THE SPACE BETWEEN FARM AND FORK: FACTORS DRIVING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS ACROSS THE AGRIBUSINESS VALUE CHAIN

Abstract

This dissertation examines how farmers and food entrepreneurs respond to market design, policyincentives, and place-based conditions across the agribusiness value chain. Using applied economic methods, I study decision-making in three settings: seed system adoption among sweetpotato growers, the geographic siting of shared-use kitchen infrastructure, and bidding behavior in public food procurement auctions. Together, the chapters show how institutional design and local context influence participation, choices, and performance in food and agricultural systems. Chapter 2 develops a framework for optimal seed replacement decisions in vegetatively propagatedcrops, examining how the choice of functional form in yield-decay estimation affects replacement recommendations. I combine a net present value model with a certainty-equivalent approach under constant absolute risk aversion and parameterize it using data from a coordinated sweetpotato trial across five U.S. states. Chapter 3 evaluates where shared-use kitchens locate in the United States and how distinctoperational types with varying missions emerge and vary spatially. I begin with a nationwide analysis of the county-level factors associated with shared-use kitchen presence. Then, using the Food Corridor Shared Kitchen Operator Survey, I cluster kitchens into operational types and link these types to regional factors associated with the emergence of specific types. Chapter 4 analyzes how a values-based procurement policy influences strategic bidding behavioramong vendors who do not qualify for the preference. Using auction data from New York City agencies, I evaluate a regional sourcing preference that is open to any vendor offering eligible products, examining how non-preferred bidders adjust their strategies in response. I also analyze whether the policy achieves its procurement goals and at what cost to the purchasing agency.