Specific Objectives of the Project
- Determine whether farmers self-regulate fumigants during periods of elevated ozone, relating this to the efficacy of “Spare the Air” days.
- Provided they self-regulate, determine the extent to which they do so, and whether the presence of “Spare the Air” days in a county affect their decisions.

Project Report/Summary of Results
- Although preliminary testing during the proposal stage indicated significant fumigant reductions due to elevated ozone, the effect has been identified as an artifact of existing month-dependent agricultural regulations. After controlling for months of the year, the effect becomes non-significant with magnitude zero.

In a number of markets, transportation costs shape consumer behavior, leading firms to choose price and quality based on the decisions of nearby competitors. The theoretical literature on this kind of differentiation has shown that nearly any outcome can be generated by a model built upon reasonable assumptions (see Fisher, 1991 and Sutton, 1990), yet, simultaneity in firm choices makes it empirically difficult to estimate the effect of distance on firm choices. Using exogenous variation provided by the 1998 introduction of hygiene grade cards for restaurants in Los Angeles County, I investigate how the extent of product differentiation affects quality provision when only a portion of the market is regulated. I find evidence that unregulated firms improve hygiene more when they are located near regulated competitors.