Community and Environmental OR: Towards a New Agenda

About the book: Community Operational Research: OR and Systems Thinking for Community Development sets out the current concerns of Community Operational Research (Community OR for short) and explores new possibilities for its continued development. Leading Community OR writers, with international reputations in operational research and systems thinking, have contributed chapters that illuminate different aspects of Community OR theory and practice. There is a focus on the value of systems approaches, and other significant perspectives are also represented. The result is a rich mix of theories, methodologies and case studies that will be a significant resource for both practitioners and academics engaged in community development

Alien Registration- Martin, Gerald (Van Buren, Aroostook County)

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Alvaro Mutis and the Ends of History

Part of the confusion of the current literary and critical moment, in Latin America and elsewhere, involves a debate as to whether the most characteristic forms of contemporary writing are the more apparently transparent (in contrast to current critical practice) or the more impenetrable and indecipherable of literary texts. This debate is of particular relevance to Latin American discussions about the so-called Post-Boom, and the work of the Colombian Alvaro Mutis, a writer who came late to narrative fiction and to critical attention, offers several insights into the links between writing, criticism and idology at this moment close to the end of the century and even, so some thinkers have said, to the end of history

Volunteering and the State

This paper explores the capability of the state to affect the individual’s decision to work for free. For this purpose we combine individual-level data from the European and World Values Survey with macroeconomic and political variables for OECD member countries. Empirically we identify three channels for crowding out of voluntary labor. Firstly, an increase in public social expenditure decreases the probability that the individual will volunteer (fiscal crowding out). Secondly, a political consensus between individuals and the government also induces volunteers to reduce their unsalaried activities (consensual crowding out). And finally, the more a government supports democratization, the lower is the individual’s engagement (participatory crowding out). Religiosity and a more unequal income distribution in a country increase individuals’ willingness to volunteer.Volunteering, voluntary labor supply, private provision of public goods, public social expenditure, political consensus, democratization

CONTRACT FINISHING FOR NEW ENTRANTS IN PORK PRODUCTION

The pork production industry is a far different industry today than it was fifty, twenty, or even five years ago. On diversified Midwestern farms during the mid-to-late 20th century, the swine enterprise was labeled "the mortgage lifter". The hogs added value to home-produced feedstuffs such as corn and increased the income from a given acreage base. As farm mechanization and technology rapidly developed, farms became larger and less diversified as livestock disappeared from many farmsteads. In this paper, we address the question whether swine units can be introduced to non-livestock farms via a coordinated agreement for the grower-finisher phase and make these farms more profitable. To do this, we first describe some of the changes that have taken place in the pork industry. Second, production contracts and grower payments are introduced. Next, we move on to issues of manure management and the value of manure to non-livestock farms. Finally, in the Appendix, financial analyses for sample contract finishing contracts are laid out to help farmers determine if contract finishing could benefit their farming operations.Livestock Production/Industries,

Volunteering and the State

This paper explores the capability of the state to affect the individual's decision to work for free. For this purpose we combine individual-level data from the European and World Values Survey with macroeconomic and political variables for OECD member countries. Empirically we identify three channels for crowding out of voluntary labor. Firstly, an increase in public social expenditure decreases the probability that the individual will volunteer (fiscal crowding out). Secondly, a political consensus between individuals and the government also induces volunteers to reduce their unsalaried activities (consensual crowding out). And finally, the more a government supports democratization, the lower is the individual's engagement (participatory crowding out). Religiosity and a more unequal income distribution in a country increase individuals’ willingness to volunteer.volunteering, voluntary labor supply, private provision of public goods, public social expenditure, political consensus, democratization

The fallacy of the Good Samaritan: Volunteering as a weird way of making money

This paper explores individual motives for volunteering: The analysis is based on the interpretation of volunteering as a consumption good (consumption model) or as a mean to increase individual’s own human capital (investment model). We present an econometric framework taking into account self selection into volunteering and simultaneity between the volunteering decision and the determination of income in order to test these two models and to identify the underlying motives. We find strong statistical evidence for the investment model with a highly robust and significant impact of volunteering on the wage rate. On average the wage premium as the difference in the wage rate between one person volunteering and not volunteering amounts up to 15.7 percent. Within the framework of the investment model it turns out that the number of volunteering hours plays a major role in explaining this wage premium. This supports the idea of volunteering as a mean to accumulate human capital and signalling willingness to perform. As far as the consumption model is concerned we find no convincing statistical evidence for its validity. The strong evidence for the investment model requires the consideration of voluntary activities in the estimation of wage equations. Moreover, we conclude that the existence of the wage premium is a decisive factor for people to volunteer or not and therefore reflects an important argument in the recruitment process of volunteers for several organisations.volunteering; voluntary labour supply; human capital accumulation; wage premium; altruism.

Coasian payments for agricultural external benefits - an empirical cross-section analysis

This paper deals with a cross section analysis of local compensation payments to farmers for their provision of landscape amenities in alpine tourist communities. These payments can be interpreted as the outcomes of Coasian negotiations. Based on Austrian data we empirically identify the underlying determinants of the negotiating process. The probability for a positive negotiation outcome depends on politico-economic factors such as municipal revenues per resident and the share of votes for distinct parties in parliamentary elections. Whereas benefits associated with landscape amenities also play an important role transaction costs of bargaining are of minor relevance. If the variety of the countryside seems to be endangered tourist communities start compensating their farmers for landscape-enhancing activities. Local subsidy schemes supplement European Union and national policies in support of rural areas as they internalize positive agricultural externalities.Coase Theorem; Coasian payments; external benefits of agriculture; landscape-enhancing agricultural services

Routine characterization and interpretation of complex alkali feldspar intergrowths

Almost all alkali feldspar crystals contain a rich inventory of exsolution, twin, and domain microtextures that form subsequent to crystal growth and provide a record of the thermal history of the crystal and often of its involvement in replacement reactions, sometimes multiple. Microtextures strongly influence the subsequent behavior of feldspars at low temperatures during diagenesis and weathering. They are central to the retention or exchange of trace elements and of radiogenic and stable isotopes. This review is aimed at petrologists and geochemists who wish to use alkali feldspar microtextures to solve geological problems or who need to understand how microtextures influence a particular process. We suggest a systematic approach that employs methods available in most well founded laboratories. The crystallographic relationships of complex feldspar intergrowths were established by the 1970s, mainly using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, but such methods give limited information on the spatial relationships of the different elements of the microtexture, or of the mode and chronology of their formation, which require the use of microscopy. We suggest a combination of techniques with a range of spatial resolution and strongly recommend the use of orientated sections. Sections cut parallel to the perfect (001) and (010) cleavages are the easiest to locate and most informative. Techniques described are light microscopy; scanning electron microscopy using both backscattered and secondary electrons, including the use of surfaces etched in the laboratory; electron-probe microanalysis and analysis by energy-dispersive spectrometry in a scanning electron microscope; transmission electron microscopy. We discuss the use of cathodoluminescence as an auxiliary technique, but do not recommend electron-backscattered diffraction for feldspar work. We review recent publications that provide examples of the need for great care and attention to pre-existing work in microtextural studies, and suggest several topics for future work