Spatial Dimensions of US Crop Selection: Recent Responses to Markets and Policy

We explicitly measure corn acreage response to the biofuels boom from 2006 to 2010. Specifically, we use newly available micro-scale planting data over time to test whether corn cultivation intensifies in proportion to the proximity of ethanol processors. We control for the endogeneity of plant location to corn acreage by using transportation network data for instruments. Our results show that reducing the distance between a farm and an ethanol plant by one percent increases acreage in corn by 0.64% and reveal a price elasticity of supply of 0.47%. To our knowledge, this is the first study that measures changes in location and intensity of corn planting in response to incentives posed by the recent biofuels boom. The results can serve as a springboard for researchers and policy-makers concerned with crop diversity, environmental sustainability, and greenhouse gas emissions.corn acreage, ethanol, panel data analysis, instrumental variables, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Land Economics/Use, Q1, Q28, C33,

Theological perspectives on accounting: worldviews don’t change overnight

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the 2004 AAAJ special issue (SI): “Accounting and theology, an introduction: Initiating a dialogue between immediacy and eternity,” the relative immediate impact of the call for papers and the relevance of the theme to address issues in accounting today and in the future. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a reflection and is framed around three different modes of engagement with new perspectives as identified by Orlikowski (2015). These are religion as phenomenon, as perspective and as a worldview. The authors draw on Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) framework in order to explore the ontological and epistemological blinkers that have limited the attempts to explore accounting from a theological perspective. Findings: The paper argues that historical and current structures can limit the manner in which accounting research uses theological perspectives. Indeed, the concerns of the initial SI remain – that the contemporary economic and knowledge system is in crisis and alternative ways of questioning are required to understand and respond to this system. Research limitations/implications: As a reflection, this paper is subject to limitations of author bias relating to our beliefs, ethnicities and culture. The authors have sought to reduce these by drawing on a wide range of sources, critical analysis and the input of feedback from other scholars. Nevertheless, the narrative of impact remains a continuing story. Originality/value: In drawing on both an original SI guest editor and a scholar for whom the 2004 SI has become a touchstone and springboard, this paper provides multiple viewpoints on the issue of accounting and theology

The Use of Limited Field Observation in Remedial Design

As a consequence of a slope failure, an investigation was carried out to determine the present and future stability of a gold tailings dam in the Orange Free State, South Africa. Recommendations were also required concerning the type of remedial measure(s) necessary in order to permit continued deposition of the tailings waste product on the dam. The field and laboratory investigation involved sampling of the tailings and foundation soils and installation of piezometers at various locations around the dam. The paper describes how, using data obtained from a limited monitoring period, evaluation of in-situ parameters enabled prediction of future phreatic surface variations under differing operating and climatic conditions

From protest to agenda building: Description bias in media coverage of protest events in Washington, D.C

Social movements often seek to draw attention to issues they deem important by organizing public demonstrations with the aim of attracting mass media coverage. But only a small proportion of all public demonstrations receives any media attention. This article asks whether even the minimal coverage that demonstrations receive reveal any influence of social movements in shaping how issues are framed by the mass media. Analyzing newspaper and television news stories on Washington, D.C. protests held during 1982 and 1991, we ask whether news reports on protests are framed in ways consistent with the aims of protesters. Do demonstrators receive media coverage that highlights the issues about which they are concerned, or does coverage focus on the protest event itself, to the exclusion of the social issues that movements target? Our results support much of the surmising among media scholars, that even when movements succeed at obtaining the attention of mass media outlets, media reports portray protests in ways that may undermine social movement agendas. Despite this obstacle to communicating protest messages through demonstrations, movements engage in other forms of communication that can affect public interpretations of mass media frames

Colorado Deer Hunting Experiences

Those responsible for managing environmental resources, like big game, have often posed questions regarding how best to manage and allocate the resource to “provide benefits to people.” One approach to obtaining information for answering these questions is based on consumer behavior concepts and research. Our consumer-oriented approach to deriving management information for environmental resources, particularly game and other recreational resources, rests on ideas conceptualized by Wagar (1966) and having their theoretical base in psychology’s expectancy-value theory (Lawler 1973). The general theoretical orientation we follow is described in Driver and Brown (1975). We also acknowledge a debt to the multiple satisfactions approach to game management articulated by Hendee (1974). The management orientation of this paper suggests that managers should produce opportunities for game-related recreation which recognize the multiple dimensions of the experience. It is the experience that is the important product of recreation, and quality experiences are a function of how well the consumer’s desired satisfactions are fulfilled. Within this orientation, this paper reports characteristics of the Colorado deer hunter population in terms of the kinds of satisfaction that make up deer hunting experiences. In doing so, the usefulness of cluster analytic techniques for social research in wildlife management is illustrated. The information and analytical techniques discussed in this paper have implications for resource valuation, resource allocation, user management, and related aspects of wildlife planning and management

LONTalk as a Standard Protocol For Underwater Sensor Platforms

Proceedings IEEE, Oceans 97, Halifax, Oct. 1997 IEEE CD-ROM 0-7803-4111-