Browsing by Author "Palm-Forster, Leah H."

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Addressing Social Dilemmas with Mascots, Information and Graphics
    (Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2018-01) Butler, Juliana M.; Fooks, Jacob R.; Messer, Kent D.; Palm-Forster, Leah H.
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    Dare to Experiment: The Synergistic Relationship Between Undergraduate Research and Experimental Economics
    (Applied Economics Teaching Resources, 2024-09-25) Nelson-Poteet, Carl; Xie, Lusi; Messer, Kent D.; Palm-Forster, Leah H.
    Little attention has been given to the synergistic relationship that can exist between experimental economics research and undergraduate research experiences. In this article, we highlight the successes and challenges from working with more than 70 undergraduate research assistants at the University of Delaware’s Center for Experimental and Applied Economics (CEAE) since 2007. We describe our approaches for funding and engaging undergraduate students and efforts, including our layered mentorship network, to support CEAE’s mission to cultivate a diverse and inclusive research community. We present the results of a survey of CEAE’s alumni to understand how their research experiences influenced their undergraduate education and their post-graduate educational and career endeavors. Synthesizing the reflections of students and the experiences of lead researchers, we outline ten key recommendations regarding how faculty and administrators in agricultural and applied economics programs can design and implement successful undergraduate research experiences, strengthening the pipeline of researchers in our field.
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    Efficient Solutions to Traffic Congestion Externalities: More Complicated Than You Might Think
    (Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2018-08) Palm-Forster, Leah H.; Duke, Joshua M.
    Through this guided activity, students will gain a deeper understanding of congestion externalities by analyzing the welfare implications of road congestion and road tolls. Students will work in groups and report-out periodically so that the instructor can check understanding and guide learning.
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    Knowledge gaps about micronutrient deficiencies in Tanzania and the effect of information interventions
    (Global Food Security, 2024-02-02) Kilasy, Pius; McFadden, Brandon R.; Davidson, Kelly A.; Palm-Forster, Leah H.
    There were knowledge gaps about the severity of deficiencies and biofortified foods.Reducing micronutrient malnutrition (“hidden hunger”) in low-income countries is a global challenge, particularly among women, children, and high-poverty households. Countries like Tanzania have developed diverse strategies to combat malnutrition, including the biofortification of staple foods. However, broad awareness and knowledge of micronutrient deficiencies and beneficial foods are needed for these strategies to be effective. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine Tanzanian consumers' initial awareness and knowledge of deficiencies for four micronutrients and associated biofortified foods, and (ii) to examine the effectiveness of targeted communication approaches (i.e., information and branding) to improve knowledge. Data were collected from 1029 respondents in Tanzania using an online survey. Respondents were randomly assigned to treatments across two experiments in the survey. One experiment examined the effect of information about susceptibility and severity of micronutrient deficiencies and foods that reduce the risk of deficiency, and the other experiment examined the impact of ‘branding’ biofortified foods. The combination of providing information and branded biofortified crops most effectively reduced knowledge gaps about negative health outcomes and risk-reducing foods. Results suggest a need for evidence-based interventions that provide broad nutrition education and financial assistance for purchasing food. Highlights • Knowledge gaps were identified for deficiency in iron, vitamin A, and zinc. • Information interventions were used to identify knowledge gaps. • No information was provided for iodine to determine internal validity of results. • The at-risk subpopulation, women of reproductive age, were oversampled. • There were knowledge gaps about the severity of deficiencies and biofortified foods.
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    Linking Eligibility for Agricultural Subsidies to Water Quality
    (Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2017-03) Palm-Forster, Leah H.; Suter, Jordan F.; Messer, Kent D.
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    Promoting Spatial Coordination in Flood Buyouts in the United States: Four Strategies and Four Challenges from the Economics of Land Preservation Literature
    (Natural Hazards Review, 2023-02-01) Dineva, Polina K.; McGranaghan, Christina; Messer, Kent D.; Palm-Forster, Leah H.; Paul, Laura A.; Siders, A. R.
    Managed retreat in the form of voluntary flood-buyout programs provides homeowners with an alternative to repairing and rebuilding residences that have sustained severe flood damage. Buyout programs are most economically efficient when groups of neighboring properties are acquired because they can then create unfragmented flood control areas and reduce the cost of providing local services. However, buyout programs in the United States often fail to acquire such efficient, unfragmented spaces, for various reasons, including long administrative timelines, the way in which buyout offers are made, desires for community cohesion, and attachments to place. Buyout programs have relied primarily on posted price mechanisms involving offers that are accepted or rejected by homeowners with little or no negotiation. In this paper, we describe four alternative strategies that have been used successfully in land-preservation agricultural–environmental contexts to increase acceptance rates and decrease fragmentation: agglomeration bonuses, reverse auctions, target constraints, and hybrid approaches. We discuss challenges that may arise during their implementation in the buyout context—transaction costs, equity and distributional impacts, unintended consequences, and social pressure—and recommend further research into the efficiency and equity of applying these strategies to residential buyout programs with the explicit goal of promoting spatial coordination.
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    Transaction costs, competitiveness, and participation in reverse auctions: Evidence from a laboratory experiment
    (Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE., 2021-11) Li, Tongzhe; Palm-Forster, Leah H.; Bhuiyanmishu, Siddika
    Abstract Reverse auctions are designed to cost-effectively allocate agri-environmental program funds that support the adoption of best management practices. However, transaction costs and concerns about bid acceptance can limit the performance of reverse auctions, particularly for more complex working lands programs. We use a laboratory experiment to examine how various levels of transaction costs and budgets influence participation and bidding behavior in discriminatory-price reverse auctions. Consistent with economic theory, our experimental results show that transaction costs can limit auction participation and reduce program cost-effectiveness. The negative effect of transaction costs on participation is particularly amplified when the budget level is low, and therefore, the auction is more competitive. However, increased competition also places downward pressure on rent-seeking, which allows scarce program funds to support more projects. Using the results of our experiment, we design a simulation to investigate whether subsidies that offset participants’ transaction costs could increase program cost-effectiveness under various conditions. Our findings highlight the importance of considering how transaction costs and subsidizing strategies affect auction performance when implementing reverse auctions. Key words: agri-environmental policy, conservation tender, participation rate, payment for environmental services, reverse auction, transaction costs. JEL Codes: C90, D44, Q24, Q28