David Ortega

Michigan State University | MSU · Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervid populations poses substantial economic costs, and its management is resource intensive. Control of CWD is often subject to stakeholder‐dependent strategies that require active support and participation. The development of effective CWD management strategies and policies hinges on understanding stakeholder pre...

The yoghurt market represents one of the most dynamic consumer segments in Kenya's dairy industry. Product innovation like yoghurt enriched with nutrients is increasingly promoted to address the challenges of micro‐nutrient deficiencies, especially among children and women of poor households. Using data from 383 in‐household interviews in predomina...

Increasing consumption of alternatives to animal-based food products can have significant implications for the sustainability of global food systems. We utilize consumers' food values to identify the drivers of demand for alternative meat and milk products in China, the world's largest consumer market. Using data from 3015 Chinese consumers, we fin...

The complexities of the decision to adopt gene-editing technology at the farm gate are likely to be greater than a simple matter of profitability. We investigate ex ante technology adoption intentions to address how non-pecuniary motivations influence a dairy producer’s decision to adopt gene-editing (GE) technology with animal health and welfare-i...

Zinc deficiency is a severe public health problem in Bangladesh. We examine the effects of nutritional information on rural consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for two ways to increase zinc intake through rice, the main staple crop-low-milling that gives rice grains a distinctive light brown color (a visible trait) and sets it apart from the cultur...

This study assesses preferences for COVID‐19 pandemic recovery policies from four key groups representing the upstream (input retailers), farm (farmers), and downstream (millers and traders) levels of Myanmar's agri‐food‐system using the best–worst scaling (BWS) method. Our results show that nonrestrictive policies such as maintaining open internat...

Food discrete choice experiments typically define product alternatives with a researcher-predetermined and sometimes arbitrary quantity. Results reveal that the use of a researcher-prespecified experimental quantity leads to biased welfare estimates. Differences in marginal utility of money are found with a resulting upward bias in willingness to p...

Stamp programs are a financial mechanism that can provide funding from stakeholders for conservation efforts. Sufficient funding is foundational for the management of wildlife and natural resources, especially for infectious disease control for diseases like chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer. This study uses contingent valuation in a nationwide...

The rise of meat consumption in China has increased attention on efforts to mitigate the various environmental, health, and animal welfare consequences of animal agriculture. Plant-based products and cultured meat substitutes are emerging as alternatives to meat. Yet, little is known about consumer preferences for these products and approaches to i...

Unprecedented economic growth in China has created a new market potential for high-quality foods in the global food industry. This has led several studies to investigate consumer preferences for food safety and quality attributes in the retail market. However, there are limited studies related to the food service sector, specifically to combine the...

Biotechnology use in food production has been a polarizing topic that has encountered resistance from some consumers. The discovery of genome editing biotechnology, in which no foreign genetic material is introduced into the host organism while making accurate and efficient changes in genomes, has the potential to revolutionize food biotechnology i...

West African consumption of processed dairy products has been increasing over the past decades, most markedly in urban areas. In livestock-rich countries such as Mali, local milk production has the potential to meet growing demand. There is evidence, although limited, that consumers in the region prefer local fresh milk over imported milk. Yet, ver...

Previous studies indicate that “hesitation” and “skepticism” are important barriers to the development of renewable energy industries in the United States. We examine whether key pecuniary and nonpecuniary characteristics of bioenergy crops underlie the hesitation argument. Based on a stated choice experiment, we find that Midwestern producers appr...

Purpose In Mali, dairy processors mostly use imported powdered milk rather than local fresh milk, constraining the development of a domestic milk sector. We investigate factors motivating a firm's choice of milk input, to identify measures that can encourage demand for fresh milk. Design/methodology/approach We utilize case study data from nine fi...

Product labels communicate the presence of valuable traits to consumers but, when a single label represents multiple traits, communication can be hindered by consumer misinformation. Redundant labels can address this problem by explicitly indicating included qualities within a comprehensive label. We use data from a field experiment on willingness...

