A Frictionless Marketplace Operating in a World of Extremes

Industrial Organization, Marketing,

THE VERTICAL COORDINATION CONTINUUM AND THE DETERMINANTS OF FIRM-LEVEL COORDINATION STRATEGY

A number of past authors have argued that vertical coordination strategies lie along a continuum running from spot markets to vertical integration. However, the strategies that make up the middle of this continuum have remained ill defined and the sense in which the continuum is truly a continuum has not been made specific. This paper attempts to define the continuum and its "middle" strategies in such a manner that the continuum is truly a continuum has not been made specific. This paper attempts to define the continuum and its "middle" strategies in such a manner that the continuum becomes a useful means by which firm-level decision makers could examine their options for vertical coordination strategy.Industrial Organization,

STRATEGIC CHOICE ALONG THE VERTICAL COORDINATION CONTINUUM

Fundamental changes are underway in the U.S. agri-food system, changes that are altering traditional marketing relationships. Parts of the food system are becoming tightly integrated, such as the poultry subsector and, increasingly, the pork subsector. The tightening of vertical linkages has been characterized by movement from open markets to various forms of managed coordination, e.g. contracting, strategic alliances, and single ownership of multiple market stages. 1998 AAEA SymposiumIndustrial Organization,

WHAT BUYERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MICHIGAN CELERY

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Creating a Vision for XYZ Research Corporation: A Case Study

A strategic analysis was developed for XYZ Research Corporation (the true company's name is disguised). The strategic analysis involved a series of visits to the company to conduct focus groups with its employees and management. Five focus groups were carried out at XYZ Research Corporation. This method proved to be effective and valuable when aiming to gather detailed information on the specifics of a firm's operation. Information and insights on the company and its business that would not become evident through any kind of meticulous financial or economic analysis of the company's and industry's numbers - which in fact were unavailable or scarce - was efficiently obtained by personal communication from the employees in the interviews. The focus group and interview method is recommended as a valid alternative to gathering detailed data and information when facing limited availability of reliable quantitative economic data on sales, size, and other information on the industry. The amount and quality of person-to-person information gathered in the interviews made the questionnaire a more powerful tool versus the alternative of simply mailing it. In the process of developing a strategic plan for XYZ, data and information used to write an undergraduate level teaching case study was gathered. The focus group method allowed for digging out intricate functional relationships within the company and between the company and the industry, which allowed for writing a more complete and educationally interesting case study.Focus Groups, Strategic Analysis, Food Safety, Outsourcing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, A22, C99, L21, M10,

Industry-Academic Partnerships The View from the Corner Office

Industry-academic partnerships are described and discussed from the perspective of industry. Eight types of partnerships are discussed, including internships, mentoring, site visits, faculty-directed research, student research, consulting, in-class visits, and industry advisory boards. The benefits, problems, costs, motivation to participate, and advice for managing industry-academic partnerships are presented.industry partnerships, industry collaboration, internship, mentor, field trip, consulting, advisory board, Industrial Organization, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q16,

OFFERING FOOD DISTRIBUTION-RELATED COURSES IN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS CURRICULA: PERSPECTIVES FROM ACROSS THE U.S.

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Quantifying Strategic Choice Along the Vertical Coordination Continuum

The qualitative and quantitative results of a study undertaken to test a decision framework firms might consider in choosing a vertical coordination strategy are presented. The posited five-step decision making process tested that a change in coordination strategy would occur if and only if a "yes" decision was made at each step. The results reported as case-based frequencies and as a discriminate analysis function provide strong support for the study's research propositions. The ability of an alternative to reduce the costliness of a coordination error and the acceptability of the risk/return tradeoff were critical to the willingness of a sample of producers to change coordination strategy. Implementability was significant, but not to the same extent as costliness of a coordination error or acceptability of the risk/return tradeoff.vertical coordination, vertical coordination continuum, discriminate analysis, willingness to change, unwillingness to change, coordination error, programmability, implementability, risk/return tradeoff, Industrial Organization,

Agribusiness Extension: The Past, Present, and Future?

The IFAMR is publish by (IFAMA) the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association. www.ifama.orgagribusiness extension, future, Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q130,

Estimating Consumers' Willingness-To-Pay for Country-Of-Origin Labels in Fresh Apples and Tomatoes: A Double-Hurdle Probit Analysis of American Data Using Factor Scores

Data are collected from primary shoppers in Gainesville Florida, Atlanta Georgia and Lansing Michigan using a Vickrey (fifth-priced sealed bid) experimental auction and a survey questionnaire to provide a sample of 311 observations useable for analysis. The average willingness to pay (WTP) for country of origin labeling (COOL) "Grown in the U.S." in apples and tomatoes are calculated then tested for equivalence to assess if WTP is produce specific. A double-hurdle probit model is then estimated to ascertain the prominent determinants of WTP for COOL. Independent variables include demographics, food safety and factor scores derived from a factor analysis of food quality and food preference variables. Results show that on average consumers are willing to pay $0.49 and$0.48 for COOL in apples and tomatoes respectively with 79% of the consumers willing to pay more than $0.00 for apples labeled "Grown in the U.S." and 72% in the case of tomatoes. Premiums are found to be statistically equivalent suggesting that WTP for COOL is not produce specific. The double hurdle probit estimation finds most independent variables insignificant with the exception of the food quality factor scores and consumer trust levels for information they receive from U.S. government agencies. Location, age and income also turn out to be significant factors in the case of the truncated part of the estimation as do food quality and food safety concerns.Consumer/Household Economics,