bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Technical Efficiency of U. S. Organic Farmers: The Complementary Roles of Soil Management Techniques and Farm Experience
Authors: Lohr Luanne , Park Timothy A.
Published: September 2016

Agricultural policymakers place increasing emphasis on developing efficiency measures for organic producers in order to evaluate regulatory strategies and evolving organic market conditions. We develop technical efficiency measures for U. S. organic farmers using a stochastic production frontier. Farm decisions about acquiring and managing organic soil materials from on-farm and local sources are incorporated into the technical efficiency measure. Productivity differences between newer entrants to organic farming and more experienced producers are estimated in order to isolate the impact of learning and management expertise on farm-level technical efficiency.
Linking Consumer Health Perceptions to Consumption of Nonalcoholic Beverages
Authors: Kim Hyeyoung , House Lisa A.
Published: September 2016

This study explored factors influencing consumers' beverage consumption. Consumers drank greater shares of beverages perceived as healthy and, in most cases, drank smaller shares of a beverage when they perceived alternative beverages as more healthy. One exception was carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages; the share of their consumption increased as health perceptions of 100 percent juice increased and vice versa. Another important determinant of beverage consumption share was objective and subjective health knowledge. Beverage drinking habit, which was measured by whether a beverage was consumed daily or weekly, was the most significant factor in explaining a beverage's diet share.
Consumer Response to Perceived Value and Generic Advertising
Authors: Salois Matthew J. , Reilly Amber
Published: September 2016

This study examines the relationship between generic advertising and perceived value for 100 percent orange juice using data from a survey on consumption, perceived value, advertising awareness, and other key measures. We investigate the relationships between consumption and perceived value and between generic advertising and perceived value and identify features of generic advertising of orange juice that have the greatest influence on consumers. Our analysis indicates that perceived value is strongly associated with increased consumption and is influenced by generic advertising. Generic advertising is most effective when consumers view the content of the ads as genuine and relevant.
The Effects of Prices, Advertising, Expenditures, and Demographics on Demand for Nonalcoholic Beverages
Authors: Okrent Abigail M. , MacEwan Joanna P.
Published: September 2016

We estimate a demand system for ten nonalcoholic beverages to disentangle effects of prices, expenditures, advertising, and demographics on demand for nonalcoholic beverages for 1999 through 2010. We find that changes in demographic composition of the population between 1999 and 2008 played a much bigger role in observed purchasing patterns for recently introduced beverages like soy, rice, and almond drinks, isotonic and energy drinks, and bottled water whereas changes in prices and advertising expenditures largely explained declining demand for milk, regular carbonated soft drinks, and coffee and tea. However, between 2008 and 2010, declining demand for most nonalcoholic beverages was largely driven by income-led decreases in expenditures.
The Impact of Four Alternative Policies to Decrease Soda Consumption
Authors: Liu Yizao , Lopez Rigoberto A. , Zhu Chen
Published: September 2016

We examine the impact of four policy options on consumption of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) by estimating a random-coefficient discrete-choice model of demand. Policy simulations using demand estimates indicate that the impacts of banning television advertising, limiting container size, and limiting calories on total consumption would be similar—an estimated 15.40–15.75 percent reduction. However, limiting calories would have a significantly greater impact on consumption of regular CSDs (–28.89 percent) and on calories consumed from CSDs (–19.34 percent). A tax on calories was least effective in curtailing overall consumption and consumption of regular CSDs.
Conservation Reserve Program: Environmental Benefits Update
Authors: Hansen LeRoy
Published: September 2016

This paper presents the methodology, assumptions, and data used to generate regional and national environmental benefit estimates of the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). It's assumed that, without the program, production and conservation practices on CRP lands would be the same as those used on surrounding lands. When range and forest lands are (are not) included as land-use options, 54 (71) percent of the CRP land would be in crop production—which is consistent with past analyses. Soil erosion would be 222 to 248 million tons per year—about 11 percent—higher than the current level. Benefits are estimated by applying environmental benefit models, estimated in previous analyses, to the CRP's estimated effect on erosion and wildlife habitat. Nationally, the CRP is estimated to provide $1.3 billion in annual benefits, which represents 75 to 80 percent of the program's cost. In seven of the 10 USDA Farm Production Regions, the CRP's environmental benefits exceed costs. Thus, reallocating acreage to these regions could increase net program benefits. However, because many benefits could not be estimated, one cannot conclude that regional and national benefits do not exceed costs.
Protest Adjustments in the Valuation of Watershed Restoration Using Payment Card Data
Authors: Collins Alan R. , Rosenberger Randall S.
Published: September 2016

