Exploring the Potential Effects of Organic Production on Contracting in American Agribusiness

Organic production, while still a niche market in U.S. agriculture, is growing at a rapid rate. This paper argues that organic producers, particularly those seeking certification to sell at the retail level, share many characteristics with conventional producers who opt for contracting over independence. These include yield risk, search and transaction costs, and technological changes. Depending on the rate at which federal assistance programs grow and evolve to serve organic producers, contracting may become a popular choice within the organic sector. In turn, contracting may come to cover a significantly larger share of agricultural production as the organic sector continues to grow.Agribusiness,

Supermarket Competition through Price Promotions: A Cross Category Analysis

This study takes an important first step at quantifying the nature of competition between major supermarket chains through price promotions. Using data that covers virtually the entire product menus of supermarkets representing two major chains in 18 cities, I examine both the effect of direct competition on promotional intensity and the nature of promotional competition itself. In a counterintuitive finding, there appears to slightly less promotional activity in cities in which both chains compete directly, as compared to cities in which only one chain operates. Moreover, most promotional activity tends to be retaliatory, rather than accommodating, in nature. This study takes an important first step at quantifying the nature of competition between major supermarket chains through price promotions. Using data that covers virtually the entire product menus of supermarkets representing two major chains in 18 cities, I examine both the effect of direct competition on promotional intensity and the nature of promotional competition itself. In a counterintuitive finding, there appears to slightly less promotional activity in cities in which both chains compete directly, as compared to cities in which only one chain operates. Moreover, most promotional activity tends to be retaliatory, rather than accommodating, in nature.Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis,

National Brand and Private Label Pricing and Promotional Strategy

In this paper I use a unique and rich data set on prices and promotions from major US supermarkets to examine the nature of National Brand and Private Label interaction. Private labels are priced and promoted competitively with NBs, in a manner suggesting that retails are careful not to lose private label market share during times of national brand promotions. The price margin between the two types of products continues to fall in US supermarkets, and the major determinants of the price differences between the two are promotional frequency and market concentration.food retail, industrial organization, food prices, promotional activity, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, Marketing,

The Effect of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England

This study analyzes the effect of the presence of Wal-Mart Supercenters on the prices at conventional supermarkets in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Using price indexes constructed from primary price data on a basket of 54 goods and holding several demographics and market conditions constant, we determine that Supercenters result in a 7.79% average price reduction in national brand goods and a 6.38% average price reduction in private label goods. Wal-Mart Supercenters also price their groceries on average 15.65% lower than supermarkets competing with Supercenters and 22.28% lower than supermarkets geographically distant from Supercenters.Marketing,

Real-time edge tracking using a tactile sensor

Object recognition through the use of input from multiple sensors is an important aspect of an autonomous manipulation system. In tactile object recognition, it is necessary to determine the location and orientation of object edges and surfaces. A controller is proposed that utilizes a tactile sensor in the feedback loop of a manipulator to track along edges. In the control system, the data from the tactile sensor is first processed to find edges. The parameters of these edges are then used to generate a control signal to a hybrid controller. Theory is presented for tactile edge detection and an edge tracking controller. In addition, experimental verification of the edge tracking controller is presented

Focusing on eligible products, not retailer markups, may be a more effective way to contain the WIC food assistance program’s costs.

In new research, Tina Saitone, Richard Sexton, and Richard Volpe look at ways in which costs in the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) food assistance program might be contained. Using WIC purchasing data from California, they find that smaller stores charge significantly higher prices for WIC authorized foods. Using a simulation exercise which eliminates the least competitive, and highest priced vendors, they find that program costs could be reduced by 6.25 percent. However, they suggest that despite these potential cost savings, restricting the products covered by WIC vouchers to vendors’ least cost items may be more effective in reducing program costs

Task Space Angular Velocity Blending for Real-Time Trajectory Generation

The invention is embodied in a method of controlling a robot manipulator moving toward a target frame F(sub 0) with a target velocity v(sub 0) including a linear target velocity v and an angular target velocity omega(sub 0) to smoothly and continuously divert the robot manipulator to a subsequent frame F(sub 1) by determining a global transition velocity v(sub 1), the global transition velocity including a linear transition velocity v(sub 1) and an angular transition velocity omega(sub 1), defining a blend time interval 2(tau)(sub 0) within which the global velocity of the robot manipulator is to be changed from a global target velocity v(sub 0) to the global transition velocity v(sub 1) and dividing the blend time interval 2(tau)(sub 0) into discrete time segments (delta)t. During each one of the discrete time segments delta t of the blend interval 2(tau)(sub 0), a blended global velocity v of the manipulator is computed as a blend of the global target velocity v(sub 0) and the global transition velocity v(sub 1), the blended global velocity v including a blended angular velocity omega and a blended linear velocity v, and then, the manipulator is rotated by an incremental rotation corresponding to an integration of the blended angular velocity omega over one discrete time segment (delta)t

Technology for robotic surface inspection in space

This paper presents on-going research in robotic inspection of space platforms. Three main areas of investigation are discussed: machine vision inspection techniques, an integrated sensor end-effector, and an orbital environment laboratory simulation. Machine vision inspection utilizes automatic comparison of new and reference images to detect on-orbit induced damage such as micrometeorite impacts. The cameras and lighting used for this inspection are housed in a multisensor end-effector, which also contains a suite of sensors for detection of temperature, gas leaks, proximity, and forces. To fully test all of these sensors, a realistic space platform mock-up has been created, complete with visual, temperature, and gas anomalies. Further, changing orbital lighting conditions are effectively mimicked by a robotic solar simulator. In the paper, each of these technology components will be discussed, and experimental results are provided

CLARAty Functional-Layer Software

Functional-layer software for the Coupled Layer Architecture for Robotics Autonomy (CLARAty) is being developed. [CLARAty was described in Coupled-Layer Architecture for Advanced Software for Robots (NPO-21218), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 12 (December 2002), page 48. To recapitulate: CLARAty was proposed to improve the modularity of robotic software while tightening the coupling between planning/execution and control subsystems. Whereas prior robotic software architectures have typically contained three levels, the CLARAty architecture contains two layers: a decision layer and a functional layer.] Just as an operating system provides abstraction from computational hardware, the CLARAty functional-layer software provides for abstraction for the different robotic systems. The functional-layer software establishes interrelated, object-oriented hierarchies that contain active and passive objects that represent the different levels of system abstrations and components. The functional-layer software is decomposed into a set of reusable core components and a set of extended components that adapt the reusable set to specific hardware implementations. The reusable components (a) provide behavior and interface definitions and implementations of basic functionality, (b) provide local executive capabilities, (c) manage local resources, and (d) support state and resource queries by the decision layer. Software for robotic systems can be built by use of these components