bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Scheme to Determine Tax Rates Fairly and Quantitatively
Authors: Zhou Qihou
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This article discusses a scheme to quantitatively determine a personal income tax rate structure based on the principle of democratic voting. Previous attempts to apply the majority voting rule largely call for voting on predetermined tax positions. In the approach presented here, each taxpayer proposes an egocentric rate system encompassing his or her own obligation as well as all other taxpayers' under generally accepted constraints. The egocentric rate systems proposed by all taxpayers are weight‐averaged to determine the actual tax obligation for all taxpayers. The weights used for the average are in general proportional to the tax contribution. The rate structure can be quantitatively determined from solving simultaneous equations if the weights are predetermined. Although there are an infinite number of choices for the weights, it is argued that the “fair” manner of averaging ranges from equal representation by all taxpayers to equal representation by all tax contributions. An appropriate rate structure should be a linear combination of the tax rates derived from the two limiting scenarios. Alternative egocentric voting schemes under equal representation by all taxpayers are also discussed. While these alternative schemes are politically more acceptable, measures need to be taken to counterbalance the confiscating nature desired by the majority of the voters. Such measures may marginalize the democratic voting process and produce rate structures less progressive than those assuming equal representation of tax contributions. Although the method discussed here allows flexibility on the marginal rate progressivity, it sets the high limit that the lowest and highest income classes ought to pay.
Dominant Party Strategy and Democratization
Authors: Greene Kenneth F.
Published: August 2010

How do incumbent parties strategize against challengers when a new partisan cleavage cuts across the incumbent's electoral coalition? This article argues that a two‐dimensional extension of Riker's anticoordination thesis conflicts with Downsian extensions. It shows that when voters coordinate on a single challenger based on their shared preference on a cross‐cutting cleavage, a vote‐maximizing incumbent party should move away from the challenger on the primary dimension of competition, even at the risk of abandoning the center. The article develops this hypothesis with reference to dominant parties in competitive authoritarian regimes where challenger parties constantly attempt “heresthetical” moves by mobilizing regime issues into the partisan debate, and it tests the predictions with an original sample survey of national leaders of Mexico's Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI). It also spells out the implications of the findings for dominant party survivability in democratic transitions and, more broadly, for incumbents' spatial strategies in the face of new partisan cleavages.
Manipulating Electoral Rules to Manufacture Single‐Party Dominance
Authors: McElwain Kenneth Mori
Published: August 2010

This article argues that the LDP manufactured its parliamentary dominance in postwar Japan by strategically altering specific facets of the electoral system. More generally, I demonstrate that intraparty politics play a crucial role in determining when and how electoral rules are changed. Despite widespread evidence that the LDP would win more seats under an SMP electoral formula, party leaders were repeatedly blocked from replacing the postwar MMD‐SNTV system by intraparty incumbents, who feared that such a change would harm their individual reelection prospects. However, party leaders had greater leeway in altering rules that generated fewer intraparty conflicts. Between 1960 and 1990, the LDP implemented approximately fifty changes to campaign regulations, most of which were aimed at enhancing the incumbency advantage of all rank‐and‐file MPs. Statistical tests confirm that absent pro‐incumbent revisions to the electoral code, the LDP would have succumbed to declining public popularity and lost its majority at least a decade earlier.
Economic Inequality and Democratic Political Engagement
Authors: Solt Frederick
Published: August 2010

What effect, if any, does the extent of economic inequality in a country have upon the political engagement of its citizens? This study examines this question using data from multiple cross‐national surveys of the advanced industrial democracies. It tests the theory that greater inequality increases the relative power of the wealthy to shape politics in their own favor against rival arguments that focus on the effects of inequality on citizens' objective interests or the resources they have available for political engagement. The analysis demonstrates that higher levels of income inequality powerfully depress political interest, the frequency of political discussion, and participation in elections among all but the most affluent citizens, providing compelling evidence that greater economic inequality yields greater political inequality.
Economics, Party, and the Vote: Causality Issues and Panel Data
Authors: Lewis‐Beck Michael S. , Nadeau Richard , Elias Angelo
Published: August 2010

Conventional wisdom argues that national economic perceptions generally have an important impact on the vote choice in democracies. Recently, a revisionist view has arisen, contending that this link, regularly observed in election surveys, is mostly spurious. According to the argument, partisanship distorts economic perception, thereby substantially exaggerating the real vote connection. These causality issues have not been much investigated empirically, despite their critical importance. Utilizing primarily American, and secondarily British and Canadian, election panel surveys, we confront directly questions of the time dynamic and independent variable exogeneity. We find, after all, economics clearly matters for the vote. Indeed, once these causality concerns are properly taken into account, the impact of economic perceptions emerges as larger than previously thought. As well, the actual impact of partisanship is clearly reduced.
Intolerance and Political Repression in the United States: A Half Century after McCarthyism
Authors: Gibson James L.
Published: August 2010

