Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS submitted to NRP
ORGANIZATION, REGULATION AND PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE MARKETS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0219904
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2009
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2014
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
Agricultural and Resource Economics
Non Technical Summary
Situation: Agricultural and natural resource markets are embedded in complex economic and physical systems. Interactions among market institutions and other characteristics, biological and physical systems, and government regulations and policies determine the incentives facing market participants, which in turn determine market performance and its impacts on producer welfare, consumer welfare, social welfare and the environment. Understanding these interactions and their effects is critical for designing future policies and regulations, and for reforming existing ones. Measuring market performance and its impacts is a critical component to achieving this understanding. Measurement allows the importance of a policy's current or potential effect on market performance to be estimated. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to contribute to this understanding of interactions among these factors and the measurement of the resulting market performance and its effects in order to contribute to policy design, implementation, and assessment processes.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
6036110301020%
6046230301025%
6056110301020%
6096199301015%
6106110301020%
Knowledge Area
605 - Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; 603 - Market Economics; 609 - Economic Theory and Methods; 604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices; 610 - Domestic Policy Analysis;

Subject Of Investigation
6110 - Economy of the United States and sectors thereof; 6199 - Economy, general/other; 6230 - Marketing systems and sectors thereof;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
1. To use economic theory to analyze the impacts of market power, structural change, vertical coordination, and market institutions on the economic and environmental performance of food and natural resource systems, and on social welfare. 2. To incorporate spatial, temporal, physical and biological dimensions of these markets into the analyses performed in (1). 3. To analyze the formation of government regulation and policy and the incentives provided by specific regulations and policies in economic systems characterized by one or more of the factors identified in (1). 4. To test the theoretical models from (1)-(3) empirically using data for selected key industries. 5. To use the findings obtained from (1)-(4) to derive policy prescriptions and recommendations for institutional design. 6. To disseminate the results of (1)-(5) to policymakers and stakeholders, and to engage with them in order to identify questions of interest.
Project Methods
The project will utilize tools from modern microeconomic theory to develop models of specific research questions under objectives 1-3. All investigators are experienced in the development and application of such models, including analytical models and mathematical programming models. Models will be drawn from the industrial organization, contract theory, regulation, mechanism design, auction theory, and spatial-dynamic programming literatures, among others. The integration of spatial, temporal, physical and biological dimensions of specific markets will require the development of new tools, as well as combining existing tools in a rigorous fashion. Robinson, Albers and Williams (2008) is an example of an optimal dynamic model applied to the extraction of non-timber forest products. Zhang and Sexton (2001) and Merel, Sexton and Suzuki (2009) are examples of incorporating the spatial dimension into agricultural production and marketing models. Analysis of policy formation and incidence will rely on the modification of existing tools reviewed in Alston and James (2002) and de Gorter and Swinnen (2002). Objective 4 will be addressed by using econometric modeling and/or simulation techniques to test the models developed under objectives 1-3. Depending on the specific research question, a variety of techniques may be utilized. For questions addressing market power, methods known collectively as the "new empirical industrial organization" will be used to construct structural models of a particular industry (Sexton, 2000; Sexton and Lavoie, 2001). The investigators will extend existing methods and develop new techniques in order to integrate multiple considerations into emprical models. For example, analyzing market power in markets characterized by spatial and/or product differentiation requires modification of conventional NEIO techniques. Similarly, the analysis of the effects of a specific policy or regulation requires the use of an empirical model that incorporates all critical elements of the system under consideration. For example, evaluating the effects of existing and proposed pesticide regulations on California agriculture requires the integration of biological and economic considerations into a single bioeconomic model (McKee et al., 2006, 2008, 2009). A second example illustrates that regulations may have timing considerations: Evaluating the price responsiveness of natural gas storage facilities requires recognition of the existence of regulations specifying seasonal storage for "core" residential customers (Uria and Williams, 2006). A variety of types of data will be used as appropriate: publicly available data, data supplied by government agencies, and data collected from surveys approved by the IRB. Objective 6 will be achieved by preparing peer-reviewed articles and other technical publications, reports to government agencies, and general audience publications that will communicate project findings to a range of audiences. Presentations to policymakers and stakeholders will be utilized for dissemination of results and for engagement regarding the identification of research questions relevant to current concerns.

Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Eight students completed Ph.D.s. One student completed a M.S. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Williams made multiple research presentations to the Smog Check Board of the California Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Graduate students presented an analysis of the economic impacts of proposed pesticide regulations to mitigate pesticide runoff and drift to economists from academia and government. Goodhue made multiple presentations regarding the potential economic impacts of proposed use regulations for chloropicrin, the potential economic impacts of a chloropicrin ban on California agriculture, nad the estimated economic impacts on California agriculture of proposed pesticide use regulations designed to protect surface water quality to the advisory board for the Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis, California Department of Food and Agriculture. Goodhue presented work on alternatives to spot markets in agricultural markets to the National Pork Producers' Council Competitive Markets Policy Committee and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Markets Committee. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research under this project addressed pest management and market institutions. A substantial amount of research regarding various aspects of pest management was conducted. A joint Cooperative Extension-nonprofit-state government grower education program reduced California almond growers' use of organophosphates during the dormant season. A theoretical model of cross-grower interactions regarding pest management decisions and identified conditions under which a conventional grower and an organic grower made socially beneficial decisions and under which each grower imposed costs on the other. Draft pesticide use regulations intended to reduce pesticide runoff and drift into surface water would have affected virtually all of California's rice fields due to the width of the specified buffer zones and the inability to use specific pest management options in those buffers. Potential economic losses were estimated at $6.25 million in net revenues. Additional pest management research evaluated the role of harvest timing as a pest management tool. Other work evaluated the economic viability of potential methyl bromide alternatives. Steam with solarization requires additional research to be technically and economically viable alternative to fumigation of strawberries. Estimates of the benefits of iodomethane registration were provided to policymakers. Registering iodomethane would allow many growers to compensate for the loss of methyl bromide. Ultimately, iodomethane was approved for registration in California. Samantini et al. found no conclusive evidence of the economic benefit of virtually impermeable film relative to high density polythelyne for weed control in commercial strawberry production. Research was conducted regarding invasive species. Findings included that failing to account for factors such as weather that affect the development of both a pest and its host will lead to incorrect estimation of the damage caused by the pest. The economic impacts of spotted wing drosophilia were estimated to be potentially quite substantial, particularly for cane berries. Impacts would be concentrated regionally. Other work addressed biological control Steinmann et al. found that roughly half of the California walnut growers analyzed could benefit economically by increasing their use of biological controls, which would also reduce water pollution due to pesticide use. Research regarding aspects of pest management addressed cross-grower interactions in pest management decisions, factors influencing the adoption of biological control methods for pest management, and the economic impacts of proposed pesticide use restrictions on the California rice industry. California citrus growers' pest management decisions were influenced by the pesticide use decisions of nearby growers. Effects differed depending on the crops to which the pesticides were applied, due to differences in the timing of applications and the effects on the California red scale, an important citrus pest, and a. melinus, a natural enemy of the California red scale. California citrus grower survey data and pesticide use data were used to demonstrate that landscape-level pesticide use decreases the presence of Aphytis melinus and increases reliance on insecticides. Pesticide use on non-citrus crops has a significant negative effect on the presence of A. melinus, suggesting a cross-crop spatial externality. These findings illustrate that regulations designed to address cross-crop effects on beneficial insects can increase social welfare. California citrus growers' use of biological control, specifically the use and release of A. melinus for California red scale management was influenced by farm and demographic characteristics. Growers with more acres of citrus were more likely to make augmentative releases. Growers who relied primarily on pest control advisors for pest management information were significantly more likely to make augmentative releases than growers who relied primarily on other information sources. More educated growers were more likely to make augmentative releases. Research regarding market institutions addressed several specific topics. A political economic analysis of California's water institutions and stakeholders evaluated various alternatives for managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta system for environmental and economic uses, and concluded that technical viability is not closely associated with political viability. Other research focused on market power and policy. U.S. wheat millers are able to capture some of the gains from agricultural support programs intended to benefit wheat farmers. Evolving market structures and competition in U.S. food industries require the identification of appropriate policy responses which recognize changes in concentration, vertical coordination, and increasing focus on product differentiation and quality. Liberalizing an agricultural market when there is buyer market power may reduce social welfare. Price floors may discourage technical efficiency. Research regarding market institutions included an assessment of economic research regarding the role of agricultural contracts in creating and maintaining product quality. Informal contracts r in the California fresh strawberry market raised the spot price. Financial incentives for lower shares of limited use tomatoes and material other than tomatoes led California growers to deliver higher-quality processing tomatoes. Marketing contracts increase buyer profits relative to production contracts in the Andhra Pradesh sugarcane industry. Other work examined a variety of topics, including the welfare impacts of producer-imposed minimum quality standards and the effectiveness of marketing and information programs conducted by the Hass Avocado Board. Public information explained a much larger share of intraday trading behavior on commodity futures than previously believed. Project participants studied models of product differentiation for food market analysis and frameworks for incorporating marketing cooperatives into such analytic models. Brand differentiation and periodic sales can be substitute marketing tools for monopoly sellers to engage in price discrimination. Grocery retailers can influence agricultural markets and the economic welfare of farmers in a number of ways.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Patlolla, Sandhyarani, Rachael E. Goodhue, and Richard J. Sexton.Managing Quantity, Quality, and Timing in Indian Cane Sugar Production: Ex Post Marketing Permits or Ex Ante Production Contracts? World Bank Economic Review. doi:�10.1093/wber/lhu004. http://wber.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/22/wber.lhu004.full.pdf+html
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cobourn, C., E. Knoesen, H Burrack, R.E. Goodhue, J.C. Williams and F.G. Zalom. Olive Fruit Fly: Timing the Harvest to Manage the Pest. ARE Update 17(6) July/August 2014. http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/V17N6_2_1.pdf
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Knoesen, E.C. and R.E. Goodhue. How California Farms Measure Up in the 2012 Census of Agriculture: Smaller in Size with Higher Value of Production. ARE Update 17(5) May/June 2014. http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/V17N5_2.pdf Reprinted by request at http://www.lodigrowers.com/how-california-farms-measure-up-in-the-2012-census-of-agriculture-smaller-in-size-with-higher-value-of-production/
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Goodhue, Rachael and Philip Martin.Labor, Water, and California Agriculture in 2014. ARE Update 17(4) March/April 2014. http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/V17N4_2.pdf
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Xu, Yan, Steven A. Fennimore, Rachael E. Goodhue, Karen Klonsky and Thomas Miller.Buffer Zone Regulations and Alternatives to Pre-plant Soil Fumigation: Using Steam in California Strawberry Production. ARE Update 17(3) January/February 2014. http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/V17N3_4.pdf


Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One M.S. student completed her thesis regarding the economics of steam as an alternative to pre-plan soil fumigation in strawberries. 30 Master's students in agribusiness learned about vertical coordination arrangements that are observed in agro-food systems around the world. Some are private arrangements, while others are authorized, and sometimes even administered, by governments. Vertical coordination can be observed in markets for commodities and in markets for differentiated products. There are many possible motivations for these arrangements, including but not limited to increasing economic efficiency by reducing transaction costs or achieving economies of scale, exercising market power, and obtaining inputs with the desired quality attributes. The course applied concepts from Master's-level microeconomic theory to examine various models of vertical coordination and analyze the welfare implications for economic actors. In order to deepen students' understanding of how to utilize the theoretical models, these models were applied to real-world markets with vertical coordination. 24 Master's students in agrofood marketing learned about agricultural price discovery processes and agricultural price determination. The course used graphical and mathematical techniques to analyze a variety of market structures and classes of market institutions and government policies important in the agrofood sector. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research under this project addressed pest management and agro-food markets. Pest management research developed a theoretical model of cross-grower interactions regarding pest management decisions and identified conditions under which a conventional grower and an organic grower made socially beneficial decisions and under which each grower imposed costs on the other. Additional pest management research evaluated the role of harvest timing as a pest management tool. Other work evaluated the economic viability of steam as an alternative to pre-plant soil fumigation in strawberries.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Managing a Pest with Harvest Timing: Implications for Crop Quality and Price. Kelly Cobourn, Rachael E. Goodhue, and Jeffrey C. Williams. European Review of Agricultural Economics. doi: 10.1093/erae/jbt003. 2013. http://erae.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/jbt003?ijkey=7pyCwH16QEMbnrz&keytype=ref
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Economic Viability of Steam as an Alternative to Pre-plant Soil Fumigation Yan Xum University of California, Davis


Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Williams made multiple research presentations to the Smog Check Board of the California Bureau of Consumer Affairs. One student completed a Ph.D. Graduate students presented an analysis of the economic impacts of proposed pesticide regulations to mitigate pesticide runoff and drift to economists from academia and government. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Research under this project addressed pest management and market institutions. Research regarding aspects of pest management addressed cross-grower interactions in pest management decisions, factors influencing the adoption of biological control methods for pest management, and the economic impacts of proposed pesticide use restrictions on the California rice industry. California citrus growers' pest management decisions were influenced by the pesticide use decisions of nearby growers. Effects differed depending on the crops to which the pesticides were applied, due to differences in the timing of applications and the effects on the California red scale, an important citrus pest, and a. melinus, a natural enemy of the California red scale. California citrus grower survey data and pesticide use data were used to demonstrate that landscape-level pesticide use decreases the presence of Aphytis melinus and increases reliance on insecticides. Pesticide use on non-citrus crops has a significant negative effect on the presence of A. melinus, suggesting a cross-crop spatial externality. These findings illustrate that regulations designed to address cross-crop effects on beneficial insects can increase social welfare. California citrus growers' use of biological control, specifically the use and release of A. melinus for California red scale management was influenced by farm and demographic characteristics. Growers with more acres of citrus were more likely to make augmentative releases. Growers who relied primarily on pest control advisors for pest management information were significantly more likely to make augmentative releases than growers who relied primarily on other information sources. More educated growers were more likely to make augmentative releases. Draft pesticide use regulations intended to reduce pesticide runoff and drift into surface water would have affected virtually all of California's rice fields due to the width of the specified buffer zones and the inability to use specific pest management options in those buffers. Potential economic losses were estimated at $6.25 million in net revenues. Research regarding market institutions addressed several specific topics. A political economic analysis of California's water institutions and stakeholders evaluated various alternatives for managing the San Francisco Bay-Delta system for environmental and economic uses, and concluded that technical viability is not closely associated with political viability. Other research demonstrated that U.S. wheat millers are able to capture some of the gains from agricultural support programs intended to benefit wheat farmers. Other work examined market structure and competition in U.S. food industries and examined appropriate policy responses in light of market evolution in terms of concentration, vertical coordination, and increasing focus on product differentiation and quality.

Publications

  • Grogan, K.A. and R.E. Goodhue. Spatial Externalities of Pest Control Decisions in the California Citrus Industry. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 37(1):156-179. 2012.
  • Grogan, K.A. and R.E. Goodhue. Adoption of Biological Control Varies across Growers and Pests in the Citrus Industry. California Agriculture 66(1):29-36. 2012. 2012.
  • Smoot, K., L. Espino, R. E. Goodhue, P. Howard, K. Klonsky, and R.G. Mutters. Potential Economic Impacts of Draft Restrictions to Address Pesticide Drift and Runoff: Rice Case Study Analysis. ARE Update 15(3) January/February 2012. Goodhue, R.E., S.S. Sayre, and L.K. Simon.The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Political Economy of California Water Allocation. Chapter 11 in Aquanomics, B. Delworth Gardner and Randy Simmons, editors. 2012.
  • Goodhue, R.E. and C. Russo.Modeling Processor Market Power and the Incidence of Agricultural Policy: A Nonparametric Approach. Rachael E. Goodhue and Carlo Russo. Chapter 2 in The Intended and Unintended Effects of U.S. Agricultural and Biotechnology Policies. Joshua Graff Zivin and Jeffrey Perloff, editors. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012. pp. 51-81.
  • Crespi, J.M., T.L. Saitone, and R.J. Sexton. Competition in U.S. Farm Product Markets: Do Long-Run Incentives Trump Short-Run Market Power Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 33:4 Winter 2012, pp. 669-695.
  • Saitone, T.L. and R. J. Sexton. Market Structure and Competition in the U.S. Food Industries: implications for the 2012 Farm Bill, in V. Smith and B. Goodwin, eds., Discover American Boondoggle: Fixing the Farm Bill Content, Washington, DC, American Enterprise Institute.


Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Goodhue presented work on the estimated economic impacts on California agriculture of proposed pesticide use regulations designed to protect surface water quality to the advisory board for the Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis, California Department of Food and Agriculture. Goodhue presented work on alternatives to spot markets in agricultural markets to the National Pork Producers' Council Competitive Markets Policy Committee and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Markets Committee. Williams made multiple research presentations to the Smog Check Board of the California Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Two students completed M.S. degrees. One student completed a Ph.D. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
A substantial amount of research regarding various aspects of pest management was conducted. Findings included that failing to account for factors such as weather that affect the development of both a pest and its host will lead to incorrect estimation of the damage caused by the pest. The economic impacts of spotted wing drosophilia were estimated to be potentially quite substantial, particularly for cane berries. Impacts would be concentrated regionally. California citrus growers' California Red Scale management decisions were shown to be influenced by the pesticides applied regionally. Effects differed for pesticides applied to citrus and non-citrus crops. Steam with solarization requires additional research to be technically and economically viable alternative to fumigation of strawberries. Research regarding market institutions included an assessment of economic research regarding agricultural contracts. Other work examined the welfare impacts of producer-imposed minimum quality standards and the effectiveness of marketing and information programs conducted by the Hass Avocado Board. Research regarding markets and government policy found that liberalizing an agricultural market when there is buyer market power may reduce social welfare. Other work found that price floors may discourage technical efficiency.