Amid stringent traceability requirements and a nearly 14‐year ban, the U.S. beef industry is rebuilding its market presence in China. Blockchain technology offers a responsive means of meeting Chinese import traceability requirements while also addressing consumers' food safety concerns. We evaluate Chinese demand for U.S. beef and blockchain‐based...

Purpose This study aims to improve our understanding of side selling in farmer cooperatives. Cooperative member side selling, in which farmers divert produce from cooperatives to competitors, threatens coffee cooperatives. This is a problem in Burundi, where many households earn income from coffee and cooperatives serve a collective action function...

Products were not labeled as information on rice types was shared in the audio info treatments. No visible differences can be detected between the BFLM and NBFLM rice while obvious milling differences can be observed between the NBFLM and NBFHM rice. Market prices were not revealed to the respondents when eliciting bids.

Understanding the distribution of online consumer ratings for food products can provide insights that aid supply chain decisions. Using a researcher‐collected web‐scraped panel data set from Amazon, this article quantifies the effect of number of ratings, average rating, variance of ratings, and skewness of the rating distribution. Results show tha...

We propose a novel framework using individual choice data and Bayesian updating to predict which consumers are most responsive to information—namely those consumers whose pre-information choices reveal a high level of uncertainty surrounding their preferences. We apply our method to the study of consumer acceptance of genetically modified animal pr...

We use Becker-DeGroot-Marshak value elicitation methods to derive the intrinsic value that farmers in Nepal place on fertilizers. Eliciting values under three distinct procurement scenarios, we are able to decompose the total intrinsic value of fertilizer into a willingness-to-pay (WTP) to travel to procure fertilizer, a WTP for assured fertilizer...

Crop insurance is the most common agricultural risk management instrument. In developing countries, crop insurance is becoming popular but is often provided with lower coverage, lower premiums and less subsidy than in developed countries. We use a labelled choice experiment method to investigate Chinese smallholder corn growers’ preferences for alt...

This study uses data from 1,024 coffee producing households to address two critical questions regarding the role of cooperatives in Rwanda’s coffee sector: Does cooperative membership increase adoption of best practices and coffee productivity? and do cooperatives improve farm household welfare? Using a propensity score matching technique to accoun...

We use stated preference data to study farmers' preferences for two alternative strategies to manage drought risks in Bangladesh. A choice experiment on drought tolerant rice varieties and weather index insurance was administered to 2306 farmers. Two overarching preference classes or meso-groups were identified using an equality constrained latent...

Background Consumer demand for production process traits in food and agricultural products is rapidly increasing. Recent legal measures reflect demand for high animal welfare standards. At the same time, consumers are wary of biotechnology applications in food and agriculture, with calls for natural or organic production across the industry. Howeve...

Coffee farmers who wish to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change must adopt environmentally sustainable practices that help in their adaptation to a changing environment. Among these practices is the incorporation of shade crops into coffee farms and the diversification of coffee varieties. These practices provide important service...

The market for specialty coffee is growing as consumer preferences for high quality coffee become more complex. Identifying the sources of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for specialty coffee is essential to optimizing producer marketing strategies to ensure they both fully capitalize on and satisfy consumer demand. One source of increasing i...

The Malian dairy sector plays a critical role in food security and nutrition and is an important source of employment. However, in recent years the competition between local and imported dairy products has been increasing. In 2015, the European Union ended its milk production quotas, which led to overproduction and low prices. Recognizing the growt...

Efforts to slow down and eventually reverse the trend of climate change will take time, and in some cases, the negative impacts of climate change will be felt long before long-term solutions to this problem can bear fruit. Adaptation and mitigation strategies constitute the front line of attack for rural households in developing countries that rely...