What consequences for political freedom arise from high levels of political intolerance among the American public? Comparing surveys from 1954 to 2005, I document the level of perceived freedom today and consider how it has changed since the McCarthy era. Levels of intolerance today and in 1954 are also compared. Next assessed is whether restrictions on freedom are uniformly perceived or whether some subsections of the population are more likely to feel repressed than others. I find that while intolerance may have declined somewhat since 1954, perceived constraints on individual freedom have actually increased. These findings produce telling consequences for the subtheory of pluralistic intolerance. During McCarthyism, intolerance focused on the Left; today, many groups are not tolerated, so the loss of freedom is more widespread. Heretofore, many thought that pluralistic intolerance tended to be benign. At least in the case of the contemporary United States, it seems not to be.
The Conditional Effect of Specialized Governance on Public Policy
Authors: Mullin Megan
Published: August 2010

What are the policy consequences of creating functionally specialized venues for decision making? This study directly compares special districts with general purpose local governments to evaluate how specialization influences responsiveness and policy choice. Previous theorizing has assumed that specialization should have the same effect across all policy contexts. The findings presented here show instead that its effect is conditional on the status of public problems. Objective conditions related to a policy issue more strongly influence the responsiveness of multipurpose legislatures than that of special districts; thus the institutional effect of functional specialization varies with the severity of the public problem. The result is that governing structure matters most where problems are least severe. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering policy context when analyzing the effects of political institutions.
School Choice and the Creation of Social Capital Reexamined
Authors: Cox James H. , Witko Christopher
Published: August 2010

Scholars have argued that by spurring parental involvement in school activities, school choice creates social capital. While government policies may be able to create social capital, we doubt that school choice is such a policy and argue that participation in school activities is largely determined by individual‐level attributes and the school context, rather than choice per se. To assess this claim we use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study data. Unlike most school choice studies, this data set has a large, representative national sample. More importantly, the panel structure of the data allows us to examine the same parents both before and after the school choice decision has been made, permitting a true dynamic analysis. The results demonstrate that actively choosing a child's school does not make parents more likely to participate in school activities. Some institutional attributes of schools do appear to increase parental involvement in school activities, however.
Contract City Redux: Weston, Florida, as the Ultimate New Public Management Model City
Authors: Prager Jonas
Published: August 2010

Contracting out has become an accepted and, indeed, universal method of providing services in both the private and public sectors. Yet rarely has a municipality outsourced just about every service under its direct control—from public safety (police and fire), to solid waste collection and disposal, to parks maintenance, to municipal engineering and legal services. Weston, Florida, a city of some 62,000 residents, operates with just three employees—the city manager and two assistants. Hence the primary role of city manager has changed as well, from day‐to‐day administrator to contract manager and monitor. This essay describes the contracting operations in Weston and evaluates their efficiency and effectiveness.
Abrupt Heart Rate Fallings in a Patient with Biventricular Pacing: Latent Risk for Exacerbation of Heart Failure
Authors: KAWATA HIRO , NODA TAKASHI , YAMADA YUKO , OKAMURA HIDEO , NAKAJIMA HIROYUKI , KOBAYASHI JUNJIRO , KAMAKURA SHIRO
Published: August 2010

This case report describes abrupt heart rate fallings below the lower pacing rate limit in a patient with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Interrogated information including stored episodes or data regarding the lead did not show any device problems and only simultaneous intracardiac electrogram revealed the cause, T‐wave oversensing during biventricular pacing. At this moment, CRT has become an established modality for patients with severe heart failure. However, bradycardia below the lower rate limit during biventricular pacing due to T‐wave oversensing would exacerbate heart failure in patients with CRT. We should notice this latent risk and correct the malfunction immediately. (PACE 2010; 1–4)
Cryoablation versus Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia: Patient Pain Perception and Operator Stress
Authors: CHAN NGAI YIN , CHOY CHI CHUNG , LAU CHUN LEUNG , LO YING KEUNG , CHU PUI SHAN , YUEN HO CHUEN , CHOI YUEN CHOI , LAU SUET TING
Published: August 2010

Background: Cryoablation (CRYO) is an alternative to radiofrequency (RF) ablation in the treatment of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). This study aims to evaluate the differences in patient pain perception and operator stress between CRYO and RF ablation in the treatment of AVNRT.

Methods: Patients with supraventricular tachycardia underwent electrophysiology study. Twenty patients (eight males, age 46.5 ± 12.5 years) diagnosed with AVNRT were randomized to receive CRYO (11) with a 6‐mm‐tip catheter or RF (nine) with a 4‐mm‐tip catheter. Patients’ pain perception and operator stress were assessed with a visual analogue scale (VAS) from 0 to 10 at the end of procedure.

