Self-Employment, Family Background, and Race

We focus on the intergenerational transmission of the propensity to be self-employed. Our emphasis is on the role of family background, and in particular, on what we call the intergenerational pick-up rate with respect to self-employment, the probability that a person with a self-employed parent will become self-employed him or herself. We use the General Social Survey, a data source with rich information on individuals' family histories, to investigate how family background affects self-employment probabilities and to document how racial and ethnic groups differ with respect to the intergenerational pick-up rate. We confirm earlier findings that father's self-employment status is an important determinant of offspring's self-employment outcomes. New results include: 1) The impact of paternal self-employment differs by race. 2) Even independent of father's occupation, family structure plays a role. 3) Blacks have lower self-employment rates than whites in part because they have different family structures; still, within each family type, blacks have lower self-employment rates. 4) Extrapolating current patterns into the future, there is no indication that black and white self-employment rates will converge any time soon. 5) The relatively high self-employment rates of immigrants carry into the next generation, but not beyond that. 6) Male immigrants who have self-employed fathers re no more likely to be self-employed than other immigrants.

Tax Analysis in an Oligopoly Model

In this paper we analyze taxation using the conjectural variations model of oligopoly. We demonstrate the way in which the incidence of a tax depends upon the pattern of firm interaction. The results obtained have important implications for the controversy surrounding the question of whether a tax oncorporate income can be over-shifted. We also study normative aspects of taxation. The focus here is on the errors that can arise in excess burden calculations when incorrect assumptions on market structure are made.

Cosmological baryon and lepton number in the presence of electroweak fermion-number violation

In the presence of rapid fermion-number violation due to nonperturbative electroweak effects certain relations between the baryon number of the Universe and the lepton numbers of the Universe are predicted. In some cases the electron-neutrino asymmetry is exactly specified in terms of the baryon asymmetry. Without introducing new particles, beyond the usual quarks and leptons, it is necessary that the Universe possess a nonzero value of B - L prior to the epoch of fermion-number violation if baryon and lepton asymmetries are to survive. Contrary to intuition, even though electroweak processes violate B + L, a nonzero value of B + L persists after the epoch of rapid fermion-number violation. If the standard model is extended to include lepton-number violation, for example through Majorana neutrino masses, then electroweak processes will reduce the baryon number to zero even in the presence of an initial B - L unless 20 M(sub L) approximately greater than the square root of (T(sub B - L) m(sub P1)) where M(sub L) sets the scale of lepton number violation and T(sub B - L) is the temperature at which a B - L asymmetry is produced. In many models this implies that neutrinos must be so light that they cannot contribute appreciably to the mass density of the Universe

FARMER TRUST IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES: EVIDENCE FROM MISSOURI CORN AND SOYBEAN PRODUCERS

We examine whether cooperatives are characterized by greater trust than investor-owned firms. We survey 2000 Missouri corn and soybean farmers and find that trust and farmer perceptions of trustworthiness and competence are higher in cooperatives than in investor-owned firms and that trust is a significant factor explaining the choice of farmers to market to cooperatives rather than investor-owned firms. Interestingly, we find that trust is more significant in producers' decisions for marketing soybeans than for corn.Agribusiness,

