Concern for Inequity: A Deeper Look into Farmers Markets
Abstract
In 2006, there were 4,385 farmers markets in the United States with annual sales totaling more than $1 billion. Farmers Markets allow consumers to purchase locally grown produce which provides more money to local farmers because the money goes directly to the farmer and cuts out the middlemen. Previous research has found that consumers that attend farmers markets price premium for purchasing locally grown produce is higher than any of their other motivations for attending farmers markets price premiums. Recently, economists have begun to think in terms of concern for inequity to get a better understanding of people's motivation for undertaking certain activities. This paper focuses on whether concern for inequity is a reason why consumers shop at farmers markets compared to the traditional grocery store. This study reports on the results from an experiment conducted at a farmers market and a traditional grocery store in Edmond, OK. The survey consisted of four tickets that were designed to elicit a consumer's willingness-to-pay for advantageous and disadvantageous inequity for a local and non-local farmer. The results show that there is not a statistical difference in people that shop at farmers markets and grocery stores. However, people exhibit a higher concern for inequity towards local farmers than non-local farmers.
Collections
- OSU Theses [15752]