Results: There was no significant difference in acute procedural success (CRYO 100% vs RF 89%, P = 0.257). There was no complication of permanent atrioventricular block in either group. The number of energy applications was significantly higher in the CRYO group (2.8 ± 1.2 vs 1.6 ± 0.9, P = 0.02). The fluoroscopic time was significantly reduced in the CRYO group (6.0 ± 4.9 vs 10.9 ± 5.4 minutes, P = 0.049) with no difference in procedure time (CRYO 49.3 ± 12.5 vs RF 54.5 ± 17.0 minutes, P = 0.462). Patients in the CRYO group experienced significantly less pain than patients in the RF group (VAS 2.3 ± 2.8 vs 5.4 ± 3.4, P = 0.024). The operator also experienced significantly less stress during CRYO than RF (VAS 1.9 ± 0.8 vs 6.2 ± 1.6, P < 0.001). There was no recurrence in both groups at 6‐month follow‐up.

Conclusions: CRYO, as compared with RF, produces less pain in patients and less stress in operator in the treatment of AVNRT. (PACE 2011; 2–7)
Gender differences in marketing styles
Authors: Cunningham Lewis T. , Brorsen B. Wade , Anderson Kim B. , Tostão Emílio
Published: August 2010

Recent research has found that men trade stocks more frequently than women and receive a lower price as a result. The behavioral finance literature attributes this greater trading activity to men's overconfidence. Women's lack of overconfidence and past agricultural economics research suggest the possibility that women may be better at marketing grain than men. This article uses actual transactions of farmers marketing wheat and also finds that men trade more often than women. Women also sell two weeks later in the marketing year. There is no direct effect of gender on price received, but by storing longer women receive 1.4 cents/bushel less than men, on average. In contrast to the arguments in previous research, we argue that men's greater number of trades can be better explained by men enjoying trading rather than by overconfidence.
The impact of droughts and floods on food security and policy options to alleviate negative effects
Authors: Devereux Stephen
Published: August 2010

This article introduces an analytical framework for understanding the impacts of droughts and floods on rural livelihoods, based on Sen's “entitlement approach,” and applies the framework to the recent food crises in Malawi. Weather shocks trigger a sequence of “entitlement failures,” which can result in a famine unless public action intervenes to mitigate these impacts. Policy responses can compensate for failures of production‐based entitlement (free or subsidized input distribution); labor‐based entitlement (public works programs or “employment‐based safety nets”); trade‐based entitlement (grain reserve management or food pricing policies); and transfer‐based entitlement (food aid or cash transfers).
The Doha agenda and agricultural trade reform: the role of economic analysis
Authors: Martin Will , Anderson Kym
Published: August 2010

This article shows that research on international agricultural trade reform can make much greater contributions to understanding than was feasible in earlier trade negotiations. While current models typically estimate gains of less than 1% of GDP, new developments in theory and methodology provide the potential for quantitative analysis to be improved in at least six areas: measurement of protection for goods; incorporation of barriers to foreign trade and investment in services; representation of the counterfactual; disaggregation of products and regions; incorporation of new products; and inclusion of the productivity enhancement associated with trade reform.
Food safety in a globalizing world: opportunities and challenges for India
Authors: Umali‐Deininger Dina , Sur Mona
Published: August 2010

Rising incomes and urbanization, increasing consumer awareness prompted by widely publicized food safety crises, and an expansion in agricultural exports have been important drivers for the increased attention to food safety in India. But the development of effective food safety systems is hampered by a number of factors: restrictive government marketing regulations, a weak policy and regulatory framework for food safety, inadequate enforcement of existing standards, poor market infrastructure and agricultural support services, and the predominance of small farms. Addressing food safety concerns in India is likely to require adoption of appropriate legislation; strengthening capacity to enforce rules; promoting adoption of good agricultural, manufacturing, and hygiene practices; greater collective action; and some targeted investments. Joint efforts by the government and the private sector are needed to implement these actions.
Rural nonfarm employment in developing countries in an era of globalization
Authors: Reardon Thomas , Stamoulis Kostas , Pingali Prabhu
Published: August 2010

