FAST FOOD NATION: THE DARK SIDE OF THE ALL-AMERICAN MEAL; A BOOK REVIEW DISCUSSION

This document contains the outline of a book review given on Eric Schlosser's book: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, published by HarperCollins, January 8, 2002. The review was given by the author at the 2002 WCC-72 meetings.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

TRADE FLOWS AND MARKETING PRACTICES IN THE TEXAS NURSERY INDUSTRY

International Relations/Trade, Marketing,

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT ON THE METROPLEXES OF TEXAS

This research estimates the annual economic impact of the fire ant on key urban sectors in Texas. A study was conducted in 1998-1999 in the 5 metroplexes of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston to estimate the costs of controlling and managing fire ants (Lard, et al). This study found that the annual expenditure for fire ant control and management by selected sectors in these metroplexes totaled more than $581 million. The total annual expense by sector amounted to$526 million for households, $29 million for golf courses,$25 million for schools, and $0.6 million for cities. These annual cost figures do not include all urban costs or costs borne by electrical utility companies, communication firms and cable companies. These results can be used to assess damages and estimate the potential costs and benefits of control and management programs, such as the community-based effort underway as part of the Texas Fire Ant Initiative.Crop Production/Industries,

Repeat Buying Behavior for Ornamental Plants: A Consumer Profile

The main objective of this research was to study what stimulates repeat buying behavior for ornamental plants by segmenting consumer demographics and other important variables in the purchasing decision for ornamental plants. Specifically, we looked at the number of transactions per month as a function of the purpose of the purchase. Consumer’s behavioral and socio-demographic characteristics that are more likely to influence the number of ornamental transactions were also identified.Green Industry, flower demand, consumer preferences, Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing, M31, R22,

The Economic Impact of the Green Industry in the United States

This study estimates the economic impacts of the U.S. environmental horticulture industry (also known as the Green Industry) to be $147.8 billion in output, 1,964,339 jobs,$95.1 billion in value added, $64.3 billion in labor income, and$6.9 billion in indirect business taxes, with these values expressed in 2004 dollars.Environmental Economics and Policy,

A Non-Hypothetical and Incentive Compatible Method for Estimating Consumer Willingness-to-Pay for a Novel Functional Food: The Case of Pomegranates

A preference and valuation mechanism that compared results of an experimental auction and nonhypothetical preference rankings was developed and used to elicit preferences for pomegranate products from a representative sample of shoppers in Texas. Familiarity with pomegranate products increased willingness-to-pay (WTP) for pomegranates, as did tasting and providing additional information on the health benefits of the products. Ready-to-eat and juice products were preferred to whole fruit products. Subjects did not indicate an increased WTP for Texas varieties over California Wonderful pomegranate based on auction bids but indicated a preference for one Texas variety in the nonhypothetical ranking procedure; thus, the auction results and nonhypothetical preference ranking procedures were divergent. Further, there were interaction effects of the information treatments with the product characteristics.willingness-to-pay, pomegranate, experimental auction, ranking, health, novel product, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, D12, Q13,

2008 Survey of the Performance of American Elections: Final Report

Analyzes results of a survey on the 2008 elections voting experience, voter confidence in the system, reasons for not voting, and support for reform proposals. Examines how age, race/ethnicity, and length of residency affect voters' experiences

Consumption inequality and income uncertainty

This paper places the debate over using consumption or income in studies of inequality growth in a formal intertemporal setting. It highlights the importance of permanent and transitory income uncertainty in the evaluation of growth in consumption inequality. We derive conditions under which the growth of variances and covariances of income and consumption can be used to separately identify the growth in the variance of permanent and transitory income shocks. Household data from Britain for the period 1968-1992 are used to show a strong growth in transitory inequality toward the end of this period, while younger cohorts are shown to face significantly higher levels of permanent inequality