Recent breakthroughs in biotechnology have expanded the range of applications in animal agriculture. Acceptance of food products from these animals is expected to be controversial and requires a thorough understanding of consumer preferences and drivers of acceptance. This paper explores the role of personality, measured via the Big Six personality...

We characterize systematic differences in willingness and opportunity to contract for farmers in and out of the French bean supply market in Kenya. We find that the factors associated with being a low cost producer do not always align with the factors correlated with opportunity to contract. We also find that farmers in and out of the market differ...

We empirically question the commonly invoked assumption of normality of taste distribution in mixed logit models with continuous random parameters. We use a WTP-space random utility discrete choice model with flexible distributions on data from two choice experiments regarding beef with nested set of quality attributes. We specifically focus on dis...

Experimental auctions are a popular and useful tool in understanding demand for food and agricultural products. Bidding behavior often deviates from theoretical predictions in traditional Vickrey and Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) auction mechanisms. We propose and explore the bidding behavior and demand revealing properties of a hybrid first price‐...

Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet as a medium of acquiring food products. This study informs the consumer literature by assessing the effects of three ex‐ante hypothetical bias mitigation methods on Chinese consumer’s stated online food shopping behavior: a cheap talk script, the solemn oath and honesty priming. Using data from cho...

Limited producer participation and voice in the governance structures of the coffee value chain in Rwanda, a common occurrence in many agricultural export sectors in the developing world, have resulted in low farm gate prices, restricted competition and few incentives for producers to invest human and capital resources in improved coffee production...

This study elicits U.S. agricultural producer preferences for five key management success factors: managing output prices; managing production; controlling costs; managing land/equipment/facilities; and managing people. The objective of this analysis was to determine the relative importance of each of the five profitcentric functional areas of mana...

This study utilizes a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism to assess Michigan consumer demand for animal welfare practices. Results are examined in the context of changing farm production costs and producer marketing margins. We find that while consumers are willing to pay significant premiums for animal welfare standards, failing to account for...

Consumers in China have grown increasingly concerned with the safety of their food as evidenced by the numerous media reports of foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years. Consumer confidence in food purchases can be improved through better labeling on food packaging. Chinese consumers’ risk perceptions and how it impacts the valuation of a produ...

Given the higher prices paid for specialty coffee, the growing demand for fully-washed Arabica, and Rwanda’s own comparative advantage, the country is shifting the focus of its coffee industry away from low priced, commodity grade coffees (Source: NAEB, Medium Term Strategic Plan, 2013-2018, pg. 9). Unfortunately, some structures and policies are n...

Argentinean beef is recognized and demanded internationally. Locally, consumers are often unable to afford certified beef products, and may rely on external cues to determine beef quality. Uncovering demand for beef attributes and marketing them accordingly, may require an understanding of consumers' product purchasing strategies, which involves re...

Purpose Food safety in emerging and developing regions is receiving increased attention from economists, researchers and policymakers. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on the economics of food safety in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Of interest are studies exploring consumer demand and producer behavior regard...

A major concern for international marketers is how products will be received by foreign consumers in other markets. This study uses choice modeling to assess Chinese consumer preferences for pork and evaluate the potential demand for U.S. pork in the cities of Guangzhou and Hong Kong. We find that differences in preferences for domestic versus impo...

Food fraud – including the sub-category of economically motivated adulteration – is illegal intentional deception for economic gain using food. The types of food fraud include adulterant-substances (adulteration), substitution, dilution, stolen goods, tampering, diversion and gray market product, smuggling, unauthorized product or unauthorized re-f...

Perennial crops have numerous ecological and agronomic advantages over their annual counterparts. We estimate discrete choice models to evaluate farmers' preferences for perennial attributes of pigeon pea intercropped with maize in central and southern Malawi. Pigeon pea is a nitrogen-fixing leguminous crop, which has the potential to ameliorate so...

Adoption rates of leguminous crops remain low in sub-Saharan Africa despite their potential role in improving nutrition, soil health, and food security. In this study we explored Malawian farmers’ perceptions of various legume attributes and assessed how these perceptions affected allocation of land to legume crops using a logit link model. We foun...