When using a willingness-to-pay (WTP) format in contingent valuation (CV) to value watershed restoration, respondents may protest by questioning why they should pay to clean up a pollution problem that someone else created. Using a sample selection interval data model based on Bhat (1994) and Brox, Kumar, and Stollery (2003), we found that the decision to protest and WTP values were correlated. Protest sample selection bias resulted in a 300 percent overestimate of mean WTP per respondent. Using different ad hoc treatments of protesters, protest bias resulted in moderate effects (−10 percent to +14 percent) after controlling for sample selection bias.
What Can Laboratory Experiments Teach Us About Emissions Permit Market Design?
Authors: Cason Timothy N.
Published: September 2016

The laboratory provides a test bed to inform many design choices for emissions permit markets. Experiments are sometimes strongly motivated and structured by specific theoretical models and predictions, but in other cases the experiment itself can be the model of the market and regulatory environment. We review specific experimental applications that address design issues for permit auction rules, permit expiration dates and banking, liability rules, and regulatory enforcement.
Dynamic Field Experiments in Development Economics: Risk Valuation in Morocco, Kenya, and Peru
Authors: Lybbert Travis J. , Galarza Francisco B. , McPeak John , B. Barrett Christopher , Boucher Stephen R. , Carter Michael R. , Chantarat Sommarat , Fadlaoui Aziz , Mude Andrew
Published: September 2016

The effective design and implementation of interventions that reduce vulnerability and poverty require a solid understanding of underlying poverty dynamics and associated behavioral responses. Stochastic and dynamic benefit streams can make it difficult for the poor to learn the value of such interventions to them. We explore how dynamic field experiments can help (i) intended beneficiaries to learn and understand these complicated benefit streams, and (ii) researchers to better understand how the poor respond to risk when faced with nonlinear welfare dynamics. We discuss and analyze dynamic risk valuation experiments in Morocco, Peru, and Kenya.
Chemical Use Reductions in Urban Fringe Agriculture
Authors: Adelaja Adesoji O. , Sullivan Kevin , Hailu Yohannes G. , Govindasamy Ramu
Published: September 2016

Using an augmented profit function framework designed to account for externalities related to chemical use in agriculture, this paper explains the chemical use choices of farmers in an urban fringe farming environment. It further estimates empirical logit models of reduced insecticide, fungicide, herbicide, and fertilizer usage. Results suggest that farmers who perceive their regulatory environment to be strict, who have experienced right-to-farm conflicts, and who have farms larger in size are more likely to reduce their chemical use over time, vis-à-vis other farmers. The results also suggest the importance of other farm structural and business climate factors in determining chemical use reduction choices.
Applying Optimization and the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Enhance Agricultural Preservation Strategies in the State of Delaware
Authors: Messer Kent D. , Allen William L.
Published: September 2016

Using agricultural preservation priorities derived from an analytical hierarchy process by 23 conservation experts from 18 agencies in the state of Delaware, this research uses weighted benefit measures to evaluate the historical success of Delaware's agricultural protection fund, which spent nearly $100 million in its first decade. This research demonstrates how these operation research techniques can be used in concert to address relevant conservation questions. Results suggest that the state's sealed-bid-offer auction, which determines the yearly conservation selections, is superior to benefit-targeting approaches frequently employed by conservation organizations, but is inferior to the optimization technique of binary linear programming that could have provided additional benefits to the state, such as 12,000 additional acres worth an estimated $25 million.
Exploring the Role of Managerial Ability in Influencing Dairy Farm Efficiency
Authors: Byma Justin P. , Tauer Loren W.
Published: September 2016

This paper explores the role of managerial ability in determining efficiency in New York dairy farms. Using an unbalanced panel of farm data from 1993 through 2004, we estimate outputoriented technical efficiencies using stochastic distance frontier functions. We find that both lagged net farm income and farmers’ own estimates of the value of their labor and management as proxies for managerial ability impact measured efficiency. Efficiency increases with operator education, farm size, and extended participation in a farm management program, but decreases with operator age.
Do CVM Welfare Estimates Suffer from On-Site Sampling Bias? A Comparison of On-Site and Household Visitor Surveys
Authors: González-Sepúlveda Juan Marcos , Loomis John B.
Published: September 2016

The problem of endogenous stratification associated with on-site sampling has been overlooked in the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). We find that using on-site samples of visitors overstates visitor willingness to pay (WTP) estimates relative to a household sample of visitors, and substantially overstates the unconditional population values. We provide two methods of correcting WTP of on-site samples. The uncorrected on-site sample CVM yields WTP of $132 per trip, while visitor WTP obtained from a random sample of households had a value of $66 per trip. Adaptation of choice-based sampling correction estimator to the on-site CVM data yields $73 per trip, not statistically different from the visitor value from the household survey, but significantly different from the uncorrected on-site sample value.
Economic Science and Public Policy
Authors: Smith Katherine R.
Published: September 2016

