Zero Forcing Sets and Bipartite Circulants

In this paper we introduce a class of regular bipartite graphs whose biadjacency matrices are circulant matrices and we describe some of their properties. Notably, we compute upper and lower bounds for the zero forcing number for such a graph based only on the parameters that describe its biadjacency matrix. The main results of the paper characterize the bipartite circulant graphs that achieve equality in the lower bound.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure

Impact of a Lock Failure on Commodity Transportation on the Mississippi or Illinois Waterway

This in-depth study for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce determines the economic impact of lock failures on the Illinois and Upper Mississippi Rivers.Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Livestock Production/Industries,

Impacts of Water Supply Changes on the Rice Market of Lao PDR: Stochastic Analysis of Supply and Demand Model

Laotian rice producers in upland areas experience highly fluctuating yields and production and producers in wet season rice areas in the southern region face high price risk. This paper examines the exposure to risk of producers in both regions facing changes in water supplies. A supply and demand model of rice in Laos, considering water supply changes, is developed and stochastic elements are added to the model to represent uncertainty in climatic variables. Furthermore, the risks associated with price and production fluctuation are evaluated by using the differences between market and certainty equivalent prices. The results show that the coefficient of variation of production is higher in upland rice than wet and dry season rice, i.e., 0.3226, and if the fluctuation of water supply increases 20%, the coefficient of variation of production will increase about 20% for all type of rice cultivation. In the case of expanding water supply fluctuations, potentially due to climatic change, the price risk of wet season rice will increase from 48.5 kip to 150.8 kip while that of upland and dry season rice will increase from 66.4 kip to 94.9 kip and 14.3 kip to 20.5 kip respectively. Examining provincial price risk of wet season rice, the differences between market and certainty equivalent prices are 56.3 kip and 33.9 kip in Champasack and Attapeu provinces. The regions or provinces which suffer highly fluctuating production and price risk may need to consider alternative water management and harvesting methods.water supply change, rice supply and demand model, stochastic model, Lao PDR, Q11, Q25, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

EPA MANDATE WAIVERS CREATE NEW UNCERTAINTIES IN BIODIESEL MARKETS

Biodiesel, Biofuel Mandate, Waivers, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q11, Q16, Q42, Q48,

Near Term Outlook for the Pork Sector

The USDA reported in the September issue of Hogs and Pigs that, for the third consecutive quarter, hog inventories throughout the United States were above previous year levels with the largest inventories existing since 1980

Mississippi River Research Conclusions Executive Summary

Briefing paper requested by Senator Bond detailing the conclusions from the Mississippi River research to date.Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

A Bankruptcy Court’s “Preference” Towards Mandatory Mediation

(Excerpt) Mediation has gained general acceptance in the legal community but has been slow to take root in bankruptcy. See generally Geetha Ravindra, Reflections on Institutionalizing Mediation, 14 DISP. RESOL. MAG. 28, (Spring/Summer 2008). Over the past 20 years, mandatory bankruptcy mediation has become a feasible alternative to traditional litigation of adversary proceedings. In the beginning, creditors and debtors would mediate only if they agreed to mediate. As statutory authority for court ordered mediation strengthened, bankruptcy courts ordered parties to mediate with more regularity. Presently, mandatory mediation is statutorily authorized and bankruptcy courts have institutionalized the use of mandatory bankruptcy mediation, especially in adversary proceedings. The recent order by the bankruptcy court for the Eastern District of Michigan for mandatory mediation in Collin & Aikman Corporation’s chapter 11 reorganization exemplifies this growing trend of court-ordered mediation. 376 B.R. 815 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2007). The following discussion presents an overview of the developments of mandatory mediation of preference actions, following by a discussion of the merits of mandatory mediation in preference actions in relation to creditors, debtors, and the bankruptcy courts

Causes and Implications of the Food Price Surge

This paper analyzes the food price surge of 2005 to 2008 in order to better understand the factors causing higher and more volatile food prices during this period, to ascertain the relative importance and possible persistence of the different factors, and to suggest possible implications for future market behavior and policy reactions.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Implications of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for State and National Ethanol Use

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,