Conservation Auctions and Compliance: Theory and Evidence from Laboratory Experiments

Poster prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association 2010 AAEA,CAES, & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, July 25-27, 2010.Auctions, Conservation contracting, Compliance, Environmental Economics and Policy, C91, D44, Q24,

Global boundedness of solutions to a parabolic-parabolic chemotaxis system with local sensing in higher dimensions

This paper deals with classical solutions to the parabolic-parabolic system \begin{align*} \begin{cases} u_t=\Delta (\gamma (v) u ) &\mathrm{in}\ \Omega\times(0,\infty), \\[1mm] v_t=\Delta v - v + u &\mathrm{in}\ \Omega\times(0,\infty), \\[1mm] \displaystyle \frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu} = \frac{\partial v}{\partial \nu} = 0 &\mathrm{on}\ \partial\Omega \times (0,\infty), \\[1mm] u(\cdot,0)=u_0, \ v(\cdot,0)=v_0 &\mathrm{in}\ \Omega, \end{cases} \end{align*} where $\Omega$ is a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbf{R}^n$($n \geq 3$), $\gamma (v)=v^{-k}$ ($k>0$) and the initial data $(u_0,v_0)$ is positive and regular. This system has striking features similar to those of the logarithmic Keller--Segel system. It is established that classical solutions of the system exist globally in time and remain uniformly bounded in time if $k \in (0,n/(n-2))$, independently the magnitude of mass. This constant $n/(n-2)$ is conjectured as the optimal range guaranteeing global existence and boundedness in the corresponding logarithmic Keller--Segel system. We will derive sufficient estimates for solutions through some single evolution equation that some auxiliary function satisfies. The cornerstone of the analysis is the refined comparison estimate for solutions, which enables us to control the nonlinearity of the auxiliary equation

Auctioning Conservation Contracts and Evaluating the Risk Attitudes of Farmers: Economic Experiments in Japan

Agri-environmental programs in Japan have generally been promoted through the provision of fixed payments for certain environment-friendly farming and management practices. However, the auctioning of agrienvironmental contracts is a noteworthy alternative for the furtherance of such programs. Conservation auctions are used to enhance the cost-effectiveness of public expenses and have been employed in practice as well as tested in various pilot projects in some countries. This study uses an experimental economics method to factor the risk attitude of participants into a comparison of uniform price (UP) auctions and discriminatory price (DP) auctions. Although some studies have compared fixed payments, UP auctions, and DP auctions, the superiority or inferiority of these strategies depends on the settings of an experiment. Consequently, experiments reflecting the Japanese situation could provide further insight into the advantages of each of these methods, and be used to guide policy design. In addition, the study also examines the effects of participants’ risk attitudes on auction performance. Its principal conclusion is that DP auctions outperform UP auctions; this is in line with the findings of previous studies. This empirical research furthers our understanding of environmental auctions in a first step toward the design of such auctions, but field experiments using real farmers should be conducted in order to help corroborate research conclusions before these are applied to the real world.conservation auction, experimental economics, risk attitude, environment-friendly farming, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

A note on construction of nonnegative initial data inducing unbounded solutions to some two-dimensional Keller–Segel systems

It was shown that unbounded solutions of the Neumann initial-boundary value problem to the two-dimensional Keller–Segel system can be induced by initial data having large negative energy if the total mass $\Lambda \in (4\pi, \infty)\setminus 4\pi \cdot \mathbb{N}$ and an example of such an initial datum was given for some transformed system and its associated energy in Horstmann–Wang (2001). In this work, we provide an alternative construction of nonnegative nonradially symmetric initial data enforcing unbounded solutions to the original Keller–Segel model

Conservation Auctions and Compliance: Theory and Evidence from Laboratory Experiments

A number of agri-environmental conservation policies are faced with the problem of imperfect monitoring. This provides farmers an incentive for noncompliance, in which they receive subsidies without implementing the conservation scheme. In this article, bidding behaviors and auction performances are compared for discriminatory-price (DP) and uniform-price (UP) auction in an imperfect monitoring environment. Our laboratory experiments show that although DP has certain advantages in terms of reducing policy costs, UP results in a superior overall performance when compliance behavior is taken into account

Auctioning Conservation Contracts and Evaluating the Risk Attitudes of Farmers: Economic Experiments in Japan

Agri-environmental programs in Japan have generally been promoted through the provision of fixed payments for certain environment-friendly farming and management practices. However, the auctioning of agrienvironmental contracts is a noteworthy alternative for the furtherance of such programs. Conservation auctions are used to enhance the cost-effectiveness of public expenses and have been employed in practice as well as tested in various pilot projects in some countries. This study uses an experimental economics method to factor the risk attitude of participants into a comparison of uniform price (UP) auctions and discriminatory price (DP) auctions. Although some studies have compared fixed payments, UP auctions, and DP auctions, the superiority or inferiority of these strategies depends on the settings of an experiment. Consequently, experiments reflecting the Japanese situation could provide further insight into the advantages of each of these methods, and be used to guide policy design. In addition, the study also examines the effects of participants’ risk attitudes on auction performance. Its principal conclusion is that DP auctions outperform UP auctions; this is in line with the findings of previous studies. This empirical research furthers our understanding of environmental auctions in a first step toward the design of such auctions, but field experiments using real farmers should be conducted in order to help corroborate research conclusions before these are applied to the real world

Bilateral Well Leg Compartment Syndrome Localized in the Anterior and Lateral Compartments following Urologic Surgery in Lithotomy Position

Well leg compartment syndrome (WLCS) is a rare but severe complication after the surgery in lithotomy position. We present a case of bilateral WLCS that occurred after the prolonged urologic surgery in lithotomy position. A 50-year-old man complained of severe bilateral lower leg pain and swelling sixteen hours after the surgery. Physical examination, elevated serum creatine kinase value, contrasting computed tomography, and elevated compartment pressure strongly suggested the development of bilateral WLCS localized in the anterior and lateral compartments. Emergent single-incision fasciotomy was performed four hours after diagnosis. The patient was treated successfully without any neuromuscular dysfunction. An early and accurate diagnosis is important to avoid the delay of treatment and development of neuromuscular dysfunction

The nature of the Moho beneath fast-spreading centers: Evidence from the Pacific plate and Oman ophiolite

It is common knowledge that the Moho is the boundary between the crust and the Earth's mantle. Here we show along several seismic profiles through the Pacific Plate that a correlation exists between the strength of Moho reflections, crustal thickness, and water depth. Where the Moho can be detected clearly, the overlying oceanic crust is systematically thicker and the water depths are shallower. We suggest that two end-members of oceanic crust exist in fast spreading environments: one thick, underlain by a clear Moho; the other thinner, without a Moho; with all intermediate situations. In the Oman ophiolite, the best-preserved on-land analogue of fossil oceanic lithosphere created by fast-spreading, the boundary between the mantle peridotites and the lower crustal gabbros mainly consists of a dunitic transition zone (DTZ) ranging from a few meters to a few hundred meters in thickness. A sudden influx of seawater down to the base of the crust at the mid-ocean ridge (MOR) results in the hydrous (re-)melting of mantle peridotites, producing a dunitic residue at the crust-mantle boundary that represents the most reflective Moho. At the same time, the hydrous melting, in addition to the normal decompression melting, beneath the MOR, increases the thickness of the oceanic crust by enhancing magma production. In the absence of hydrous melting, the DTZ is thin or absent at the crust-mantle boundary, and instead the uppermost mantle harzburgite is intruded by gabbros, and/or the overlying crustal gabbro is intruded by numerous wehrlite bodies, which will be seismically gradational