In this article, research on the application of science to policy issues is reviewed and applied to economic science. Economists who want their professionally credentialed economic research to have an impact on public policy are advised to consult with policy decision-makers in framing their research questions and throughout the research process, thus assuring that the resulting findings will be relevant. A minimal degree of bias in framing, conducting, and presenting research complements a high degree of relevance for the results, allowing economic research to make a difference.
Social Cost of Biomass Energy from Switchgrass in Western Massachusetts
Authors: Timmons David
Published: September 2016

Producing biomass energy requires much land, and effects of biomass production on ecosystem services could greatly affect total biomass energy cost. This study estimates switchgrass production cost in western Massachusetts at three levels: private production cost, private cost plus social cost of nitrogen fertilizer externalities, and those costs plus the social opportunity cost of foregone forest ecosystem services. Values for nitrogen externalities and forest ecosystem services estimated with benefit transfer suggest that social cost is much greater than private switchgrass production cost. The benefit-transfer estimates are only first approximations, but conclusions are robust to a large range of values.
Modeling the Production of Multiple Ecosystem Services from Agricultural and Forest Landscapes in Rhode Island
Authors: Liu Tingting , Merrill Nathaniel H. , Gold Arthur J. , Kellogg Dorothy Q. , Uchida Emi
Published: September 2016

This study spatially quantifies hydrological ecosystem services and the production of ecosystem services at the watershed scale. We also investigate the effects of stressors such as land use change, climate change, and choices in land management practices on production of ecosystem services and their values. We demonstrate the approach in the Beaver River watershed in Rhode Island. Our key finding is that choices in land use and land management practices create tradeoffs across multiple ecosystem services and the extent of these tradeoffs depends considerably on the scenarios and ecosystem services being compared.
The National Research Council Report on the Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: Implications for the Northeast
Authors: Ballenger Nicole
Published: September 2016

The National Research Council report entitled Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: Public Service and Public Policy was released in spring 1996. Several of the study recommendations may be particularly pertinent and interesting to the land grant colleges of the Northeast. This article reviews the study background, process, and general conclusions. It highlights several specific recommendations of potential interest in the Northeast, including those relating to federal support through formula funds and competitive grants, regionalization of programs, and integrating and balancing teaching, research, and extension.
A Content Analysis of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
Authors: Gempesaw Conrado M. , Albay Fe Zinnia
Published: September 2016

A content analysis is conducted on theAgricultural and Resource Economics Reviewthe official publication of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, to determine whether the journal has maintained a strong regional focus and whether there has been a narrow concentration of published articles in subject area and methodology. The results show that in the 1990s (1) the share of articles that do not focus on the Northeast has increased tremendously and (2) more articles used quantitative techniques than nonquantitative methods.
Wife's Labor Force Participation and Family Expenditures for Prepared Food, Food Prepared at Home, and Food Away from Home
Authors: Nayga Rodolfo M.
Published: September 2016

This study examines the effects of a wife's participation in the labor force and other socioeconomic factors on family expenditures for prepared food, food prepared at home, and food away from home using the Bureau of Labor Statistics 1992 consumer expenditure survey. On the one hand, results indicate that the number of children, home ownership with mortgage, seasonality, region, wife's age, and income are important determinants of expenditures on food prepared at home. A wife's education and participation in the labor force, on the other hand, affect expenditures on prepared food and food away from home. The impact of both these factors is greater on food away from home than on prepared food expenditures.
Retail Dairy Prices Fluctuate with the Farm Value of Milk
Authors: Stewart Hayden , Don P. Blayney
Published: September 2016

Farm milk prices tend to be volatile. Dairy farmers, industry pundits, and policymakers further tend to react to price volatility with alarm. One point of concern is the response of retail prices. This study investigates farm-to-retail price transmission in the 2000s for whole milk and Cheddar cheese. Results show that price shocks at the farm gate are transmitted with delay and asymmetry to retail. Differences in the nature of price transmission for whole milk and Cheddar cheese prices are also identified.
Estimation of Demand for Wheat by Classes for the United States and the European Union
Authors: Mohanty Samarendu , Peterson E. Wesley F.
Published: September 2016

This study estimates demand for wheat differentiated by classes using a dynamic AIDS model for the United States and the European Union (EU). The results suggest that imported wheat is more price responsive than domestic wheat in the U.S. market but not in the EU market. This may suggest that the Canadian policy that reduces prices of Canadian wheat in the U.S. market or U.S. export subsidies that raise prices of U.S. wheat could be expected to give rise to substantial substitution of Canadian for U.S. wheat. It is also found that in the EU, complementary relationships exist between spring and other wheat groups. This complementary relationship between the lower and higher quality wheat in the EU is not surprising because EU millers blend cheaper wheat such as EU common wheat and U.S. other wheat with high protein (spring) to obtain the preferred characteristics.
Sources of Productivity Growth During the Transition to Alternative Cropping Systems
Authors: Jaenicke Edward C. , Drinkwater Laurie E.
Published: September 2016

