Nathalie Lavoie

Industrial Organization

Faculty
Nathalie Lavoie
Contact
Email
Email
Location
220A Stockbridge Hall, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003

My interests revolve around product differentiation and strategic behavior in agri-food industries. My research agenda involves examining various aspects of two important trends in agri-food industries as they relate to market structure and performance: 1) the increase in concentration at various stages of the food industry, 2) the growing consumer demand for quality, variety, sustainability, health, and convenience in food products. The demand for more differentiated products has interesting economic ramifications because product differentiation is one source of firms’ market power. In other words, as products become more differentiated, firms obtain the ability to capture economic profit at the expense of consumers. Examples of my recent research interests include the market performance impact of firms’ strategic reactions to food policy, such as country-of-origin labeling, food labels and restaurant calorie labeling rule, and to consumers’ perception of product quality, such as in fad diets.

Recent Publications

  • Bauner, C. and N. Lavoie, 2023. "Competing with Fad Products: Erroneous Health Beliefs and Market Outcomes." European Review of Agricultural Economics, https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbad012.
  • Bauner, C. and N. Lavoie, 2022. "The Costs of Eating Gluten-Free." Applied Economics Letters. DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2022.2139799.
  • Bauner, C., N. Lavoie, and C. Rojas, 2016. "Effects of Technological Progress on Vertical Product Differentiation and Welfare.” European Review of Agricultural Economics, 1-31, DOI: 1010.1093/erae/jbw012
  • Grolleau, G., L. Ibanez, and N. Lavoie, 2016. “Cause-related Marketing of Products with a Negative Externality.” Journal of Business Research, 69(10):4321-4330. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.006
  • Joseph, S., N. Lavoie, and J.A. Caswell, 2014. “Implementing COOL: Comparative Welfare Effects of Different Labeling Schemes.” Food Policy, 44: 14-25..
  • C. Rojas, N. Lavoie and S. Wang, 2012. “Buyer Market Power and Vertically Differentiated Retailers.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization, 10 (1). DOI: 10.1515/1542-0485.1338
  • McEvoy, D.M., S. Brandt, N. Lavoie, and S. Anders, 2009. “The Effects of ITQ Management on Fishermen’s Welfare When the Processing Sector is Imperfectly Competitive.” Land Economics, 85(3): 470-484. (Note: Second authorship is shared equally between Brandt and Lavoie.)
  • Volpe III, R.J. and N. Lavoie, 2008. “The Impact of Wal-Mart Supercenters on Grocery Prices in New England.” Review of Agricultural Economics, 30(1): 4-26.
  • Lavoie, N. and Q. Liu, 2007. “Pricing-to-Market: Price Discrimination or Product Differentiation?”American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 89(3):571-581.
  • Lavoie, N., 2005. “Price Discrimination in the Context of Vertical Differentiation: An Application to Canadian Wheat Exports.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 87(4):835-854.
  • Lavoie, N., 2005. “Price Behavior in a Dynamic Oligopsony: Washington Processing Potatoes – A Comment.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 87(3): 796-801.
  • Sexton, R.J. and N. Lavoie, 2001. “Food Processing and Distribution: An Industrial Organization Approach,” in: Gardner, B. and G.C. Rausser, eds. Handbook of Agricultural Economics, North-Holland, Amsterdam, p. 863-932.
  • Chalfant, J.A., J.S. James, N. Lavoie, and R.J. Sexton, 2000. “Grading Error Reduces Grower Incentives to Increase Prune Quality.” California Agriculture, 54(6):66-71.
  • Chalfant, J.A., J.S. James, N. Lavoie, and R.J. Sexton, 1999. “Asymmetric Grading Error and Adverse Selection: Lemons in the California Prune Industry.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 24(1):57-79.
  • Giannakas, K., R. Gray, and N. Lavoie, 1999. “The Impact of Protein Increments on Blending Revenues in the Canadian Wheat Industry.” International Advances in Economics Research, 5(1):121-136.
  • Lavoie, N., 1994. “The Impact of the U.S. Export Enhancement Program on the Exports of Canadian Durum to the U.S.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 76(5):1280-1287.

Recent Activities

In the undergraduate program, I teach Introduction to Resource Economics (RESEC 102), an introductory course in microeconomics. I also teach Industrial Organization in Resource Economics (RESEC 452) and its honors’ section. This is a senior level course where we examine markets; their structure, the strategies used by firms involved in the markets, and the overall economic performance of markets. I have taught in the past the intermediate level course in microeconomics. In the graduate program, I have taught Industrial Organization I in Resource Economics (RESEC 732) and team-taught Industrial Organization II in Resource Economics (RESEC 797M).