bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distributive leakages of agricultural support: some empirical evidence
Authors: Salhofer Klaus , Schmid Erwin 
Published: August 2005

AbstractThe paper evaluates the transfer efficiency of the Austrian bread grain policy taking into account distributive leakages, i.e. how much of the transfers officially intended to support farm income are finally realised in the upstream and downstream industries. Gardner's [Am. J. Agric. Econ. 65 (1983) 225] well‐known measure of average transfer efficiency (ATE) is augmented for the case of more than two social groups and computer‐intensive simulation procedures are utilised to deal with parameter uncertainty.
Public investment and regional inequality in rural China
Authors: Zhang Xiaobo , Fan Shenggen 
Published: August 2005

AbstractThis paper develops a method for decomposing the contributions of various types of public investment to regional inequality and applies the method to rural China. Public investments are found to have contributed to production growth in both the agricultural and rural non‐agricultural sectors, but their contributions to regional inequality have differed by type of investment and the region in which they are made. All types of investment in the least‐developed western region reduce regional inequality, whereas additional investments in the coastal and central regions worsen regional inequality. Investments in rural education and agricultural R&D in the western region have the largest and most favorable impacts on reducing regional inequality.
Investment and equity effects of land regularisation: the case of Nicaragua⋆
Authors: Deininger Klaus , Chamorro Juan Sebastian 
Published: August 2005

AbstractWe use data from Nicaragua to examine the impact of award of registered and non‐registered title on land values and changes in land‐attached investment. Registration, acquisition through purchase, and agrarian reform title all are associated with significant increases in the value of plots. Receipt of registered title is found to increase land values by 30% and at the same time greatly increase the propensity to invest, bringing such investment closer to the optimum. In line with descriptive statistics indicating great demand for land right regularisation especially from the poor, this suggests that titling can have a positive distributional effect. At the same time, the legal validity and official recognition of the titles issued appears to be of great importance.
Short‐term employment transitions of the Canadian labour force: rural‐urban differences in underemployment
Authors: Vera‐Toscano Esperanza , Phimister Euan , Weersink Alfons 
Published: August 2005

AbstractUsing data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) for the period 1993–1996, we examine patterns and determinants of labour‐force transitions of adequately employed and underemployed workers in an attempt to explore whether employment dynamics significantly differ between rural and urban workers so as to disadvantage rural economic performance. The results indicate that rural adequately employed workers are significantly more likely to enter underemployment but once they are underemployed, they also have a higher probability of re‐entering adequate employment. Further, we also found weak evidence that the education level of workers has a lower impact on the probability of moving out of underemployment in rural than in urban areas. In addition, rural women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts and urban workers to enter adequate employment, although the presence of young children does not seem to especially constrain the employment of rural women. The results suggest that labour‐force transition in and out of adequate employment, and particularly underemployment, significantly differ between rural and urban workers and should be taken into account when evaluating employment hardship in rural Canada.
The impact of seed industry concentration on innovation: a study of US biotech market leaders
Authors: Schimmelpfennig David E. , Pray Carl E. , Brennan Margaret F. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractAgricultural research drives increases in agricultural productivity, and the number of private agricultural input firms has been declining. The empirical relationship between the number of firms doing applied biotechnology crop research and the amount of research output they produce is investigated in a research profit function model. Increases in seed industry concentration have reduced biotech research intensity in the United States in the 1990s. Concentration and research are simultaneously determined and are influenced by the appropriability of research results and the state of technological opportunity.
Agricultural diversification and integrated pest management in Bangladesh
Authors: Mahmoud Chowdhury , Shively Gerald 
Published: August 2005

AbstractWe study factors associated with a shift toward diversified, high‐valued vegetable crops and the incentives associated with the use of IPM methods for vegetable producers in Bangladesh. The primary objective is to measure how IPM technologies affect the crop and technology choices of low‐income rice farmers. A three‐season household optimisation model is used to study crop and technology choice under price and yield uncertainty. The model is parameterised using data from vegetable farms and experimental IPM trials conducted in Bangladesh. Simulation results show that access to IPM technology and IPM availability combined with access to credit increase household welfare and lead to higher rates of vegetable adoption. Off‐farm employment opportunities work against vegetable cultivation and IPM use by risk‐averse farmers. Implications for policy and extension efforts are highlighted.
Consumer preferences for cowpea in Cameroon and Ghana
Authors: Langyintuo A.S. , Ntoukam G. , Murdock L. , Lowenberg‐DeBoer J. , Miller D.J. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractConsumer preference information is essential to targeting research. This paper reports an effort of a multi‐disciplinary team to measure the market value of cowpea characteristics. Five samples were purchased once per month in seven markets in Ghana and Cameroon starting in September 1996. In the market, price and vendor characteristics were noted. In the laboratory, size of grains, testa color, testa texture, eye color and damage levels were recorded. A hedonic pricing regression model was used. Results indicate that grain size is the most important characteristic. Consumers seem more sensitive to bruchid (Callosobruchus maculates) damage than hypothesized. Cowpeas with white testa command a clear premium only in one of the Ghanaian markets. In Ghana, black eyes sell at a premium, but in Cameroon black eyes are discounted. In general, this study indicates that quality characteristics are very important in West African food markets. Even low income consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that match their preferences, and they are vigilant in identifying products that do not meet their standards. Purchasing samples on a regular basis and hedonic pricing offers a practical way for biological scientists and economists to work together to measure these consumer preferences.
The role of education on the adoption of chemical fertiliser under different socioeconomic environments in Ethiopia
Authors: Asfaw Abay , Admassie Assefa 
Published: August 2005