Traditional measures of productivity growth may not fully account for all sources of growth during the transition from conventional to alternative cropping systems. This paper treats soil quality as part of the production process and incorporates it directly into rotational measures of productivity growth. An application to data from an experimental cropping system in Pennsylvania suggests that both experimental learning and soil-quality improvements were important sources of growth during the system's transition.
Performance Measurement of Hawaii State Public Libraries: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
Authors: Sharma Khem R. , Leung PingSun , Zane Lynn
Published: September 2016

In view of continuing economic stagnation and consequent budgetary constraints facing the state, Hawaii public libraries have been concerned with their operational efficiency and library managers have been seeking better methods in allocating limited resources among the libraries. This paper employed data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to assess the performance and resource utilization efficiency of 47 public libraries in Hawaii. Three output measures—circulation, reader visits, and reference transactions and four input categories—collection, library staff, days open, and nonpersonal expenditures were used in the analysis. For fiscal year 1996/97, the estimated technical efficiency scores for Hawaii State public library branches ranged from 0.45 to 1.00, with an average of 0.84. The results showed that 14 of the 47 libraries are technically efficient. The estimated efficiency scores were related to relevant library-specific factors and community characteristics, such as total floor space, size of collection, population density, and location to identify factors influencing library performance. Only floor space and volume of collection did show moderate positive effects on library performance. The resulting information can be mainly useful in improving the performance of inefficient libraries. With special consideration to factors uncontrollable by the libraries the results may also be useful in allocating limited resources among them.
Agricultural Sedimentation Impacts on Lakeside Property Values
Authors: Bejranonda Somskaow , Hitzhusen Fred J. , Hite Diane
Published: September 2016

A hedonic pricing model is developed to estimate the effects of policies to control agricultural sedimentation on lakeside property values at 15 Ohio state park lakes. Using an LA/AIDS demand system, we estimate changes in social welfare that result from upstream soil conservation practices and/or lake dredging activity, while holding other property characteristics constant. Policy simulation results suggest that lakeside residents generally have a higher willingness to pay on an annualized basis for sediment reduction from upstream soil conservation than for lake dredging. This has important implications for soil conservation policy, particularly in targeting improvements in the economic efficiency of the Conservation Reserve Program.
Implications of a Carbon-Based Energy Tax for U.S. Agriculture
Authors: Schneider Uwe A. , McCarl Bruce A.
Published: September 2016

Policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are likely to increase energy prices. Higher energy prices raise farmer costs for diesel and other fuels, irrigation water, farm chemicals, and grain drying. Simultaneously, renewable energy options become more attractive to agricultural producers. We consider both of these impacts, estimating the economic and environmental consequences of higher energy prices on U.S. agriculture. To do this we employ a price-endogenous agricultural sector model and solve that model for a range of carbon-tax-based energy price changes. Our results show mostly positive impacts on net farm income in the intermediate run. Through market price adjustments, fossil fuel costs are largely passed on to consumers. Additional farm revenue arises from the production of biofuels when carbon taxes reach $30 per ton of carbon or more. Positive environmental benefits include not only greenhouse gas emission offsets but also reduced levels of nitrogen leaching.
Do Farm Businesses and Big Businesses Apply Different Capital Budgeting Procedures?
Authors: Arthurton Daniel A. , Moffitt L. Joe , Allen P. Geoffrey , Cox Douglas A.
Published: September 2016

Recent studies of capital budgeting procedures used by business executives suggest increasing use of present value methods. This study compares Massachusetts greenhouse business managers use of capital budgeting procedures to those of Fortune 1000 firms. Results indicate that different capital budgeting procedures are used and that the payback criterion remains the most popular for the farm firms studied. Some implications for Extension finance educators are drawn.
Functional Form Model Specification: An Application to Hedonic Pricing
Authors: Brown Jeff E. , Ethridge Don E.
Published: September 2016

A combination of conceptual analysis and empirical analysis—partial regression and residuals analysis—was used to derive an appropriate functional form hedonic price model. These procedures are illustrated in the derivation of a functional form hedonic model for an automated, econometric daily cotton price reporting system for the Texas-Oklahoma cotton market. Following conceptualization to deduce the general shapes of relationships, the appropriate specific functional form was found by testing particular attribute transformations identified from partial regression analysis. Minimizing structural errors across attribute levels and estimation accuracy were used in determining when an appropriate functional form for both implicit and explicit prices was found.
A Consumption Base Theory of Development: An Application to the Rural Cultural Economy
Authors: Markusen Ann
Published: September 2016