An increase in the amount of packaging consumed in the U.S. has put pressure on companies to take responsibility for the entire life-cycle of their product. This study uses discrete choice experiments to assess consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for packaging materials and recyclability of a beverage product. A between-subject design was used to ana...

Agricultural cooperatives operate under the notion that smallholder farmers are better off working collectively. Rwanda’s coffee sector has experienced a significant transformation over the past two decades, which includes farmers coming together to establish cooperative coffee washing stations (CWSs). Our data and analysis show that these collecti...

Findings presented in this report show that the true cost of production in Rwanda, including household and wage labor, inputs and equipment, totals 177 RWF/Kg of cherry, a figure well above that currently used as a reference for establishing cherry floor prices in Rwanda. As a result, a large proportion of growers suffer unsustainably low margins o...

To increase recycling rates, packaging companies, policymakers, and food and beverage companies have promoted recycling of packaging through media and packaging labels. Yet, how effective such information is at enhancing recycling behavior remains subject to debate. This study contributes to the literature on product recycling by examining how part...

The purpose of this study is to explore emerging markets for imported beef in China by assessing Beijing consumer demand for quality attributes. This study utilizes data from an in-store choice experiment to evaluate consumer willingness-to-pay for select food quality attributes (food safety, animal welfare, Green Food and Organic certification) ta...

Low soil fertility is a limiting factor to farm productivity, household nutrition, and economic development in many parts of Africa due to the continuous cultivation of maize over centuries. Diversifying maize monocrop with legumes has been proposed as one solution to declining soil fertility. Adoption of legumes in Africa remains low despite the m...

This study explores the effect of various information processing strategies specifically related to attribute nonattendance in stated choice experiments. Our approach includes two forms of stated choice task nonattendance, each derived from separately framed questions asked immediately following the completion of each choice task. We also evaluate...

In the wake of the supermarket revolution, consumer concerns over food safety in China have resulted in an accelerated change towards the procurement of food products from modern retail channels. We employ discrete choice experiments to assess consumer preferences for food quality attributes across various retail channels using primary data from Be...

The Chinese aquaculture industry, which employs millions of farmers and provides low cost protein for consumers worldwide, is critically important to domestic economic growth and global food security. Central to the safety of aquaculture products are farmers, who are ultimately responsible for following good production practices. We assess how farm...

Weather-related production risks remain one of the most serious constraints to agricultural production in much of the developing world. Financial and technological innovations that mitigate these risks have the potential to greatly benefit farmers in areas prone to such risks. In this study we examine farmers’ preferences for two distinct tools tha...

Efforts to develop rice cultivars with drought tolerance (DT) traits have resulted in several varieties that demonstrate significant resilience to drought stresses. We employ discrete choice experiments to examine farmers’ preferences for DT traits and explore heterogeneity in these preferences using primary data from Bihar, India. Results suggest...

In recent years, Asia has emerged as an important supplier of food to Western countries. In this study, we focus on shrimp, a major aquaculture commodity, to evaluate consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for enhanced food safety, use of antibiotics and eco-friendly practices used in producing shrimp in the presence of country-of-origin labelling. Spec...

The increasing share of imported food in the United States, coupled with highly publicized incidents of food contamination and adulteration in Asia, particularly China, is posing new challenges for consumers and food safety regulators. In this study, we focus on imported shrimp and tilapia, to evaluate consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for enhanced...

Consumer preferences for four livestock products were investigated to determine consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for livestock production process attributes. We use an inferred method of attribute nonattendance (ANA) using the coefficient of variation on individual specific parameter estimates to assess the variability of preference intensity for...