AbstractStudies on input adoption consider education as one of the most important factors that affect adoption decisions. However, very little is known about the spill‐over effect of intra‐household education on the adoption process and about the impact of education on adoption decisions under different socioeconomic conditions. We investigate these two issues using a discrete choice model. The results indicate that the decision making process is a decentralised one in which educated adult members of the household actively participate in the decision making process. This casts doubt on the traditional assumption that the household head is the sole decision maker. The results reveal that there is a substantial and statistically significant intra‐household spill‐over effect of education on the adoption decision of households. The results of the study also show that the coefficient of the education and the environment interaction variable is negative and statistically significant. This demonstrates that education and socioeconomic environments could be substitutes in modern environments and complementary in traditional ones. This implies that the expansion of education in traditional areas may be more attractive than in modern areas since education is usually the only means to enhance the ability of farmers to acquire, synthesise and respond to innovations such as chemical fertiliser.
Credit market access and profitability in Tunisian agriculture
Authors: Foltz Jeremy D. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractThis work develops an econometric model that links credit access with agricultural profitability and investment. Using data collected from rural Tunisia, this work provides direct estimates of credit access and its effects. Econometric estimates are run for agricultural investment and profitability as a function of credit access. The investigation of credit access and its effect suggests that the presence of credit market constraints does impinge significantly on farm profitability, but not on investments.
Agriculture, pesticides and the ecosystem
Authors: Pethig Rüdiger 
Published: August 2005

AbstractEconomists have a good understanding of intra‐economic interdependence and a mature methodology of modelling it. Ecologists focus on the complex and sensitive interactions of species in ecosystems. This paper's objective is to suggest a new micro‐foundation of ecosystem analysis based on economic methodology, to integrate the analyses of the ecosystem and the economy and focus on the interface of ecosystem‐economy relations. Agriculture forms a major part of this interface. The basic assumption is that in the short run the individual organisms of all species behave as if they optimise their costly offensive and defensive activities given other organisms' activities (Nash‐behaviour).We consider an ecosystem with three species in a unidirectional food chain: buzzards feed on mice, mice feed on grain, and grain feeds on solar energy. A fourth species, humans, also feeds on grain. Humans intervene in the ecosystem in various ways. They can grow grain by using seed, farm labour, pesticides and possibly nature conservation measures to maintain buzzard habitat. Short‐run ecosystem equilibrium is characterised, and it is shown, in particular, how this equilibrium depends on farming activities. We then link this ecosystem model to a simple model of an agricultural economy. Both systems are solved for equilibrium simultaneously. From an economic perspective the ecosystem induces positive and negative externalities in agricultural production and in consumer ‘green’ preferences.The inefficiencies of the competitive economy are identified and some possibilities to restore efficiency through corrective taxes or subsidies are briefly discussed. We also outline how short‐run equilibria are connected through ecosystem stock‐flow relationships. Due to the complexity of the inter‐temporal analysis, the resulting ecosystem dynamics cannot be characterised in general analytical terms. It is a topic for future research to study the dynamics in numerical analysis to understand under which conditions the joint ecological and economic system is driven toward a (sustainable) steady state.
Rural–urban migration and agricultural productivity: the case of Senegal
Authors: Goldsmith Peter D. , Gunjal Kisan , Ndarishikanye Barnabé 
Published: August 2005

AbstractThis paper explores the relationship between agricultural productivity and rural–urban migration by developing an econometric model and applying it to the case of Senegal. Country level data is used covering the years 1961–1996. Policy implications of reducing rural‐urban migration using agricultural output elasticities are developed. The findings support the hypothesis that rural–urban migration is a positive function of the ratio of urban per capita income to rural per capita income. Moreover, the results support a policy aimed at reducing rural–urban migration flows through increases in per capita earnings derived from increased agricultural investment.
Irrigation water pricing: differential impacts on irrigated farms
Authors: Gómez‐Limón Jose A. , Riesgo Laura 
Published: August 2005