Export base theory, which posits that overall regional growth is a function of external sales of locally produced goods and services, dominates economic development practice. But the consumption base can also serve as a growth driver, especially in small towns and rural areas. Local investments may induce residents to divert expenditures into local purchases, attract new and footloose residents and tourists, and revitalize aging town centers. A consumption base approach is not reducible to import substitution, but seeks to serve latent demand and alter the broad portfolio of goods and services purchased locally. I present the analytics for a consumption base theory and demonstrate how cultural investments prompt regional growth, emphasizing the role of artists as catalysts. Three types of arts and cultural investments are explored: artists’ centers, artists’ live/work spaces, and performing arts facilities, with examples from rural and small town settings. I conclude with rural cultural strategy recommendations.
The Emergence of Rural Artistic Havens: A First Look
Authors: Wojan Timothy R. , Lambert Dayton M. , McGranahan David A.
Published: September 2016

Nearly all applied research on arts activity has examined phenomena in metropolitan areas. Findings from this past research confirm an arts specialization in a limited number of cities. This paper finds a similar pattern in nonmetropolitan areas, where a limited number of counties maintain or develop a distinct specialization in the arts. We document the emergence of these “rural artistic havens” and identify county characteristics associated with the attraction of performing, fine, and applied artists. The implications of these findings for rural development strategies focusing on the arts are discussed.
Net Gains from 'Net Purchases? Farmers’ Preferences for Online and Local Input Purchases
Authors: Batte Marvin T. , Ernst Stan
Published: September 2016

E-commerce represents both threats to and opportunities for rural communities. This study addresses one element of the issue: farmers’ willingness to substitute online merchants or national farm input stores for local businesses. Results of a conjoint analysis of contingent choice experiments suggest that farmers are willing to purchase from online or national stores outside their communities if compensated with lower prices or greater services. Results also demonstrate that the context of the input purchase, such as time constraints, was very important not only in valuing these services, but, more broadly, in terms of the farmer's loyalty to a local merchant.
Can Health Care Services Attract Retirees And Contribute to the Economic Sustainability of Rural Places?
Authors: Oehmke James F. , Tsukamoto Satoshi , Post Lori A.
Published: September 2016

The search for engines to power rural economic growth has gone beyond the traditional boundaries of the food and fiber sector to industries such as tourism and to schemes such as attracting metropolitan workers to commuter communities with rural amenities. A group that has been somewhat overlooked is retirees, who may wish to trade in urban or suburban lifestyles for a more peaceful rural retirement. An industry that has been neglected is the health care industry, which is the most rapidly growing industry nationally and of particular interest to retirees and aging populations. This paper examines the importance of rural health care services in attracting migrants age 65+ to rural counties in Michigan. Results indicate that the number of health care workers has a positive effect on net in-migration, and that this effect is large and statistically significant for the 70+ age group. Implications for rural development strategies are discussed.
Ambient Returns: Creative Capital's Contribution to Local Manufacturing Competitiveness
Authors: Wojan Timothy R. , McGranahan David A.
Published: September 2016

This paper addresses the possibility that competitive rural manufacturing is increasingly driven by quality-of-life factors required to attract highly skilled and creative workers. Recent findings that highly creative workers are drawn to amenity-rich rural areas provide the empirical leverage for testing anecdotal claims that these areas tend to contain small manufacturing bases that are more reliant on innovation. This contrasts with the cost advantage rationale of traditional rural manufacturing, an advantage that is eroding with increased globalization. The analysis provides the first empirical evidence that the start of entrepreneurial manufacturing plants and the adoption of advanced technologies and management practices are strongly associated with the local employment share in highly creative occupations.
Which Consumers Are Most Responsive to Media-Induced Food Scares?
Authors: Payne Collin R. , Messer Kent D. , Kaiser Harry M.
Published: September 2016

In understanding decreases in demand after exposure to media-induced food scares, aggregate data are almost exclusively presented without taking into consideration potential confounding variables. However, a better approach may be to use an experimental design coupled with targeting homogeneous willingness-to-pay (WTP) subgroups based on similarities in behavioral, psychological, and demographic characteristics of those who are most vulnerable to food scare information. This is accomplished through experimental economics and an analysis strategy called a classification and regression tree (CART). A stigma framework—which guides conceptual understanding of effects of media-induced food scares—suggests controlling contextual variables to better approximate ceteris paribus. To this end, we conducted an experiment that exposed people to information about mad cow disease and then asked them to bid their willingness-to-pay for an actual hamburger. The CART found distinct homogeneous WTP subgroups of individuals that could be used by government and industry professionals to create interventions to reduce potential consumer concern and producer losses.
Dairy-borne Disease Outbreak and Milk Demand: A Study Using Outbreak Surveillance Data
Authors: Zheng Yuqing , Kaiser Harry M.
Published: September 2016

