Miguel I. Gómez has a MS and a PhD in Applied Economics from the University of Illinois. He is the Robert G. Tobin Associate Professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He is Director of the Food Industry Management Program, which is globally recognized as the premier food industry education and research program.
Professor Gómez concentrates his research program on two interrelated areas under the umbrella of food marketing and distribution. The first is Food Value Chains Competitiveness and Sustainability. His work in this area involves multi-disciplinary collaborations for the development models to assess supply chain performance in multiple dimensions – economic, social and environmental. The second is Food Value Chain Negotiation. Here he combines theory and outreach methods to analyze food markets from farm to table, emphasizing key concepts such as demand response, consumer behavior, buyer-seller negotiations, market power, and retail performance. In addition, his research extends to economic development and environmental economics, examining incentives and barriers of smallholder farmer participation in food value chains and sustainability of food systems, with emphasis in Latin America. In addition, his applied research efforts aim at enhancing market opportunities fruit and vegetable products, benefiting producers, food processors/distributors and consumers worldwide.
His work has been published in top journals including Science, Management Science, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, World Development and Food Policy, among others. His research program has been funded with over 100 research grants, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has won several prestigious teaching and research awards, Including the Rising Star Faculty Award of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. He has consulted for multilateral development institutions such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the Interamerican Development Bank.