This study provides an economics assessment of various food safety measures in China. A choice experiment approach is used to elicit Chinese consumer preferences for various food safety attributes using data from a 2008 urban consumer survey. An alternative welfare calculation is used to model aggregate market impacts of select food safety measures...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese food safety issues by analysing select incidents within he Chinese agricultural marketing system. Design/methodology/approach – A marketing utility framework is utilized to discuss some of the major food safety incidents in China and potential solutions are explored. Findings – The paper f...

The increasing share of imported food in developed countries, such as the U.S. and European Union countries, poses new challenges for food safety and quality regulators. China as the world's biggest food producer has the fastest growing share of fish and shellfish exports to these countries. While there have been an increasing number of studies con...

A hypothetical choice experiment was conducted to determine consumers' willingness to pay for three verified production practice attributes (pasture access, antibiotic use, and individual crates/stalls) in smoked ham and ham lunchmeat. These attributes were verified by the USDA Process Verified Program (PVP), a retailer, or the pork industry. Willi...

In this paper, we study three issues related to US consumers' attitude about food safety for imported food. First, we investigate the relationship between U.S. consumers' perception and their actual behavior when purchasing seafood, and find a conflict in that many consumers think the food country of original label (COOL) is extremely important but...

Recent efforts to develop rice cultivars with drought-tolerance (DT) traits have resulted in the release of several varieties that demonstrate significant resilience to drought stresses. This paper addresses the previously unanswered question of whether the private sector might play a future role in developing similar strains through applications o...

Product innovation generates short and long-term growth by attracting new customers while satisfying existing customers. This paper identifies factors influencing the selection of innovation projects and quantifies the tradeoffs which agribusiness managers make when selecting product innovations. A choice experiment approach is used to provide insi...

Food safety issues often arise from asymmetric information between consumers and suppliers with regards to product-specific attributes. Severe food safety scandals were observed recently in China. These events not only caused direct economic and life losses, but also created distrust in the Chinese food system domestically, as well as international...

The diet of urban Chinese consumers has changed drastically over the past twenty years, due in part to rising incomes and changing lifestyles. Food consumption has shifted away from grains and toward higher-quality calories from animal proteins and aquaculture products. Dairy demand in urban China has shown remarkable growth in the past decade, dri...

Food safety issues often arise from problems of asymmetric information between consumers and suppliers of food with regards to product-specific attributes or characteristics. Food safety concerns in China are having a drastic impact on consumer behavior, commodity markets, international trade and food security. An additional challenge to the proble...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough analysis of meat demand in China and predict future trends in meat consumption. Design/methodology/approach Expenditure as well as Marshallian and Hicksian demand elasticities of various meats in China are evaluated using the linear almost ideal demand system. Findings Results from this p...

China’s transition into a developed economy is driving changes in consumer preferences and demand for foods. The objective of this study is to assess and measure consumers’ preferences for and attitudes toward imported pork in urban China. Estimated logit models based on a consumer survey conducted in 2008 reveal that individuals’ age, shoppi...

This thesis is composed of an essay on meat demand in China and an essay on consumer preferences for imported pork in urban China. The first essay is an application of the Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS), which evaluates expenditure elasticities as well as uncompensated (Marshallian) and compensated (Hicksian) demand elastic...

China’s transition into a developed economy is driving changes in consumer preferences and demand for foods. To evaluate consumer preferences for U.S. pork in urban China, primary data were collected in two metropolitan areas- Beijing and Shanghai. Estimated logit models revealed that an individual’s age, shopping location and food safety concerns...

China (Mainland) Hong Kong Total RAC has been proven safe for human consumption in over 30 countries, and research has indicated that it has no significant effect on pork quality. The objective of this study is to assess the market potential for U.S. pork in Urban China by measuring Chinese consumers' preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP).

This paper analyzes the spatial distribution of corruption and its primary economic and political determinants. Economic freedom and development are found to lower incidences of corruption. Of notable significance, this study finds empirical evidence of a non-linear relationship between a country’s level of democracy and corruption. Extreme authori...