Esmaeili notes that first generation bioethanol is produced from food-based biomass which has raised social issues such as controversy of diverting production from food to fuel. His study examines the use of monetary incentives to promote second-generation bioethanol which is produced from non-edible biomass feedstocks. This incentive policy would be offered to existing bioethanol producers only if they change their production from edible to non-edible biomass feedstocks. To analyze the impacts of incentives, Esmaeili compared the supply chains of first-generation and second-generation bioethanol production. Additional authors on the paper were Joseph Szmerekovsky, chair of NDSU's Department of Transportation, Logistics and Finance, and Ahmad Sobhani, assistant professor of management information systems at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

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