Rural nonfarm employment (RNFE) has become a topic of major importance in rural development, as by the mid 2000s, RNFE constituted 35% of rural incomes in Africa and 50% in both Asia and Latin America. The traditional view of RNFE was a sleepy hinterland activity cut off from changes in the national, let alone the global economy. That view was assailed by sweeping changes in rural areas starting with the Green Revolution, then rur‐urbanization, and lately, by globalization intervening via both trade and modernization of the national economy including the rise of modern retail and processing. In this article, we hypothesize and offer emerging evidence that the strongest and most positive effects on RNFE of globalization come in the zones that are rur‐urbanized, with a tradeables growth‐motor induced RNFE sector with clusters of small/medium enterprises for manufactures, and a preponderance of services. Surprisingly, the trade effects are least and the domestic market transformation effects are the strongest. The most challenges are posed for zones that are rur‐urbanized and dense zone RNFE with low‐moderate local growth motors. The least effects are on hinterland zones. The policy implications are to promote tradeables growth motors (key to creating RNFE in services, the major component of RNFE), and to incorporate “competitiveness”—in a changing urban and global economy—into RNFE promotion.
The nutrition transition in high‐ and low‐income countries: what are the policy lessons?
Authors: Popkin Barry , Ng Shu Wen
Published: August 2010

This article examines the speed of changes in diets, activity patterns, and body composition, summarizes major dietary changes, and provides some sense of the way the burden of obesity is shifting from the rich to the poor globally. The focus is on the lower‐ and middle‐income world with some examples from higher‐income countries. Then macro policy options are examined. A case study of edible oil pricing in China is presented. The challenge is for the agricultural economics profession to focus on this major global issue—one which challenges some of the earlier paradigms of food policy and agricultural development.
Productivity in Malagasy rice systems: wealth‐differentiated constraints and priorities
Authors: Minten Bart , Randrianarisoa Jean‐Claude , Barrett Christopher B.
Published: August 2010

This study explores the constraints on agricultural productivity and priorities in boosting productivity in rice, the main staple in Madagascar, using a range of different data sets and analytical methods, integrating qualitative assessments by farmers and quantitative evidence from panel data production function analysis and willingness‐to‐pay estimates for chemical fertilizer. Nationwide, farmers seek primarily labor productivity enhancing interventions, e.g., improved access to agricultural equipment, cattle, and irrigation. Shock mitigation measures, land productivity increasing technologies, and improved land tenure are reported to be much less important. Research and interventions aimed at reducing costs and price volatility within the fertilizer supply chain might help at least the more accessible regions to more readily adopt chemical fertilizer.
Economic statistics and U.S. agricultural policy
Authors: Gardner Bruce , Goodwin Barry , Ahearn Mary
Published: August 2010

Economic statistics can be used to inform policy as it is being designed, avoid policy design mistakes, or implement government programs once they are established into law. Oftentimes, statistics are used for all three purposes. This article considers the relationships between statistics and agricultural policy in the case of the United States. We address first the broad historical picture of U.S. official economic statistics concerning agriculture, and then turn to selected examples that relate policies to economic statistics in more detail. The examples show diversity in the interplay between statistics and policy. Over time, policymakers have asked for more detailed information about the financial situation of individual farm businesses and households, sources of risk in farm returns, and production practices that affect the environment.
Income distributional effects of using market‐based instruments for managing common property resources
Authors: Msangi Siwa , Howitt Richard E.
Published: August 2010

In this article, the authors show the trade‐offs between efficiency and equity that arise from the application of market‐based instruments to a heterogenous population of agents drawing from a natural resource pool. Using the example of groundwater, they find that there are overall losses in allocative efficiency when the centralized planner is constrained by equity considerations, and that the distribution of gains or losses to management becomes skewed asymmetrically across agents. These results demonstrate the importance of considering both efficiency gains and disparities in distributional inequity, when designing policy instruments that create winners and losers with potentially serious sociopolitical ramifications.
Consistent poverty comparisons and inference
Authors: Arndt Channing , Simler Kenneth R.
Published: August 2010

Building upon the cost of basic needs (CBN) approach, an integrated approach to making consumption‐based poverty comparisons is presented. This approach contains two principal modifications to the standard CBN approach. The first permits the development of multiple poverty bundles that are utility consistent. The second recognizes that the poverty line itself is a random variable whose variation influences the degree of confidence in poverty measures. We illustrate the empirical importance of these two methodological changes for the case of Mozambique. With utility consistency imposed, estimated poverty rates tend to be systematically higher in rural areas and lower in urban areas. We also find that the true confidence intervals on the poverty estimates—those incorporating poverty line variance—tend to be considerably larger than those that ignore poverty line variance. Finally, we show that these two methodological changes interact. Specifically, we find that imposing utility consistency on poverty bundles tends to tighten confidence intervals, sometimes dramatically, on provincial poverty estimates. We conclude that this revised approach represents an important advance in poverty analysis. The revised approach is straightforward and directly applicable in empirical work.
The long‐term impacts of orphanhood on education attainment and land inheritance among adults in rural Kenya
Authors: Yamano Takashi
Published: August 2010

