Browsing by Subject "panel data"
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Item A Retrospective and Prospective Analysis of the Demand for Cheese Varieties in the United States(2012-07-16) Bouhlal, YasserThe United States cheese consumption has grown considerably over the years. Using Nielsen Homescan panel data for calendar years 2005 and 2006, this dissertation examines the effect of economic and socio-demographic factors on the demand for disaggregated cheese varieties and on the cheese industry in general. In the first essay, we estimated the censored demand for 14 cheese varieties and identified the respective own-price and cross-price elasticities. Also, non-price factors were determined affecting the purchase of each variety as well as the impact of generic dairy advertising. Results revealed that most of the natural cheese varieties have an elastic demand while the processed cheese products exhibited inelastic demands. Strong substitution and complementarity relationships were identified as well, and a two quarter carry-over effect of advertising was observed for most of cheese demands. Results also showed that household demographics affected the demands differently, depending on the nature of the cheese varieties. The second essay examined the impact of retail promotion on the decision to purchase private label processed cheese products using a probit model. A strong negative relationship was found between national brand manufacturer couponing activity and the private label purchase decision. Therefore, national brand couponing appears to be an effective strategy for manufacturers to deter private label growth. This analysis also shows that the decision of purchasing a private label cheese product is influenced by socio-demographic characteristics of the household, namely household income and size, age and education level of the household head, race, ethnicity, and location. In the third study, the feasibility of fortifying processed cheese with omega-3 is investigated. This ex-ante analysis took into account the market conditions and evaluates the increase in the demand for processed cheese needed to offset the costs of fortification in order to maintain the profitability of manufacturers like Kraft. Initially, the censored demand for processed cheese products is estimated using panel data; subsequently, the profitability of manufacturing such product is determined.This analysis shows that, within reasonable market conditions and reasonable marginal costs, the fortification of processed cheese products with omega-3 fatty acids indeed is feasible from a profitability standpoint to manufacturers.Item Essays on Applied Economics and Econometrics: Decadal Climate Variability Impacts on Cropping and Sugar-sweetened Beverage Demand of Low-income(2014-12-10) Jithitikulchai, TheepakornThis dissertation examines the economic impacts of ocean-related climate variability on U.S. crops and the effect sweetened beverage taxes would have on beverage consumption among low income food assistance program participants. The first essay estimates the effect of decadal climate variability (DCV) on crop yield, output, and revenue distribution moments controlling for temporal and spatial heterogeneity. The second essay estimates a demand system for beverages and the consumption effects of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). The DCV analysis endeavors to advance the literature by econometrically estimating the impacts of these climate phenomena on crops. The estimation is done developing an empirical model that combines the direct and indirect effects of DCV. The direct DCV effects are estimated with skew-normal regression, allowing effects on skewness. The indirect DCV effects on crops are passed through regional hydro-meteorological variables such as temperature, precipitation, drought, and rainfall intensity. This study provides evidence that DCV phase combinations are related to the regional changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme events and that this alters crop yields, output, and revenue across the United States. In turn adaptations are examined and we find DCV information could help farmers profitably alter crop mixes. For the sugar-sweetened beverage investigation this study examines the demand elasticities of beverage purchases among low-income households participating in federal food assistance programs. Using scanner data from a New England supermarket chain with 3.8 million product-level purchases by over 47,000 households, we aggregate them by store level and month. We estimate a demand system model for eleven non-alcoholic beverages for different payment types. Our results suggest that an excise tax would be an effective means to reduce SSB consumption and increase healthier beverage purchases among low-income households.Item Impact of retailer's promotional activities on customer traffic(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Tasic, IvanThe usual theoretical assumption that the retailer's promotional activities serve the purpose of attracting customers into stores lacks empirical verification. The relationship between promotional activity and customer count is examined empirically in just a few studies, and no significantly positive association is found. This dissertation is a comprehensive empirical study of a unique time series cross section dataset, which contains scanner data representing 28 product categories in a large supermarket chain over two and a half year long period. The main result of this dissertation is that retailer's promotional activities are positively related to customer count. Two constructed measures of the promotional activity have a positive significant effect on store traffic that is comparable with the customer count effect of an average holiday. Some 55 percent of the positive long-run promotional activity effect is felt immediately, and the remaining 45 percent is spread over a five week long period. The promotions have prolonged effects that last until the next promotional peak -???????? the next holiday. It is also found that promotional discounts have positive and significant effect on store profit.Item Panel Data Econometric Models: Theory and Application(2013-05-20) Gao, YichenThis dissertation contains two essays studying panel data econometric models. First, we consider the problem of estimating a nonparametric panel data models with fixed effects. We propose using the profile least squares method to concentrate out the fixed effects and then estimate the unknown function by the kernel method. We show that our proposed estimator is consistent and has an asymptotically normal distribution. Monte Carlo simulations show that our proposed estimator performs well compared with several existing estimators. Second, we study the effects of Hong Kong?s fixed exchange rate against U.S. dollar using a novel panel data method. After the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, many of the Asia countries adopted flexible exchange rate policies while Hong Kong still keeps its fixed exchange rate. By comparing Hong Kong versus its major trading partners, we show that if, like other Asian countries, Hong Kong had adopted a float exchange rate policy in October 1998, Hong Kong?s (counterfactual) total value of exports would increase by 14.65 %. Similarly, Hong Kong?s total value of imports would increase about 31%. We conclude that Hong Kong dollar is overvalued by 9.34% due to its fixed exchange rate policy.