Evaluating the Economic Impact of Farmers' Markets Using Geographical Information Systems: An Application of Difference-in-Differences Estimation and Spatial Econometrics

Spatial Competition among Farmers' Markets

“…It is determined that 3 sq. km can be one of the reference points as Nakajima et al (2011) also regards 1.5 km as a reference point. The number of meshes in this instance is smaller than the number of hamlets, but larger than the number of cities, towns, and villages.…”

“…In addition, a study conducted 17) For the estimation, data analysis environment R (R Core Team, 2014) is used. The package and the function used to create the spatial-weighting matrix are the same as those used by Nakajima et al (2011). In estimating the SAR Probit model, function sarprobit ( ), the function of the spatial probit (Wilhelm and Godinho, 2013) package is used.…”

“…The network externalities possessed by farmers' markets are such that an increase in the number of buyers and sellers would enhance the utility of the farmers' market as a platform for both sides. 5) As revealed by an evaluation conducted by Nakajima et al (2011) regarding the economic impact of farmers' markets in Japan on regional agriculture, 6) the potentiality for the vitalization of agriculture centering around farmers' markets specifically points to externalities. Thus, an analysis of externalities is required since the location choice for a certain farmers' market, for instance, would influence that for others.…”

“…Thus, the utility of using farmers' markets will increase for both sides. 6) Nakajima et al (2011) demonstrated that 1) farmers' markets contribute to an increase in the ratio of producers of outdoorgrown vegetables in the community and 2) that the influence of farmers' markets declines as the distance increases; they have influence within about a 6 km radius. Regarding their impact on regional agriculture, Nakajima stated that they provided a venue to sell local agricultural produce, thereby supporting the production of outdoor-grown vegetables and making certain contributions to the growth of farmers' income.…”