STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES AND REVENUE GAINS FROM MARKET POWER: THE CASE OF BARLEY MARKETING AND THE CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) is the largest state trading enterprise reporting to the World Trade Organization under article XVII requirements. This study estimates the market power exerted by the CWB in international barley markets. The analysis incorporates international price discrimination across markets for similar types of barley, the intertwining relationships between feed and malting barley markets, and producer behavior in the absence of the CWB. The CWB was able to capture an annual average of $72 million in additional revenue beyond the amount that would have been generated by purely competitive multiple sellers of Canadian barley during the period 1985-94.Marketing,

On the Electronic Spectroscopy of Closed Shell Cations Derived From Resonance Stabilized Radicals: Insights From Theory and Franck-Condon Analysis

Context. Recent attention has been directed on closed-shell aromatic cations as potential carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands. The spectra of mass-selected, matrix-isolated benzylium, and tropylium cations were recently reported. The visible spectrum of benzylium exhibits a large Franck-Condon (FC) envelope, inconsistent with diffuse interstellar band carriers. Aims. We perform a computational analysis of the experimentally studied benzylium spectrum before extending the methods to a range of larger, closed-shell aromatic cations to determine the potential for this class of systems as diffuse interstellar band carriers. Methods. Density functional theory (DFT), time-dependant ((TD)DFT), and multi-configurational self-consistent field second-order perturbation theory (MRPT2) methods in concert with multidimensional FC analysis is used to model the benzylium spectrum. These methods are extended to larger closed-shell aromatic hydrocarbon cations derived from resonance-stabilized radicals, which are predicted to show strong S0 → Sn transitions in the visible region. The ionization energies of a range of these systems are also calculated by DFT. Results. The simulated benzylium spectrum was found to yield excellent agreement with the experimental spectrum showing an extended progression in a low frequency (510 cm-1) ring distortion mode. The FC progression was found to be significantly quenched in the larger species: 1-indanylium, 1-naphthylmethylium, and fluorenium. Excitation and ionization energies of the closed-shell cations were found to be consistent with diffuse interstellar band carriers, with the former lying in the visible range and the latter straddling the Lyman limit in the 13−14 eV range. Conclusions. Large closed-shell polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations remain viable candidate carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands

From Open Table to Open Tables: The Challenge and Opportunity of Hospitality in the Suburbs

The goal of this project was to create a space within which a missional future and imagination could be cultivated in a local congregation. In order to do so, participants would need to be able to name their present praxis, reflect upon it with cultural resources, and bring that into dialogue with Scripture, denominational tradition, and local context. By first bringing into awareness and understanding how the congregation’s suburban context frames their missional imagination and action, participants will be better prepared to address the adaptive challenge of connecting with the context. The means to reach this goal was a hospitality experiment around the suburban tables of participants. It is argued that by practicing hospitality the participants’ awareness and understanding of their cultural context, scriptural resources, and denominational traditions would be increased and their efforts would lead to further diffusion within the congregation and missional innovation beyond it. This hypothesis was tested among four groups of participants within the Tylersville Road Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Mason, Ohio. To validate this hypothesis a hospitality measurement was given before and after the experiment, qualitative interviews to evaluate the experiment were done, and a congregational survey to measure diffusion was given. This project concludes that practicing hospitality in this experiment did increase participants’ awareness and understanding of the cultural context, scriptural resources, and denominational traditions. Furthermore, missional diffusion within the congregation and the groundwork for missional innovation beyond the congregation were both advanced in order to address the adaptive challenge. Given the limited size of the test sample, however, these findings require further research before a definite conclusion can be drawn. Although further research is needed, the practice of hospitality is a holy disruption that permits a glimpse into God’s agency, intentions, and work already underway in this world. Content Reader: Alan J. Roxburgh, Ph

Legal Political Moral Hazard: Does the Dodd-Frank Act End too Big to Fail?

Article published in the Ala. C.R. & C.Law Law Review

Perceptions of Age, Maturity, and Self-Control

Race is a major source of bias in person perception. Decades of research have shown, for example, that non-Black perceivers tend to see Blacks as threatening (Hugenberg & Bodenhausen, 2003; Wilson, Rule, & Hugenberg, 2017), and that such threat stereotypes may feed into biased age judgements, such that Black adolescents are also judged to be older than same-aged White adolescents (Goff, Jackson, Di Leone, Culotta,& DiTomasso, 2014). Other work has examined possible consequences of such stereotypes. For example, some work has shown that Black children are perceived more as troublemakers than their White counterparts, and that teachers may be especially more likely to inflict harsher punishments to Black students even for small infractions (Okonofua & Eberhardt, 2015). I followed up on this work to explicitly examine the link between age perceptions and one component of troublemaking behavior: self-control. Participants viewed the faces of White and Black adolescents aged 12 to 18 and judged either the age of each target (a preliminary study) or the extent to which each target was likely able to exert self-control (the current thesis). I found that although perceivers showed a strong bias to judge the Black adolescents as older than the White adolescents, they did not ascribe Black targets more self-control. Furthermore, confirming the primary hypothesis, the positive correlation between perceived age and perceived self-control was much stronger for White targets than Black targets. The results suggest that although people may see Black adolescents as older than White adolescents, these adolescents may not benefit from other related perceptions that come along with perceived age and maturity. I discuss the implications of these findings for stereotyping and teacher-student interactions

