THE POSSIBILITY OF A PRIVATE CROP INSURANCE MARKET: THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

The theoretical foundation for risk pooling in insurance has heavily depend on the independence assumption of losses, which is severely violated in crop insurance. A weaker condition, asymptotic nonpositive correlation can also lead to risk pooling and is satisfied by yield losses. Therefore, private insurance and reinsurance markets may work.Risk and Uncertainty,

Long Run Macroeconomic Relations in the Global Economy

This paper focuses on testing long run macroeconomic relations for interest rates, equity, prices and exchange rates within a model of the global economy. It considers a number of plausible long run relationships suggested by arbitrage in financial and goods markets, and uses the global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model in Dees, di Mauro, Peseran and Smith (2007) to test for long run restrictions in each country/region conditioning on the rest of the world. Bootstrapping is used to compute both the empirical distribution of the impulse responses and log-likelihood ratio statistic for over-identifying restrictions. The paper also examines the speed with which adjustments to the long tun relations take place via the persistence profiles. We find strong evidence in favour of the uncovered interest parity and to a lesser extent the Fisher equation across a number of countries, but our results for the PPP are much weaker. Also as to be expected, the transmission of shocks and subsequent adjustments in financial markets are much faster than those in goods markets

Food Safety and Demand: Consumer Preferences for Imported Pork in Urban China

China’s transition into a developed economy is driving changes in consumer preferences and demand for foods. The objective of this study is to assess and measure consumers’ preferences for and attitudes toward imported pork in urban China. Estimated logit models based on a consumer survey conducted in 2008 reveal that individuals’ age, shopping location, and food safety concerns significantly influence their willingness to pay for U.S. pork. Factors affecting purchasing behavior of Western-style pork cuts versus traditional Chinese cuts are also evaluated. Consumers’ food safety concerns were linked to a previous lean-meat additive scare and a lack of confidence in the Chinese food inspection system.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Is Something Amiss? A Commentary on the Aftermath of Phillips v. AWH Corp.

In Phillips v. AWH Corp., decided en banc in July of 2005, the Federal Circuit held that dictionaries or other similar sources may be used to assist a construing court in its quest to interpret the claim language, but must take an inferior role to the meanings of claim terms as they would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the intrinsic evidence. The court further noted that the usage of a term in the specification is the single best guide to the meaning of [a] disputed term. This decision reversed the court\u27s opinion in Texas Digital Inc. v. Telegenix, Inc. (2002) where the court had held that dictionaries and the like are particularly useful resources to assist the court in determining the ordinary and customary meanings of claim terms, and should be consulted before referencing the specification and prosecution history in an attempt to prevent limitations from being read into the claims. In rejecting this approach, the Phillips court stated that, If the District Court starts with the broad dictionary definition in every case and fails to fully appreciate how the specification implicitly limits definition, the error will systematically cause the construction of the claim to be unduly expansive. The article’s topic considers the aftermath of Phillips. The Federal Circuit has already revisited this issue several times since July 2005, and it is drawing much attention from practitioners. One of the main purposes of my article is to profile these post-Phillips cases and their effects. The article also introduces several considerations for the patent prosecutor in the aftermath of Phillips

Consumer Preferences for U.S. Pork in Urban China

China’s transition into a developed economy is driving changes in consumer preferences and demand for foods. To evaluate consumer preferences for U.S. pork in urban China, primary data were collected in two metropolitan areas- Beijing and Shanghai. Estimated logit models revealed that an individual’s age, shopping location and food safety concerns significantly influenced their willingness-to-pay for U.S. pork. A proportional linear model was developed to evaluate factors affecting purchasing behavior of western-style pork cuts vs. traditional Chinese cuts. Food safety concerns were linked to a previous lean-meat additive scare and a lack of consumer confidence on the Chinese food inspection system.China, U.S. Pork, Willingness-to-pay, Ordered Logit, food safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing, D120, D190, M390, Q130, Q180,

Kant’s Anthropology as Klugheitslehre

In this essay I show that Kant intended his anthropology lectures and book, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, to be a Klugheitslehre (theory of prudence). The essay draws on many quotes from these sources to show that Kant wanted to develop a theory of how to use other people for one’s own ends. Although so much of the lectures and book are in conversation with Baumgarten’s empirical psychology, there are enough references to Klugheit (prudence) and klug (clever) action to support this thesis. Prudence is a skill that human beings should develop and hence is not excluded from human life even though it is not the basis of morality. The purpose of Klugheit is to achieve happiness but the means to that happiness involves using other people for one’s own ends. In order to use others as a means to one’s own ends, a person must in someway satisfy the inclinations of the other person so that they cooperate in one’s ends. However it is also possible to dominate another person and use them as well if they are dominated by a passion but this is not prudent since it does not achieve happiness except in the case of a husband and wife. Kant’s distinction between Weltklugheit and Privatklugheit also appears to be confirmed in that he advances the idea that sociable means of gaining the cooperation of others (Privatklugheit) leads to the lasting happiness of a person and to the development of civilization

THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PREDICTING ADOPTION OF WIND EROSION CONTROL PRACTICES

Logit and ordered probit analyses were used to identify factors associated with reduced tillage adoption, continuous spring cropping, and the number of changes made in response to wind erosion. Contrary to previous results for water erosion control, simple perception of a wind erosion problem or membership in a particular socioeconomic category did not significantly explain adoption of wind erosion control practices, but participating in a targeted educational program did. This educational program: (a) highlighted the threats of wind erosion to human health and to soil productivity, and (b) described specific potentially profitable farming practices for solving the wind erosion problem.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Getting the Most Bang for Your Therapy Minute: Sound and Word Complexity in Treatment of Children with Phonological Disorders

Research shows that the complexity approach to phonological treatment has a stronger evidence-base than other treatment options yet implementation in clinical practice has been missing, most likely due to a lack of familiarity with this approach. This session provided a tutorial on the main sound (accuracy, implicational universals, developmental norms, stimulability, sonority sequencing principle for clusters) and word characteristics (frequency, density, age-of-acquisition, lexicality) that guide treatment planning in the complexity approach. Case studies were used to provide practice selecting sounds and words within a complexity approach for a variety of different cases. Practical issues in using this approach (i.e., how to actually teach complex sounds and words) along with clinical materials were shared to support greater implementation of this evidence-based approach in attendee’s clinical practice