Although the long‐term economic impacts of the AIDS epidemic on orphans have been major concerns, few studies have investigated the impacts of orphan status into adulthood. Therefore, this article examines the education attainment and land inheritance of former orphans, who have lost at least one parent before reaching the age of 15 years, by using household surveys in Kenya. We find about a one‐year lower educational attainment among former maternal orphans compared with former nonorphans among adults who started schooling before the Free Primary Education program introduced in 1974 but not among adults who started schooling after 1974. On inherited land, we find no significant difference between households headed by former orphans and nonorphans, after controlling for land owned by parents, numbers of brothers and sisters, and birth order among brothers.
Poverty targeting, resource degradation and heterogeneous endowments—a micro‐simulation analysis of a less‐favored Ethiopian village
Authors: Kuiper Marijke , Ruben Ruerd
Published: August 2010

Persistent and widespread poverty in less‐favored areas (LFAs) is attributed to fragile natural resources and poor markets. Limited assets may keep households outside the reach of poverty policies targeted at LFAs. We explored in a stylized manner the role of heterogeneous household assets for (1) policies aimed at poverty reduction; (2) within‐village income inequality; and (3) soil erosion. With a farm‐household micro‐simulation model we analyzed for each household in a remote Ethiopian village three sets of policies: technology improvement, infrastructure investment, and off‐farm employment through migration or cash for work (CFW) programs. Combating poverty with a single policy, migratory off‐farm employment reduces the poverty headcount most. Because of self‐selection, CFW programs performed best in terms of reaching the poorest of the poor. CFW also reduced within‐village income inequality most, while a price band reduction increased income inequality. Only technology improvements resulted in a trade‐off between poverty and soil erosion. Price band and off‐farm employment policies reduced erosion while outperforming technology improvements in terms of poverty reduction. We found that combining two policies was most helpful in assisting poorer households to overcome the limitations of their asset endowments. A CFW program combined with reduced price bands yielded most in terms of poverty reduction and income inequality. This policy complementarity is, however, less important for better‐endowed households. Reducing the reliance of households on agriculture offered a win‐win situation of reducing poverty and maintaining natural resources. Combining policies helped to overcome asset limitations, to target policies to the poorest households and to reduce income inequalities.
The dynamics of Chinese rural households' participation in labor markets
Authors: Brosig Stephan , Glauben Thomas , Herzfeld Thomas , Rozelle Scott , Wang Xiaobing
Published: August 2010

The work is devoted to the dynamics of labor market participation of Chinese rural households. Based on a theoretical farm household framework the choice between four distinct labor market participation states is empirically analyzed. Using household data over the period 1995–2002 from the province Zhejiang we apply a discrete time hazard approach to analyze households' labor market participation histories. In particular, we investigate the movements between autarky and participation in general and, more specifically, the shifts between part‐time and full‐time farming. Estimation results suggest significant duration dependence, more precisely, a decreasing risk of moving from one state to another with an increasing time a household occupies one of these states. Further, the likelihoods of starting any participation in labor markets and to start part‐time farming are considerably higher than to end participation or to return to full‐time farming. In addition, we find that labor market participation decisions are significantly related to several household and farm characteristics.
Rainfall or price variability: what determines rangeland management decisions? A simulation‐optimization approach to South African savannas
Authors: Börner Jan , Higgins Steven I. , Kantelhardt Jochen , Scheiter Simon
Published: August 2010

Savannas cover the greater part of Africa and Australia and almost half of South America and contribute to the livelihoods of more than 350 million people. With the intensification of land use during the second half of the 20th century, savannas have become increasingly degraded through bush encroachment as a consequence of increased grazing pressure. Research on rangeland dynamics, however, provides contradicting answers with regard to the causes and possible remedies of bush encroachment. In this article we present results from an application of a simulation‐optimization model to the case of extensive rangeland management in South Africa. Our model differs from previous approaches in that it explicitly accounts for the influence of stochastic prices and rainfall on economically optimal management decisions. By showing the implications of neglecting price variation and stochasticity in rangeland models we provide new insights with regard to the determinants of bush encroachment and rangeland managers' economic return. We demonstrate that, in the case of South Africa, optimal rangeland management is likely to lead to bush encroachment that eventually makes livestock holding unprofitable. Yet, we identify the costs of fire management to be a limiting factor for managers to counteract bush encroachment and explore the impact of policy measures to reduce fire control costs on the ecological and economic sustainability of livestock holding.
Taking a new look at empirical models of adoption: average treatment effect estimation of adoption rates and their determinants
Authors: Diagne Aliou , Demont Matty
Published: August 2010

