Economic factors affecting obesity: an application in Italy

The World Health Organization has stated that obesity is spreading around the world like a “global epidemic”. In 2004 the percentage of obese people in the Italian population was 9%, but the trend s increasing in recent years. Focusing on this country, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the socio-economic variables affecting obesity by means of a survey conducted in a consumer sample. Our analysis is based on a survey conducted in Italy, and the sample was composed of 999 consumers. We used a binary logit model and the dependent variable is body mass index (BMI), expressed in a dichotomic way (seriously overweight and obese, value 1, and normal weight, value 0). The results show that the condition of the seriously overweight and obese increases with age, especially in people over 65 of age. Also gender is correlated with the pathology: being seriously overweight and obese is far more likely for men than for women. An inverse relation was shown between obesity and education, and between obesity and the level of food knowledge. The results highlight that disadvantaged social categories are more susceptible to the problem of overweight and obesity. A policy implication of the analysis, to limit the spread of obesity, could lie in programs aimed at improving health and food awareness and focused on these minority groups.economics of obesity, BMI and consumer, logit model, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

International trade and competitiveness analysis in the European Union: the case of prepared meat sector

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the competitive performance of the EU countries for the prepared swine meat sector during the period 1990- 2003. This sector has been chosen for the role that traditional products play in most EU countries. To assess competitiveness, the analysis evaluates several trade indices to compare the trends over the last fifteen years: Revealed Comparative Advantage, the Vollrath indices, Net Export Index, and Grübel - Lloyd index. The data source was the Eurostat data base, considering intra - EU export and import data referred to 17 sub- sectors with 8 digit codes. Moreover, cluster analysis has been applied to highlight groups of countries with similar features. Good competitive performance in the prepared swine meat sector is observed in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Austria, all of which were found to be specialised in the sector and export oriented. Germany and France show positive competitive performance, but a high level of intra - industry trade and low specialisation is also revealed. Denmark is characterized by negative dynamics of competitiveness even though there are high exports in the sector; a similar trend is observed in Belgium and the Netherlands. The rest of the countries show weak competitiveness for the analysed sector. Moreover, the type of exported product varies greatly: Italy and Spain export dried or smoked swine meat, whereas Germany and Denmark export mainly sausages and preserved swine meat.Competitiveness, International Trade, EU, Prepared Meat, RCA., International Relations/Trade,

The Supply Chains of Organic Products: An Empirical Analysis of the Processing Sector in Six EU Mediterranean Regions

The paper analyses the characteristics of the processing sector of organic products and the relationships with agriculture and retailing sector in six EU Nuts II regions: Lombardy and Tuscany for Italy, Rhone-Alpes and Paca for France, Catalunya and Murcia for Spain. The choice of these regions is due to the fact that the analysis is linked to an European project concerning cohesion among Mediterranean countries. The purposes are to analyse the processing sector of organic products in terms of firms capabilities to perform a quality management strategy and to analyse the vertical coordination in the organic supply chains. The data were collected by an ad hoc questionnaire. The survey carried out was based on a sample of 304 firms stratified on the basis of the six regions involved in the study. The analysis revealed that a relevant aspect for the processing firms of organic products concerns the guaranteeing of safety and quality levels for the products, according to the economic framework emerging from the literature. The instruments to implement the quality management are based on the adoption of specific production regulations and quality controls. The premium price most frequently applied by processors ranges from 10% to 40% and similar values are revealed for retailers. The diffusion of supply contracts permits the vertical coordination between agriculture and processing firms in the organic supply chains. The main trade channels for the processing firms are represented by specialized shops in organic products, direct sales and supermarkets.organic products, processing and retailing, food quality, EU regions, Industrial Organization,

Consumer preferences and labelling: an empirical analysis of the beef sector in Italy

Within the framework of European food safety measures, Reg. 1760/2000 and 1825/2000 have introduced mandatory traceability and relevant labeling into the beef sector. The paper analyses whether information on meat labels can be considered a useful instrument for consumers, facilitating the verification of quality. The purpose of the paper is, first, to evaluate if meat information is used during food purchase. Second, focusing on specific meat information, we assess the interest of consumer for some mandatory and voluntary information cues and identify the determinants affecting the use of them. Data were collected by a survey conducted in the Lombardy, region of the northern Italy, and employed a telephone questionnaire. The sample is composed by 1,025 consumers. We estimate 4 models based on the literature and for all the equations we used a binary logit model. The analyses revealed that meat label is widely used by Italian consumers in the formulation of their purchasing preferences. The use of the meat label is also positively connected to consumer attention towards quality signaling such as certification, expiry date and so on. The origin is confirmed to be an important information for a large part of interviewed. Among the voluntary information the system of cattle breeding is related to a consumer who pays particular attention in general to quality indicators whereas the cattle feeding seems to interest young consumers with high level of education.traceability, meat, consumer preferences, logit, Demand and Price Analysis,

Measuring competitiveness in the EU market: a comparison between food industry and agriculture

