Political allocation of U.S. agriculture disaster payments in the 1990s

Legislation passed during the 1990s attempted to move U.S. agriculture disaster relief to a more market oriented process. The failure of this legislation has been attributed to the political system behind agricultural disaster relief. This paper explores the impact of political influence on the allocation of U.S. direct agriculture disaster payments. The results reveal that disaster payments are not based solely on need, but are higher in those states represented by public officials key to the allocation of relief. The effectiveness of legislation aimed at promoting more efficient disaster payments systems, such as crop insurance, over direct cash payments is also examined.Agriculture ; Disaster relief

ENDOGENOUS PROTECTION IN THE MEXICAN CORN AND SORGHUM MARKET

Trade relations between the United States (U.S) and Mexico are increasingly interrelated and important ever since the ratification of NAFTA in 1994. With the advent of NAFTA, tariffs on many agricultural products were lowered or are in the process of being lowered. Mexico implements a tariff-rate quota for corn which is to be phased out by 2009. This quota is divided among the various Mexican corn importers with "cupos", which are import permits. Import permits are administrative trade barriers that can be defined as any obstacle that appears and disappears as market conditions change. It is widely recognized in the literature that administrative trade barriers create numerous obstacles to the international exchange of agricultural products. In this paper a conceptual structural model of international marketing margins and trade uncertainty is specified that links the private market to political factors influencing administrative trade barriers. In doing so, this systematically links trade models specified by Gallagher (1998) and others, which characterize private markets under uncertainty but ignore direct influences from political markets, to work by Trefler (1993) and others, which focus on endogenous trade protection. The general objective of this study is to increase the understanding of the impact of institutional aspects on agricultural trade. The specific objectives are to quantify the impact of import permits for white and yellow corn on international marketing margins between the U.S. and Mexico for white corn, yellow corn, and sorghum, as well as approximate the impact of changing political market variables on total welfare. Conceptually understanding the underlying processes and estimating empirical relationships for these objectives leads to important insights into the effect of the Mexican government's policy of allocating corn import permits have on the price and quantity of corn and sorghum. A complete structural model of white corn, yellow corn, and sorghum is specified, wherein import demand equations are generalized to incorporate simultaneous variables of trade protection (Trefler 1993) and then estimated with a simultaneous tobit estimator. The results provide interesting insights into the way that import permits work in Mexico. Interestingly, generalizing the import demand equations to account for trade protection dramatically alters international marketing margins for white corn and sorghum in a manner consistent with findings in Trefler. However, yellow corn appears unaffected. Further, political and industry interests driving trade protection in Mexico are found to influence import demand. For example, political pressure from corn and sorghum producers has a negative affect on the import demand for corn and sorghum. These results are consistent with other conjectures and findings in public choice analysis, which indicate that increases in import penetration will increase lobbying efforts from domestic firms to decrease imports. These results indicate that as grain producers lobby for a decrease in import permit allocations the import demand for these grains decreases, meaning that they have succeeded in their efforts to reduce import competition. In all, these insights provide the means to better understand how subtle trade barriers affect the trade flow between countries.Crop Production/Industries,

HRXRD study of the theoretical densities of novel reactive sintered boride candidate neutron shielding materials

Reactive Sintered Borides (RSBs) are novel borocarbide materials derived from FeCr-based cemented tungsten (FeCr-cWCs) show considerable promise as compact radiation armour for proposed spherical tokamak,[1],[2],[3],[4],[5]. Six candidate compositions (four RSBs, two cWCs) were evaluated by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the atomic composition, phase presence, and theoretical density. RSB compositions were evaluated with initial boron contents equivalent to 25 at% 30 at%. All RSB compositions showed delamination and carbon enrichment in the bulk relative to the surface, consistent with non-optimal binder removal and insufficient sintering time. Phase abundance within RSBs derived from powder XRD was dominated by iron tungsten borides (FeWB/FeW2B2), tungsten borides (W2B5/WB) and iron borides. The most optimal RSB composition (B5T522W) with respect to physical properties and highest ρ/ρtheo had ρtheo = 12.59 ± 0.01 g cm-3 for ρ/ρtheo = 99.3% and had the weigh-in and post-sintered W : B : Fe abundance closest to 1 : 1 : 1. This work indicates that despite their novelty, RSB materials can be optimized and in principle be processed using existing cWC processing routes

THEORETICAL AND POLICY BACKGROUND TO THE TOP-MARD PROJECT (TOWARDS A POLICY MODEL OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT)

