THE ECONOMICS OF LABELING: AN OVERVIEW OF ISSUES FOR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE

During the last two decades, product labeling has become an increasingly used policy tool, particularly with respect to the provision of health and environmental information. Theory holds that the flow of information among market participants plays a critical role in the efficient operation of markets. This paper explores the role of product labeling policy in ameliorating two potential market deficiencies: asymmetric information and costly search behavior. Practical considerations for the design and implementation of labeling policy and of labeling research are explored.Agribusiness,

SUBJECTIVE PRODUCTION FUNCTION PARAMETERS AND RISK: WHEAT PRODUCTION IN TUNISIA

This paper focuses on the problem of decision making when the parameters of the underlying technology are either unknown or are not known with certainty by producers. This problem is considered within the context of Tunisian durum wheat production in Northern Tunisia where farmers ability to accurately perceive the input-output characteristics of both old and new varieties is important to increasing allocative efficiency, decreasing subject risk and encouraging the adoption of high yielding varieties under uncertain climatic conditions.Crop Production/Industries,

Wheat, Allocative Error and Risk: Northern Tunisia

Crop Production/Industries,

Detrital Zircon U/Pb Age Determination: Understanding the Provenance of the Upper Cretaceous Shumagin Formation, Alaska

The tectonic evolution of the Chugach-Prince William Terrane (CPW), an accretionary complex along the southern Alaskan margin, has been the subject of much debate. There are two prevailing hypotheses for the location of the CPW at the time of its intrusion by the plutons of the Sanak-Baranof belt, and both require distinctly different source regions for the sediment of the CPW flysch. Therefore, a better understanding of the provenance of these sediments will help constrain the location of the CPW at the time of the deposition of its sediments. This study presents an analysis of new U/Pb detrital zircon, mineralogical and sedimentological data from the Shumagin Formation, which comprises the westernmost section of the CPW terrane. Our results indicate that the Shumagin Formation on Nagai Island has a maximum depositional age of 73-77 Ma and represents the deposition of a large volume of sediment along a basin on a deep submarine fan adjacent to an active volcanic arc. A comparison of our U/Pb age populations with those of correlative units along strike shows a striking similarity in source material along the length of the CPW. This combined mineralogical and U/Pb detrital zircon data constrain the provenance of the Shumagin Formation to a source region south of the present location of the CPW at the time of its intrusion by the Sanak-Baranof belt and are consistent with the terrane’s subsequent northward, coast-parallel translation

Does Price Signal Quality? Strategic Implications of Price as a Signal of Quality for the Case of Genetically Modified Food

We add to the limited empirical literature on consumers' use of price as a quality signal by testing if the traditional downward-sloping consumption-price relationship fails to hold for GM products using data collected from a nationally representative mail survey featuring several hypothetical product choice scenarios. Statistical evidence is mixed across the three products investigated but suggests that survey respondents use price as a signal of the quality of GM products. Implications for firm strategy are discussed.Conjoint analysis, genetically modified food, pricing strategy, price-quality relationship, Demand and Price Analysis,

Does Price Signal Quality? Strategic Implications of Price as a Signal of Quality for the Case of Genetically Modified Food

When products are differentiated and quality is highly subjective (e.g., fashion or art), novel (e.g., a new feature), or difficult to verify prior to purchase (e.g., credence attributes), consumers may turn to price as a signal of quality. Products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients meet each of these criteria, i.e., GM ingredients are novel, their presence is difficult to verify, and their impact on subjective quality may be viewed differently across individuals with the same knowledge. We add to the limited empirical literature on consumers' use of price as a quality signal by testing for non-monotonicity of consumer demand in price for GM products using data collected from a nationally representative mail survey featuring several hypothetical product choice scenarios. We find mixed evidence across three products for non-monotonicity of demand in price and argue the results suggest that survey respondents use price as a signal of the quality of GM products for at least one of the three products investigated. Implications for firm strategy and regulation are discussed.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Effect of Massive Doses of Riboflavin, and Other Vitamins of the B Group, on Skin Carcinogenesis in Mice

IT came to our notice that a large group of Strong A mice in another institute fed on a diet known as " P.R.M. " unexpectedly failed to develop skin tumours in response to twice weekly applications of 0*1 ml. 0.1 per cent 3,4-benzopyrene for over one year. Because P.R.M. diet has a high content of vitamins of the B group, and because there are certain theoretical reasons for believing that riboflavin, in particular, might influence carcinogenesis, the experiments described below were undertaken. Previously Boutwell, Brush and Rusch (1949) investigated the effect of different levels of dietary vitamins of the B group on skin carcinogenesis by 3,4-benzopyrene. They reported a somewhat lower incidence of tumours in a group given a diet low in all B vitamins, but saw no difference in groups receiving diets rich in all, or individual, B vitamins. However, in their experiments the highest dietary level of riboflavin was less than 100,tg. per mouse per day. Moreover, their treatment with benzopyrene (0.3 per cent in benzene twice weekly, volume of solution not stated) was probably vastly in excess of that necessary to induce tumours, and a small inhibitory effect may have been swamped. In the experiments reported below, the dose-levels of riboflavin were much higher and the concentration of benzopyrene (in Experiments II and III) much lower. MATERIALS AND METHODS Mice.- " 101 " strain mice of both sexes were used in all experiments. Animals were vaccinated on the tail at the age of 6-8 weeks, as a precaution against ectromelia, and began treatment at 8-10 weeks of age. Chemicals.-3,4-Benzopyrene (BP) and 9,10,-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA) were obtained from L. Light and Co. and used without further purification. Croton oil was obtained from Messrs. Stafford Allen and Co., Wharf Road, London, N. 1, in 1953 and thereafter stored in the dark at room temperature. Acetone (Analar grade) and Thiamine B.P. were obtained from British Drug Houses

ENVIRONMENTAL LABELING OF ELECTRICITY: EFFECTS ON CONSUMER UNCERTAINTY ABOUT PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES AND LIKELIHOOD TO BUY DECISIONS

Using data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy we test how price and environmental marketing and labeling affects respondents' uncertainty about product attributes and about their purchase intentions.Consumer/Household Economics,