Facing the growing competition in the European food market, the purpose of this paper is to assess European country competitiveness at the sector level in the intra-EU market over the last fifteen years, comparing the evolution of the food industry, where firms have had to reshape strategies to maintain market position, and agricultural sector, where changes in Common agricultural policy have forced farms to face market trends. The analysis of competitiveness was carried out by assessing trade indices (EMS, RCA, RXA, RMA, NEI). Cluster analysis was also run to classify groups of countries with similar features in terms of competitive performance over the 1991-2006 period. The country that profited most from market integration in both sectors, reaching a high level of competitiveness was Spain, followed by Germany and Italy which gained competitiveness especially in the food industry. The United Kingdom had the worst performance, with a big decrease in indices, followed by France and Netherlands, still among the first but with lower indices.Competitiveness, agri-food sector, EU, RCA, International Relations/Trade,

Time Spent for Food Information Search and Obesity: North-South Dualism in Italy

In industrialized countries, the last 40 years has seen a marked change in the average level of per capita calorie intake, which has led to increased growth in overweight and obesity rates. There are many reasons to encourage public intervention aimed at facing the problems associated with excess body weight, and to promote healthy dietary habits. Among the public policies set out to reduce obesity rates, an important role is played by information measures. The purpose of this work is to analyse for the consumers the importance of food information in the allocation of free time, and to investigate the variables that affect the search for information. Following Drichoutis et al. (2008) we developed a conceptual framework through variables that affect the time spent searching for information. The study was conducted through an empirical analysis, and the sample consisted of 300 Italian consumers, 150 resident in Lombardy (northern Italy), and 150 in Apulia (southern Italy). The interviews were conducted in small shops, supermarkets and hypermarkets. For small shops we selected greengrocers, butcher's shops and shops selling dairy products. The data were analysed through OLS regression and ordinal regression models. The study, for the south sample, showed a relationship between the consumer willingness to devote time to information search and work flexibility, information stock, nutritional knowledge. In the case of northern sample, another variable that affects the time allocated for information search is BMI.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Firms' strategies and voluntary traceability: an empirical analysis in Italian food chains

In international food markets, voluntary traceability systems have increased their role in guaranteeing high safety and quality standards for the consumer. Such systems are also among the strategies firms employ to differentiate products and strengthen competitive advantage in both the national and international market. Voluntary traceability has significant implications on the organisation of economic relationships within food supply chains. This paper focuses on this aspect and analyses the effects of voluntary traceability on vertical co- ordination using a transaction cost perspective. The analysis makes reference to the Italian situation where the national standard organisation has introduced standard rules for voluntary traceability (UNI 10939; ISO 22005 at the international level). A survey was conducted by questionnaire to assess changes in transaction key factors (degree of asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency) and transaction costs after the introduction of voluntary traceability. The sample represent s all Italian firms certified UNI 10939, and consists of 190 firms. Respondents are 146. Factorial and Cluster Analyses were applied to highlight groups of firms with similar features. The empirical results reveal four different clusters in terms of a vertical reorganisation of transactions.traceability, firms' strategies, transaction cost economics, food chain, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Marketing management capabilities of SMEs: an empirical analysis in the EU

SMEs, that represent the greater part of European food firms producing traditional food products (TFPs), meet difficulties in adapting their strategies to market changes, and in competing with big enterprises. Marketing management capabilities play a key role in good SMEs performance in the market. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the marketing capabilities of SMEs that produce TFPs. The theoretical framework considers the Market Orientation approach and marketing management capabilities in terms of marketing research, marketing strategy, planning and implementation, control and evaluation. A self evaluation tool was developed by means of an interactive questionnaire, available on the web, aimed at assessing traditional food firms competitive position in the marketing area. The sample consists of 112 Italian firms. Descriptive analysis shows that the most problematic dimensions of the marketing management are planning and implementation and control and evaluation. Moreover, the firms’ size is not a relevant feature to determine the marketing capabilities, whereas quality voluntary certifications have a direct linkage with marketing capabilities, as the more a firm is certified the more t improves its marketing performance. Linear Regression model confirms these results.Marketing capabilities, SMEs, traditional food, linear regression, Agribusiness, Marketing,

Accelerating Metropolis-Hastings algorithms: Delayed acceptance with prefetching

MCMC algorithms such as Metropolis-Hastings algorithms are slowed down by the computation of complex target distributions as exemplified by huge datasets. We offer in this paper an approach to reduce the computational costs of such algorithms by a simple and universal divide-and-conquer strategy. The idea behind the generic acceleration is to divide the acceptance step into several parts, aiming at a major reduction in computing time that outranks the corresponding reduction in acceptance probability. The division decomposes the "prior x likelihood" term into a product such that some of its components are much cheaper to compute than others. Each of the components can be sequentially compared with a uniform variate, the first rejection signalling that the proposed value is considered no further, This approach can in turn be accelerated as part of a prefetching algorithm taking advantage of the parallel abilities of the computer at hand. We illustrate those accelerating features on a series of toy and realistic examples.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, submitte

Voluntary Traceability and Transaction Costs: An Empirical Analysis in the Italian Meat Processing Supply Chain

This paper analyses voluntary traceability effects on the coordination of the food supply chain from the transaction cost perspective. The analysis concerns Italian firms and makes particular reference to the meat sector. A survey was conducted by questionnaire to assess the changes in key transaction factors and costs after the introduction of traceability. The results underline an increase in the degree of human, material and site asset specificity, and reveal a reduction in the degree of uncertainty in transactions. Growth in some transaction costs related to monitoring is also observed. Factorial and cluster analysis were used to underline the different organisational solutions of the firms.traceability, trust, transaction cost, vertical relationships, meat chain, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,