Status-Quo-Bias and Voluntary Contributions: Can Lab Experiments Parallel Real World Outcomes for Generic Advertising?

Many commodities have programs assessing producers for generic advertising. Ads such as "Got Milk?" and the "Incredible Edible Egg" are a public good for producers. Most of these programs originally used the Voluntary Contribution Mechanism, but have now become mandatory because of free-riding. This research simulates both the economic and psychological details of the egg industry in experiments that produce strikingly realistic results. Because mandatory programs have recently been declared unconstitutional, we also the test the Provision Point Mechanism and show that observed low levels of free-riding for both mechanisms are the result of status quo bias.Marketing, H40, H41, M37,

Optimal Institutional Mechanisms for Funding Generic Advertising: An Experimental Analysis

Given the uncertain legal status of generic advertising programs for agricultural commodities, alternative voluntary funding institutions are investigated hat could provide a high level of benefits to producers. This experimental study simulates key economic and psychological factors that affect producer contributions to generic advertising. The results suggests that producer referendum play a critical role in increasing contributions and that producer surplus is maximized by a Provision Point Mechanism instituted by producer referendum with thresholds ranging from 68% to 90%, and expected funding from 47% to 77% of the time, depending on the level of advertising effectiveness.Marketing,

Do rBST-Free and Organic Milk Stigmatize Conventionally Produced Milk?

Producers are continually seeking to differentiate their products in the marketplace. A common approach is via labeling where differences in production methods are marketed. Yet, positive labeling for the new product has the potential to stigmatize the conventionally produced product by highlighting perceived problems with the product. The net economic result can be negative to producers as the conventional product that dominates the market is stigmatized by the new product that has little market share, and this leads to consumers decreasing their willingness to pay for the conventional product. This experimental research identifies this stigma effect in the case of milk, where the presentation of rBST-Free milk reduces consumers' willingness to purchase conventional milk.Demand and Price Analysis,

Voluntary Funding for Generic Advertising Using a Provision Point Mechanism: An Experimental Analysis of Option Assurance

The mandatory nature of generic advertising funding remains a contentious issue. Theoretically and in laboratory environments, a provision point mechanism with a money-back guarantee offers an attractive voluntary alternative to the standard voluntary contribution mechanisms, yet in practice, few examples of multiple-round provision point mechanisms exist. A practical concern with applying these mechanisms is that even a slight shortfall in contributions relative to the designated funding threshold in one period would engender an irreversible shutdown of administrative capacity with negative consequences for subsequent periods. This paper uses experimental economics to test new two-threshold provision point mechanisms in the context of check-off programs for funding commodity marketing programs that would separately fund the minimum administrative capacity and the more costly full marketing program. In these mechanisms, even if a funding shortfall occurs for the full marketing program, the low threshold can maintain the administrative capacity and retain the option for future funding of advertising. We demonstrate that providing such "option assurance" does not lead to a decrease in overall contributions and, in some settings, can increase producer surplus.Marketing,

Identifying Significant Characteristics of Organic Milk Consumers: A CART Analysis of an Artefactual Field Experiment

The organic dairy category is one the fastest growing categories of organic production in the U.S. Organic milk consumers generally cite perceived health benefits and lower risk of food contamination, as well as perceived superior quality and low environmental impact of organic farming methods, as the major motivations for preference of organic over conventional milk. While the properties of organic milk that are valued by consumers are fairly well-known, there is more ambiguity regarding the demographic characteristics of the typical organic milk consumer. This research makes use of experimental data and utilizes a relatively novel non-parametric modeling approach, the CART analysis, in identifying how willingness to pay for organic milk varies with the demographic profile of experiment participants. A more traditional econometric approach utilizing a Tobit regression is also performed to compare the results of the two models. The study finds that perceived taste of organic milk and concern for the risk of consuming conventional milk are major factors that separate experiment participants into groups with high and low WTP for organic milk.Consumer/Household Economics,

Optimal institutional Mechanisms for Funding Generic Advertising: An Experimental Analysis

NICPRE 04-05; R.B. 2004-12Given the uncertain legal status of generic advertising programs for agricultural commodities, alternative voluntary funding institutions are investigated hat could provide a high level of benefits to producers. This experimental study simulates key economic and psychological factors that affect producer contributions to generic advertising. The results suggests that producer referendum play a critical role in increasing contributions and that producer surplus is maximized by a Provision Point Mechanism instituted by producer referendum with thresholds ranging from 68% to 90%, and expected funding from 47% to 77% of the time, depending on the level of advertising effectiveness

Executive functioning: Developmental consequences on adolescents with histories of maltreatment

