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Pesticide residues and vertical integration in Florida strawberries and tomatoes
Author(s) -
Kilmer Richard L.,
Andre Anouk M.,
Stevens Thomas J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
agribusiness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1520-6297
pISSN - 0742-4477
DOI - 10.1002/agr.1012
Subject(s) - pesticide residue , pesticide , fungicide , agricultural science , food safety , government (linguistics) , business , agricultural economics , environmental science , toxicology , economics , agronomy , food science , chemistry , biology , linguistics , philosophy
Government regulations and consumer concern about pesticide residues in food may increase the costs of production and marketing for producers and processors associated with food safety risks. Vertical coordination is an economic response for mitigating the costs associated with uncertain pesticide residue levels. Data from a survey of Florida strawberry and tomato growers were used to test the hypothesis that vertical integration is associated with a lower mean and variance of pesticide residues. The results confirm a significant negative relationship between vertical integration and fungicide and insecticide residues in Florida strawberries and insecticides in Florida tomatoes. However, fungicides in tomatoes had the opposite effect. [Econ‐Lit citations: L220, L660] © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.