We study the literature on willingness to pay (WTP) for local food by applying meta-regression analysis to a set of 35 eligible research papers that provide 86 estimates on consumers’ WTP for the attribute “local.” An analysis of the distribution of WTP measures suggests the presence of publication selection bias that favors larger and statistically significant results. The analyzed literature provides evidence for statistically significant differences among consumers’ WTP for various types of product. Moreover, we find that the methodological approach (choice experiments vs. other approaches) and the analyzed country can have a significant influence on the generated WTP for local.

The present article is the first that analyses profit persistence in the European food industry. Based on the Arellano and Bond GMM estimator, the degree of profit persistence and the drivers of persistence are quantified for a large sample of food processing firms. The analysis reveals that the degree of profit persistence in the food industry is lower compared with other manufacturing sectors due to strong competition among food processors and high retailer concentration. Furthermore, firm size is an important driver of persistence, while firm age, risk and R&D intensity have a negative influence.