Economics Commons^™

Envisioning A Future For Ethiopian Small Farmer Involvement In Development And Food Security, William H. Cauffman

Student Publications

In this paper I attempt to answer the question of how small-scale Ethiopian farmers can best participate in, contribute to and benefit from the development process. In addition, I seek to clarify the implications and potential nature of local food systems and their ability to achieve greater food security through small farmer involvement. Modern development ideology often focuses on large scale projects and export-led growth, ignoring the importance of smallholder farmers and rural vitality. These farmers are increasingly marginalized through this process. In Ethiopia 85% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, the majority being small farmers that …

Globalization Of Taste And Modernity: Tracing The Development Of Western Fast Food Corporations In Urban China, Anastasia Gonchar

Student Publications

Food globalization has become an important topic in the discourse on globalization. There has been a rapidly rising trend of multinational food corporations integrating and dominating foreign agro-food markets. A clear example of this trend is present in China, whose economy and food industry experienced an influx of foreign direct investment and multinational retail and restaurant branches during the country’s economic opening in the 1980s. The aim of this research is to analyze the development of food globalization through the lens of Western fast food corporations and their successful integration into the Chinese market. The research also assesses the companies’ …

Democratization In The Arab World: A Moroccan Case Study Of Culture, Religion, And Governance, Marwah Al-Jilani

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Democracy and Islam are generally assumed as incompatible, which leads to further assumptions towards the notion that democracy in Muslim majority states can not be reconciled. The presence of a religious political culture appears as the main hindrance for sound democratic structures. However, it appears that the absence stems from other prominent factors. This paper extends the rhetoric that Islam and democracy can be compatible and a lack of democracy is dependent on specific authoritarian structures. Morocco, a Muslim majority state that is going through democratization offers data to gauge whether or not democratic practice is present within the general …

Caste-Ethnic Disparity In Vaccine Use Among 0- To 5-Year-Old Children In Nepal: A Decomposition Analysis, Satis Devkota, Christopher Butler

Economics & Management Publications

Objectives To examine what factors, if any, could account for caste/ethnic disparities in vaccine utilization between upper caste and indigenous, and upper caste and low caste (Dalit) groups in Nepal.

Methods Using the Institute of Medicine (IOM) approach to calculate disparity, we estimate the disparity between upper caste and indigenous, and between upper caste and Dalit 0- to 5-year-old children in Nepal. Then we use Fairlie’s non-linear regression-based decomposition technique to account for those disparities in immunization.

Results Using nationally representative data (the Nepal Living Standard Survey II and III), we construct a pooled cross-sectional series and calculate the disparity …

The Importance Of Traveler Spending On Locally Produced Goods And Services, Kara Grau, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

While a growing tourism industry is beneficial to the state, it is important that the industry grows in a way that is sustainable and desirable to the local people. One component of sustainability is the economic contribution made to the state while at the same time benefitting the local community by reducing the leakages of money. The results of this study showed that visitors who purchased ‘made in Montana’ products, items at local farmer’s markets, and who used local guides spent $184.76 more than those visitors who did not purchase those products and services. This significant difference in spending between …

Through The Gateway: Marijuana Production, Governance, And The Drug War Détente, Michael Polson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the 1996 voter approval of medical marijuana laws in California, marijuana policy has become increasingly liberalized. Producers, however, have remained in the greyest of grey market zones. Federal anti-drug laws and supply-side tactics have intensively targeted them even as marijuana has become more licit. In this legally unstable environment, marijuana patient-cultivators and underground producers have articulated and asserted themselves politically and economically, particularly as the likelihood of full legalization has increased. This dissertation explores how producers navigated the nebulous zone between underground and medical markets. I argue that even as producers supplied marijuana to a formalizing, regulated medical industry …

Food Store Choice Of Poor Households: A Discrete Choice Analysis Of The National Household Food Acquisition And Purchase Survey, Sofia B. Villas-Boas, Rebecca Taylor

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Policymakers are pursing initiatives to increase food access for low-income households. However, due in part to previous data deficiencies, there is still little evidence supporting the assumption that improved food store access will alter dietary habits, especially for the poorest of U.S. households. This article uses the new National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) to estimate consumer food outlet choices as a function of outlet type and household attributes in a multinomial mixed logit. In particular, we allow for the composition of the local retail food environment to play a role in explaining household store choice decisions and …

