Examining Factors Affecting Population Change in the Southern United States: An Ongoing Case Study

Urban sprawl and rural rebound are major foci of recent regional economic studies. Using 1980 and 2000 Census data from 11 southern states, binary logit regressions of population changes in rural-and-metropolitan counties and Black Belt-and-non-Black Belt counties reveal education, poverty, employment, and age differences are related to population changes.African Americans, Black Belt, Census, population change, Rural rebound, Urban Sprawl, Southern, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Examining Income Convergence in Southern United States

County-level data for 11 southern states were used to examine income convergence between 1980 and 2000. Ordinary least squares regression of logarithmic difference on average per capita income in 1980 and 2000 indicated conditional income convergence over the 20-year period. The estimated rate of income convergence was 3.82% per year. This convergence varied across the region based on the initial and changed conditions of population density, African-American population, employment, education, age structure, and travel time to work.Financial Economics,

DETERMINANTS OF PARTICIPATION BEHAVIOR OF LIMITED RESOURCE FARMERS IN CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM IN ALABAMA

This study investigated factors that affect participation behavior of limited resource farmers (LRF) in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in Alabama. A binary logit model was employed to analyze data obtained from 611 respondents. Results indicated that males, part-time occupation, total acres, participation in non-conservation related programs, direct method of receiving CRP information, and respondents' interest in receiving CRP information, were strong predictors of participation in the CRP. Key words: Limited resource, CRP, minorities, participation behaviorLimited resource, CRP, minorities, participation behavior, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Farmers' management of rice varietal diversity in the mid-hills of Nepal: implications for on-farm conservation and crop improvement

Season-long monitoring of on-farm rice (Oryza sativa, L.) plots in Nepal explored farmers' decision-making process on the deployment of varieties to agroecosystems, application of production inputs to varieties, agronomic practices and relationship between economic return and area planted per variety. Farmers deploy varieties [landraces (LRs) and modern varieties (MVs)] to agroecosystems based on their understanding of characteristics of varieties and agroecosystems, and the interaction between them. In marginal growing conditions, LRs can compete with MVs. Within an agroecosystem, economic return and area planted to varieties have positive relationship, but this is not so between agroecosystems. LRs are very diverse on agronomic and economic traits; therefore, they cannot be rejected a priori as inferior materials without proper evaluation. LRs have to be evaluated for useful traits and utilized in breeding programmes to generate farmer-preferred materials for marginal environments and for their conservation on-farm

FACTORS AFFECTING PARTICIPATION BEHAVIOR OF LIMITED RESOURCE FARMERS IN COST-SHARE PROGRAMS IN ALABAMA

This study examines factors that affect the participation behavior of limited resource farmers in cost-share programs in Alabama. The data was generated from a survey administered to a sample of limited resource farm operators. A binary logit was employed to analyze the data. Results indicate that college education, age, total farm size, as well as membership in conservation association had significant influence on participation.Agricultural and Food Policy,