TAXPAYER PREFERENCES FOR USDA EXPENDITURES

Taxpayer Preferences, USDA Budget, Budget Allocation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18,

Other-Regarding Behavior and Taxpayer Preferences for Farm Policy

Changes in the structure of agriculture have led some to rethink the purpose and nature of farm support programs. One key piece of information missing from the debate is evidence on taxpayer support for farm programs. Using data from a survey of over 1,100 randomly selected U.S. citizens, we determine how people would vote on particular farm policies and identify the determinants of support/opposition to farm programs. Our modeling approach makes use of developments in behavioral economics, which seek to explain other regarding behavior on the basis of altruism and inequality aversion. Our results show the majority of people (66%) support the subsidization of farmers, but voting outcomes are sensitive to the costs of the policy to the taxpayer as well as the magnitude of the payouts to famers. We find people act more altruistically toward small farms than very large farms and that people are averse to inequality. Furthermore, we found that the public's attitude toward maintaining a secure food supply and general attitudes toward government spending are also a significant determinant of preferences for farm programs.Department of Agricultural Economic

Three essays on the effects of calorie labeling in full service restaurants

Scope and Method of Study:Two field experiments were conducted in restaurants on the Oklahoma State University campus to study the effects of calorie labels on restaurant menus. Two types of calorie labels were implemented: a numeric calorie label where the number of calories was listed by each menu item and a symbolic calorie label where a traffic light symbol (indicating specific caloric ranges) was provided in addition to the number of calories for each menu item.Findings and Conclusions:Results show that the numeric calorie label (as currently proposed by the FDA) will have a modest (if any) effect on caloric intake, yet the effectiveness of the numeric label can be enhanced with the addition of a traffic light symbol. Additionally, this study finds that calorie labels have the most influence on diners who are the least health conscious. It is important to note, however, that the symbolic calorie label causes even the most health conscious people to reduce their caloric intake, suggesting that the traffic light label has the potential to influence a greater proportion of diners

Looking at the label and beyond: The effects of calorie labels, health consciousness, and demographics on caloric intake in restaurants

Background: Recent legislation has required calorie labels on restaurant menus as a means of improving Americans' health. Despite the growing research in this area, no consensus has been reached on the effectiveness of menu labels. This suggests the possibility of heterogeneity in responses to caloric labels across people with different attitudes and demographics. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential relationships between caloric intake and diners' socio-economic characteristics and attitudes in a restaurant field experiment that systematically varied the caloric information printed on the menus.Methods: We conducted a field experiment in a full service restaurant where patrons were randomly assigned to one of three menu treatments which varied the amount of caloric information printed on the menus (none, numeric, or symbolic calorie label). At the conclusion of their meals, diners were asked to complete a brief survey regarding their socio-economic characteristics, attitudes, and meal selections. Using regression analysis, we estimated the number of entree and extra calories ordered by diners as a function of demographic and attitudinal variables. Additionally, irrespective of the menu treatment to which a subject was assigned, our study identified which types of people are likely to be low-, medium-, and high-calorie diners.Results: Results showed that calorie labels have the greatest impact on those who are least health conscious. Additionally, using a symbolic calorie label can further reduce the caloric intake of even the most health conscious patrons. Finally, calorie labels were more likely to influence the selection of the main entree as opposed to supplemental items such as drinks and desserts.Conclusions: If numeric calorie labels are implemented (as currently proposed), they are most likely to influence consumers who are less health conscious - probably one of the key targets of this legislation. Unfortunately, numeric labels did little for those consumers who were already more knowledgeable about health and nutrition. To reach a broader group of diners, a symbolic calorie label may be preferred as it reduced caloric intake across all levels of health consciousness.Peer reviewedAgricultural EconomicsHospitality and Tourism Managemen

Misperceived Quality: Fertilizer in Tanzania

Fertilizer use remains below recommended rates in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to poor crop yields and poverty. Farmers voice suspicion that available fertilizer is often adulterated, but these concerns are not backed by reliable evidence. In fact, an insight from industry but absent from academic literature is that profitable fertilizer adulteration is difficult. We surveyed all fertilizer sellers in Morogoro Region, Tanzania and tested 633 samples of their fertilizer. We also conducted a willingness-to-pay assessment with farmers. We find that fertilizers meet nutrient standards but that belief of rampant product adulteration persists among farmers. We find evidence of a quality inference problem in the market: 25% of fertilizer has deteriorated in observable ways and farmers rely on these observable attributes to (incorrectly) assess unobservable nutrient quality. We show that this misperception likely reduces technology adoption beyond the effect of nutrient quality being unobservable

Misperceived quality: fertilizer in Tanzania

Fertilizer use remains below recommended rates in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, contributing to low crop yields and poverty. We explore the role of fertilizer quality. We interviewed fertilizer sellers in an important agricultural region in Tanzania and sampled their fertilizer to establish that the nutrient content of fertilizers is good, meeting industry standards. However, we find farmers’ beliefs to be inconsistent with this reality. Beliefs about adulteration push down farmer willingness-to-pay for fertilizer; with farmers willing to pay more if quality is verified. In addition, we find some evidence of a quality inference problem: many fertilizers have degraded appearance, and farmers appear to rely on these observable attributes to (incorrectly) assess unobservable nutrient content. Market prices reflect neither nutrient content nor degradation in appearance, even in competitive markets. Our results suggest the existence of an equilibrium where farmer beliefs about fertilizer are inconsistent with the truth, and seller incentives to invest to alter beliefs are limited, motivating future research into the origins and persistence of such an equilibrium

SNAPSHOT USA 2019 : a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August - 24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian's eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the USA. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban-wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot-usa, as well as future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species-specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe