THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF POLITICS AND THE U.S. FOOD SYSTEM

Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy,

Food Manufacturing Activities of the Largest Agricultural Cooperatives: Market Power and Strategic Behavior Implications

Agribusiness,

Agricultural Cooperatives and Market Performance in Food Manufacturing

Support for the cooperative yardstick hypothesis was found using a standard structure-performance model that was extended to include a cooperative market share variable and was estimated with a large cross-section of food manufacturing markets. Market concentration and advertising intensity were positively related to price-cost margins. In addition, the aggregate market share of the one hundred largest agricultural marketing cooperatives was inversely related to price-cost margins. The magnitude of the effect was largest in the more concentrated markets. This suggests that. where cooperatives have vertically extended themselves into food processing. more competitive outcomes are found even in highly concentrated markets.Agribusiness, Marketing,

Strategic Management and the Internal Organization of Food Marketing Firms

Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Advertising Expenditures in U.S. Manufacturing Industries, 1967 and 1982

Marketing,

Structural Change in the U.S. Food Manufacturing Sector

This study examines the market structure-conduct-performance relationship for 48 four-digit SIC Food and Tobacco Processing Industries during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The simultaneous-equation analyses are used to explore the relationship among price-cost margin (PCM), market concentration, advertising outlay, and various control variables. With an intertemporal setting, our findings provide evidence of structural changes over time in the U.S. food manufacturing sector and support some of the conventional SCP wisdoms, but challenge others.Agribusiness,

Restructuring's Effect on Related and Unrelated Diversification Among Top Food Manufacturing Firms in the 1980s

Corporate restructuring during the 1980s is argued to have focused on improving firm performance by increasing related and decreasing unrelated diversification. The restructuring patterns of top food manufacturing firms do not support this; instead, much of the restructuring appears to have been driven by the pursuit of stronger market positions. TheAgribusiness, Industrial Organization,

The Persistent Southern Disadvantage in Us Early Life Mortality, 1965‒2014

Background: Recent studies of US adult mortality demonstrate a growing disadvantage among southern states. Few studies have examined long-term trends and geographic patterns in US early life (ages 1 to 24) mortality, ages at which key risk factors and causes of death are quite different than among adults. Objective: This article examines trends and variations in early life mortality rates across US states and census divisions. We assess whether those variations have changed over a 50-year time period and which causes of death contribute to contemporary geographic disparities. Methods: We calculate all-cause and cause-specific death rates using death certificate data from the Multiple Cause of Death files, combining public-use files from 1965‒2004 and restricted data with state geographic identifiers from 2005‒2014. State population (denominator) data come from US decennial censuses or intercensal estimates. Results: Results demonstrate a persistent mortality disadvantage for young people (ages 1 to 24) living in southern states over the last 50 years, particularly those located in the East South Central and West South Central divisions. Motor vehicle accidents and homicide by firearm account for most of the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality. Contribution: Our results illustrate that US children and youth living in the southern United States have long suffered from higher levels of mortality than children and youth living in other parts of the country. Our findings also suggest the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality could potentially be reduced with state-level policies designed to prevent deaths involving motor vehicles and firearms

Characterization and Comparison of Human Glioblastoma Models

AbstractGlioblastoma (GBM) is one of the deadliest cancers. Treatment options are limited, and median patient survival is only several months. Translation of new therapies is hindered by a lack of GBM models that fully recapitulate disease heterogeneity. Here, we characterize two human GBM models (U87-luc2, U251-RedFLuc). In vitro, both cell lines express similar levels of luciferase and show comparable sensitivity to temozolomide and lapatinib exposure. In vivo, however, the two GBM models recapitulate diferent aspects of the disease. U87-luc2 cells quickly grow into large, well-demarcated tumors; U251-RedFLuc cells form small, highly invasive tumors. Using a new method to assess GBM invasiveness based on detecting tumor-specifc anti-luciferase staining in brain slices, we found that U251-RedFLuc cells are more invasive than U87-luc2 cells. Lastly, we determined expression levels of ABC transporters in both models. Our fndings indicate that U87-luc2 and U251-RedFLuc GBM models recapitulate diferent aspects of GBM heterogeneity that need to be considered in preclinical research