QUANTIFYING GAINS TO RISK DIVERSIFICATION USING CERTAINTY EQUIVALENCE IN A MEAN-VARIANCE MODEL: AN APPLICATION TO FLORIDA CITRUS

The marginal benefit and cost of diversification for Florida orange producers is analyzed using certainty equivalents. Results indicate that for moderate and high levels of risk aversion, diversification into strawberry, grapefruit, or additional orange production is not optimal. However, moderately risk averse Florida orange producers can gain by diversifying into grapefruit production if the annual amortized fixed costs can be reduced by as little as 10 percent.Risk and Uncertainty,

Impact of Government Payments, Depreciation and Inflation on Investment Behavior in American Agriculture Sector Using Sample of Kansas Farms

A farm’s physical investment is affected by its fundamental q and by its financial situation, with the later comprising both the firm’s liquidity and its possibility of facing capital market imperfections. This study determines the effects of government payments, depreciation, and inflation on crop farm machinery and equipment investment behavior employing the Nonlinear Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimator to estimate the investment system. The magnitude of the lagged cash flows such as government payments, cash crop income, and grain income were largely responsible for determining farm investment behavior in the Kansas agriculture sector. An increase in lagged machinery and equipment depreciation and lagged farm motor vehicle and listed property depreciation increases total crop farm investment substantially for an average farm. Statistically, there is no evidence of inflation affects on crop farm machinery investment behavior.Investment, Liquidity, fundamental q, government payments, depreciation, inflation, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics,

RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AND SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS FACULTY IN THE SOUTHERN REGION: A QUARTER OF A CENTURY LATER

Productivity and characteristics of southern agricultural economics faculty was compared to other regional faculty. With few exceptions, faculty members in the Southern region are as productive as their counterparts. We also found that the majority of respondents in all regions considered themselves in the top-quartile in all areas.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC FACULTY SALARIES: A QUARTER OF A CENTURY LATER

Factors influencing the salaries of university agricultural economists were examined and compared to previous work. Results suggest the impact of publication output has remained relatively constant for the past 25 years, while other factors like grantsmanship have changed significantly. Additional analyses suggest significant impacts of appointment apportionment and Ph.D. programs.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

An Analysis of Efficiency of Midwestern Agricultural Cooperatives

Agribusiness,

Framed to fit? Challenging the domestic abuse ‘story’ in child protection

The current framing of domestic violence generates profound problems for those concerned with supporting change for all involved. In particular, the stress on the ‘equal vulnerability’ of all women to domestic abuse, irrespective of economic or social circumstances, is out of line with a developing evidence base and deprives policymakers and practitioners of the conceptual tools that are needed to situate actual identities, choices and challenges with differing implications for women as well as men. In this article, we note the relative lack of attention in the UK to the work of international researchers on how gendered inequalities intersect with those arising from a range of others, crucially, class and ‘race’. This body of work also draws attention to the importance of understanding the impact of state interventions on marginalised communities, an area also neglected in the UK

Challenges in increasing women’s participation in the energy transition in ASEAN and G7 countries: A qualitative approach based on the three tenets of justice

Ensuring an inclusive and just transition towards a low-carbon economy has become increasingly important. This paper emphasises the challenges in increasing the extent of women's participation in the energy transition in ASEAN and G7 countries. In this paper, two research questions are addressed: First, what are the challenges and barriers women face in ASEAN and G7 countries in participating in the energy transition? Second, what are the policies that can be implemented in ASEAN and G7 countries to ensure that the energy transition is both just and inclusive? Using VOSviewer, we found a gap in the literature, particularly in terms of women's perspectives in the context of the energy transition in ASEAN and G7 countries. To bridge this gap, we collected data by conducting interviews with women working in the energy sector in ASEAN and G7 countries. Moreover, we employed scientific literature to strengthen the analysis. These data were qualitatively analysed by applying Jenkins' three tenets of justice in the energy transition. The challenges we identified refer to raising awareness, access to opportunities, cultural background, women's psychological beliefs and physical considerations. Our discussion extends to policy implications, including drivers to policy change, enabling policies and the role of the private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academia and communities in increasing women's participation in the energy transition

Delivery Challenges for Fluoride, Chlorhexidine and Xylitol

The progression or reversal of dental caries is determined by the balance between pathological and protective factors. It is well established that a) fluoride inhibits demineralization and enhances remineralization, b) chlorhexidine reduces the cariogenic bacterial challenge, and c) xylitol is non-cariogenic and has antibacterial properties. The challenge that we face is how best to deliver these anti-caries entities at true therapeutic levels, over time, to favorably tip the caries balance. High caries risk people, including children with Early Childhood Caries (ECC), are a special challenge, since high cariogenic bacterial activity can override fluoride therapy. Current fluoride and chlorhexidine varnishes deliver all their activity within about 24 hours. Early studies with experimental slow release fluoride devices retained elevated levels of fluoride for months in a therapeutic range but have not been pursued. Preventive dentistry has largely ignored the benefits of reducing the bacterial challenge, partially due to primitive and inadequate delivery systems. For example, Chlorhexidine applied as a rinse partially reduces some bacteria but not others that are hiding within the biofilm. Better antibacterials and better delivery systems are needed. Xylitol delivered by gum or lozenge appears to be effective clinically in reducing cariogenic bacteria and caries levels, but novel systems that deliver therapeutic amounts when needed would be a major advance, especially for young children. Reducing the cariogenic bacterial challenge and enhancing the effect of fluoride by the use of new sustained-delivery systems would have a major effect on dealing with caries as a disease

Transformation between Australian datums using a modified transverse Mercator projection

The introduction of the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA94) in the year 2000 will undoubtedly require the transformation of a large amount of coordinate data in Australia. This paper presents a modified transverse Mercator (MTM) map-projection such that the latitude and longitude on one datum are projected so that they closely agree with the transverse Mercator easting and northing on another datum. This approach will allow the introduction of the GDA94 whilst preserving Australian Map Grid (AMG) coordinates. Conversely, the MTM projection can be used to transform coordinates directly from the Australian Geodetic Datum (AGD) to the new Map Grid of Australia (MGA94). In order to test these two approaches, MTM parameters have been computed from 82 co-located GDA94/MGA94 and AGD98/AMG84 coordinates that comprise the Western Australian STATEFIX geodetic network. When using the national seven- and three-parameter datum transformations, the maximum differences between observed and transformed coordinates are 2.04m and 2.21m, respectively. When using the transformation by MTM projection, the projected coordinates agree with the observed coordinates to less than 2.04m