Does Politics Matter in EPA's Monitoring Activities? Evidence from Facility Level Data on Enforcement of Clean Air Laws

This paper studies the potential effects of political pressure on environmental law enforcement in the Unites States. Prior work, most notably the key works of Deily and Gray, document the sensitivity of U.S. environmental enforcement to economic circumstances of regulated firms. However, the sensitivity of environmental enforcement may be motivated not only by cost-benefit criterion (economic costs of environmental enforcement against troubled firms in high unemployment areas are high) but also by political considerations, and most likely both. We are interested in identifying whether political influence directly affected environmental enforcement during the years 1990-2005, which cover most part of the Bush and Clinton administrations. Using political, demographic and income related data from various sources and mapping them with EPA's data on facility level inspection, we find evidence that political processes at the local, state and federal level do matter for facility level inspection.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Does Market Concentration Promote or Reduce New Product Introductions? Evidence from US Food Industry

This study analyzes the relationship between market concentration and new product introductions using an extensive annual panel data set covering the period 1983 to 2004 from the US processed food industry. We test the new theory, which argues that new product introductions are influenced by the anticipation of future mergers. The evidence suggests that market concentration increases new product introductions and product introductions spur subsequent mergers in the US processed food industry. Hence it provides evidence in support of the anticipatory mergers theory.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

Bi-Directional Links Between Population Growth and the Environment: Evidence From India

This paper presents an empirical study of population growth and environmental change using cross-sectional district-level data from South, Central and West India. Environmental change is measured using a satellite-based "greenness" index. Unlike prior work, the analysis treats population and environmental change as jointly determined, distinguishes between rural and urban populations, and identifies distinct roles of fertility and migration. Among key findings are that population and "greenness" are jointly endogenous; increased rural fertility leads to environmental decline, which in turn prompts increased fertility; environmental scarcity spurs out-migration and environmental improvement; and increased urban fertility may lead to increased environmental quality, which in turn may spur increased fertility.Environmental Economics and Policy,

RISK AND RETURN IN AGRICULTURE: EVIDENCE FROM AN EXPLICIT-FACTOR ARBITRAGE PRICING MODEL

This article develops and estimates an explicit-factor Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) model in an endeavor to uncover (a) the systematic risk properties of returns to agricultural assets, (b) the relationship between agricultural returns and returns on comparable-risk nonagricultural assets, and (c) the possible relevance of agriculture-related risks in general capital markets. The article concludes that: (a) farmer-held assets have exhibited significant systematic/ factor risk over the 1963-82 estimation interval, but U.S. farmland has not exhibited such risk; (b) a grain-price index has been a priced factor in general capital markets; and (c) average returns on farmer-held assets have been significantly lower; and average returns on U.S. farmland significantly higher, than those on comparable-risk nonagricultural assets.Agricultural Finance,

Is There a Nexus between Poverty and Environment in Rural India?

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between rural poverty and environmental change using district-level data from South, Central and West India. Unlike prior works, this study puts the hypothesis of bi-directional link between poverty and environment to econometric test. Environmental change is measured using a satellite-based vegetation index. Consonant with the dominant view in the literature, the evidence suggests that rural poverty spur vegetation degradation. The results also indicate that the vegetation degradation spurs rural poverty but the magnitude of the effect varies across sub regions classified on the basis of geographic and climatic factors. Thus these results provide evidence in support of existence of a poverty-environment nexus in rural India.Food Security and Poverty,

TAX REFORM AND BEEF COW REPLACEMENT STRATEGY

This paper models optimal beef cow replacement strategy in a stochastic environment under U.S. income tax rules effective before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Under each tax regime, the producer's buy versus raise decision and optimal culling age choice are analyzed. Per-cow profit levels are also calculated. Results of the numerical analysis indicate that tax law changes, particularly the loss of the capital gains exclusion and restrictions on preproduction expensing, will have significant effects on both optimal decisions and profitability of beef cow operations. When provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 are fully effective in 1988, the optimum age for culling beef cow will increase, as will the after-tax costs of beef cow operations.Agricultural Finance, Livestock Production/Industries, Public Economics,