This article shows that the observed sample adoption rate does not consistently estimate the population adoption rate even if the sample is random. It is proved that instead the sample adoption rate is a consistent estimate of the population joint exposure and adoption rate, which does not inform about adoption per se. Likewise, it is shown that a model of adoption with observed adoption outcome as a dependent variable and where exposure to the technology is not observed and controlled for cannot yield consistent estimates of the determinants of adoption. The article uses the counterfactual outcomes framework to show that the true population adoption rate corresponds to what is defined in the modern policy evaluation literature as the average treatment effect (ATE), which measures the effect or impact of a “treatment” on a person randomly selected in the population. In the adoption context, a “treatment” corresponds to exposure to the technology. The article uses the ATE estimation framework to derive consistent nonparametric and parametric estimators of population adoption rates and their determinants and applies the results to consistently estimate the population adoption rates and determinants of the NERICA (New Rice for Africa) rice varieties in Côte d'Ivoire. The ATE methodological approach developed in the article has significant policy implications with respect to judging the intrinsic merit of a new technology in terms of its potential demand by the target population independently of issues related to its accessibility and in terms of the decision to invest or not in its wide‐scale dissemination.
Differentiating the consumer benefits from labeling of GM food products
Authors: Scatasta Sara , Wesseler Justus , Hobbs Jill
Published: August 2010

Although recurrent evidence is found that consumers have different willingness to pay for GM and non‐GM products, there is disagreement in the scientific community about the size of consumer benefits from GM labeling. In this article we use a theoretical model based on a standard constant elasticity of substitution (CES) to explain the importance of the quality effect. It is shown that failing to consider the quality effect may yield an overestimation of benefits from GM labeling, voluntary or mandatory.
Economies of scale and market structure in international grain trade
Authors: Scoppola Margherita
Published: August 2010

A large body of literature has examined international grain trade in imperfectly competitive models. The article develops a two‐stage duopoly model that considers a private trader and a State Trading Enterprise (STE) competing on a foreign market. The key difference between the private trader and the STE is their international organization; while the STE makes use of external agents to export, the private firm may choose to internalize international transactions. The game is solved for different modes of competition and under both assumptions of homogeneous and differentiated products, in order to assess how these assumptions affect the outcome of the game. The results of the game are examined by using numerical examples. The analysis shows that external shocks on export markets may result in a change of market structure and, consequently, of market shares. These effects depend on the initial market structure. Furthermore, the degree of product differentiation and the assumed mode of competition significantly affect the relative values of transaction and fixed costs at which the market structure changes.
Modeling differentiated quality standards in the agri‐food sector: the case of meat trade in the enlarged EU
Authors: Rau Marie‐Luise , Van Tongeren Frank
Published: August 2010

Quality standards play an increasingly important role in international agri‐food trade, and their functioning as nontariff barriers to trade is widely discussed. We argue that food quality standards imposed by importing countries are more than just border measures and can have profound effects on the market structure of the exporting industry, thereby significantly influencing the supply response. We develop a stylized oligopoly model that accounts for compliance costs (fixed and variable) and investigate alternative policy options to explore different mechanisms an importing county may use to enhance the quality of its imports. The model explicitly recognizes the coexistence of complying and noncomplying firms, which is a situation often found in low‐income countries where a small modern export‐oriented segment invests in meeting foreign quality standards. We use the adjustment of the Polish meat sector to the tight EU food quality standards as an empirical example. The simulations show that a subsidy scheme can promote compliance with standards and can contribute to an upgrade of the industry in the exporting country, but its marginal effectiveness is diminishing.
Irrigation technology adoption and its implication for water conservation in the Texas High Plains: a real options approach
Authors: Seo Sangtaek , Segarra Eduardo , Mitchell Paul D. , Leatham David J.
Published: August 2010

Water shortage has been a significant issue for several decades in the Texas High Plains. Agriculture has been identified as the main activity contributing to this shortage. To address this issue, many efforts have been focused on the possible adoption of sophisticated irrigation systems with high levels of water application efficiency. In this study, the entry and exit thresholds for the low‐energy precision application (LEPA) system are analyzed simultaneously in cotton farming in the Texas High Plains using a real options approach. The results show that the LEPA system is profitable only when cotton price is set above $1.59/kg. The exit (entry) threshold is consistently low (high) over a range of values for parameter changes including investment cost, exit cost, variable cost, risk‐adjusted discount rate, and volatility rate, so it is unlikely that farmers with irrigation systems in place would leave them easily. This implies that to attain the goal of saving water, Lubbock County needs to focus on convincing current farmers to replace old irrigation systems with new ones.
Agrobiodiversity conservation under an imperfect seed system:the role of Community Seed Banking schemes
Authors: Bezabih Mintewab
Published: August 2010