We utilize the outbreak surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine whether consumer demand is impacted by the outbreak of food-borne disease. An additional person sickened due to the ingestion of tainted cheese products at home is found to decrease per capita milk demand in New York State by 0.13 percent (or 0.07 pound), while milk-and ice cream-borne disease outbreaks, occurring at home or in public places, are found to have no impact on fluid milk demand. Our results imply the existence of word-of-mouth effects, which cannot be tested by the popular information/media index approach used to measure food-borne disease outbreaks. We also find that a 7 percent increase in generic advertising expenditures or a 10 percent increase in expenditures on non-advertising marketing activities can offset the negative influence of one ill person in cheese-borne disease outbreaks at home, while holding other demand factors constant.
Impacts of Flu/Cold Incidences and Retail Orange Juice Promotion on Orange Juice Demand
Authors: Lee Jonq-Ying , Brown Mark G.
Published: September 2016

In this study, we examine the impacts of retail promotions and flu/cold incidences on the demand for orange juice using weekly Nielsen grocery orange juice sales statistics and the flu/cold incidences reported by Surveillance Data Inc. The cross-section time-series pooling technique proposed by Parks was used to estimate the demand parameters. Results show that flu/cold incidences increased the effectiveness of retail promotions on the demand for orange juice.
Effects of Country of Origin Labeling in the U.S. Meat Industry with Imperfectly Competitive Processors
Authors: Chung Chanjin , Zhang Tong , Peel Derrell S.
Published: September 2016

The study examines the impacts of implementing mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) on producer and consumer welfare in the U.S. meat industry. The equilibrium displacement model developed in this study includes twenty-nine equations representing retail-, processing-, and farm-level equilibrium conditions for the beef, pork, and chicken industries. Unlike previous studies, the model allows trade between domestic- and foreign-origin products and considers the imperfectly competitive market structure of meat processers. Empirical results show that without a significant increase in domestic meat demand, producers are not expected to benefit from the mandatory COOL implementation. Results of a sensitivity analysis indicate that consumers tend to bear more COOL costs than producers, as the own-price elasticity becomes more inelastic, and that producers’ benefits increase as the elasticity of domestic demand becomes more elastic with respect to the price of imported products. The existence of market power in upstream and downstream markets of processors negatively affects both consumer and producer surplus. One implication of our findings is that U.S. beef and pork producers’ promotion and advertising programs would be successful in expanding domestic demand when the programs make the own-price elasticity of domestic demand more inelastic and the cross-price elasticity of domestic demand more elastic with respect to import price.
Prevention or Control: Optimal Government Policies for Invasive Species Management
Authors: Kim C.S. , Lubowski Ruben N. , Lewandrowski Jan , Eiswerth Mark E.
Published: September 2016

We present a conceptual, but empirically applicable, model for determining the optimal allocation of resources between exclusion and control activities for managing an invasive species with an uncertain discovery time. This model is used to investigate how to allocate limited resources between activities before and after the first discovery of an invasive species and the effects of the characteristics of an invasive species on limited resource allocation. The optimality conditions show that it is economically efficient to spend a larger share of outlays for exclusion activities before, rather than after, a species is first discovered, up to a threshold point. We also find that, after discovery, more exclusionary measures and fewer control measures are optimal, when the pest population is less than a threshold. As the pest population increases beyond this threshold, the exclusionary measures are no longer optimal. Finally, a comparative dynamic analysis indicates that the efficient level of total expenditures on preventive and control measures decreases with the level of the invasive species stock and increases with the intrinsic population growth rate, the rate of additional discoveries avoided, and the maximum possible pest population.
Prevention, Eradication, and Containment of Invasive Species: Illustrations from Hawaii
Authors: Burnett Kimberly , Kaiser Brooks , Pitafi Basharat A. , Roumasset James
Published: September 2016

Invasive species change ecosystems and the economic services such ecosystems provide. Optimal policy will minimize the expected damages and costs of prevention and control. We seek to explain policy outcomes as a function of biological and economic factors, using the case of Hawaii to illustrate. First, we consider an existing invader,Miconia calvescens, a plant with the potential to reduce biodiversity, soil cover, and water availability. We then examine an imminent threat, the potential arrival of the Brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis). The arrival of the snake in Guam has led to native bird extirpations, power outages, and health costs.
Exotic Forest Insects and Residential Property Values
Authors: Holmes Thomas P. , Murphy Elizabeth A. , Bell Kathleen P.
Published: September 2016

