BORROWING BEHAVIOR OF THE PROPRIETARY FIRM: DO SOME RISK-AVERSE EXPECTED UTILITY MAXIMIZERS PLUNGE?

When a proprietor's liability is limited, borrowing behavior for an expected utility maximizer may vary widely. Proprietors with little to lose may rationally choose very large debt levels while others may choose to finance with 100% equity. This article presents a theory to explain these widely observed variations in behavior.Financial Economics,

RISK ANALYSIS FOR PROPRIETORS WITH LIMITED LIABILITY: A MEAN- VARIANCE, SAFETY- FIRST SYNTHESIS

Since nearly the entire U.S. output of agricultural commodities is produced by proprietors with limited liability, it is important to understand how limited liability affects decision in a risky environment. This article extends the work of Robinson and Barry; Robinson and Lev; and Robinson, Barry, and Burghart. It provides a rigorous derivation of one of their objective functions, compares it to standard risk analysis tools, and suggests several methods of empirical implementation. Under some conditions, utility maximization in the limited liability environment is consistent with optimization of Roy's safety-first criterion, while in other situations Freund's mean-variance criterion is appropriate. However, it is easy to demonstrate cases where neither criterion is applicable.Risk and Uncertainty,

SMALL SAMPLE PROPERTIES OF THE TWO INDEPENDENT SAMPLE TEST FOR MEANS FROM BETA DISTRIBUTIONS

Researchers often collect proportion data that cannot be interpreted as arising from a set of Bernoulli trials. Analyses based on the beta distribution may be appropriate for such data. The SAS® GLIMMIX procedure provides a tool for these analyses using a likelihood based approach within the larger context of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM). The small sample behavior of likelihood based tests to compare the means from two independently sampled beta distributions were studied via simulation when the null hypothesis of equal means holds. Two simulation scenarios were defined by equal and unequal sample sizes and equal scale parameters. A third scenario was defined by equal sample sizes and unequal scale parameters. For all three scenarios the values of the common mean μ ranged from 0 and 0.5 and values of the scale parameter ϕ ranged from 0 to 100

How Attitudes of Important Stakeholder Groups Can Influence Effective Water Quality Management

Preliminary results of a survey of Lincoln Lake agricultural and non-agricultural watershed residents as well as water quality regulators/specialists suggests discrepancies exists in different groups perceptions of water quality, the sources of water pollution, and the roles of local, county, state and federal officials in meeting water quality objectives.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q25, Q53, Q59,

Cost and benefits of using best management practices to control non-point sources of pollution under environmental and economic uncertainty

The economy of northwest Arkansas, including the Lincoln Lake watershed (a sub-watershed of the Illinois River), relies greatly upon livestock and poultry production. The supply of production by-products is increasingly under scrutiny as one of the potential sources of water pollution in the region. In light of the recent economic crisis, methodologies that help producers to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of several practices before implementing them may be a cost-effective means of increasing BMP adoption. This study uses stochastic dominance techniques to evaluate, environmentally and economically, ten best management practices (BMPs) combinations to lessen water pollution in the Lincoln Lake watershed. All BMP combinations analyzed were effective in reducing total phosphorous (TP) losses. However, six combinations also decreased net returns (NR) when compared to a baseline. This suggests that including BMPs in the bermudagrass production systems may lead to increased NR risk. Without additional incentives, producers will not likely implement these BMP combinations regardless of their TP reduction benefits. Although, as expected, rankings of BMP combinations in terms of TP or NR differed from each other, four scenarios established that environmental and economic goals are not necessarily conflicting; they may be complementary. Additionally, this analysis revealed that producers’ risk preferences did not matter when selecting among the top-four BMP combinations but it could be a factor for other less preferred scenarios.nonpoint pollution, watershed, best management practices, risk analysis, stochastic dominance, Environmental Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, Q25, Q53,

