre-select their meals using a web-based software program where they are nudged by visual behavioral cues to make healthier food choices during pre-ordering. Our research design allows us to separate the effect of pre-selection from the effect of nudging on eating habits. We predict that pre-selecting lunch via the web based program with in-built behavioral cues will result in an increase in the weekly selection of fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy.

Financial accounting has emphasized the historical cost approach because of its objectivity. Yet in the event of bankruptcy and liquidation, assets will be liquidated at their market values. In this paper, we compare the probability of insolvency computed using market values to the probability of insolvency computed using historical costs. We find that the historical value based computation has the potential to both understand and overstate the true probability of insolvency. The disparity between the historical value based computation and the market value based computations depends on the degree of leverage and the age of the assets.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has been criticized for providing high calorie lunches to over 31 million school-age students. With nearly 17 percent of children considered obese, the relationship between NSLP participation and childhood obesity has been studied extensively without conclusive evidence. This paper presents a review of the literature thus far and examines identification issues when estimating the average treatment effect or local average treatment effect of the NSLP. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the author finds that when restrictive parametric assumptions are removed, participation in the NSLP reduces the probability of being obese in school age children.

Prices for prime farmland have increased significantly in recent years. But, is the dramatic increase the result of a speculative bubble or is it consistent with market fundamentals with increases driven by growing global demand and recent changes to U.S. agricultural and energy policies? This research investigates the impacts of recent agricultural support policies and ethanol policies on farmland values and rental rates. Using weighted ordinary least squares and two stage least squares, we find that government payments, urban pressure and the proximity of the farm to an ethanol facility have a positive impact on both farmland values and rental rates.

We investigate irreversible investment behavior under uncertainty of payoffs using U.S. firm-level panel data. We estimate the relationship between the firm’s investment to capital ratio and the interest rate, while controlling for investment opportunities, real option values, uncertainty and profitability. The results indicate the investment demand curve is a backward-bending function of the interest rate; at low interest rates, an increase in the interest rate leads to increased investment by increasing the cost of postponing investment. Firm investment behavior is also consistent with real options behavior. The investment behavior of agribusiness firms is significantly different from firms in other sectors.

We analyze the impacts of agricultural subsidies on farm-level production decisions and input use under price, yield, and policy uncertainty for a risk-averse farmer. Using U.S. farm-level data and weighted ordinary least squares, we find that decoupled payments had little impact on agricultural chemical expenditures (our proxy for use) when the payments were first introduced in 1996. However, after 2004 there is a positive, significant relationship between decoupled payments and agricultural chemical expenditures. The results suggest that updating, introduced in 2002, and expectations of future updating caused decoupled payments to become coupled to current input use and, ultimately, production.

The use of agricultural decoupled support has increased as World Trade Organization (WTO) member nations implement less trade distortive policies. However, the true production effects of these policies are still unclear. We show how the exclusion restrictions of U.S. direct payments, namely, the fruit and vegetable restriction and the requirement of keeping land in good agricultural use, cause the decoupled payment to become fully coupled over time as relative profits adjust. Theoretically, decoupled payments can be more trade distorting than an equivalent (same level of taxpayer expenditure) fully coupled subsidy.

The material contained herein is supplementary to the article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 90, Number 1, February 2008

This paper examines the relationship between uncertainty and investment decisions by food and non-food firms. Using hysteresis and the real options paradigm, we review why uncertainty might cause firms to delay investment. In particular, our model looks for a negative relationship between capital invested and uncertainty. In the alternative, if the relationship is positive, this may be consistent with the exercise of growth options or competitive markets. Empirical results are mixed. In one of the four models we present there is clear evidence of hysteresis, that is a negative relationship between year over year investment and uncertainty. The remaining 3 models indicate the opposite, a positive relationship between investment and risk. Although the models differ, the first model is the stronger of the three. Nonetheless, the results are ambiguous. Although we use a large cross sectional, time series panel set of data, we find nothing remarkable about the food industry per se, except that across industries, their level of investment is about in the middle.