AbstractEuropean water policy, as set out in the Water Framework Directive (WFD), requires all EU Member States to implement volumetric water pricing at rates that roughly cover the total costs of providing water services. The objective of this paper is to develop a methodology that, for the different types of farm in an irrigable area, will enable us to analyse the differential impact that a pricing policy for irrigation water would have. For this purpose, Multi‐Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) mathematical programming models were used. The methodology is implemented on a representative area in the Duero Valley in Spain. Our results show the usefulness of differential analysis in evaluating the impact of a water pricing policy. This allows significant differences in the evolution of agricultural incomes to be observed, as well as the recovery of costs by the State, demand for agricultural employment and the consumption of agrochemicals resulting from rising prices of irrigation water in various groups of farmers within a given irrigated area.
Calculating the cost of irrigation induced soil salinization in the tungabhadra project
Authors: Janmaat John 
Published: August 2005

AbstractIrrigation projects in developing countries have a history of poor performance. Inefficiencies result as water applications deviate from plans and induce greater than projected rates of soil degradation through water logging and salt accumulation. Over time, the collective impact of these forces will converge to an equilibrium with a level of output that may be far below the system's potential. The Tungabhadra Project in south west India is experiencing all of these problems. Integrating geographic, hydrologic, biologic and economic features, the lost production value is estimated for a range of equilibria to which this system may converge. For the lower left bank main canal of the Tungabhadra project, the total economic cost of soil degradation are approximately 14.5% of the system's productive potential while sub‐optimal distribution losses may approach 37.1%
A revised Tobit procedure for mitigating bias in the presence of non‐zero censoring with an application to milk‐market participation in the Ethiopian highlands
Authors: Holloway Garth , Nicholson Charles , Delgado Chris , Staal Steve , Ehui Simeon 
Published: August 2005

AbstractFixed transactions costs that prohibit exchange engender bias in supply analysis due to censoring of the sample observations. The associated bias in conventional regression procedures applied to censored data and the construction of robust methods for mitigating bias have been preoccupations of applied economists since Tobin [Econometrica 26 (1958) 24]. This literature assumes that the true point of censoring in the data is zero and, when this is not the case, imparts a bias to parameter estimates of the censored regression model. We conjecture that this bias can be significant; affirm this from experiments; and suggest techniques for mitigating this bias using Bayesian procedures. The bias‐mitigating procedures are based on modifications of the key step that facilitates Bayesian estimation of the censored regression model; are easy to implement; work well in both small and large samples; and lead to significantly improved inference in the censored regression model. These findings are important in light of the widespread use of the zero‐censored Tobit regression and we investigate their consequences using data on milk‐market participation in the Ethiopian highlands.
Avoidant personality disorder and social phobia: distinct enough to be separate disorders?
Authors: Ralevski E. , Sanislow C. A. , Grilo C. M. , Skodol A. E. , Gunderson J. G. , Tracie Shea M. , Yen S. , Bender D. S. , Zanarini M. C. , McGlashan T. H. 
Published: August 2005

Objective:  Existing evidence from anxiety disorder research indicates that social phobics (SP) with avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) experience more anxiety and show more impairment than patients with SP alone. The purpose of this study was to examine whether in patients diagnosed with AVPD, the co‐occurrence of SP adds to its severity. We hypothesized that the addition of SP will not add to the severity of AVPD alone.Method:  Two groups of patients (AVPD = 224; AVPD/SP = 101) were compared at baseline and 2 years later on multiple demographic and clinical variables.Results:  Patients with AVPD and an additional diagnosis of SP differed little from patients with AVPD alone.Conclusion:  These findings suggest that AVPD and SP may be alternative conceptualizations of the same disorder.
IDENTIFICATION OF IMPORTANT PRODUCTION VARIABLES AFFECTING HARD PRETZEL QUALITY
Authors: YAO N. , FLOROS J.D. , SEETHARAMAN K. 
Published: August 2005

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the importance of raw material and processing variables that influence pretzel quality by utilizing a screening experiment design. Eleven variables were selected based on preliminary experiments, and a two‐level‐11‐factor (2

11

) fractional factorial experimental design was used to screen the variables. Several responses were measured for dough before and after extrusion, for half‐baked and fully baked pretzels. These responses are important indicators of consistency and quality during pretzel processing. Results indicated that flour protein content, the amount of water added to make dough and dough mixing time were important variables influencing dough behavior. Caustic concentration affected brightness of half‐baked pretzels but did not influence the color of the final product. Baking time was the most important factor for both half‐baked product and final product qualities. The hardness of fully baked pretzels was influenced by baking time, temperature in baking oven zone 1, drying time and drying temperature. The color of final products was significantly influenced by baking time, while both baking time and drying temperature affected the moisture content of the final product. A key observation was that none of the raw material or dough processing parameters, within the range tested, influenced final pretzel quality as defined by pretzel moisture content, hardness or color.
Mating Type Loci of
Sporisorium reilianum
: Novel Pattern with Three
a
and Multiple
b
Specificities
Authors: Schirawski Jan , Heinze Bernadette , Wagenknecht Martin , Kahmann Regine 
Published: August 2005

