Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
500 S LIMESTONE 109 KINKEAD HALL
LEXINGTON,KY 40526-0001
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The market for genetically modified (GM) foods has rapidly evolved since the passage of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) in 2016 and implementation in 2020. Challenges remain due to continued unfamiliarity with labeling among consumers, choice of disclosure by suppliers and balancing costs of disclosure with meeting the NBFDS requirements. Further, GM labeling is unique as private certification, self-claims and government mandatory disclosure coexist. This project will conduct a comprehensive study of non-GMO and bioengineered (BE) disclosures. We will utilize primary and secondary data to meet three objectives: 1 (Consumers): Assess consumer preferences for non-GMO and BE disclosures and BE disclosure formats, 2 (Producers): Examine the impacts of non-GMO and BE disclosures on product sales, and 3 (Certifiers): Identify producers' price sensitivity to non-GMO certification and relation-specific learning between producers and certifiers. The project aligns with Program Area Priority A1641, "Economics, Markets and Trade", as it directly relates to agricultural and food policy and its impact on the economic efficiency of the certification on multiple stakeholders. By forging collaborations with two partner universities (including a Hispanic-serving institution), the Non-GMO Project, the USDA AMS Food Disclosure and Labeling Division, and the USDA ERS, we address critical questions for stakeholders across the supply chain, including disclosure formats and impacts, information accessibility, benefit-cost and price sensitivity of disclosure, and certification market efficiency. With non-GMO and BE markets becoming increasingly complex, research findings will provide information to shape food policy, consumer decisions, and producer responses to labeling of bioengineered and non-GMO foods.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
This research project connects consumer, producer, government, and third-party supply chain elements as they relate to the rapidly evolving labeling and certification landscape for bioengineered (BE) and non-genetically modified (GM) foods. These markets involve private (e.g., the Non-GMO Project and self-claimed non-GMO status) and government certification and disclosure (organic certification and BE disclosure). Our overall goalis to understandconsumer preferences for information signals, the respective impacts of non-GMO (verified and non-verified) and BE disclosures on product sales, the producer benefit-cost of choosing a specific method of production (BE, organic, Non-GMO certified or none), and consumer/producer price sensitivity to compliance with government regulations and third-party certification costs, which are critical pieces of information necessary to find the market equilibria that maximize consumer utility and producer profitability. We utilize primary and secondary data to meet three objectives, including 1 (Consumers): Assess consumer preferences for non-GMO and BE disclosures and BE disclosure formats, 2 (Producers): Examine the impacts of non-GMO and BE disclosures on product sales, 3 (Certifiers): Identify producers' price sensitivity to non-GMO certification and relation-specific learning between producers and certifiers.
Project Methods
Objective 1 (consumer):(O1a) Panel double hurdle model - IRI household scanner data including medprofile data onhealth (2022), MIntel: Global New Products Database (2023)(O1b) incentive-compatible online experiment - Primary data collection from 300 subjects from Amazon MTurkObjective 2 (producers):(O2a) Generalized differences-in-differences (DID) - IRI Retail (2017-2022); Non-GMO Project (2017-2022); Mintel: Global New Prodcuts Database (2023)(O2b) benefit-cost analysisObjective 3 (certifiers):(O3a) Conditional lofit model and mixed logit model - Non-GMO Project (2017-2022)(O3b) fixed effects model - Non-GMO Project (2017-2022)