This paper presents a case study of the economic damages to homeowners in a northern New Jersey community due to an exotic forest insect—the hemlock woolly adelgid. Hedonic property value methods are used to estimate the effect of hemlock health on property values. A statistically significant relationship between hemlock health and residential property values is established. Moreover, there are some signs of spillover impacts from hemlock decline, as negative effects are realized on the parcels where the declining hemlock stands are located as well as on neighboring properties. These results give some indication of the benefits of potential control programs and strategies and also show support for community- or neighborhood-based programs in residential settings.
Experiential Gains with a New Technology: An Empirical Investigation of Hydraulic Fracturing
Authors: Fitzgerald Timothy
Published: September 2016

In conjunction with technologies such as horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing has transformed U.S. and world energy outlooks by adding reserves from unconventional resources. Fracturing was developed by experimentation and experience. This study empirically analyzes fracturing data for wells in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana, focusing on firms' ability to improve well production over time through collaboration. Results suggest that producers gain from experience with fracturing and that proprietary additives are not generally correlated with greater production but have value for some firms. Experiential gains are stronger for operators than for contractors, but some operator-contractor pairings have productive value.
Understanding Local Regulation of Fracking: A Spatial Econometric Approach
Authors: Walsh Patrick J. , Bird Stephen , Heintzelman Martin D.
Published: September 2016

Fracking is a controversial practice but is thriving in many areas. We combine a comprehensive data set on local bans and moratoria in the state of New York with local-level census data and spatial characteristics in a spatial econometric analysis of local fracking policies. Some factors, including location in the Utica shale, proportion of registered Democrats, and education level, increase the probability of restrictions on fracking. Extent of local land development, location in highly productive petroleum areas, and number of extant oil and gas wells are among factors that have a negative impact on the likelihood of a ban or moratorium.
Sociophonetic variation of like in British dialects: effects of function, context and predictability
Authors: SCHLEEF ERIK , TURTON DANIELLE
Published: September 2016

This study examines sociophonetic variation in different functions oflikeamong adolescents in London and Edinburgh. It attempts to determine the factors that may explain this variation. Our results suggest that the function oflikecorrelates primarily with contextual factors, rather than the phonetic factors of vowel quality, /l/ to vowel duration and /k/ realisation. In particular, the preceding and following segments and their bigram predictability emerge as highly significant, in addition to the boundary strength followinglike. In both London and Edinburgh, the vowel appears to be the only non-contextual feature that is sensitive to the function oflike: quotativebe likeis more likely to be monophthongised than other functions oflike. We argue that the more monophthongal nature of quotativelikeis due to the syntactic and prosodic context in which it occurs.
Effectiveness of a community-based diabetes self-management education (DSME) program in a rural agricultural setting
Authors: Paz-Pacheco Elizabeth , Sandoval Mark Anthony , Ardena Gregory J. R. , Paterno Elizabeth , Juban Noel , Lantion-Ang Frances L. , Jimeno Cecilia , Patal Perpetua , Bongon Joseph
Published: September 2016

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education (DSME) in a rural agricultural town.

Methods

In this prospective, education-intervention trial, 85 adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus from villages randomly assigned to DSME and 70 from villages assigned to standard care participated. The DSME group underwent a curriculum delivered by peer educators; those in the standard group received usual advice. Outcome measures were anthropometric, biochemical, health behaviors, and medication use data taken at baseline then after three and six months.

Results

DSME group had a lower median A1C after three and six months. After six months, there was a 0.5% median A1C reduction in DSME group and a 0.25% increase in the standard group. There were more participants in DSME group with A1C ⩽7.0% after three and six months. By the third month, there were more participants in DSME group performing foot examination.

Conclusion

DSME in this rural agricultural town improved glycemic control and promoted foot examination.
Argentina – Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and Services (Argentina–Financial Services), DS453
Authors: Carlson Geoffrey
Published: September 2016

This dispute concerned eight financial, taxation, foreign exchange, and registration measures imposed by Argentina, mostly on services and service suppliers from countries that do not exchange information with Argentina for the purposes of fiscal transparency (non-cooperative countries). In particular, these measures concerned: withholding tax on payments of interest or remuneration (measure 1); presumption of unjustified increase in wealth (measure 2); transaction valuation based on transfer prices (measure 3); payment received rule for the allocation of expenditure (measure 4); requirements relating to reinsurance services (measure 5); requirements for access to the Argentine capital market (measure 6); requirements for the registration of branches (measure 7); and foreign exchange authorization requirement (measure 8).
Institutions and the shale boom
Authors: MURTAZASHVILI ILIA
Published: September 2016