The TOP-MARD project is a 3-year, 11 country, project supported by the EU’s Framework 6 Programme for Research and Technology Development1. The aim of the research project was to build a policy model of multifunctional agriculture and rural development which would link the multiple functions of agriculture with the development and quality of life of rural regions, and explore the influence of different policies on rural development outcomes. In order to deal with both market and non-market outputs, and to explore dynamics over time, a systems modelling approach was adopted.Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

The Relationship between Arm Length and Leg Length with Sit-and-Reach Performance

No abstract was provided

ELECTROCHEMICAL STUDIES OF COPOLYMERS OF 3- PHENYL[5]FERROCENOPHANE-1,5-DIMETHYLENE AND VARIOUS PARA-SUBSTITUTED N-PHENYLMALEIMIDES

Ferrocene is an organometallic compound that consists of an iron atom sandwiched between two cyclopentadienyl rings. It has well understood redox properties and has been extensively studied making it useful in electrical systems. In this research alternating copolymers were synthesized via free radical polymerization from 3-phenyl[5]ferrocenophane-1,5-dimethylene and various para-substituted N-phenylmaleimides. Copolymers between this ferrocenophane and N-substituted maleimides have shown interesting electrical properties and the potential for charge transfer interactions between ferrocene and maleimide moieties. In this work, four new polymers were synthesized with differing electron withdrawing or donating groups on the para-position of the N-phenylmaleimide in order to influence potential for charge transfer complex formation. These polymers were characterized using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis of polymers showed them to be thermostable to approximately 380⁰C. Cyclic voltammetry of polymer solutions and thin films revealed electrochemical reversibility of the materials. UV-vis spectroscopy was used to study charge transfer complex formation. Weak absorbencies in the visible spectrum by polymer thin films suggest electrostatic interactions between ferrocenyl and maleimide moieties

Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Bureaucracy

In 1917 the Bolsheviks anticipated, on the basis of the Marxist classics, that the proletarian revolution would put an end to bureaucracy. However, soon after the revolution many within the Bolshevik Party, including Trotsky, were denouncing Soviet bureaucracy as a persistent problem. In fact, for Trotsky the problem of Soviet bureaucracy became the central political and theoretical issue that preoccupied him for the remainder of his life. This study examines the development of Leon Trotsky's views on that subject from the first years after the Russian Revolution through the completion of his work The Revolution Betrayed in 1936. In his various writings over these years Trotsky expressed three main understandings of the nature of the problem: During the civil war and the first years of NEP he denounced inefficiency in the distribution of supplies to the Red Army and resources throughout the economy as a whole. By 1923 he had become concerned about the growing independence of the state and party apparatuses from popular control and their increasing responsiveness to alien class pressures. Then in later years Trotsky depicted the bureaucracy as a distinct social formation, motivated by its own narrow interests, which had attained a high degree of autonomy from all social classes. Throughout the course of this evolution, Trotsky's thinking was influenced by factors that included his own major concerns at the time, preexisting images and analyses of bureaucracy, and Trotsky's interpretation of unfolding events. In turn, at each point Trotsky's understanding of the general nature of the problem of Soviet bureaucracy directed and shaped his political activities and his analyses of new developments. The picture of Trotsky that emerges is of an individual for whom ideas and theories were extremely important as means of understanding the world, and as a guide to changing it

Turn in your Bible to... : Examining Rhetorical Agency in Sermonic Discourse

Rhetorical agency is an ideologically contentious facet within communication and rhetorical research. While its importance in scholarship can be traced back to early works by Kenneth Burke and Pierre Bourdieu, debate continues regarding the source of agency, how it is enacted in rhetorical application and communication, and who/what can claim responsibility for the communication practices one may utilize in enacting their respective levels of agency. Thus, the ways in which the rhetoric of popular, influential individuals/antecedents affects the rhetorical agency and invention practices of those without significant levels of influence must be examined. American Christianity, in particular the culture created through heavy use of televised and web-media (televangelism), provides an excellent context to examine this subject. The present thesis discusses relevant literature to the topics of rhetorical agency, invention, and antecedents, as well as American Christianity, televangelism, and the changes that have occurred in religious rhetoric within the culture. Additionally, results indicate a high propensity towards rhetorical agency influenced through the themes of identity, adaptation, and audience sensitivity, and encourage pastors to focus on the identity and context through which their agency is manifested