Research suggests that children exposed to maltreatment have deficits in executive functioning (EF) but few studies have focused on the adolescent age group. We investigated whether maltreated adolescents had lower EF abilities compared to a group of non-maltreated adolescents. Forty adolescents with histories of child maltreatment, together with a comparison group of 40 non-maltreated adolescents matched for age, completed a comprehensive battery of EF tasks. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses, controlling for IQ, were carried out using each of the EF measures as dependent variables to examine group differences. Maltreated adolescents had significantly lower performance than non-maltreated adolescents on tasks assessing executive loaded working memory, fluency, and inhibition, although switching was not impaired. Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) were included in additional regression analyses to examine whether these variables would explain the group differences. The inclusion of EBD variables had some effect on group differences, as expected, but did not eliminate them. These findings support the theory that impairments in EF may be one underlying reason why adolescents with histories of maltreatment struggle to cope both inside and outside the classroom

Polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor beta gene in systemic lupus erythematosus

We investigated the Nco I restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the tumor necrosis factor beta (TNFB) gene in 173 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 192 unrelated healthy controls, and eleven panel families, all of German origin. The phenotype frequency of the TNFB*I allele was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (63.6% vs 47.1%, RR = 1.96, p <0.002). The results of a two-point haplotype statistical analysis between TNFB and HLA alleles show that there is linkage disequilibrium between TNFB*I and HLA-A1, Cw7, B8, DR3, DQ2, and C4A DE. The frequency of TNFB*I was compared in SLE patients and controls in the presence or absence of each of these alleles. TNFB*I is increased in patients over controls only in the presence of the mentioned alleles. Therefore, the whole haplotypeA1, Cw7, B8, TNFB* I, C4A DE, DR3, DQ2 is increased in patients and it cannot be determined which of the genes carried by this haplotype is responsible for the susceptibility to SLE. In addition, two-locus associations were analyzed in 192 unrelated healthy controls for TNFB and class I alleles typed by serology, and for TNFB and class II alleles typed by polymerase chain reaction/oligonucleotide probes. We found positive linkage disequilibrium between TNFB*I and the following alleles: HLA-A24, HLA-B8, DRBI*0301, DRBI*ll04, DRBI*1302, DQAI*0501, DQBI*0201, DQBI*0604, and DPBI*OIO1. TNFB*2 is associated with HLA-B7, DRBI*1501, and DQB I *0602

Universality of Long-Range Correlations in Expansion-Randomization Systems

We study the stochastic dynamics of sequences evolving by single site mutations, segmental duplications, deletions, and random insertions. These processes are relevant for the evolution of genomic DNA. They define a universality class of non-equilibrium 1D expansion-randomization systems with generic stationary long-range correlations in a regime of growing sequence length. We obtain explicitly the two-point correlation function of the sequence composition and the distribution function of the composition bias in sequences of finite length. The characteristic exponent $\chi$ of these quantities is determined by the ratio of two effective rates, which are explicitly calculated for several specific sequence evolution dynamics of the universality class. Depending on the value of $\chi$, we find two different scaling regimes, which are distinguished by the detectability of the initial composition bias. All analytic results are accurately verified by numerical simulations. We also discuss the non-stationary build-up and decay of correlations, as well as more complex evolutionary scenarios, where the rates of the processes vary in time. Our findings provide a possible example for the emergence of universality in molecular biology.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure

A Finite Difference Representation of Neutrino Radiation Hydrodynamics in Spherically Symmetric General Relativistic Space-Time

We present an implicit finite difference representation for general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics in spherical symmetry. Our code, Agile-Boltztran, solves the Boltzmann transport equation for the angular and spectral neutrino distribution functions in self-consistent simulations of stellar core collapse and postbounce evolution. It implements a dynamically adaptive grid in comoving coordinates. Most macroscopically interesting physical quantities are defined by expectation values of the distribution function. We optimize the finite differencing of the microscopic transport equation for a consistent evolution of important expectation values. We test our code in simulations launched from progenitor stars with 13 solar masses and 40 solar masses. ~0.5 s after core collapse and bounce, the protoneutron star in the latter case reaches its maximum mass and collapses further to form a black hole. When the hydrostatic gravitational contraction sets in, we find a transient increase in electron flavor neutrino luminosities due to a change in the accretion rate. The muon- and tauon-neutrino luminosities and rms energies, however, continue to rise because previously shock-heated material with a non-degenerate electron gas starts to replace the cool degenerate material at their production site. We demonstrate this by supplementing the concept of neutrinospheres with a more detailed statistical description of the origin of escaping neutrinos. We compare the evolution of the 13 solar mass progenitor star to simulations with the MGFLD approximation, based on a recently developed flux limiter. We find similar results in the postbounce phase and validate this MGFLD approach for the spherically symmetric case with standard input physics.Comment: reformatted to 63 pages, 24 figures, to be published in ApJ