Publications

  • Carman, H.F. and Richard J. Sexton. "Effective Marketing of Hass Avocado: The Impacts of Changing Trade Policy and Promotion-Information Systems." International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 14(2011): 37 - 50. 2011
  • Cobourn, Kelly M., Hannah J. Burrack, Rachael E. Goodhue, Jeffrey C. Williams, and Frank G. Zalom. "Implications of Simultaneity in a Physical Damage Function." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 62:278-289. 2011.
  • Goodhue, Rachael E. "Food Quality: The Design of Incentive Contracts." ARRE: Annual Review of Resource Economics 3:119-140. 2011
  • Goodhue, Rachael E., Mark P. Bolda, Derek Farnsworth, Jeffrey C. Williams, and Frank G. Zalom. "Spotted Wing Drosophila Infestation of California Strawberries and Raspberries: Economic Analysis of Potential Revenue Losses and Control Costs." Pest Management Science 67:1396-1402. DOI 10.1002/ps.2259. 2011
  • Grogan, Kelly A. and Rachael E. Goodhue."The Effect of Landscape-level Pesticide Application Decisions on California Citrus Growers' Decisions for California Red Scale Management." ARE Update 15(1) September/October 2011.
  • Patlolla, Sandhya, Rachael E. Goodhue, and Richard J. Sexton. "Price Floors and Technical Inefficiency in the Sugar Processing Industry of India." Agricultural Economics 43:105-114. 2011.
  • Russo, Carlo, Rachael E. Goodhue, and Richard J. Sexton. "Agricultural Support Policies in Imperfectly Competitive Markets: Why Market Power Matters in Policy Design" American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(5):1328-1340. 2011.
  • Saitone, Tina L. and Richard J. Sexton. "Producer Organizations, Self Regulation and Economic Welfare: Minimum Quality Standards in Agricultural Markets." Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 59(2011): 435-55. 2011
  • Samtani, Jayesh B., Celeste Gilbert, J. Ben Weber, Krishna V. Subbarao, Rachael E. Goodhue and Steven A. Fennimore. "Effects of Steam and Solarization Treatments on Pest Control, Strawberry Yield, and Economic Returns Relative to Methyl Bromide Fumigation." HortScience.47(1):64-70. 2012.
  • Walsh, Douglas B.,Mark P. Bolda, Rachael E. Goodhue, Amy J. Dreves, Jana Lee, Denny J. Bruck, Vaughn M. Walton, Sally D. O'Neal, and Frank G. Zalom. "Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae): Invasive Pest of Ripening Soft Fruit Expanding Its Geographic Range and Damage Potential." Journal of Integrated Pest Management. 2(1):DOI 10.1603/IPM10010. 2011.


Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Regarding the regulation of agriculture, California Pesticide Use Report data were analyzed. Results were shared with policymakers in order to contribute to the formation of pesticide use regulations intended to reduce volatile organic compound emissions from pesticides, and to provide information regarding the economic benefit to California agriculture of the registration of iodomethane. Results of the latter were disseminated through ARE Update, which shares research findings of University of California agricultural economists with a broad audience of policymakers and stakeholders within and outside California. In addition, a survey of California citrus growers regarding their pest management decisions was conducted. Work regarding the organization of agriculture focused on the role of increasingly important role of product differentiation and quality in agricultural markets, the role of marketing cooperatives in quality-differentiated industries and the role of contracting. Theoretical models were conducted. Data were regarding the pricing of agricultural products and of contractual outcomes for California processing tomatoes were analyzed, and data regarding supermarkets' promotion decisions were collected and analyzed. Four Ph.D. dissertations were completed as part of this project. Richard Volpe's dissertation regarded supermarket promotion decisions. Chenguang Li's dissertation addressed retail pricing behavior and its implications for farmer welfare. Kelly Grogan's dissertation addressed pesticide use externalities across farmers and pest management decisions made by California citrus growers. Sandhyarani Patlolla's dissertation examined market power, technical efficiency, and the effects of policies and marketing institutions on the Indian sugarcane market and its participants. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Estimates of the benefits of iodomethane registration were provided to policymakers. Registering iodomethane would allow many growers to compensate for the loss of methyl bromide, as discussed in Goodhue, Howard and Howitt. Ultimately, iodomethane was approved for registration in California. The potential magnitude of revenues lost due to not controlling spotted wing drosphilia was estimated for California caneberry, strawberry, blueberry, and cherry growers by Bolda, Goodhue, and Zalom. Losses would be concentrated regionally. Goodhue, Klonsky and Mohapatra found that a grower education program reduced California almond growers' use of organophosphates during the dormant season. Samantini et al. found no conclusive evidence of the economic benefit of virtually impermeable film relative to high density polythelyne for weed control in commercial strawberry production. Steinmann et a. found that roughly half of the California walnut growers analyzed could benefit economically by increasing their use of biological controls, which would also reduce water pollution due to pesticide use. A variety of results were obtained regarding market organization and performance. Eaves and Williams found that public information explained a much larger share of intraday trading behavior on commodity futures than previously believed. Merel, Saitone and Sexton studied models of product differentiation for food market analysis and frameworks for incorporating marketing cooperatives into such analytic models. Xia and Sexton showed that brand differentiation and periodic sales can be substitute marketing tools for monopoly sellers to engage in price discrimination. Sexton and also Li (in a dissertation supervised by Sexton) examined the role of grocery retailers in influencing agricultural markets and the economic welfare of farmers. Mohapatra, Goodhue, Carter and Chalfant found that pre-commitment arrangements in the California fresh strawberry market raised the spot price. Goodhue, Mohapatra and Rausser found that financial incentives for lower shares of limited use tomatoes and material other than tomatoes led growers to deliver higher-quality processing tomatoes.

Publications

  • Bolda, M., Goodhue, R.E., and Zalom, F.G. 2010. "Spotted Wing Drosophila: Potential Economic Impact of a Newly Established Pest." Agricultural and Resource Economics Update, University of California, Giannini Foundation 13(3).
  • Eaves, J. and Williams, J.C. 2010. "Are Intraday Trading Volume and Volatility U-shaped after Accounting for Public Information" American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92(1):212-227.
  • Goodhue, R.E., Howard, P., and Howitt, R.E. 2010 "Costs of Methyl Iodide Non-registration: Economic Analysis." Agricultural and Resource Economics Update, University of California, Giannini Foundation 13(5).
  • Goodhue, R.E., Klonsky, K. and Mohapatra, S. 2010."Can a Grower Education Program be a Substitute for a Regulation that Bans Pesticides Evidence from a Panel Selection Model." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92(4):956-971.
  • Goodhue, R.E., Mohapatra, S., and Rausser, G.C. 2010. "Interactions between Incentive Instruments: Contracts and Quality in Processing Tomatoes." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92(5):1283-1293. doi:10.1093/ajae/aaq061.
  • Merel, P., Saitone, T.L. , and Sexton, R.J.. 2009. "Cooperatives and Quality-Differentiated Markets: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Modeling Approaches." Journal of Rural Cooperation, 37: 201-225.
  • Mohapatra, S., Goodhue, R.E., Carter, C.A. and Chalfant, J.A. 2010. "Effects of Forward Sales in Spot Markets: Pre-Commitment Sales and Prices for Fresh Strawberries." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 92(1):152-163.
  • Mohapatra, S., Goodhue, R.E., Carter, C.A. and Chalfant, J.A. 2010. "How Do Forward Contracts Affect Strawberry Prices" Agricultural and Resource Economics Update, University of California, Giannini Foundation 13(5).
  • Samatani,J.B., Ajwa, H.A., Goodhue, R.E. , Daugovish, O., Kabir, K. and Fennimore, S.A.. 2010. "Weed Control Efficacy and Economics of 1,3-Dichloropropene and Chloropicrin Applied at Reduced Rates under Impermeable Film in Strawberry Beds." HortScience 45(12):1841-1847.
  • Sexton, R.J. 2010. "Grocery Retailers' Dominant Role in Evolving World Food Markets," Choices, 25.
  • Steinmann, K.P., Zhang, M., Grant, J.A., Picket, C., Goodhue, R.E., Klonsky, K. 2010."Quantifying Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs of Walnut Arthropod Pest Management." Agricultural Systems 103(5):294-306.
  • Xia, T. and Sexton, R.J.. 2010. "Brand or Variety Choices and Periodic Sales as Substitute Instruments for Monopoly Price Discrimination," Review of Industrial Organization, 36: 333-349.