This paper uses the institutional economics of Douglass North to explain three features of the shale boom: why fracking technology emerged in the United States, the rapid increase in production of natural gas in the United States and the uneven response to these new economic opportunities in shale-rich economies. It argues that the institutional matrix of the United States, in particular private ownership of minerals, encouraged experimentation on the barren Texas oil and gas fields, where fracking technology emerged and the rapid transfer of mineral rights to gas companies. Institutional entrepreneurs, namely landmen and lawyers, facilitated contracting between owners of mineral rights and drillers. Private ownership of minerals and an ideology supportive of drilling provide insight into the adoption of regulations that encourage hydraulic fracturing.
Structural basis of synaptic vesicle assembly promoted by α-synuclein
Authors: Fusco Giuliana , Pape Tillmann , Stephens Amberley D. , Mahou Pierre , Costa Ana Rita , Kaminski Clemens F. , Kaminski Schierle Gabriele S. , Vendruscolo Michele , Veglia Gianluigi , Dobson Christopher M. , De Simone Alfonso
Published: September 2016

α-synuclein (αS) is an intrinsically disordered protein whose fibrillar aggregates are the major constituents of Lewy bodies in Parkinson’s disease. Although the specific function of αS is still unclear, a general consensus is forming that it has a key role in regulating the process of neurotransmitter release, which is associated with the mediation of synaptic vesicle interactions and assembly. Here we report the analysis of wild-type αS and two mutational variants linked to familial Parkinson’s disease to describe the structural basis of a molecular mechanism enabling αS to induce the clustering of synaptic vesicles. We provide support for this ‘double-anchor’ mechanism by rationally designing and experimentally testing a further mutational variant of αS engineered to promote stronger interactions between synaptic vesicles. Our results characterize the nature of the active conformations of αS that mediate the clustering of synaptic vesicles, and indicate their relevance in both functional and pathological contexts.
Cortical dynamics during cell motility are regulated by CRL3KLHL21 E3 ubiquitin ligase
Authors: Courtheoux Thibault , Enchev Radoslav I. , Lampert Fabienne , Gerez Juan , Beck Jochen , Picotti Paola , Sumara Izabela , Peter Matthias
Published: September 2016

Directed cell movement involves spatial and temporal regulation of the cortical microtubule (Mt) and actin networks to allow focal adhesions (FAs) to assemble at the cell front and disassemble at the rear. Mts are known to associate with FAs, but the mechanisms coordinating their dynamic interactions remain unknown. Here we show that the CRL3KLHL21 E3 ubiquitin ligase promotes cell migration by controlling Mt and FA dynamics at the cell cortex. Indeed, KLHL21 localizes to FA structures preferentially at the leading edge, and in complex with Cul3, ubiquitylates EB1 within its microtubule-interacting CH-domain. Cells lacking CRL3KLHL21 activity or expressing a non-ubiquitylatable EB1 mutant protein are unable to migrate and exhibit strong defects in FA dynamics, lamellipodia formation and cortical plasticity. Our study thus reveals an important mechanism to regulate cortical dynamics during cell migration that involves ubiquitylation of EB1 at focal adhesions.
Improving diet, activity and wellness in adults at risk of diabetes: randomized controlled trial
Authors: Block G , Azar K M J , Romanelli R J , Block T J , Palaniappan L P , Dolginsky M , Block C H
Published: September 2016

Objective:

The purpose of this analysis is to examine the effect of an algorithm-driven online diabetes prevention program on changes in eating habits, physical activity and wellness/productivity factors.

Methods:

The intervention, Alive-PD, used small-step individually tailored goal setting and other features to promote changes in diet and physical activity. A 6-month randomized controlled trial was conducted among patients from a healthcare delivery system who had confirmed prediabetes (n =339). Change in weight and glycemic markers were measured in the clinic. Changes in physical activity, diet and wellness/productivity factors were self-reported. Mean age was 55 (s.d. 8.9) years, mean body mass index was 31 (s.d. 4.4) kg m−2, 68% were white and 69% were male.

Results:

The intervention group increased fruit/vegetable consumption by 3.71 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.73, 4.70) times per week (effect size 0.62), and decreased refined carbohydrates by 3.77 (95% CI 3.10, 4.44) times per week both significantly (P<0.001) greater changes than in the control group. The intervention group also reported a significantly greater increase in physical activity than in the control group, effect size 0.49, P<0.001. In addition, the intervention group reported a significant increase in self-rated health, in confidence in ability to make dietary changes and in ability to accomplish tasks, and a decrease in fatigue, compared with the control group. These changes paralleled the significant treatment effects on glycemic markers and weight.

Conclusions:

In addition to promoting improvements in weight and glycemic markers, the Alive-PD program appears to improve eating habits and physical activity, behaviors important not just for diabetes prevention but for those with diagnosed diabetes or obesity. The improvements in wellness/productivity may derive from the diet and activity improvements, and from the satisfaction and self-efficacy of achieving goals.