RETAIL-LEVEL HEDONICS AND THE VALUATION OF MILK COMPONENTS

A retail-level hedonic model for analyzing the value of milk component s contained in aggregate dairy product commodities is developed and ap plied to household food consumption survey data. The findings support Perrin's conjecture that a hedonic approach applied at the retail leve l can be used to value milk components. Milk component values are foun d to be a function of household sociodemographic variables. The sample -weighted average implicit fat value estimate was very similar to valu es published in two of three previous component value analyses in the Journal, but protein values were significantly different.