Slotting Allowances and Retail Product Variety under Oligopoly

Slotting fees are fixed charges paid by food manufacturers to retailers for access to the retail market. The role of the practice and its effects on market efficiency are highly controversial. To date, the literature has focused on the effect of the practice on retail prices; however, slotting allowances also have the potential to alter the range of products available to consumers. Our analysis reveals that the strategic use of slotting allowances by oligopoly firms leads to a superior allocation of product variety among retailers. Indeed, absent price effects, we show that slotting allowances lead to the socially optimal provision of product variety.Slotting fees, vertical contracts, monopolization., Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Industrial Organization, Marketing, L13, L14, L42, D43,

Strategies for securing the unity of the self in Augustine and certain modern psychologists

My thesis explores what is involved in attaining an integrated sense of self, a question which is both interesting in its own right and which can also provide one enlightening means of comparing the disciplines of theology and psychology. The first two chapters establish the theological method to be followed and provide an ideological context. I describe why the relationship between theology and psychology is a particularly problematic one and outline why I think some of the methods so far proposed for relating them are unsatisfactory. I suggest instead that in some respects the two disciplines may be seen as providing alternative strategies for securing the unity of the self. With the aid of Charles Taylor's philosophy of personhood, I set out what I mean by the self and what constitutes the unity of the self. I describe how the modem self has developed historically through the relation of individuals to sources of value, and I suggest that theology and some forms of psychology can be understood as offering expressions of complementary sources of such value and hence can be related to one another. I consider postmodern attacks on the unified self and conclude that our contemporary context is one which demands less strongly ordered forms of integrating the self than those which have come down to us in the Western intellectual tradition. The next four chapters focus on the work of key representatives of the theological and psychological traditions. From the side of theology, I describe Augustine's conviction that an individual might move from a state of fragmentation to a state of wholeness through being remade in the image of the one God (chapter 3). From the psychological side, I consider Freud's methods for enabling us to move from a state of neurosis to limited self-mastery (chapter 4), and Jung's suggestion that wholeness is attained though discovery and acceptance of the natural realm lying within the psyche (chapter 5). 1 then review the proposals for uniting the self behind the project of self-actualisation that have been developed by the humanistic psychologists, in particular Fromm, Maslow and Rogers (chapter 6).In conclusion (chapter 7) 1 suggest some ways in which Augustine's theology needs to be revised if it is to be relevant to our contemporary self-understanding, and show how the most promising strategy for unifying the self is likely to arise from a combination of an Augustinian theistic outlook with the insights of these modem psychologists

Dialogic Communication in Collaborative Problem Solving Groups

Discourse, especially dialogic communication between students in collaborative problem-solving groups, plays a central role in educational reforms informed by learning science. This study examined the quality of discourse in problem-based learning groups in a university course. The study found a low incidence of high quality dialogue (dialogic communication, elaboration and co-construction of ideas, productive disciplinary discourse) in 12 one-hour planning meetings. The most competent students took leadership in groups and made the majority of the conceptual contributions. Although there was a reasonable amount of time spent connecting theories to cases, there was little time spent in high-level analysis and very few instances of true dialogic discourse. The majority of time was devoted to activities involving organizing, planning and logistics and organizing the presentation. There was very little off-task behavior. Key Words: Classroom Discourse, undergraduate education, learning science

Do Voluntary Pollution Reduction Programs (VPRs) Spur Innovation in Environmental Technology

In the context of the EPA's 33/50 program, we study whether a VPR can prompt firms to develop new environmental technologies that yield future emission reduction benefits. Because pollutant reductions generally require costly reformulations of products and/or production processes, environmental over-compliance induced by a VPR may potentially spur environmental innovation that can reduce these costs. Conversely, a VPR may induce a participating firm to divert resources from environmental research to environmental monitoring and compliance activities that yield short-term benefits in reduced emissions. We find evidence that higher rates of 33/50 program participation are associated with significant reductions in the number of successful environmental patent applications four to six years after the program ended; these results suggest a negative relationship between the 33/50 program and longer-run environmental innovation.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,