A Strategy for Increasing the Levels of Financial Literacy Among African-Americans in the Greenville Neighborhood of Jersey City, NJ

Problem Financial illiteracy afflicts many African-American and Black immigrant communities. The realities of residing in urban locales have contributed to the illiteracy and many times have led to a negative legacy of financial stewardship in these same communities. There are external challenges as well as internal challenges that have stifled African-American financial literacy. Not only is a negative corporate legacy of financial stewardship a result, but poverty, higher vulnerability towards financial bullying (housing discrimination, payday loan shops, etc.) among other challenges are directly correlated to the problem. Although poverty is an effect of lower levels of financial literacy in these communities, poverty is also part of the problem. There is a seemingly endless and vicious cycle where poverty limits the social circles. It is through social circles (family, school, church, civic organizations, etc.) that financial literacy, amongst other life skills, is taught and caught. Nonetheless, this study is not about poverty in African-American and Black immigrant communities per se. It is about these communities\u27 knowledge about all things financial. It is less concerned with people’s income, although income is a factor in the equation. This study is about what people do with what they make. Method A four-module financial literacy seminar was designed and delivered at the Beth-El Seventh-day Adventist Church in the summer/fall of 2018. More than fifty people participated in this intervention. Throughout these four weeks, I delivered lectures and participants engaged in worksheets, group discussions, and homework. A pre- and post-survey was administered to gauge growth within the four-week period. This intervention was designed to emulate the constructing of a house, in that a foundation was laid, walls were put up, a floor and ceiling were constructed, and a roof put on, all corresponding to timeless financial principles. Results At the end of the intervention, all participants indicated that they had now been better educated to make financial decisions. More than half indicated they had saved money with the average participant saving almost $1,000 during the duration of the intervention, while almost half indicated they had paid off at least one debt during the same span of time. Conclusions My conclusion is that a faith-based financial literacy curriculum has been overwhelmingly effective at helping the subject population make better financial decisions and ushering in a culture of communication about the issue. Surely this intervention is a genesis of creating a positive legacy of financial literacy in African-American and Black immigrant communities. Based on the feedback from participants, the biblical basis for this intervention helped to link what may otherwise seem to be exclusive realities: faith and finances

Teacher trust in leadership, professional learning community, and student achievement: an analysis of statewide survey data

The foundation of positive interpersonal relationships is trust and such relationships are needed for professional collaboration and learning to take place. Building trust, then, must be important in order to meet organizational goals and impact student success. The purpose of this survey research was to examine the relationship among teachers' trust in their principals, professional learning community, and student achievement in middle schools. This study conducted a secondary analysis of a portion of the Teachers' Opportunity to Learn (TOTL) survey data. The survey was administered to the population of 896 middle school mathematics teachers in 179 schools in 117 school districts in the State of Missouri. Four research questions were examined using descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, and multiple regression analyses. The results of this study support and expand previous research in finding that there is a relationship between teacher-reported levels of teacher trust in the principal and professional learning community in middle schools. Additional findings recognize the significant effects that school background characteristics can have upon the levels of trust and professional learning community

Decoupling Growth from Growth-dependent Planning Paradigms: Contesting Prevailing Urban Renewal Futures in Sydney, Australia

With the population of Sydney expected to reach 7 million+ in the next 20 years, current strategic planning policy is firmly growth oriented in its aims, and growth dependent in its settings, with a key focus on promoting higher density redevelopment around rail stations through value uplift. Using the Sydenham-to-Bankstown Corridor as our case study, this paper engages with the contradictions underpinning current templates for market-driven urban renewal. Questioning models privileging a financialised, hypertrophic reconfiguration of existing neighbourhoods, we examine the business of densification and its spatial manifestation(s) to explore potential frameworks for greater inclusivity in both the process, and outcomes, of suburban growth. 摘要： 随着悉尼人口在未来20年内预计将达到700万以上，目前的战略规划政策的目标是坚定地以增长为导向，并在其环境中依赖增长，重点是通过价值提升促进火车站周围更高密度的再开发. 本文以西德纳姆-班克斯敦走廊为例，探讨了当前市场驱动的城市更新模式所存在的矛盾. 在质疑现有街区金融化、过度重组的模式时，我们研究了密集化的业务及其空间表现形式，以探索郊区发展过程和结果中更大包容性的潜在框架