Agri-environment Policy Design With Hidden Information and Hidden Action: Input Quotas vs Input Charges

Moxey, White and Ozanne (1999) have shown how transfer payments coupled with input quotas can be used to design optimal truth-telling mechanisms for voluntary agri-environmental schemes under hidden information about compliance costs. Ozanne, Hogan and Colman (2001) adapted the Moxey et al. model to analyze hidden action in such schemes, analyzing the relationships between input abatement, the cost of monitoring compliance and farmers’ risk preferences. White (2002) extended the Moxey et al. model to analyze the design of contracts under both hidden action and hidden information, but used an input charge/transfer payment approach rather than the original input quota/transfer payment one. In addition, he assumed that farmers caught cheating face a variable fine, related to the amount of input they apply in excess of the amount agreed in the contract, rather than a fixed fine as assumed by Ozanne et al. White argues that his results show that an input charge/transfer payment policy is more efficient than a quota when the regulator cannot observe compliance costs of individual farmers. This paper integrates the previous work, developing a model of both hidden action and hidden information in agri-environmental schemes based on the input quota/transfer payment approach of Moxey et al. (1999) and Ozanne et al. (2001), rather than the input charge/transfer payment approach of White (2002), but the variable fine of the latter rather than the fixed fine assumed by Ozanne et al. This integrated model shows that, contrary to White (2002), the input quota and input charges approaches lead to identical outcomes in terms of abatement levels, compensation payments, monitoring costs, probabilities and social welfare.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Hidden action, risk aversion and variable fines in agri-environmental schemes

This note analyses the design of agri-environmental schemes for risk-averse producers whose input usage is only observable by costly monitoring. The scheme penalises producers in proportion to input use in excess of a quota. A striking result is that if the scheme is designed in such a way that producers always comply with the quota, risk aversion is not relevant in determining the level of input use.agri-environmental policy, monitoring, risk aversion, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

ON THE ROLE OF THE BROKERAGE INSTITUTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL MARKETS

The recognition that policies aimed at “getting prices right” in less developed countries were failing due to incomplete markets has spurred a new wave of reforms, directed instead at “getting markets and institutions right”. Although previous studies have documented the potentially crucial role of the brokerage institution in crop commercialisation, few have investigated what determines wholesalers’ decisions to use brokers. Using data collected in 2006/07 by Gabre-Madhin, IFPRI and EDRI, we examine Ethiopian traders’ decisions regarding whether or not they should use brokers, and how much. Independent variables are human, financial and social asset availability, implemented trading practices, access to infrastructure and institutions, location, travelled distance and traded crops. Results show that brokerage services are particularly valuable for wholesalers lacking social capital and storage capacity, who are based in areas with low population density, and who trade at a distance especially when roads are not asphalted. Buyers in drought-prone domains rely on brokers more for their long-distance purchases, while sellers in moisture-reliable domains employ brokers more for their long-distance sales. These results provide useful indications regarding where and how the recent formalisation of brokerage functions through the ECX could be most beneficial for the functioning of Ethiopian agricultural markets.Agribusiness, O12, O13, O18,

Prognostic utility of the breast cancer index and comparison to Adjuvant! Online in a clinical case series of early breast cancer

Introduction\ud Breast Cancer Index (BCI) combines two independent biomarkers, HOXB13:IL17BR (H:I) and the 5-gene molecular grade index (MGI), that assess estrogen-mediated signalling and tumor grade, respectively. BCI stratifies early-stage estrogen-receptor positive (ER+), lymph-node negative (LN-) breast cancer patients into three risk groups and provides a continuous assessment of individual risk of distant recurrence. Objectives of the current study were to validate BCI in a clinical case series and to compare the prognostic utility of BCI and Adjuvant!Online (AO).\ud \ud Methods\ud Tumor samples from 265 ER+LN- tamoxifen-treated patients were identified from a single academic institution's cancer research registry. The BCI assay was performed and scores were assigned based on a pre-determined risk model. Risk was assessed by BCI and AO and correlated to clinical outcomes in the patient cohort.\ud \ud Results\ud BCI was a significant predictor of outcome in a cohort of 265 ER+LN- patients (median age: 56-y; median follow-up: 10.3-y), treated with adjuvant tamoxifen alone or tamoxifen with chemotherapy (32%). BCI categorized 55%, 21%, and 24% of patients as low, intermediate and high-risk, respectively. The 10-year rates of distant recurrence were 6.6%, 12.1% and 31.9% and of breast cancer-specific mortality were 3.8%, 3.6% and 22.1% in low, intermediate, and high-risk groups, respectively. In a multivariate analysis including clinicopathological factors, BCI was a significant predictor of distant recurrence (HR for 5-unit increase = 5.32 [CI 2.18-13.01; P = 0.0002]) and breast cancer-specific mortality (HR for a 5-unit increase = 9.60 [CI 3.20-28.80; P < 0.0001]). AO was significantly associated with risk of recurrence. In a separate multivariate analysis, both BCI and AO were significantly predictive of outcome. In a time-dependent (10-y) ROC curve accuracy analysis of recurrence risk, the addition of BCI+AO increased predictive accuracy in all patients from 66% (AO only) to 76% (AO+BCI) and in tamoxifen-only treated patients from 65% to 81%.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud This study validates the prognostic performance of BCI in ER+LN- patients. In this characteristically low-risk cohort, BCI classified high versus low-risk groups with ~5-fold difference in 10-year risk of distant recurrence and breast cancer-specific death. BCI and AO are independent predictors with BCI having additive utility beyond standard of care parameters that are encompassed in AO

miR-23b regulates cytoskeletal remodeling, motility and metastasis by directly targeting multiple transcripts

Uncontrolled cell proliferation and cytoskeletal remodeling are responsible for tumor development and ultimately metastasis. A number of studies have implicated microRNAs in the regulation of cancer cell invasion and migration. Here, we show that miR-23b regulates focal adhesion, cell spreading, cell-cell junctions and the formation of lamellipodia in breast cancer (BC), implicating a central role for it in cytoskeletal dynamics. Inhibition of miR-23b, using a specific sponge construct, leads to an increase of cell migration and metastatic spread in vivo, indicating it as a metastatic suppressor microRNA. Clinically, low miR-23b expression correlates with the development of metastases in BC patients. Mechanistically, miR-23b is able to directly inhibit a number of genes implicated in cytoskeletal remodeling in BC cells. Through intracellular signal transduction, growth factors activate the transcription factor AP-1, and we show that this in turn reduces miR-23b levels by direct binding to its promoter, releasing the pro-invasive genes from translational inhibition. In aggregate, miR-23b expression invokes a sophisticated interaction network that co-ordinates a wide range of cellular responses required to alter the cytoskeleton during cancer cell motility