Increasing U.S. Hard Red Winter Wheat Competitiveness in Latin American Markets

The United States wheat sector leadership in world markets is facing serious challenges. Canada, Australia, Argentina, the European Union (EU), and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) are growing contenders for international wheat markets. Wheat buyers´ concerns about quality specifications and its consistency have intensified without precedents in the last years. The study focuses on identifying the attributes that wheat buyers most value at the moment of purchase. The study will be done in two stages. The first stage will focus in estimating preferences from actual wheat transactions from different grain-sheds in the HRW growing area. The second stage will focus on the demand from Latin American millers and will estimate their attribute preference and elicit willingness to pay. The second stage will start with Mexican millers, given their importance for the HRW exports. A hedonic price model will be used for the first stage. The second part of the study will attempt to elicit miller´s preferences by using a self explicated approach. Expected results are that the "easy-to-measure attributes": test weight, and protein levels; and all functionality characteristics such as bake absorption, farinograph peak time, farinograph stability, alveograph p/l ratio will be the most valued by the wheat customers. We hypothesize that millers will be willing to pay a premium if those attributes are present in desirable levels. The information should provide insight into the efforts being made by wheat marketing agencies and the U.S. Wheat Associates to promote quality-based marketing of wheat to domestic and foreign millers. Discussion may also include the impacts of quality-based marketing on U.S. share of the world wheat market.International Relations/Trade,

Discrete choice models, which one performs better?

For over the last thirty years the multinomial logit model has been the standard in choice modeling. Development in econometrics and computational algorithms has led to the increasing tendency to opt for more flexible models able to depict more realistically choice behavior. This study compares three discrete choice models, the standard multinomial logit, the error components logit, and the random parameters logit. Data were obtained from two choice experiments conducted to investigate consumers’ preferences for fresh pears receiving several postharvest treatments. Model comparisons consisted of in-sample and holdout sample evaluations. Results show that product characteristics hence, datasets, influence model performance. We also found that the multinomial logit model outperformed in at least one of three evaluations in both datasets. Overall, findings signal the need for further studies controlling for context and dataset to have more conclusive cues for discrete choice models capabilities.multinomial logit model, error components, random parameters, discrete choice, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C25, D12,

A Comparison Of Choice Experiments And Actual Grocery Store Behavior: An Empirical Application To Seafood Products

In this paper we compare results from an in-store field experiment and a mail survey choice experiment (CE) to investigate CE’s capacity in predicting grocery store market share. For the comparison, we used three seafood products: freshwater prawns, marine shrimp, and lobster. CE estimates were obtained via four econometric models: the conditional logit, the random parameter logit, the heteroskedastic extreme value, and the multinomial probit. We found that the level of control in the grocery store experiment and the choice of econometric model influenced the capacity of CE to predict grocery store market shares.choice experiment, grocery store, hypothetical bias, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, C35, Q13,

Comparison of Stated Choice and In-store Experimental Methods in Predicting Actual Market Behavior for Freshwater Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) Consumers

The stated choice (SC) and actual revealed pricing/purchase experimental methods were compared for their ability to predict purchasing behavior and willingness-to-pay for freshwater prawns. SC hypothetical bias may be a consequence of difficulties in controlling factors affecting real world situations, small sample sizes and confusion related to the new product.choice experiment, grocery store experiment, new product, purchasing behavior, Consumer/Household Economics,

Effect of Publicly Released Quality Information for US Hard Red Winter Wheat on Mexican Millers' Welfare

Entities have been providing quality related information to overseas wheat buyers as a response to the increased requests for this information. This study measures the value of information to Mexican millers. The value to Mexican millers is measured by the difference of the flour mill surplus and compensating variation.Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Treatment-Induced Quality Attributes in Anjou Pears

Ethylene treatments provide an effective method for shortening post-harvest ripening periods for winter Anjou pears and allow market availability throughout the year. However, pear quality may vary under different treatments. A sensory experiment and a consumer survey including questions that address valuation, assessments of sensory characteristics, purchasing habits, and demographics were conducted. Analyses indicate that treatment-induced quality losses significantly affect consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP). Mean WTP for each treatment reveals that consumers prefer pears with a six-day ethylene treatment and are willing to pay a premium of $0.25/pound compared to the market price.pears, sensory, willingness to pay, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Willingness-to-Pay for Attribute Level and Variability: The Case of Mexican Millers’ Demand for Hard Red Winter Wheat

In-person interviews were carried out with Mexican millers who were administered a conjoint-type survey designed to incorporate uncertainty in attribute levels. Two methods were used to model millers’ risk preferences: a modified mean-variance approach and an explicit expected utility approach. Controlling for variability, Mexican millers are willing to pay premiums for increases in quality factors such as test weight, protein content, falling number, and dough strength/extensibility. We find millers are not particularly sensitive to changes in the variability of quality characteristics. Out-of-sample forecasts suggest the mean-variance model provides an accurate depiction of actual Mexican imports.mean-variance, Mexican wheat market, moment generating function, preference elicitation, wheat quality, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, C35, C42, Q13,

Cuidadores y cuidadoras familiares de personas con enfermedad crónica en Colombia: más similitudes que diferencias

Objetivo: Describir y comparar el nivel de carga de los cuidadores familiares,  hombres y mujeres, de personas con enfermedad crónica en Colombia. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo comparativo de corte transversal que se desarrolló entre 2012 y 2014 con 1555 cuidadores familiares de personas con enfermedad crónica residentes en las cinco regiones geográficas de Colombia.  Se emplearon los instrumentos GCPC-UN-C para la caracterización y la Encuesta de Percepción de Sobrecarga del Cuidador de Zarit para determinar la carga percibida.Resultados: De los cuidadores familiares del estudio, el 80,3 % era de la región andina, 5,6 % del Pacífico, 3,6 % de la Orinoquía, 6,6 % del Caribe y 3,6 % de la Amazonía.  La edad promedio fue de 50 años, en su mayoría esposos, hijos o padres del receptor del cuidado y dedican al menos una cuarta parte del día a su labor como cuidadores.  La mayoría llevaba más de 36 meses cuidando al familiar enfermo.  El 31 % de los cuidadores hombres y el 33  % de las cuidadoras manifestaron que el cuidado de su familiar les generaba sobrecarga.  Conclusiones: Los hallazgos reflejan una mayoría de mujeres cuidadoras familiares de personas con enfermedad crónica,  como se reporta en otros estudios realizados en América Latina. A diferencia de investigaciones anteriores, no se presentó diferencia contundente de la carga percibida y expresada por los cuidadores de acuerdo con el género.