United States agriculture is continuing to shift toward organic production techniques to align with consumer demand, yet organic products make up an insignificant portion of the food market. This disparity has been examined via consumer willingness to pay for organic products and research on the costs and benefits of organic operations; however, little has been investigated about a potential transitional organic market. In shifting from conventional to organic agriculture there is a substantial transition phase of at least three years, during which producers cannot label their products as USDA organic. This research therefore examines consumer willingness to pay for transitional organic produce based on a Lane County representative adult population (n = 200). Results of the conjoint choice stated preference survey suggest that there exists a viable market for transitional organic products, revealing systematic heterogeneity in preferences for produce labeled as transitional USDA organic.

Thesis was carried out to make an estimation of the willingness of consumers to buy the clothes produced under eco-friendly and decent way. Neoclassic demand theory was used and basic idea was to know that either moral effects on a consumer’s individual decision while choosing the products manufactured under friendly environment or not; if yes, then how and how much. Survey method along with choice experiment analysis was used to collect the data. Selected area was Boras Sweden and 50 respondents were considered for the survey. To estimate the degree of willingness of a consumer to pay for a Swan labeled and/or Fairtrade labeled jeans, choice experiments was used. Afterwards, the collected data was used within econometric models. It has been observed from results that consumers were more willing to pay for a Swan labeled and/or Fairtrade labeled jeans than non-labeled jeans. The responsible individuals regarding environment were much more willing to pay for Fairtrade and/or Swan labeled clothes, considering the factor that production does not affect the environment in negative way and it was done under socially acceptable conditions. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Fashion Management

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the beliefs of trainee teachers regarding generating English language learners' Willingness to Communicate (WTC), the relationship between their beliefs and practice and the influence of teaching practicum to their beliefs. This study took place in the Indonesian context in which EFL trainee teachers' belief-practice relationships regarding learners' WTC is still an understudied domain. Thus, this study was designed to fill this gap in current research. Three Indonesian EFL trainee teachers participated in this study during their teaching practicum. The study is within an Interpretive paradigm and utilizes a case study approach. Methods of data collection included classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that trainee teachers' learning experience significantly influenced their beliefs and governed their teaching. Some of the trainee teachers' beliefs were clearly manifested in their actual teaching (e.g. using explicit approaches particularly in teaching grammar). Other beliefs (e.g. creating interactive classroom activities) were not demonstrated. Several intrinsic factors such as trainee teachers' English proficiency level and confidence, and extrinsic factors such as large class size and students' responses were found to affect the relationship between trainee teachers' beliefs and practice. Most of their beliefs (e.g. learners' language knowledge as the key factor to communicate in English) remained unchanged after the practicum. Other beliefs, such as the need to use English and BI proportionally were not enacted in their teaching practice during the classroom observations. This study provides important implications for initial English language teacher education programmes, teacher professional development and for the field of teacher cognition and WTC.

O presente trabalho analisa a implantação de uma metodologia de cobrança pelo uso da água no qual os aspectos econômicos e ambientais são considerados como variáveis fundamentais na determinação do valor a ser cobrado. Evidencia formas de mensurar a capacidade de pagamento dos usuários de água, a fim de confrontar este dado com os valores da cobrança. Os resultados apontam que dependendo do grau de saturação do corpo d\'água, mesmo com capacidade de pagamento positiva, alguns setores teriam dificuldades de honrar com o pagamento de cobrança, o que evidencia a importância de um processo de gestão que considere o binômio localização - tipologia no processo de tomada de decisão quanto à implantação de atividades econômicas. Outro aspecto interessante se refere a elasticidade preço da demanda. Dependendo das condições de elasticidade uma unidade de produção, mesmo com situação financeira precária, estaria em condições de honrar com o pagamento da cobrança. / This study analyses the introduction of a method for levied on the use of water in which economic and environmental aspect, are considered as basic variables in the determination of the amount to be charged. It presents various ways for measuring the willingness of the users to pay for water in order to compare it to the the charges levied. The willingness to pay is an important mechanism for obtaining information about the economic impact of the policy of levying taxes. The results show that, depending upon the saturation degree of the water bodies, some sectors would have difficulty in paying the charges even when they show positive willingness to pay. It shows the importance of a management policy that considers the duality site-type in the decision-making process as regards the implantation of economic activities. Elasticity in demand prices is another important factor in this process. Depending upon the conditions of elasticity, a production unit would be able to honor its tax liabilities despit its delicate financial situation.

Background: As rural hospitals in Kentucky face insolvency, stakeholders must assess the value of rural hospitals as well as alternatives such as rural clinics and private physician offices. Objective: To identify the value of attributes of healthcare facilities based on Kentucky’s rural residents’ willingness-to-pay (WTP). Methods: A survey instrument was created and distributed to ten counties in rural Kentucky. A conditional logit model was used to obtain baseline values and then a mixed logit model was used to address heterogeneity among consumers in estimating WTP. WTP values incorporated respondents’ demographic characteristics and their health status from self-reported frequency of use of medical services and distance from these services. Results: The results indicate that on average respondents were willing to pay $69.90 each year for the attribute of a facility that treats patients whether they have health insurance or not, compared to a facility that only accepts patients with private health insurance. Uninsured residents were willing to pay $81.15 for this attribute level. Conclusion: The study suggests that uninsured residents value this attribute level of a facility that grants them access to care. Stakeholders may justify such welfare benefit amounts in support of the establishment or maintenance of such a facility.