The Effect Of Food Price On Food Insecurity And Diet Quality: Exploring Potential Moderating Roles Of Snap And Consumer Competency, Yunhee Chang, Jinhee Kim, Swarn Chatterjee

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Higher food prices may aggravate household food insecurity and hurt diet quality. Using a sample of low-income households from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), this study examines whether local food prices affect food insecurity and nutritional quality of foods acquired, and how households use competent consumer behaviors to mitigate any adverse effects of price. Financial management practices, nutrition literacy, and conscientious food shopping practices were considered for consumer competency. Our findings indicate that low-income households in higher-cost areas, regardless of whether they participate in SNAP or not, are more likely to adopt loyalty or other store …

The Effects Of Benefit Timing And Income Fungibility On Food Purchasing Decisions Among Snap Households, Joshua P. Berning, Gregory Colson, Jeffery H. Dorfman, Travis A. Smith, Xiaosi Yang

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutritional safety net in the United States. Prior research has found that participants have higher consumption shortly after receiving their benefits, followed by lower consumption towards the end of the benefit month. This “SNAP benefit cycle” has been found to have negative effects on beneficiaries. We examine two behavioral responses of SNAP participants that may work in tandem to drive much of the cycle: short-run impatience – a higher preference to consume today; and fungibility of income – the degree of substitutability between a SNAP dollar and a cash dollar. Using …

Variation In Food Prices And Snap Adequacy For Purchasing The Thrifty Food Plan, Erin Bronchetti, Garret Christensen, Benjamin Hansen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Whether Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are adequate to provide food security for eligible households is an important and timely policy question. While the nominal value of SNAP benefits is fixed across states (except for Hawaii and Alaska), variation in food prices across geographic areas is dramatic, and the real value of SNAP benefits varies widely across the U.S. Our research provides new evidence on geographic variation in the adequacy of SNAP benefits to purchase the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP).

Using multiple methods to estimate the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) faced by households across the nation, …

The Gettysburg Economic Review, Volume 9, Spring 2016

Gettysburg Economic Review

No abstract provided.

Food Security And Geographic Factors In Food Purchase And Acquisition Decisions: A Compilation Of Research Conducted Under Usda Cooperative Agreements 58-5000-1-0050 And 58-5000-3-0066, James P. Ziliak, Craig Gundersen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Supermarket Proximity And Price: Food Insecurity And Obesity In The United States, Janelle Downing, Barbara Laraia

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Where we live matters for our health. The social, economic, and physical features of neighborhoods can play a powerful role in health and longevity. Neighborhood concentration of poverty and poor health have been shown to be linked. Residing in low-income neighborhoods has been associated with diet related chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

The Relationship Between Neighborhood Food Environment And Food Store Choice On Purchasing Habits Among Snap And Lower Income Households, Usda Foodaps Data, Alison A. Gustafson, James E. Allen Iv, Nancy E. Schoenberg, Mark Swanson

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The objective of the study was to determine relationship between neighborhood food store availability, store choice and food purchasing habits among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participating households. The study sample consisted of SNAP households (n=1581) and low income households participating in the USDA's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of American households with household food purchases and acquisitions data. Main Outcomes: 1) Food purchasing choices (sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits and vegetables, snacks, water, and milk) obtained from store receipts over a one-week period; 2) food shopping activities was obtained from a log book …

Influence Of Snap Participation And Food Environment On Nutritional Quality Of Food At Home Purchases, Amy Hillier, Benjamin Chrisinger, Tony E. Smith, Eliza Whiteman, Michael Kallan

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

A growing body of research describes how individuals make food shopping decisions in both time and space. The FoodAPS dataset provides a unique opportunity for understanding these patterns among a large sample across income, SNAP status, and settings. We addressed three questions in our research: (1) Where do participants shop for food at home (FAH) and how do individual characteristics interact with store characteristics and distance? (2) How does the nutritional content of foods purchased change as time from SNAP distribution increases? and (3) How does store choice influence the nutritional quality of FAH purchases? We used a conditional logit …

Do Snap Recipients Get The Best Prices?, Conrad Lyford, Raymond J. March, Carlos E. Carpio, Tullaya Boonsaeng

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

This paper examines the relationship between SNAP participation and prices paid for food items. To test this relationship, we develop an expensiveness index following the method of Aguiar and Hurst (2007) and use the FoodAPS data set. Using both the ordinary least squares method and controlling for endogeneity using an instrumental variables approach, we found SNAP participation did not hold a statistically significant relationship with the prices paid for food items when we controlled for consumer behavior and food market variables. This suggests that SNAP participants are not systematically disadvantaged in their food purchases. Additional efforts to further educate SNAP …

