Yue, Chengyan

September, 2020

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Organic and Animal Welfare Product Attributes: Do Experimental Results Align with Market Data?

By: Lai, Yufeng ; Yue, Chengyan
This study estimates distributions of consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for organic and animal welfare product attributes using the store scanner data and compares the results to existing experiment-based findings. We find that the WTP premium estimated for organic eggs is consistent with experimental results, while estimated WTP premiums for animal welfare attributes are significantly lower than experimental findings. The results suggest the importance of considering biases when estimating the price premium for animal welfare attributes in experiments. In addition, consumers are not always willing to pay premiums for organic products. Our results also show that WTP premiums are heterogeneous across store brands.
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May, 2020

Grower Willingness to Pay for Fruit Quality versus Plant Disease Resistance and Welfare Implications: The Case of Florida Strawberry

By: Li, Zongyu; Gallardo, R. Karina; McCracken, Vicki; Yue, Chengyan; Whitaker, Vance; McFerson, James R.
We assess decision making when growers choose to invest in a new fruit cultivar, given the tradeoffs between superior fruit quality and improved disease resistance. We also estimate the welfare effects of adopting a cultivar with improved disease resistance. Florida strawberry growers are more willing to pay for fruit quality relative to improved disease resistance. When adopting a cultivar with improved disease resistance, Florida strawberry growers save between $182.40 and $204.50 per 1,000 plants every annual harvest period. Our findings improve the understanding of how strategic decisions are made to meet increasing marketplace demands for superior fruit quality and reduced chemical applications.
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January, 2020

Investigating Consumer Participation Decision in Community-Supported Agriculture: An Application of Cumulative Prospect Theory

By: Zhao, Shuoli; Yue, Chengyan
Using the framework of cumulative prospect theory (CPT), we investigate consumers’ decision to participate in community-supported agriculture (CSA) under risk and uncertainty. We analyze discrete choice experiment data using a CPT framework that allows for flexible reference points and individual preference heterogeneity. Comparison between model specifications suggests that the CPT model with the control of all risk parameters generates better goodness of fit than the expected utility model. Market sensitivity analysis further indicates that, while CSA operators benefit from transferring production risk partially to consumers, the level of transferred risk has a great impact on market share.
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April, 2014

Reference-Dependent Preferences in Gulf of Mexico Shrimpers’ Fishing Effort Decision

By: Ran, Tao; Keithly, Walter R., Jr.; Yue, Chengyan
This paper provides empirical evidence that reference-dependent preferences help to explain the amount of effort exerted by shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico. Using survival analysis, the authors find that shrimpers tend to prolong their trip when their current trip revenue goal remains unattained. Furthermore, this tendency became more pronounced after 2001 in association with a significant decline in the shrimp price. This may partially explain the less obvious decrease in fleet effort vis-à-vis sharp decline in fleet size following the price change.
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August, 2013

Polarized Preferences in Homegrown Value Auctions

By: Hurley, Terrance M.; Yue, Chengyan; Anderson, Neil O.
Homegrown value-auction experiments are useful for exploring preferences for controversial product attributes. These auctions have emphasized estimating the effect of the attribute on the willingness to pay (WTP) for a product. The likelihood that individuals are willing to purchase any products with the attribute has received less attention, even though this could also be useful to researchers, marketers, and policy makers. This article shows how simultaneous, single-unit auctions can be used to estimate not just WTPs, but also the likelihood that individuals are willing to purchase any products with a controversial attribute.
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April, 2009

Non-tariff Barriers to Trade Caused by SPS Measures and Customs Procedures with Product Quality Changes

By: Liu, Lan; Yue, Chengyan
This study develops a methodology to quantify the combined effects of two major nontariff barriers (NTBs), sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and customs and administrative procedures. We employ a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) utility function with factor-augmenting technical progress to incorporate changes in the quality of goods. We then estimate the effects of these two NTBs in the Japanese cut flower market. Results show that estimates of SPS are biased without considering product quality changes caused by the customs and administrative procedures for highly perishable agricultural products. If these Japanese NTBs were removed, findings suggest there would be a significant increase in cut flower imports by Japan.
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