Contribution of Land Conservation and Freshwater Resources to Residential Property Values in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Growing interest in quantifying values of ecosystem services has generated numerous studies attempting to measure the contribution of neighborhood environmental amenities to urban and suburban property values. Proximity to freshwater resources -- lakes and streams -- has also figured prominently in many of these studies. Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough, analogous to a county under state law, is a large and rapidly urbanizing local government jurisdiction adjacent to Anchorage, the state’s largest metropolitan area. As the population of the borough grows, and more land becomes subdivided and developed, an important question arises regarding the contribution of remaining undeveloped land and natural amenities to the economy of the borough. Visitors who are attracted to the scenery and recreation opportunities of the borough capture some of that value, and contribute to the borough economy through local purchases of goods and services. Private owners of borough real estate, who are willing to pay more for property located close to natural areas and recreation sites, also appropriate a portion of the value, however. This study focuses on this latter component of value of ecosystem services. It provides estimates of the enhanced value of private residential property and undeveloped land in the Mat-Su borough created by local protected open space and outdoor recreation opportunities. After briefly describing the Mat-Su Borough region, we summarize the valuation methods and the data available for the study. Then we present statistical results, followed by a discussion of the implications of the findings for valuing ecosystem services in the Borough. We conclude with suggestions for future research to improve the estimates.The Nature Conservancy of Alaska. The Bullitt Foundation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servic

Corporate Social Performance and Economic Cycles

Do firms respond to changes in economic growth by altering their corporate social responsibility programs? If they do respond, are their responses simply neglect of areas associated with corporate social performance (CSP) or do they also cut back on positive programs such as profit sharing, public/private housing programs, or charitable contributions? In this paper we argue that because CSP-related actions and programs tend to be discretionary, they are likely to receive less attention during tough economic times, a result of cost-cutting efforts. However, the various CSP performance areas vary in terms of their resource requirements and their influence on financial performance (short- and long-term), which suggests that firms may respond differently depending on area. Consequently, in addition to examining CSP concerns separately from positive actions and programs (CSP strengths), we also examine the influence of economic growth across the five areas of diversity, employee relations, the environment, product quality/safety, and the community. Based on data from 837 firms over fifteen years, our results suggest that firms neglect some areas associated with CSP during economic downturns, resulting in increased concerns about community and employee relations, product safety/quality, and the environment. However, this relationship does not apply to positive actions and programs. Instead, firms tend to increase their positive CSP programs in areas such as diversity, employee relations, and the environment during periods of slow economic growth and reduce them when the economy picks up. We offer potential explanations for our findings and discuss their importance to research on CSP

The Self-Dual String and Anomalies in the M5-brane

We study the anomalies of a charge $Q_2$ self-dual string solution in the Coulomb branch of $Q_5$ M5-branes. Cancellation of these anomalies allows us to determine the anomaly of the zero-modes on the self-dual string and their scaling with $Q_2$ and $Q_5$. The dimensional reduction of the five-brane anomalous couplings then lead to certain anomalous couplings for D-branes.Comment: 13 pages, Harvmac, refs adde

WorldMap – A Geospatial Framework for Collaborative Research

WorldMap is a web-based, map-centric data exploration system built on open-source geospatial technology at Harvard University. It is designed to serve collaborative research and teaching, but is also accessible to the general public. This article explains WorldMap's basic functions through several historical research projects, demonstrating its flexible scale (from neighborhood to continent) and diverse research themes (social, political, economic, cultural, infrastructural, etc.). Also shared in this article are our experiences in handling technical and institutional challenges during system development, such as synchronization of software components being developed by multiple organizations; juggling competing priorities for serving individual requests and developing a system that will enable users to support themselves; balancing promotion of the system usage with constraints on infrastructure investment; harnessing volunteered geographic information while managing data quality; as well as protecting copyrights, preserving permanent links and citations, and providing long-term archiving.East Asian Languages and Civilization

A Forty-Year-Old Woman with a History of Psychosis and a Seizure Disorder

In this issue of the Journal, we are introducing a new section. the Interdisciplinary Case Conference. Our goal will be to present psychiatric patients in whom pathology is demonstrable not only by interview, but also by physical examination,laboratory studies. and radiographic imaging techniques

Book Reviews

Book 1 Book Title: Basic EpidemiologyBook Authors: R. Beaglehole, R. Bonita & T. KjellströmPp. viii + 174. (in English, French and Spanish in preparation). $19,40. Geneva: WHO. 1993. Order No. 1150395. ISBN 92-4-154446-5.Book 2Book Title: A Pocket Book of Social and Community PaediatricsBook Author: Jo SibertPp. viii + 164. London: Edward Arnold. 1992. ISBN 0-340-54929-7.Book 3Book Title: Knowledge Beats CancerBook Author: Albert Stegmann AlbertsPp. 226. Illustrated. R55,45. Pretoria: Haum Tertiary. 1993. ISBN 0-7986-3196-1.Book 4Book Title: AIDS and Your ResponsePp. vi + 226. R49,50. ISBN 0-620-17319-X.Book 5Book Title: Principles for Evaluating Chemical Effects on the Aged Population. Enviromnental Health Criteria. No. 144Book Author: W.H.O.Pp. 159. (English only).$20,50. Geneva: WHO. 1993. Order No. 1160144. ISBN 92-4-1571446.Book 6Book Title: The Guide to Heart Sounds: Normal and AbnormalBook Authors: Donald W. Novey, Marcia Pencak & John M. StangAudio-cassette narrated by: Donald W. Novey. pp. xi + 74. Illustrated. Florida: CRC Press. 1988. ISB J 0-8493-0153X.Book 7Book Title: Propachlor. Enviromnental Health Criteria. No. 147Book Author: W.H.O.Pp. 110. (English, French and Spanish summaries). $17,30. Geneva: WHO. 1993. Order TO. 1160147. ISBN 92-4-157147-0.Book 8Book Title: Quality Assurance in Health Care: A HandbookBook Authors: Roger Ellis & Dorothy WhittingronLondon: Edward Arnold. 1993. ISBN 0-340-55273-5.Book 9Book Title:  Rehabilitation after Cardiovascular Diseases, with Special Emphasis on Developing CountriesReport of a WHO expert committee. Technical Report Series No 831. Pp. viii + 122 (available in English, French and Spanish in preparation). Geneva: WHO. 1993. ISBN 92-4-120831-7