Causes And Consequences Of The Calorie Crunch, Michael A. Kuhn

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Monthly welfare programs such as the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) produce consistent cycles of expenditure and consumption amongst recipients. Food insecurity and negative behavioral outcomes track these cycles. This paper leverages new data from the USDA, the FoodAPS survey, and to answer a variety of questions related to these phenomena: Are consumption and expenditure cycles correlated? Who bears the burden of food shortages at the end of each benefit month? Does diet quality track food expenditure? I find robust expenditure and consumption cycles in the FoodAPS data, but contrary to popular belief, they are only weakly correlated. The youngest …

Contextualizing Family Food Decisions: The Role Of Household Characteristics, Neighborhood Deprivation, And Local Food Environments, Sarah Bowen, Richelle Winkler, J. Dara Bloom, Lillian Macnell

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

We employ multilevel models with neighborhood and state effects (fixed effects and random effects) to analyze the associations between household characteristics, neighborhood characteristics, regional attributes and dietary quality. We use data from the USDA National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. Our dependent variable is a Healthy Eating Index that incorporates dollars spent and amount of food in several categories. Key explanatory variables at the household level include variables household financial condition, housing burden, home ownership, car access, household size. We include a variable for the number of large food stores in the neighborhood, a neighborhood deprivation index, and a …

An Overview Of Snap, Food Security, And Geographic Factors In Food Purchase And Acquisition Decisions, James P. Ziliak, Craig Gundersen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

In April 2012 the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture embarked on an ambitious new data collection enterprise known as the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS). FoodAPS is innovative in that it is the first nationally representative household survey to collect comprehensive data on household food expenditures and acquisitions, including those obtained using benefits from food assistance programs. The survey includes data from 4,826 households, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households, low-income eligible households not participating in SNAP, and higher income households. FoodAPS is specifically …

Perceptions Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans continue to feel positive about their current situation. Just over one-half (52%) of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off than they were five years ago (holding steady from 53% last year, the highest proportion in all 21 years of this study, tied in 2008). And, rural Nebraskans’ outlook on their future continues to be optimistic. Almost one-half of rural Nebraskans (46%) believe they will be better off ten years from now. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that people are powerless to control their own lives. This year, 55 percent strongly disagree or disagree with that statement. …

Los Riesgos Sobre La Salud De Los Trabajadores Inmigrantes Bolivianos En Los Talleres Textiles En La Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires: Las Experiencias De Los Trabajadores De La Cooperativa La Alameda / The Health Risks Of Bolivian Immigrant Workers In Textile Workshops In The Autonomous City Of Buenos Aires: The Experiences Of Workers At Cooperative La Alameda, Marian Gardner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Los bolivianos inmigran a Argentina para escapar de la falta de oportunidades laborales y de la pobreza. Sin embargo, una vez en Argentina, su inserción laboral es precaria e informal, principalmente, son contratados en los talleres textiles clandestinos. En éstos , donde la mayoría de ellos también vive, se ven reducidos a condiciones de servidumbre, explotación y son sometidos a condiciones de semi esclavitud, como lo demuestran las 14 a 18 horas de trabajo que realizan los siete días de la semana por sólo alrededor de $ 1300 a $ 3000 pesos argentinos por mes. Además, las condiciones laborales suponen …

No. 73: Informal Entrepreneurship And Cross-Border Trade In Maputo, Mozambique, Inês Raimundo, Abel Chikanda

Southern African Migration Programme

Cross-border trading is an essential part of Mozambique’s informal economy, with the traders playing a key role in supplying commodities that are in scarce supply nationwide. This report presents the results of a SAMP survey of informal entrepreneurs connected to cross-border trade between Johannesburg and Maputo. The study sought to enhance the evidence base on the links between migration and informal entrepreneurship in Southern African cities and to examine the implications for municipal, national and regional policy. In Mozambique, cross-border trading is primarily done by women with men mainly involved in the sale of the products brought back from South …

No. 72: Food Remittances: Migration And Food Security In Africa, Jonathan Crush, Mary Caesar

