Administrative valuation of Soviet agricultural land : results using Lithuanian production data

New land tenure arrangements in the USSR require that agricultural producers pay for land use. The current distorted pricing system and the absence of functioning land markets complicate land valuation, and slow the adoption of new property relations. In a market economy that functions well, agricultural land would earn its approximate marginal value product in agricultural production. This value can be measured empirically from production data and can serve as an appropriate initial value for users'fees. The author estimates marginal value products for land for 1,032 collective and state farms in Lithuania using farm-level data for 1986 and 1987 and compares the marginal value products derived from actual received producer prices with those derived from border prices with alternative assumed exchange rates for the ruble.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems

LEASE CONTRACTING IN SOVIET AGRICULTURE IN 1989

Farm Management,

THE LAW ON COOPERATIVES, RETAIL FOOD PRICES, AND THE FARM FINANCIAL CRISIS IN THE U.S.S.R.

Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance,

PRICE ADJUSTMENT AND SOVIET AGRICULTURAL REFORM: A VIEW USING LITHUANIAN FARM DATA

Agricultural and Food Policy,

AGRICULTURE AND FIVE YEARS OF PERESTROIKA

International Development,

Agricultural Transition in the New Federal States of Germany

International Development,

Control of inhibin production and secretion in the primate ovary

The studies described in this thesis were designed to investigate the control of inhibin production, secretion and localization in the primate ovary. A heterologous radioimmunoassay was established and validated for the measurement of inhibin during the normal menstrual cycle in the stumptailed macaque (Macaca arctoides) and ovulatory cycle in the common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus). The pattern of immunoreactive inhibin secretion was low during the follicular phase, reaching maximum levels during the mid -luteal phase in both species. This is similar to the pattern observed in the human. These results suggest that the corpus luteum is a major source of immunoreactive inhibin secretion in the primate. Inhibin concentrations remained elevated in pregnant marmosets throughout gestation.The gonadotrophic control of inhibin production was investigated in vivo by administration of a luteinizing hormone releasing - hormone (LHRH) antagonist in the stumptailed macaque during the mid -luteal phase. Treatment with LHRH antagonist for 3 days resulted in permanent suppression of luteal function as shown by low serum concentrations of progesterone and immunoreactive inhibin. Replacement of gonadotrophin with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) but not follicle - stimulating hormone (FSH) prevented gonadotrophin induced suppression by antagonist suggesting that inhibin, similar to progesterone, is integrated with the luteinizing hormone (LH) control of the corpus luteum. The control of inhibin secretion was further investigated in an in vitro luteal cell culture system. Human luteal cells secreted progesterone, oestradiol and inhibin in culture. Inhibin secretion by the luteal cells was stimulated by hCG in a dose -dependent manner providing further evidence that the secretion of inhibin is under the control of LH.In an attempt to obtain a model of transitory suppression of luteal function, the effect of treatment with LHRH antagonist for 1 or 2 days during the mid -luteal phase on serum concentrations of progesterone and inhibin was compared. Recovery of progesterone and inhibin secretion was observed in two out of six macaques treated with two injections of antagonist and in three out of six treated with a single injection of antagonist. Therefore, with the regimens of LHRH antagonist employed, this approach was not conducive to obtaining a reliable transitory suppression of luteal function. The effect of ovarian hyperstimulation with FSH on serum concentrations of immunoreactive inhibin in stumptailed macaques in which endogenous gonadotrophin secretion and ovarian activity had been suppressed by an LHRH agonist implant was viii studied. LHRH agonist treatment suppressed both steroids and inhibin. Administration of FSH for 9 days, 8 weeks after agonist implant, resulted in marked elevations in oestradiol and immunoreactive inhibin. This nonphysiological situation demonstrated that developing follicles may be a source of inhibin. However it requires the growth of multiple antral follicles to induce a marked rise in immunoreactive inhibin during follicular development.Inhibin was localized immunocytochemically in the primate ovary using an avidin- biotin immunoperoxidase technique. Intense immunostaining for inhibin a- and I3- subunits was detected within the granulosa- lutein cells of the human corpus luteum. Similar distribution of inhibin a- subunit immunostaining was observed in 12 corpora lutea obtained during early -, mid- and late -luteal phases of the menstrual cycle and no changes in intensity or distribution of staining were apparent at these different stages. The specific localization of inhibin within the granulosa- lutein cells suggests that inhibin production may originate from a discrete cell population within the corpus luteum