ABSTRACT

Sporisorium reilianum
and
Ustilago maydis
are two closely related smut fungi, which both infect maize but differ fundamentally in their mode of plant invasion and site of symptom development. As a prelude to studying the molecular basis of these differences, we have characterized the mating type loci of
S. reilianum. S. reilianum
has two unlinked mating type loci,
a
and
b
. Genes in both loci and adjacent regions show a high degree of synteny to the corresponding genes of
U. maydis
. The
b
locus occurs in at least five alleles and encodes two subunits of a heterodimeric homeodomain transcription factor, while the
a
locus encodes a pheromone/receptor system. However, in contrast to that of
U. maydis
, the
a
locus of
S. reilianum
exists in three alleles containing two active pheromone genes each. The alleles of the
a
locus appear to have arisen through recent recombination events within the locus itself. This has created a situation where each pheromone is specific for recognition by only one mating partner.
Genomewide Identification of Sko1 Target Promoters Reveals a Regulatory Network That Operates in Response to Osmotic Stress in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Proft Markus , Gibbons Francis D. , Copeland Matthew , Roth Frederick P. , Struhl Kevin 
Published: August 2005

ABSTRACT

In
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
, the ATF/CREB transcription factor Sko1 (Acr1) regulates the expression of genes induced by osmotic stress under the control of the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. By combining chromatin immunoprecipitation and microarrays containing essentially all intergenic regions, we estimate that yeast cells contain approximately 40 Sko1 target promoters in vivo; 20 Sko1 target promoters were validated by direct analysis of individual loci. The ATF/CREB consensus sequence is not statistically overrepresented in confirmed Sko1 target promoters, although some sites are evolutionarily conserved among related yeast species, suggesting that they are functionally important in vivo. These observations suggest that Sko1 association in vivo is affected by factors beyond the protein-DNA interaction defined in vitro. Sko1 binds a number of promoters for genes directly involved in defense functions that relieve osmotic stress. In addition, Sko1 binds to the promoters of genes encoding transcription factors, including Msn2, Mot3, Rox1, Mga1, and Gat2. Stress-induced expression of
MSN2
,
MOT3
, and
MGA1
is diminished in
sko1
mutant cells, while transcriptional regulation of
ROX1
seems to be unaffected. Lastly, Sko1 targets
PTP3
, which encodes a phosphatase that negatively regulates Hog1 kinase activity, and Sko1 is required for osmotic induction of
PTP3
expression. Taken together our results suggest that Sko1 operates a transcriptional network upon osmotic stress, which involves other specific transcription factors and a phosphatase that regulates the key component of the signal transduction pathway.
Phenotypic Switching inCandida glabrataAccompanied by Changes in Expression of Genes with Deduced Functions in Copper Detoxification and Stress
Authors: Srikantha Thyagarajan , Zhao Rui , Daniels Karla , Radke Josh , Soll David R. 
Published: August 2005

ABSTRACTMost strains ofCandida glabrataswitch spontaneously between a number of phenotypes distinguishable by graded brown coloration on agar containing 1 mM CuSO4, a phenomenon referred to as “core switching.”C. glabrataalso switches spontaneously and reversibly from core phenotypes to an irregular wrinkle (IWr) phenotype, a phenomenon referred to as “irregular wrinkle switching.” To identify genes differentially expressed in the core phenotypes white (Wh) and dark brown (DB), a cDNA subtraction strategy was employed. Twenty-three genes were identified as up-regulated in DB, four in Wh, and six in IWr. Up-regulation was verified in two unrelated strains, oneaand one α strain. The functions of these genes were deduced from the functions of theirSaccharomyces cerevisiaeorthologs. The majority of genes up-regulated in DB (78%) played deduced roles in copper assimilation, sulfur assimilation, and stress responses. These genes were differentially up-regulated in DB even though the conditions of growth for Wh and DB, including CuSO4concentration, were identical. Hence, the regulation of these genes, normally regulated by environmental cues, has been usurped by switching, presumably as an adaptation to the challenging host environment. These results are consistent with the suggestion that switching provides colonizing populations with a minority of cells expressing a phenotype that allows them to enrich in response to an environmental challenge, a form of rapid adaptation. However, DB is the most commonly expressed phenotype at sites of host colonization, in the apparent absence of elevated copper levels. Hence, up-regulation of these genes by switching suggests that in some cases they may play roles in colonization and virulence not immediately obvious from the roles played by their orthologs inS. cerevisiae.