Showing papers by "Gregory Colson published in 2019"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether and how forest property characteristics are related to family forest owners' preferences towards PES programs and found that forest owners in southeast Georgia with planted pine forests, bottomland hardwood forests, or residential structures are more likely to participate in hypothetical PES program.
18 citations
TL;DR: Evidence of heterogeneous impacts of NuVal is found across consumers and foods, and specific foods and consumer segments are influenced by simplified shelf nutrition information and further research is necessary to better understand its effect on consumer dietary quality.
Abstract: Point-of-sale nutrition information has been adopted by numerous grocery stores to respond to the demand for easy-to-understand nutrition labeling by consumers. Although there is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of providing nutrition information, previous research indicates simplified shelf nutrition labels may lead to healthier choices. However, these studies have not examined how different consumer segments respond to these labels, nor the differential impacts across foods. Using household purchase data from a store that voluntarily adopted the (now defunct) NuVal shelf nutrition labels (a 1-100 numeric score derived from a nutrition-profiling algorithm), we assess NuVal impacts across different consumers and foods. NuVal scores potentially influence not only purchase quantity but also likelihood of buying. Thus, the effect of NuVal was measured by estimating a two-part model and predicting consumers' unconditional purchase responses. We found evidence of heterogeneous impacts of NuVal across consumers and foods. High-income households and households with children shifted their yogurt and frozen dinner purchases to more healthful items. In contrast, households with children and households headed by heads with college education slightly shifted their canned soup purchases to less healthful options. Our findings suggest that specific foods and consumer segments are influenced by simplified shelf nutrition information and further research is necessary to better understand its effect on consumer dietary quality.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored preferences for PES and the impact of PES on decision-making in the mixed-use Bellbird Biological Corridor of Costa Rica, and found that a significant share of farmers in the study area are resistant to the PES program irrespective of competitive payments offered.
Abstract: Payments for environmental services (PES) are part of a suite of market-based conservation mechanisms that have gained international attention for their potential to produce ecosystem services across private landholdings. The Costa Rican government, a PES pioneer, provides landowners with remuneration for conserving forest cover on their properties. The efficiency and effectiveness of PES programs have been critiqued, because little is understood about the ability of payments to alter landowner behavior. Unique to the existent literature, we combine data from semi-structured interviews with an economic nonmarket valuation technique, the stated choice experiment, to explore preferences for PES and the impact of PES on decision making in the mixed-use Bellbird Biological Corridor of Costa Rica. The choice experiment reveals farmer preferences for PES, while interviews provide context for the choice experiment results and illuminate the implications for policy. Results show that farmer objections to PES design and program implementation influence willingness to accept payments for conservation efforts. Results further indicate that a significant share of farmers in the study area are resistant to the PES program irrespective of competitive payments offered. We suggest that this overall resistance to the program is a key driver of program inefficiency. We further suggest that potential program improvements require better engagement with multifaceted landowner values, and that PES may not constitute an effective mechanism for engaging small-scale farmers in conservation.
9 citations
7 citations