Benefit Transfer in the Field: Measuring the Benefits of Heterogeneous Wetlands using Contingent Valuation and Ecological Field Appraisals

Wetlands have functional values that may extend beyond traditional real estate values. This paper uses contingent valuation and ecological field assessments to place heterogeneous values on heterogeneous wetlands. Wetland functions evaluated are water quality, habitat, recreation, storing floodwaters and erosion abatement. The model used incorporates the public value of wetland functions and adds that value to the common local appraisal cost. We use a “percentage willingness-to-pay” value elicitation question in which respondents are asked about the percentage amount that the state government should pay over and above market value to purchase and preserve a wetland function. These values are then mapped into an ecological matrix to value the wetland as a whole. We show how these values can be applied in the field. Key Words: wetlands, appraisal, evaluation, mitigation, contingent valuation methodLength:

Prehension and perception of size in left visual neglect

Right hemisphere damaged patients with and without left visual neglect, and age-matched controls had objects of various sizes presented within left or right body hemispace. Subjects were asked to estimate the objects’ sizes or to reach out and grasp them, in order to assess visual size processing in perceptual-experiential and action-based contexts respectively. No impairments of size processing were detected in the prehension performance of the neglect patients but a generalised slowing of movement was observed, associated with an extended deceleration phase. Additionally both patient groups reached maximum grip aperture relatively later in the movement than did controls. For the estimation task it was predicted that the left visual neglect group would systematically underestimate the sizes of objects presented within left hemispace but no such abnormalities were observed. Possible reasons for this unexpected null finding are discussed

LEADING INDICATORS FOR REGIONAL COTTON RESPONSE: STRUCTURAL AND TIME SERIES MODELING RESULTS

Resurging southeastern cotton production compels better cotton acreage forecasts for planning seed, chemical, and other input requirements. Structural models describe leading acreage response indicators, and forecasts are compared time-series models. Cotton price, loan rate, deficiency payments, lagged corn acreage, the PIK program, and previous cotton yield significantly influence response.Crop Production/Industries,

LEADING INDICATORS OF REGIONAL COTTON ACREAGE RESPONSE: STRUCTURAL AND TIME SERIES MODELING RESULTS

Resurgent cotton production compels better acreage forecasts for planning seed, chemical, and other input requirements. Structural models describe leading acreage response indicators, and forecasts are compared to time-series models. Cotton price, loan rate, deficiency payments, lagged corn acreage, the PIK program, and previous cotton yield significantly influence cotton acreage response.resurgent cotton production, cotton acreage, Crop Production/Industries,

Fair trade and free entry: Can a disequilibrium market serve as a development tool?

The Fair Trade (FT) coffee initiative attempts to channel charity from consumers to poor producers via increased prices. We show that the rules of the FT system permit this rent to be eliminated due to free entry and costly excess certification of output. Using data from an association of coffee cooperatives in Central America, we verify that expected producer benefits are close to 0 when we take into account the output that is certified but not sold as FT. Our results illustrate how free entry undermines the attempt at extending charity via a price distortion in an otherwise competitive market

Vacuum type I spacetimes and aligned Papapetrou fields: symmetries

We analyze type I vacuum solutions admitting an isometry whose Killing 2--form is aligned with a principal bivector of the Weyl tensor, and we show that these solutions belong to a family of type I metrics which admit a group $G_3$ of isometries. We give a classification of this family and we study the Bianchi type for each class. The classes compatible with an aligned Killing 2--form are also determined. The Szekeres-Brans theorem is extended to non vacuum spacetimes with vanishing Cotton tensor.Comment: 19 pages; a reference adde