http://hdl.handle.net/10468/400 Wed, 22 May 2013 21:45:00 GMT 2013-05-22T21:45:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/979 Nigeria's Seven-Point agenda and the financial crisis: Implications for growth and development Onakuse, Stephen Using empirical data, this paper argues that achieving the 'Seven-Point Agenda' would be nearly impossible taking into consideration the current global economic crisis, Nigeria's looming budget deficits and the volatility of international oil prices. The paper suggests that there is always the risk of failure to Nigeria's reform programs given the country's unending political corruption - a problem that cannot be expected to improve given the high levels of uncertainty that have been brought on by the global economic crisis, budget deficits, inflation and the volatility of both the stock market and international oil prices. The paper argues that the sometimes wild inconsistency of government policies hampers the success of reform programs and that, if anything, the only consistency in Nigerian governance seems to be corruption. Accordingly, today, amidst structural corruption, poor budgetary controls, and other challenges to policy implementation, reform programs are often viewed as a thing of the past. For the Seven-Point Agenda to succeed, it is therefore imperative that the corrupt political machinations and the lack of budgetary discipline be thoroughly considered and openly discussed by all stakeholders involved in the process. This is particularly true given the aforementioned economic challenges with which Nigeria is now faced. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/979 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/434 Government support for the development of regional food clusters: evidence from Alberta, Canada Steiner, Bodo E.; Ali, Jolene This paper analyses government support for networking and regional cluster growth in the food sector. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first paper to provide a literature review of studies on regional food clusters, focusing on key features that characterise successful regional food clusters. The review compares key characteristics of such clusters with characteristics of clusters from other industrial sectors. The insights from these studies on clustering success and the role of government are contrasted with empirical evidence on government support for clustering in the Canadian food sector, specifically in the province of Alberta. The empirical evidence is based on two small industry surveys, one conducted in March 2005, and the second in August 2009. Considering this empirical evidence, we have little support for an emerging food (innovation) cluster in Alberta, and little evidence for effective government support toward food cluster development in Alberta. Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/434 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/420 How do U.S. and Canadian consumers value credence attributes associated with beef labels after the North American BSE crisis of 2003? Steiner, Bodo E.; Yang, Jun A consumer survey conducted in 2006 (n = 419), and therefore after the first confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) cases in North America in 2003, employs attribute-based choice experiments for a cross-country comparison of consumers' valuation of credence attributes associated with beef steak labels; specifically a guarantee that beef was tested for BSE, a guarantee that the steaks were produced without genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a guarantee that beef steaks were produced without growth hormones and antibiotics. Considering consumers' socio-economic characteristics, the results suggest that consumers in Montana (U.S.) and Alberta (Canada) are significantly heterogeneous in their valuation of the above attributes, although consumers' relative valuation of these process attributes does not appear to have changed since the 2003 BSE crisis in each region. Alberta consumers place a significant valuation on beef tested for BSE, which is striking because Canada's current legal environment does not permit testing and labelling of such beef by private industry participants. Montana consumers' valuation was found highest for a guarantee that the steaks were produced without GMO. Effective supply-chain responses to consumers' valuation of credence attributes, for example, in the form of labelling, should therefore take consumers' heterogeneity into account. Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/420 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10468/421 Alberta consumers' valuation of extrinsic and intrinsic red meat attributes: A choice experimental approach Steiner, Bodo E.; Gao, Fei; Unterschultz, Jim This paper analyzes Alberta consumers' perceptions toward extrinsic and intrinsic attributes of bison and beef steaks. In contrast to published Canadian consumer studies on bison meat that were undertaken prior to May 2003, before the first BSE case of Canadian origin was identified in beef cattle, this study provides a post-BSE assessment of consumer perceptions toward selected bison meat attributes. The results from an attribute-based choice experiment provide little support that simple traceability assurance schemes have value to consumers of bison and beef steaks, thus confirming similar findings of earlier beef studies that have employed different methodological approaches. The results also suggest that consumers are willing to pay significant premiums for bison steaks that are certified as being produced without genetically modified organisms, an attribute that has so far been unexplored in previous published bison studies. Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10468/421 2010-06-01T00:00:00Z