This meta-analysis focuses on the willingness to work aspect of the RAW model of employability of Hogan et al. (2009), in relationship to career success. Willingness to work (W) can be defined as favorably disposed to work hard and take initiative at one’s job. The variables I used to structure the W are proactive personality, conscientiousness, work ethic, job involvement, adaptability, and ambition. I used the Hunter and Schmidt method to analyze the data applying a random effects model. All calculations were conducted in Excel. The overall sample consisted of 100 effect sizes (r) derived from 41 studies. The total sample size was 45,652. The individuals in these samples were from a wide range of backgrounds that included diverse samples of age, culture, and occupations. The results indicated a small to medium effect size for all variables. This outcome supports my hypotheses, concluding that willingness to work correlates with both objective and subjective career success. Because of small sample sizes (i.e., relatively few studies with usable moderator data), a moderator analysis was not conducted. Once sufficient studies have been published in this domain, future researchers could look into the possibility of moderators.

Part of the seemingly magical nature of study abroad programs is the imagined community of target language speakers that learners will be able to speak to and connect with, and whose culture they will be invited to join. Far too often, however, study abroad sojourners struggle to actually communicate in the second language (L2), therefore hindering their opportunities to connect with native speakers of the language. This phenomenon is especially salient in short-term study abroad programs where students may have little time for meaningful engagement in the complex activities of social, cultural, and linguistic acclimation. These difficulties are magnified when the increasingly popular short-term study abroad program is a "sheltered" or "island" program (Allen, 2010), in which students take classes designed by faculty at their home institution with peers with whom they share a first language. In response to this situation, this dissertation critically examines the willingness to communicate construct (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, & Noels, 1998) in the context of a short-term study abroad program in Valladolid, Spain with the goal of understanding why some students eagerly engage with the second language and culture, others do to a lesser degree, and some virtually not at all. This investigation employs a multiple case study approach utilizing ethnographic data collection methods and a sociocultural lens to analyze the construct of willingness to communicate. Data sources include interviews, journals, language contact reports, observations, proficiency assessments, and audio recordings from group activities designed to increase learners' willingness to communicate. Recursive, qualitative analysis of the experiences of three students suggests that experiences, goals, and motivations vary widely across students, and across time, even in just five weeks. Furthermore, analysis suggests that willingness to communicate in a study abroad context does not always align with previous research examining the construct in other settings. Pedagogical and implications for future study abroad program design to foster connections and communication in the target language are also explored.

This dissertation aims to address issues related to supply and demand of organic wheat either as a commodity or contained in the final consumer products. Objectives for the first essay are to evaluate organic wheat price and premium risk, how it affects the profitability of organic wheat production, and examine whether hedging and forecasting can be used to manage the organic wheat price risk. A side objective is to apply and evaluate several data imputation methods to recover missing organic wheat price observations. Objectives for the second essay are to identify “very likely,” “likely,” and “unlikely” consumers of organic wheat products, examine the differences across the consumer groups to understand which sociodemographic characteristics and other factors drive demand for organic wheat products, and which product characteristics and labels are important to consumers. Objectives for the third essay are to obtain willingness to pay values for organic label alone, examine whether combining organic label with other labels (non-GMO, gluten-free, sugar-free or low-carb) is beneficial for consumers, and evaluate whether knowledge and familiarity with organic, wheat or gluten intolerance or avoidance, and other sociodemographic characteristics affect how consumers value the organic label alone and in combination with other labels. The analyses in the second and third essay are performed using two wheat product categories (bread and cookies) to examine how findings differ across different product categories. This dissertation provides several societal benefits. The findings provide insights that may play an important role in supporting growth of the organic wheat production through reduction of uncertainty associated with wheat commodity prices and final consumer demand. Understanding the dynamics of organic wheat prices, how they can affect profitability of organic wheat production and what can be done to reduce the uncertainty is critical to organic wheat growers and food manufacturers when they make production decisions. The findings in the second and third essay will assist food manufacturers and marketers as they develop new products and marketing strategies and make labelling decisions. The findings in this dissertation may allow them to match consumers’ needs better, and thus use the limited organic wheat supply more efficiently.

This study aims to examine the effects of animosity on consumers’ willingness to buy hybrid products (i.e. products that involve affiliations of two or more countries - such as branded in Japan but made in China). While consumers’ reluctance to purchase foreign products from countries that they have animosity towards is clearly evident in the current literature, little is known about consumers’ attitudes towards hybrid products. As such, the study introduces this new construct (i.e. willingness to buy hybrid products) to the animosity model to determine if animositic consumers would be more receptive or willing to accept hybrid products where the animositic tendencies towards foreign countries in question can be negated by the products’ domestic affiliations. To conduct this investigation, the study is undertaken in China where the Chinese consumers’ animosity towards the Japanese was examined. The data with a usable sample size of 435 were collected in the Chinese city of Nanjing. The findings of the study revealed that the high level of animosity present against the Japanese resulted in the Chinese consumers’ unwillingness to buy Japanese products. More importantly, results showed that the Chinese consumers are not any more receptive to hybrid products as such domestic affiliations have not diluted the animosity. Consistent with the literature, the study has also validated that consumer animosity to be a higher-order construct indicated by war and economic animosity. Under the conditions of extreme animosity, consumer ethnocentrism does not take a significant role in influencing other constructs in the animosity model.

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