The study is an empirical investigation of agrobiodiversity conservation decisions of small farmers in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The primary objective is to measure the effectiveness of Community Seed Banking (CSB) in enhancing diversity while providing productivity incentives. Our results indicate a significant impact of participation in CSB on farm‐level agrobiodiversity. However, the level of biodiversity conservation was not found to have the expected reinforcing impact on participation, indicating no support for simultaneity. CSB participation also led to an increase in productivity, consistent with a need for such incentives in order to enhance diversity at a farm level. Our assessment of the performance of the GLS estimator yielded a significant discrepancy between the GLS and bootstrap estimates. This led to the conclusion that bootstrapping asymptotic estimations might be required for appropriate inference.
Estimation of input‐oriented technical efficiency using a nonhomogeneous stochastic production frontier model
Authors: Kumbhakar Subal C. , Tsionas Efthymios G.
Published: August 2010

Technical inefficiency can be modeled as either input‐oriented (IO) or output‐oriented (OO). However, in the estimation of parametric stochastic production frontier models which use maximum likelihood method only the OO measure is used. In this article we consider a simple nonhomogeneous production function and estimate it with both IO and OO specifications. A sample of 80 Spanish dairy data (1993–1998) is used to estimate both models. We consider one output (liters of milk) and four variable inputs (viz., number of cows, kilograms of concentrates, hectares of land, and labor [measured in man‐equivalent units]). We find that returns to scale (RTS) and technical efficiency results derived from these models are different because either estimated technologies are different, or they are evaluated at different points. Using a Monte Carlo analysis we show that if RTS is close to unity differences in the estimates of RTS and technical efficiency are smaller. This holds true for estimates of both RTS and technical efficiency.
Matrix vesicles in the fibrous cap of atherosclerotic plaque: possible contribution to plaque rupture
Authors: Bobryshev Y. V. , Killingsworth M. C. , Lord R. S. A. , Grabs A. J.
Published: August 2010

Plaque rupture is the most common type of plaque complication and leads to acute ischaemic events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Calcification has been suggested as a possible indicator of plaque instability. Although the role of matrix vesicles in the initial stages of arterial calcification has been recognized, no studies have yet been carried out to examine a possible role of matrix vesicles in plaque destabilization. Tissue specimens selected for the present study represented carotid specimens obtained from patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. Serial frozen cross‐sections of the tissue specimens were cut and mounted on glass slides. The thickness of the fibrous cap (FCT) in each advanced atherosclerotic lesion, containing a well developed lipid/necrotic core, was measured at its narrowest sites in sets of serial sections. According to established criteria, atherosclerotic plaque specimens were histologically subdivided into two groups: vulnerable plaques with thin fibrous caps (FCT <100 μm) and presumably stable plaques, in which fibrous caps were thicker than 100 μm. Twenty‐four carotid plaques (12 vulnerable and 12 presumably stable plaques) were collected for the present analysis of matrix vesicles in fibrous caps. In order to provide a sufficient number of representative areas from each plaque, laser capture microdissection (LCM) was carried out. The quantification of matrix vesicles in ultrathin sections of vulnerable and stable plaques revealed that the numbers of matrix vesicles were significantly higher in fibrous caps of vulnerable plaques than those in stable plaques (8.908±0.544 versus 6.208±0.467 matrix vesicles per 1.92 μm2 standard area; P= 0.0002). Electron microscopy combined with X‐ray elemental microanalysis showed that some matrix vesicles in atherosclerotic plaques were undergoing calcification and were characterized by a high content of calcium and phosphorus. The percentage of calcified matrix vesicles/microcalcifications was significantly higher in fibrous caps in vulnerable plaques compared with that in stable plaques (6.705±0.436 versus 5.322±0A94; P= 0.0474). The findings reinforce a view that the texture of the extracellular matrix in the thinning fibrous cap of atherosclerotic plaque is altered and this might contribute to plaque destabilization.
Interactions between colon cancer cells and hepatocytes in rats in relation to metastasis
Authors: Mook O. R. F. , van Marie J. , Jonges R. , Vreeling‐Sindelarova H. , Frederiks W. M. , Van Noorden C. J. F.
Published: August 2010

Adhesion of cancer cells to endothelium is considered an essential step in metastasis. However, we have shown in a previous study that when rat colon cancer cells are administered to the vena portae, they get stuck mechanically in liver sinusoids. Then, endothelial cells retract rapidly and cancer cells bind to hepatocytes. We investigated the molecular nature of these interactions between colon cancer cells and hepatocytes. Cancer cells in coculture with hepatocytes became rapidly activated with distinct morphological changes. Cancer cells formed long cytoplasmic protrusions towards hepatocytes in their close vicinity and these protrusions attached to microvilli of hepatocytes. Then, adhering membrane areas were formed by both cell types. Integrin subunits αv, α6 and β1 but not αL, β2, β3 and CD44 and CD44v6 were expressed on the cancer cells. In conclusion, colon cancer cells show an active behaviour to bind to hepatocytes, likely involving the integrin subunits av, a6 and B1, indicating that early events in colon cancer metastasis in liver are distinctly different than assumed thus far.
Frequency of acute asymptomatic myocardial infarction and an estimate of infarct age in cases of abrupt sudden death observed in a forensic autopsy material
Authors: Mortensen E. S. , Rognum T. O. , Straume B. , Jørgensen L.
Published: August 2010

