THE POTENTIAL FOR MARKETING PORK PRODUCTS WITH EMBEDDED ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES: RESULTS FROM AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Environmental issues such as air and water quality related to livestock production currently receive much attention. Potential methods for environmental improvement range from regulation to market solutions. This study looks at consumer willingness to pay for pork products with embedded environmental attributes. Experimental auctions showed that over one-half of the participants (62%) paid a premium, that did not vary significantly between differing regions of the United States.Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, Q13, Q25,

An Examination of Additively Separable Willingness-To-Pay for Environmental Attributes: Evidence from a Pork Experiment

This paper examines what is the best method for pork producers to market pork products with environmental attributes. The objective is to examine evidence of whether it is beneficial for pork producers to incorporate multiple environmental attributes into a single product or sell multiple products with a single environmental attribute.Environmental Economics and Policy,

INTERPRETING BIDS FROM A VICKREY AUCTION WHEN THERE ARE PUBLIC GOOD ATTRIBUTES

This paper provides a model that allows for interpreting bids in a Vickrey auction when the good has public good attributes. It also examines information obtained from a Vickrey auction, which collected consumer's willingness-to-pay for pork products that had embedded environmental attributes, and applies the new interpretation to the bids.Consumer/Household Economics,

Investigating the efficacy of cognitive bias modification for interpretation and the Maudsley Review Training Programme on social anxiety and reasoning biases in individuals with persecutory delusions: a single case series

The Threat Anticipation Model (Freeman, 2007) implicates social anxiety and reasoning biases in the formation and maintenance of persecutory delusions. Computerised packages, such as Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation (CBM-I) have been shown to improve social anxiety in psychosis (Turner et al., 2011). Similarly, the Maudsley Review Training Programme (MRTP) has improved reasoning biases associated with delusions (Waller et al.,2011). This study examined the use of both of these treatment packages in people with persecutory delusions. It was hypothesised that CBM-I would reduce social anxiety, but not reasoning biases and that the MRTP would reduce reasoning biases, but not social anxiety. It was also hypothesised that both packages would reduce paranoia. A single case series design with twelve participants from Early Intervention and Recovery services in Norfolk was used. Measures of social anxiety, paranoia and reasoning biases were taken during baseline, package and one-month follow up. Data were analysed according to Kazdin’s (2010) criteria and were inspected for clinical and reliable change. Complimentary analyses were also performed using Simulation Modeling Analysis (Borckardt, 2006) and inferential statistics. Results indicated mixed support for the first hypothesis and moderate support for all other study hypotheses. Paranoia reduced in line with reductions in social anxiety and/or reasoning biases in eight cases. In two cases, no improvement in social anxiety or reasoning biases corresponded with lack of improvement in paranoia. The remaining two cases contradicted any relationship between improved social anxiety, reasoning biases and paranoia. These findings support the Threat Anticipation Model (Freeman, 2007), suggesting that social anxiety and reasoning biases are distinct mechanisms in the formation of paranoia that have unique aetiology and treatment responses. Computerised therapy may help people who are unwilling to engage with services and reduce cost of provision

A TALE OF TWO PREMIUMS- EXAMINING BIDS FROM A MULTIPLE ROUND VICKREY AUCTION WITH DIFFERING INFORMATION SETS

Two definitions of willingness-to-pay derived from a Vickrey auction with multi-product and multiple rounds with different information sets are examined. These definitions are examined in the context of valuing pork products with embedded environmental attributes and we show how information can have adverse effects on a base product of comparison.Consumer/Household Economics,

Creation and Implementation of the Central Appalachian Institute for Research and Development

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by James L. Hurley on March 12, 2013

An Analysis of the Tradeoffs between Policy Instruments to Induce Dairy Producers in California to Participate in a Centralized Digester

Tradeoff between different utility rates and policy intervention to induce dairy producer to join a regional digester are studied. Results demonstrate that a regional digester for the dairy industry in California is feasible given the digester receives $0.05 per kWh and government intervention or$0.0925 per kWh with no intervention.Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Paradoxical ventilator associated pneumonia incidences among selective digestive decontamination studies versus other studies of mechanically ventilated patients: benchmarking the evidence base

INTRODUCTION: Selective digestive decontamination (SDD) appears to have a more compelling evidence base than non-antimicrobial methods for the prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). However, the striking variability in ventilator associated pneumonia-incidence proportion (VAP-IP) among the SDD studies remains unexplained and a postulated contextual effect remains untested for. METHODS: Nine reviews were used to source 45 observational (benchmark) groups and 137 component (control and intervention) groups of studies of SDD and studies of three non-antimicrobial methods of VAP prevention. The logit VAP-IP data were summarized by meta-analysis using random effects methods and the associated heterogeneity (tau2) was measured. As group level predictors of logit VAP-IP, the mode of VAP diagnosis, proportion of trauma admissions, the proportion receiving prolonged ventilation and the intervention method under study were examined in meta-regression models containing the benchmark groups together with either the control (models 1 to 3) or intervention (models 4 to 6) groups of the prevention studies. RESULTS: The VAP-IP benchmark derived here is 22.1% (95% confidence interval; 95% CI; 19.2 to 25.5; tau2 0.34) whereas the mean VAP-IP of control groups from studies of SDD and of non-antimicrobial methods, is 35.7 (29.7 to 41.8; tau2 0.63) versus 20.4 (17.2 to 24.0; tau2 0.41), respectively (P < 0.001). The disparity between the benchmark groups and the control groups of the SDD studies, which was most apparent for the highest quality studies, could not be explained in the meta-regression models after adjusting for various group level factors. The mean VAP-IP (95% CI) of intervention groups is 16.0 (12.6 to 20.3; tau2 0.59) and 17.1 (14.2 to 20.3; tau2 0.35) for SDD studies versus studies of non-antimicrobial methods, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The VAP-IP among the intervention groups within the SDD evidence base is less variable and more similar to the benchmark than among the control groups. These paradoxical observations cannot readily be explained. The interpretation of the SDD evidence base cannot proceed without further consideration of this contextual effect

AN ANALYSIS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN PORK PRODUCTION

The rapid expansion of large-scale pork production has been accompanied by increasing concerns regarding potential detrimental consequences of environmental hazards on the health of producers. This study makes use of health indicators obtained from attendees at the World Pork Expo between 1991 and 1995 to evaluate the impact of pork production generally and of confinement production, specifically, on producer health. The analysis expands existing studies because the larger number of participants allows for detailed analysis, both nonfarmers and non-pork farmers are used as controls, both objective as well as self-reported health measures are considered, and personal characteristics such as height, weight, age, gender, smoking habits, and years of exposure to confinement operations and swine operations are controlled. The analysis shows that pork producers are more likely to report nagging respiratory symptoms (cough, sinus problems, sore throat) than are other farmers. Confinement operators have increased incidence of some symptoms relative to other pork producers. However, there was no evidence of permanent loss of pulmonary function associated with pork production or confinement operation. Farmers suffered from a greater incidence of hearing loss and loss of dominant hand strength relative to nonfarmers. Pork producers had even greater incidence of lost hand strength than other farmers but had no added incidence of hearing loss. On the plus side, farmers had lower blood pressure than did nonfarmers.

ESTIMATING WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY USING A POLYCHOTOMOUS CHOICE FUNCTION: AN APPLICATION TO PORK PRODUCTS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES

This paper utilizes a polychotomous choice function to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and willingness-to-pay for embedded environmental attributes. Specifically, a two-stage estimation procedure with an ordered probit selection rule is used to predict the premium payers and the magnitude of the premium they are willing to pay.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,