Splitting schedules for Internet broadcast communication

The broadcast disk provides an effective way to transmit information from a server to many clients. Work has been done to schedule the broadcast of information in a way that minimizes the expected waiting time of the clients. Much of this work has treated the information as indivisible blocks. We look at splitting items into smaller pieces that need not be broadcast consecutively. This allows us to have better schedules with lower expected waiting times. We look at the case of two items of the same length, each split into two halves, and show how to achieve optimal performance. We prove the surprising result that there are only two possible types of optimal cyclic schedules for items 1, and 2. These start with 1122 and 122122. For example, with demand probabilities p1= 0.08 and p2= 0.92, the best order to use in broadcasting the halves of items 1 and 2 is a cyclic schedule with cycle 122122222. We also look at items of different lengths and show that much of the analysis remains the same, resulting in a similar set of optimal schedules

CREDIT MARKET CONSTRAINTS AND PROFITABILITY IN TUNISIAN AGRICULTURE

This work investigates the link between constraints in agricultural credit markets and farm profitability in a developing country setting. Using data from rural Tunisia in a switching econometric model, this work directly estimates both the determinants of credit constraints and their effects on farm profits. Policy implications are down from the significant differences in estimated profit functions of constrained and unconstrained farmers.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Financial Economics,

Challenging the Goldschmidt Theory of Rural Purchasing Patterns

This work uses unique data from three dairy dependent communities in rural Wisconsin to test established theory and empirical studies that link farm structure to local purchasing patterns and community economic development. A theoretical model of purchasing choices is developed to derive the determinants of local purchasing by dairy farms. This model is tested empirically using a double bounded Tobit model. The empirical estimations find little support for any linkage between farm size and local purchasing patterns across eleven major dairy farm inputs. The results do suggest that different community business characteristics (the supply side) and community attachment provide some explanations for diverse purchasing patterns.

Off-Farm Work and On-Farm Investment

This work has developed a theoretically consistent model of a farm household's choice between working on-farm and working off-farm and the effects of that choice on farm investment choices. The theory demonstrates the potential for wages driven by local economic conditions to be more important to dairy farm investment decisions than characteristics of dairy farms and farmers. The switching regression model developed from the theory is then tested with data from a representative sample of Wisconsin dairy farms. The econometric results demonstrate the importance of wages to farm investment decisions.Farm Management,

Enhancing Student Learning Experiences and Providing Value to the Agribusiness Industry by Building the Industry-Institution Interface

This paper addresses agribusiness industry-institution interfaces, research-education linkages, and improving agribusiness education with opportunities such as agricultural students’ internships with agribusiness companies, conducting applied research, and finding opportunities for agribusiness educational seminars conducted by universities. The rationale for agribusiness internships is discussed, and agribusiness internship structure and planning is outlined. The potential benefits of a Departmental Advisory Board are listed, along with suggestions for implementing such a group. Applied agribusiness research opportunities including case studies and extension, outreach, or trade publications are highlighted, and examples of this type of work are discussed. Finally, continuing education opportunities for agribusiness conferences or symposiums hosted and organized by a university Department of Agribusiness are delineated.advisory board, agribusiness management, case studies, continuing education, internships, Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Working Paper 145 - Assessing the Returns to Education in the Gambia

Using three nationally representative surveys from the country, we estimate the private rates of returns to education in The Gambia. To obtain consistent estimates, we exploit exogenous variation in school availability in the country at the district level at the time current wage earners where born. Our results show that the private rates of returns to education are quite high, although heterogeneous across regions of the country. The high rates of returns are robust to alternate formulations.

The Adoption and Profitability of rbST on Connecticut Dairy Farms

This work estimates Probit and Tobit models of the adoption of rbST on Connecticut dairy farms and then endogenizes that adoption in estimates of milk production and farm profit rates. The work improves on the current literature by allowing the rbST decision to be both continuous and contingent on other technology adoption decisions. The results show that larger farms, with more productivity technologies, and with younger, more educated farmers are more likely to adopt rbST. While rbST is shown to significantly increase milk production there is no evidence it increases profits on a per cow basis.Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

IS SOY MILK? THE ECONOMICS OF THE SOY MILK MARKET

This study uses revealed preferences of consumers to study the consumer benefits from soy milk. The study specifies and estimates structural demand and reduced form models of competition for different milk types using US supermarket scanner data. The introduction of soy milk is used to estimate consumer benefits and valuations. We decompose benefits into two components, competitive and variety effects. Results show relatively small consumer benefits from soy milk.Demand Systems, Q-AIDS, Milk markets, Biotechnology, Soy milk, Food Labeling, Demand and Price Analysis, Q130, C300, D120, D400,