Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE ON KEY BID-PRICE DIFFERENCES
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Imple
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We.irst.examine.simple.bid-price.differences.for.consumer.willingness.to.pay.for.
food.items.labeled.as.being.genetically.modiied.versus.having.a.plain/conventional.
food.label,.specifying.only.the.type.and.weight.of.the.food..The.2001.Des.Moines.
and.St..Paul.data.showed.that.bidders.discounted.the.GM-labeled.product.by.about.
15%.relative.to.its.plain-labeled.counterpart.*
Turning. to. the. 2007. Des. Moines. and. Harrisburg. samples,. bidders. were,. on.
average,. willing. to. pay. a.sizeable. premium. for. food. products. containing. the.label.
“Enhanced.Levels.of.Antioxidants.and.Vitamin.C—Intragenic.GM.Product”.relative.
to.a.plain/conventionally.labeled.food.product..The.premium.ranged.from.39.to.45.
cents.per.unit.on.the.three.food.products,.or.19%-26%.higher..The.mean.price.for.
each.of.the.three.commodities—broccoli,.tomatoes,.and.potatoes—with.enhanced.
attributes. relative. to. products. with. a. plain/conventional. label,. was. different. from.
zero.at.the.5%.signiicance.level.
†
.Hence,.when.consumers.bid.on.GM.products.con-
taining.input.traits,.the.GM.product.was.
weakly inferior
.to.the.plain/conventionally.
labeled.product..However,.when.consumers.bid.on.fresh.intragenic.GM.horticultural.
products.containing.enhanced.levels.of.antioxidants.and.vitamin.C,.they.were.will-
ing. to. pay. a. premium. and,. hence,. the. intragenic. products. were. economically. and.
statistically.superior.to.a.plain/conventionally.labeled.product.
‡
.These.results.imply.
a.dramatic.difference.in.the.incentives.for.private.industry.to.label.new.GM.products.
with.enhanced.consumer.attributes.relative.to.those.derived.from.raw.materials.that.
contain.input.traits.
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IverSe
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nformatIon
37
When.bidders.received.both.pro-biotech.and.anti-biotech.information,.the.bid.price.
difference. was. reduced,. relecting. the. opposing. forces. of. the. two. types. of. infor-
mation.in.this.information.treatment..Moreover,.this.information.treatment.did.not.
have.a.statistically.signiicant.effect.on.bid.price.differences..From.these.results,.we.
conclude.that.in.those.sessions.where.bidders.received.only.anti-biotech.or.both.pro-
biotech.and.anti-biotech.information,.they.bid.differently.than.when.they.received.
only.pro-biotech.information.
When.bidders.were.in.sessions.that.received.the.pro-biotech.and.veriiable.infor-
mation. treatment,. the. impact. of. this. combination. was. not. statistically. signiicant..
*
.
All.three.differences.are.signiicantly.negative.at.better.than.the.0.07.signiicance.level.
†.
The.mean.bid.prices.where.the.biotech.method.was.switched.from.intragenic.to.transgenic,.but.other-
wise.containing.enhanced.consumer.attributes,.were.larger.than.for.the.plain.label.but.14%-22%.lower.
than.for.the.intragenic.label.
‡.
We.have.not.undertaken.sensory.tests.to.determine.whether.consumers.can.perceive.any.differences.
in.the.conventional.product.relative.to.one.with.intragenic.enhanced.consumer.attributes..Given.that.
no.“foreign”.DNA.nor.antibiotic.marker.is.present.in.the.intragenic.product,.my.hypothesis.is.that.no.
perceived.sensory.differences.exist..Moreover,.Zhao.et.al..found.no.difference.in.a.sensory.analysis.of.
conventional.and.organically.grown.fruits.and.vegetables,.except.that.conventionally.grown.tomatoes.
scored.slightly.higher.for.ripeness,.which.is.positively.correlated.with.lavor.intensity.
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