Consumer response to biotechnology, information effects and foreign direct investment in agricultural markets

The objective of this study is to examine the issues in agricultural markets including: consumer response to biotechnology, information effect on consumers and the role of FDI. This dissertation is made up of four independent, but related papers. The first paper examines Chinese consumer attitudes toward genetically modified (GM) foods. Using a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, I find that the willingness to pay for GM foods by Beijing consumers is positively affected by higher levels of self-reported knowledge and positive opinions, and negatively affected by the respondent's age. In China, consumer attitudes toward GM foods are positive, especially towards GM foods with product-enhancing attributes. GM food producers and exporters in the United States can use this information to design effective marketing strategies.; Based upon the first paper, the second paper further explores consumer preferences toward biotechnology. I examine consumer preferences using market segmentation by methods of two-stage cluster analysis. Our results suggest that the respondents can be classified into four groups on the basis of their views and tastes: knowledgeable consumers, neutral consumers, biotechnology learners and price-conscious consumers. Further, by using a contingent valuation method, I find that, each group is confident about the application of biotechnology to food and is willing to pay higher prices for GM foods with desirable characteristics.; The first two studies led me to the hypothesis that information may have some effects on consumer demand for biotech foods. The third paper investigates the U.S. market for GM-corn-fed beef and presents some empirical evidence for the biotechnology industry in the United States. The provision of information is found to have significant effects for particular groups of consumers. Environmentally conscious educated respondents who receive scientific information are willing to pay more for the food item relative to their less-environmentally conscious less-educated counterparts. Also cross validation of valuation approaches provides support for policy decisions that are based solely on results from this stated-preference data set.; The fourth paper analyzes the role of foreign direct investment in contributing to regional differences in productive efficiency in Chinese agriculture in post-reform China. I use a stochastic frontier production function model, explicitly incorporating foreign direct investment, to investigate the relative performance of the aggregate agricultural sector across 16 provinces during 1989--2000. Thus, I evaluate if foreign direct investment policies might reasonably be expected to change the competitive environment of regional agricultural sector. An index of productive efficiency was calculated for each province during 1989--2000. Average levels of efficiency are estimated to be fairly low at 78.0% with wide variations across different regions. The results indicate that high levels of foreign direct investment have a significant positive effect on technical efficiency. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...