Identifying Marine Key Biodiversity Areas in the Greater Caribbean Region

Anthropocene biodiversity extinction rates are increasing, suggesting a possible sixth global mass extinction event. Biological conservation planners are consequently seeking ways to more effectively protect species at national, regional and global scales. In 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) issued a number of conservation goals (Aichi Targets), including the establishment of protected areas (PA) in terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas of eminent conservation concern by 2020 to reduce and eventually eliminate species’ extinctions, as well as preserve hotspots of biodiversity and dynamic ecosystems. While well-established, adequately enforced PAs increase the likelihood of preserving species and habitats most at risk of extirpation, traditional methods of choosing where to place PAs are frequently inadequate in targeting biodiversity most in need of conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), therefore, formulated a set of criteria and thresholds using quantitative and transparent selection methods to iteratively identify sites where species and habitats are most urgently in need of protection. The identification of these Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) utilizes species-specific spatial occurrence and population data and species’ threat statuses, to locate areas where site-specific protection measures can effectively slow or halt the extinction of species. This study uses species-specific data provided on IUCN’s Red List website and other online data repositories to identify marine KBAs in the Greater Caribbean region using the newly refined, 2016 IUCN KBA criteria and thresholds in order to address the question of if these criteria are effective for marine environments and to understand how this process may improve PA site selection in the greater Caribbean region. Even though previous analyses have identified marine KBAs for threatened species, this study is one of the first attempts to identify KBAs for geographically restricted species in the marine environment. The identified KBAs provide logical starting points for local stakeholders and conservation specialists to verify KBA thresholds and boundaries using localized national and regional datasets. Furthermore, this study will identify significant data gaps in the knowledge of marine species’ occurrences that may prevent the full application of the KBA criteria to all marine species

Farmer Trust in Producer- and Investor-owned Firms: Evidence from Missouri Corn and Soybean Producers

The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com.We examine whether cooperatives are characterized by greater trust than investor-owned firms. We survey 2000 Missouri corn and soybean farmers and find that trust and farmer perceptions of honesty and competence are higher in cooperatives than in investor-owned firms and that trust is a significant factor explaining the choice of farmers to market to cooperatives rather than investor-owned firms. Interestingly, we find that trust is more significant in producers' decisions for marketing soybeans than for corn

Markets, Contracts, or Integration? The Adoption, Diffusion, and Evolution of Organizational Form

The rise of contract farming and vertical integration is one of the most important changes in modern agriculture. Yet the adoption and diffusion of these new forms of organization has varied widely across regions, commodities, or farm types, however. Transaction cost theories and the like are not fully effective at explaining the variation of adoption rates of different organizational forms, in part because of their inherent static nature. In order to explain the adoption, diffusion and evolution of organizational form, a more dynamic framework is required. This paper lays out such a framework for understanding the evolution of organizational practices in U.S. agriculture by drawing on existing theories of economic organization, the diffusion of technological innovation, and organizational complementarities. Using recent trends as stylized facts we argue that the agrifood sector is characterized by strong complementarities among its constituent features and that these complementarities help explain the stylized facts. We also discuss several testable hypotheses concerning changes in organizational form in agriculture.contracting, vertical integration, organizational innovation, diffusion, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, L14, L22, Q13, O33,

Relationship between fish size and otolith length for 63 species of fishes from the Eastern North Pacific Ocean

Otoliths commonly are used to determine the taxon, age, and size of fishes. This information is useful for population management, predator-prey studies, and archaeological research. The relationship between the length of a fish and the length of its otoliths remains unknown for many species of marine fishes in the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, the relationships between fish length and fish weight, and between otolith length and fish length, were developed for 63 species of fishes caught in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. We also summarized similar relationships for 46 eastern North Pacific fish species reported in the literature. The relationship between fish length and otolith length was linear, and most of the variability was explained by a simple least-squares regression (r 2 > 0.700 for 45 of 63 species). The relationship between otolith length and fish length was not significantly different between left and right otoliths for all but one fish species. Images of otoliths from 77 taxa are included to assist in the identification of species. (PDF file contains 38 pages.

Markets, Contracts, or Integration? The Adoption, Diffusion, and Evolution of Organizational Form

The rise of contract farming and vertical integration is one of the most important changes in modern agriculture. Yet the adoption and diffusion of these new forms of organization has varied widely across regions, commodities, and farm types. Transaction cost and other modern theories of the firm help explain the advantages of contracting and integration over reliance on spot markets and commodity brokers. However, these theories do not address the variation in adoption rates of new organizational forms. This paper lays out a more dynamic framework for understanding the evolution of organizational practices in U.S. agriculture, drawing on theories of the diffusion of technology and organizational complementarities. Using recent trends as stylized facts we argue that the agrifood sector is characterized by strong complementarities and that identifying and describing these complementarities more fully sheds considerable light on the organizational structure of agricultural production. We illustrate our arguments with case studies from the oilseed, poultry, and hog industries