Essential Instructional Leadership Behaviors in High Performing, Economically Disadvantaged Schools: Potential Content for Site-based Leaders’ Professional Development

Abstract Professional development of site-based leadership has become a growing area of focus to effect change in schools (Houle, 2006; Barnes, Camburn, Sanders, & Sebastian, 2010; Spanneut, Tobin, & Ayers, 2012; Price, 2012; Prytula, Noonan, & Hellsten, 2013; Ganon-Shilon, & Schechter, 2017). Defining what to present in site-based leaders\u27 professional development remains a concern (Oliver, 2005; Da\u27as, Schechter, & Qadach, 2018). The conceptual framework and subsequent three research questions of the study grew from the need for clarity of content for site-based leaders\u27 professional development. Hallinger\u27s (1982, 1990), Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) three dimensions, and its ten job function subscales influenced the inquiry process of the study. The degree to which site-based leaders in high performing economically disadvantaged school provide instructional leadership in schools is the first element of inquiry. Secondly, the study sought to elicit which of the PIMRS\u27 ten instructional leadership job function subscales are perceived as most frequently enacted by principals. Lastly, the exploration of which of the PIMRS ten instructional job function subscales that is perceived as most essential in supporting students\u27 academic gains is presented. The non-experimental study used the PIMRS and two (2) other added survey questions specifically about perceptions regarding the PIMRS\u27 ten job function subscales. The study’s purposive sample population are Principals and Middle Academic Leaders (Assistant Principals, Academic Deans, Interventionists, Lead Teachers, and other leadership faculty) assigned to their high performing, economically disadvantaged schools in Louisiana for at least one school year before the study. Measures of central tendency were collected, calculated, and analyzed in response to the study’s three research questions using SPSS. Specifically, identification of Essential Instructional Leadership Behaviors (EILB) as potential content for site-based leaders\u27 professional development was investigated. Provided is insight into designing professional development for site-based leaders in schools. The scope of this study was limited to school settings in Louisiana and perceptions about the principals\u27 instructional leadership behaviors who were involved in the study. The findings’ implications offer possibilities for content that is relevant to the improvement of practice, and research policies

RUSSIAN FARM ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE AND RESTRUCTURING: A DEBT PROBLEM OR A PROFITABILITY PROBLEM?

Farm Management,

Decollectivization and the agricultural transition in Eastern and Central Europe

The agricultural transition is an essential part of stabilization and adjustment in Eastern and Central Europe because agricultural sectors are large and food is important. The supply response that many within and outside the region expected to emerge early and expeditiously is complicated by the removal of consumer subsidies and constrained export demand. In an atmosphere of acute economic uncertainty and declining farm incomes, the distribution of agricultural land is proceeding. The author traces the liberalization of food prices and the distribution of agricultural land to date. The essence of the agricultural transition is the state's withdrawal from its traditional role as residual claimant of rents forthe use of agricultural resources. This role will pass in stages to owners of land. The author concludes that an agricultural transition when demand is constrained is more difficult to manage than one in which the fruits of institutional change and productivity growth find ready outlets. Moreover, although price movements are not yet clear, it appears that removing subsidies on feed, credit, fertilizer, machinery, and energy will move the terms of trade against agriculture - particularly against the large livestock sector. The need to increase productivity will thus be even greater than in the past. Any progress on the demand side will thus give a major impetus to the institutional changes needed on the supply side.Access to Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access