Asymmetric Intellectual Property Rights Protection and North-South Welfare

We construct a model of dynamic endogenous product innovation and international trade, using it to calculate the welfare effects of lower intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the non-innovating South than in the innovating North. We find that it is generally in the North’s interest to protect its innovating sector by an import embargo on IPR-offending goods from abroad. We explain the paradoxical outcome where the North gains from weaker IPR enforcement in the South through a decomposition of the dynamic welfare formula. Key features include the ability of lower Southern IPR protection to spur innovation of Northern goods and to make available greater resources for Northern production of current consumption goods. Maintaining Northern IPR standards can be in the South’s interests even though the South would favor lower uniform levels of IPR protection.Intellectual Property Rights; Innovation; Imitation; North; South; Welfare

EFFECTS OF FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH: VOLUME 3, LITERATURE REVIEW

This report provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of published research on the impact of USDA's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs on participants' nutrition and health outcomes. The outcome measures reviewed include food expenditures, household nutrient availability, dietary intake, other measures of nutrition status, food security, birth outcomes, breastfeeding behaviors, immunization rates, use and cost of health care services, and selected nonhealth outcomes, such as academic achievement and school performance (children) and social isolation (elderly). The report is one of four volumes produced by a larger study that includes Volume 1, Research Design; Volume 2, Data Sources; Volume 3, Literature Review; and Volume 4, Executive Summary of the Literature Review. The review examines the research on 15 USDA food assistance programs but tends to focus on the largest ones for which more research is available: food stamps, school feeding programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Over half of USDA's budget - $41.6 billion in fiscal year 2003 - was devoted to food assistance and nutrition programs that provide low-income families and children with access to a healthy diet.Dietary intake, food expenditures, nutrient availability, nutrient intake, nutritional status, nutrition and health outcomes, USDA, Food Security and Poverty,

MODELING FRESH ORGANIC PRODUCE CONSUMPTION: A GENERALIZED DOUBLE-HURDLE MODEL APPROACH

Using actual retail data, this study is intended to profile consumers' social economic characteristics related to the growth of the fresh organic produce market with a generalized double-hurdle model. The nested test shows that the above model performs significantly better than Cragg's independent double-hurdle model and Tobit model.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Estimation of a Composite Food Demand System for the United States—A Revisit

We revisit the composite food demand system for the United States covering the period from 1953 to 2008. We were unable to produce elasticity measures that are as close or similar to those reported in Huang and Haidacher (1983), although the same demand system specification was employed. Our results based on the more recent data set of 1982-2008 show that most of the own-price elasticities are negative and statistically significant, varying from -.1861 (poultry) to -.9476 (nonfood). In general, the estimated own-price elasticities appear to be smaller in magnitude or more inelastic than previously reported. In contrast, we estimate the significant income elasticities for food vary from .5172 (dairy) to 4.6687 (fish), while Huang and Haidaicher (1983) report their income elasticities to vary from -.6343 (fruits) to .5748 (fats & oils). The estimated income elasticities for nonfood group appear to remain fairly constant among different studies, ranging from 1.0407 to1.2035.Differential-form demand system, iterative seemingly unrelated regression, Engel aggregation, Homogeneity, Symmetry, Uncompensated and compensated elasticities, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Organic Premiums of U.S. Fresh Produce

The study uses the 2005 Nielsen Homescan panel data to estimate price premiums and discounts associated with product attributes, market factors, and consumer characteristics, focusing on the organic attribute for 5 major fresh fruits and 5 major fresh vegetables in the United States. The results suggest that the organic attribute commands a significant price premium, which varies greatly from 13 cents per pound for bananas to 86 cents per pound for strawberries among fresh fruits and from 13 cents per pound for onions to 50 cents per pound for peppers among fresh vegetables. In terms of percentages, the estimated organic price premiums vary from 20% above prices paid for conventional grapes to 42% for strawberries among fresh fruits and from 15% above prices paid for conventional carrots and tomatoes to 60% for potatoes. Furthermore, prices paid for fresh produce are found to vary by other product attributes, market factors, and household characteristics.fresh fruits and vegetables, hedonic price, organic produce, organic premium, product attributes, Nielsen Homescan, Agricultural Finance,

EFFECTS OF FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH: VOLUME 4, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW

This report provides a summary of a comprehensive review and synthesis of published research on the impact of USDA's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs on participants' nutrition and health outcomes. The outcome measures reviewed include food expenditures, household nutrient availability, dietary intake, other measures of nutrition status, food security, birth outcomes, breastfeeding behaviors, immunization rates, use and cost of health care services, and selected nonhealth outcomes, such as academic achievement and school performance (children) and social isolation (elderly). The report is one of four volumes produced by a larger study that includes Volume 1, Research Design; Volume 2, Data Sources; Volume 3, Literature Review; and Volume 4, Executive Summary of the Literature Review. The review examines the research on 15 USDA food assistance and nutrition programs but tends to focus on the largest ones for which more research is available: food stamps, school feeding programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Over half of USDA's budget - $41.6 billion in fiscal year 2003 - was devoted to food assistance and nutrition programs that provide low-income families and children with access to a healthy diet.Dietary intake, food expenditures, nutrient availability, nutrient intake, nutritional status, nutrition and health outcomes, USDAs food assistance and nutrition programs, Food Security and Poverty,

How Much are Consumers Paying for Organic Baby Food?

Using retail purchase data, price premiums and discounts associated with household demographics, market factors, and product attributes (focusing on the organic attribute for strained baby food) are estimated using a hedonic pricing model. Results suggest that the organic premium ranges from about 12 to 49 percent in 2004 and from 30 to 52 percent in 2006. Tests for significant changes relative to product attributes show that while the price of conventional baby food has stayed relatively the same, the premium for organic baby food has increased.organic baby food, hedonic price, market factors, product attributes, Nielsen Homescan, organic premium, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Does Price or Income Affect Organic Choice? Analysis of U.S. Fresh Produce Users

This study analyzes consumer purchasing behavior of organic fresh fruits and vegetables using the 2006 Nielsen Homescan panel. An ordered logit model was estimated to quantify the impacts of economic and socio-demographic factors on the probability of a household belonging to a specific organic user group—devoted, casual, or nonuser. Results suggest that price and income, to some extent, affect consumer purchases of organic produce. Additionally, the profile of an organic produce user is most likely to consist of an Hispanic household residing in the Western United States with children under 6 years old and a household head older than 54 years with at least a college degree.Nielsen Homescan data, ordered logit, organic fruits and vegetables, user groups, Agribusiness, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C25, D12, M31, Q11,

GOES-next navigation operations

The next generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, GOES-I through -M (hereafter referred to as GOES-Next), begins a new era in the operation of weather satellites by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With a new spacecraft design, three-axis attitude stabilization, new ground support equipment, and improved methods of image navigation and registration that use on board compensation techniques to correct images for satellite motion, NOAA expects improved performance over the current series of dual-spin spacecraft. To meet these expectations, planning is currently underway for providing the complex and intensive operational environment that will meet the challenge of operating the GOES-Next spacecraft. This paper describes that operational environment