A SIMULATION STUDY OF EXPONENTIAL SEMIV ARlO GRAM ESTIMATION

Incorporating the spatial structure of data from agricultural field experiments into inference procedures has become an important topic in recent years. As part of a larger project to determine whether or not reliable predictions and estimates can be obtained for sample sizes often encountered in traditional field experimentation, this paper focuses on the small sample estimation of the parameters of the exponential semivariogram model. Simulation studies were conducted for both expanding and fixed domains. The results indicate large sample to sample variation in sample and fitted semivariograms, neither of which may be close to the true model. Distributions of individual parameter estimators are skewed and highly variable. Empirical coverage levels for large sample confidence intervals for the parameters are well below the nominal level and, contrary to what would be expected, decrease as the sample size increases. The results cast doubt on the success of incorporating spatial structure into traditional field data analyses

The influences of poultry litter biochar and water source on radish growth and nutrition

Many row-crop fields today have declined in soil fertility due to poor management practices and overuse of pesticides. Under these conditions, plant nutrient uptake can be sub-optimal. There are several soil amendments that can be used to improve soil quality and plant growth. This study focused on the addition of biochar to the soil and the use of structured water to enhance plant growth. Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of organic feedstocks. Previous studies which focused on biochar have shown an increase in plant yield, nutrient availability in the soil, and soil water holding capacity. Structured water is the liquid crystalline state of water which has unique characteristics due to the ordering of the hydrogen bonds in the water molecules. There have been numerous claims in the natural and organic health literature about the benefits of structured water in human and animal health, but little has been reported in the scientific literature concerning plant growth response. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of biochar and structured water on the growth and nutrient content of radishes (Raphahus sativa L.). Data showed that the water type used had the most significant response. Biochar and tap water had a significant and positive interaction. Tap water and biochar used together resulted in higher yield, leaf area, plant fresh weight, and nutrient contents as the rate of biochar increased. Radish growth showed a negative response to structured water in almost every circumstance

ANALYSIS OF THE ALLELOPATHIC POTENTIAL OF RICE USING K-MEANS CLUSTERING OF HPLC CHROMATOGRAMS

Allelopathy is the ability of an organism to affect the growth of another organism through the introduction of chemical compounds into the environment. Several researchers have reported rice inhibition of the growth of weed species such as barnyard grass and ducksalad. The objective of this study was to relate patterns found in HPLC chromatograms for leaf extracts of different rice accessions to their weed control activity. K-means cluster analysis was performed on 20 peak heights from chromatograms from 40 rice accessions. The resulting clusters corresponded to observed behavior of the accessions reported in other sources. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine if the number of peaks needed to separate accession types could be reduced

Factors Affecting Transformation Efficiency of Poplar Hybrid Line NC5331 by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Acetosyringone, pH, and glucose, which may affect Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation to poplar hybrid line NC5331, were investigated in an attempt to raise the gene transfer efficiency. The Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain used harbored disarmed vector (pMON9749) carrying a bet-glucuronidase gene and a kanamycin resistant marker. With the addition of acetosyringone at 25 to 75 MuM, the transformation efficiency was significantly enhanced, but dependent on pH. Acetosyringone required a pH above 5.8 to achieve an efficient gene transfer and failed to enhance the transformation at lower pH. However, with addition of both acetosyringone and glucose, the transformation was not affected by pH. We conclude that optimizing transformation conditions may be very critical for a specific plant species and/or the Agrobacterium strain

Soil Moisture Regime and Mound Position Effects on Soil Water and Vegetation in a Native Tallgrass Prairie in the Mid-Southern United States of America

Prairie mounds are unique soil surface features that will become increasingly scarce as native tallgrass prairies are continually lost. This study aimed to evaluate (i) whether the soil moisture regime (SMR), mound position, and soil depth affect soil volumetric water content (VWC) and (ii) whether the SMR and mound position affect vegetation over time. Soil VWC was measured continuously from April 2017 to June 2018, and vegetation was sampled in June and August 2017 and in May and August 2018. Maximum VWC for selected rainfall events was ~ 2.5 times greater at 10 cm in the aquic inter-mound than the udic mound position at 30 cm. Soil dry-down rates were four times greater in the udic soil at 10 cm than the aquic soil at 30 cm. Aboveground plant biomass was numerically largest (8489 kg ha−1) at the aquic summit in August 2018 and smallest (1280 kg ha−1) at the aquic inter-mound in May 2018. Results clearly demonstrate the effects that prairie mound topography and differing SMRs have on soil water dynamics and prairie vegetation and suggest that management efforts need to account for mound topography and SMR in order to be most successful