The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of acute infarcts at autopsy in cases of unexpected abrupt deaths in persons with coronary heart disease. In addition, we want to estimate the time between onset of infarct and death based on evolving tissue changes in the infarct known to occur during the first hours. Thirty cases of unexpected, abrupt deaths were selected from a forensic autopsy material. Half of them had a preliminary diagnosis of coronary heart disease, the other half a preliminary diagnosis not involving the heart or chest area. Complete autopsies were performed. The myocardium and the coronary arteries were sampled and examined without knowledge of the gross findings or to which group the case belonged. Myocardial infarcts and acute coronary changes were found in both groups, less frequently in the non‐coronary group. The age of the myocardial and coronary lesions was estimated by observing morphological characteristics changing with time, e.g. increasing polymorphonuclear leucocytes in the infarcted myocardium, and increasing amount of fibrin in thrombi. The majority of cases in the coronary group died with an extensive asymptomatic myocardial infarction, which probably had lasted 5–6 hrs or less. Acute changes in the right coronary artery and its area of supply prevailed. Acute myocardial infarcts were observed also in a minority of the non‐coronary group, but myocardial infarction was not the cause of death in any of them. Abrupt coronary death is most often preceded by an extensive asymptomatic myocardial infarction within the last 5–6 hrs.
Impression Cytology in corneal and ocular surface pathology
Authors: DUA HS
Published: August 2010

Purpose: Impression cytology (IC) refers to the application of a cellulose acetate filter to the ocular surface to remove the superficial layers of the ocular surface epithelium. The SIS presentation describes the technique and uses of IC.

Methods: These cells can be subjected to histological, immunohistological, or molecular analysis. Periodic acid Schiff (PAS), Papanicolaou or haematoxylin stains are commonly employed to delineate goblet cells and epithelial cell morphology. Cells harvested by IC can also be released as a cell suspension and subjected to FACS (fluorescein activated cell sorting) analysis. Proper technique is essential as the number of cells sampled can vary considerably.

Results: Generally two to three layers of cells are removed in one application but deeper cells can be accessed by repeat application over the same site. Applications for IC include diagnosing a wide range of ocular surface disorders, documenting sequential changes in the conjunctival and corneal surface over time, staging conjunctival squamous metaplasia, and monitoring effects of treatment. It is also a useful investigational tool for analysing ocular surface disease with immunostaining and DNA analysis. It is non‐invasive, relatively easy to perform, and yields reliable information about the area sampled with minimal discomfort to the patient. Complications such as removal of a full thickness sheet of corneal epithelium; subconjunctival haemorrhage due to rupture of vessels in patients with conjunctival laxity, or subconjunctival emphysema due to a tear in the conjunctiva have been encountered.

Conclusions: Major ophthalmic centres should introduce this technique into routine clinical practice. A team approach should include the ophthalmologist, pathologist, microbiologist and immunologist.
Core 2 β1,6‐N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferases and α1,3‐fucosyltransferases regulate the synthesis of O‐glycans on selectin ligands on oral cavity carcinoma cells
Authors: Renkonen Jutta , Räbinä Jarkko , Mattila Pirkko , Grenman Reidar , Renkonen Risto
Published: August 2010

Selectin‐dependent cell binding has importance in the extravasation of blood‐circulating tumor cells and in the generation of metastases. Cell surface glycoproteins decorated with sialylated, fucosylated epitopes, such as sialyl Lewisx (sLex), are ligands for selectins. Not only terminal sLex moieties but also proximal core structures contribute to the formation of binding epitopes for selectins. Core 2 β1,6‐N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferases (C2GnT) and α1,3‐fucosyltransferases (α1,3‐FucT) have been suggested to be the rate‐limiting enzymes in the synthesis of selectin ligands. We analyzed oral cavity epithelial carcinoma cell lines and showed their expression of RNA transcripts for C2GnT and α1,3‐FucT, identified α1,3‐FucT enzyme activities, and analyzed the cell surface sLex expression levels. Neither the pattern of expressed enzymes nor the α1,3‐FucT activity directly predicted the binding capacity of E‐selectin. However, only the sLex‐expressing cell lines were capable of binding to E‐selectin, but not to P‐selectin, thus putatively promoting the selectin‐mediated metastasis. These findings suggest that C2GnT in combination with α1,3‐Fuc‐T contribute to the selectin‐mediated metastasis in oral cavity carcinomas.