Southern African Migration Programme

By drawing attention to the importance of food remittances for urban and rural food security and identifying the current knowledge gaps, this report contributes to the study of the relationship between migration and food security and creates a platform for the design of a new research agenda. Across Africa, there is considerable evidence of a massive informal trade in food, including staples, fresh and processed products. While most cross-border trade in foodstuffs is a result of commercial transactions by small-scale traders who buy in one country and sell in another, an unknown proportion is actually food remittances on their way …

No. 71: International Migrants In Johannesburg’S Informal Economy, Sally Pederby

Southern African Migration Programme

This report provides a rich view of the activities of migrant entrepreneurs in the informal economy of Johannesburg. It is hoped that the information will facilitate understanding of the informal sector and its potential, and not just in the context of migrant entrepreneurs. The informal economy plays a significant role in the entrepreneurial landscape of the City of Johannesburg and is patronized by most of the city’s residents. The research presented here challenges commonly held opinions about migrant entrepreneurs in the City of Johannesburg and shows that they do not dominate the informal economy, which remains largely in the hands …

Cost Of Living, Healthy Food Acquisition, And The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Sanjay Basu, Christopher Wimer, Hilary K. Seligman

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

We tested the hypothesis that high costs of living, such as from high housing rents, reduce the healthfulness of food acquisitions. Using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (2012-13), we examined the relationships between cost of living and food acquisition patterns among both SNAP participants and non-participants (N = 5,414 individuals from households participating in SNAP, 3,863 individuals from non-participating households <185% of the federal poverty threshold, and 5,036 individuals from non-participating households >185% of the federal poverty threshold). Indices for cost of living included county-level Regional Price Parities for major classes of expenditures and the geographic adjustment to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which is based on rent prices. We …

Insatiability And Crisis: Using Interdisciplinarity To Understand (And Denaturalize) Contemporary Humans, Sean P. Macdonald, Costas Panayotakis

Publications and Research

This chapter illustrates how collaboration between different social sciences can encourage students to think critically about prevailing assumptions regarding human nature. Both the chapter and the pedagogical experience on which it is based investigate the distinctive type of human created by capitalist society. In so doing, it takes a heterodox approach to analyzing the concept of an insatiable human nature through a case study that invites students to critically assess this perspective. This discussion then leads to an investigation and critique of traditional neoclassical Economic assumptions about human behavior, which forms the basis for a case study on the causes …

Gender In Jeopardy!: The Role Of Opponent Gender In High-Stakes Competition, Michael Jetter, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

Using 4,279 episodes of the popular US game show Jeopardy!, we analyze whether the opponents' gender is able to explain the gender gap in competitive behavior. Our findings indicate that gender differences disappear when women compete against men. This result is surprising, but emerges with remarkable consistency for the probability to (i) respond, (ii) respond correctly, and (iii) respond correctly in high-stakes situations. Even risk preferences in wagering decisions, where gender differences are especially pronounced, do not differ across gender once a woman competes against males. Using a fixed-effects framework, and therefore exploiting within-player …

Social Justice And Worker Cooperatives, Gurveer Shaan Dhillon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social Justice (SJ) is an organizing principle of contemporary community psychology (CP); however, the concept and understanding of social justice in community psychology is undertheorized and narrow. Specifically, the concept of distributive justice, which has been a popular notion of social justice in community psychology discourse, does not translate well into transformative action. In order to address this issue, the research uses a qualitative approach to explore the understanding of social justice from the perspectives of worker-members of 5 worker cooperatives in Ontario, with the aim to contribute to an understanding of SJ that has transformative implications. A worker cooperative …

2014 South Dakota Counties' Poverty And Median Household Income Estimates, Census Data Center

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Wellbeing Economics Datasets

This data illustrates 2014 poverty and median household income estimates for counties in South Dakota. Data includes: Total Poverty Estimates, and Poverty Estimates (Age 0-17).

Primary download file:
File Type: Excel
File size 25 KB

Supplemental file:
File type: CSV
File size: 4 KB

Effective General Entrepreneurial Learning Programs For Sme Development, Paul Kenneth Steele

Capstone Collection

The principle objective of this paper is to reexamine the potential for impactful, general programs in education for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners by assessing the success of a program called SME PRIME; conducted by AMIDEAST, Oman for six Omani entrepreneurs over a seven-month period.

General programs for entrepreneur education are produced and implemented the world over despite consistent assertions throughout academic literature that such programs are ineffective. Typical approaches to training program development and evaluation emphasize the critical role of training needs analysis. Training needs analysis is often an ignored step in the process of SME training program …