COMPETING RISKS IN THE SUBURBANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND

The rapid change in the character of land use in traditional agricultural regions of the Midwest has led to public concern in recent years. As a result, policy makers have attempted to forge novel ways to cope with problems associated with loss of farmland and the encroachment of urban/suburban sprawl. Some of the policies that have been implemented or suggested in a number of jurisdictions include purchase of development right programs, impact fees, agricultural zoning, and preferred tax treatment for agricultural land uses, among others. In this paper, we explore the forces that promote land use change in order to help public officials make informed decisions on policy implementation.Land Economics/Use,

The Power of Tolerance vs. Unselfishness as a Cultural Determinant of Cooperation

Cooperation in collective action problems and resource dilemmas is often assumed to depend on the values of the individuals involved, such as their degree of unselfishness and tolerance. Societal differences in cooperation and cooperative norms may therefore result from cultural variation in emphasis on these personal values. Here we draw on several cross-national datasets to examine whether society-level emphasis on unselfishness and tolerance and respect for other people predict how societies vary in cooperation [in a continuous prisoner’s dilemma (PD)] and in norms governing cooperation [in a common pool resource dilemma (CPR)]. The results suggest that high levels of cooperation and cooperative norms are promoted specifically by a cultural emphasis on tolerance

The Robustness of Reciprocity: Experimental Evidence that Each Form of Reciprocity is Robust to the Presence of Other Forms of Reciprocity

Prosocial behavior is paradoxical because it often entails a cost to one’s own welfare to benefit others. Theoretical models suggest that prosociality is driven by several forms of reciprocity. Although we know a great deal about how each of these forms operates in isolation, they are rarely isolated in the real world. Rather, the topological features of human social networks are such that people are often confronted with multiple types of reciprocity simultaneously. Does our current understanding of human prosociality break down if we account for the fact that the various forms of reciprocity tend to co-occur in nature? Results of a large experiment show that each basis of human reciprocity is remarkably robust to the presence of other bases. This lends strong support to existing models of prosociality and puts theory and research on firmer ground in explaining the high levels of prosociality observed in human social networks

Integrating the markers Pan I and haemoglobin with the genetic linkage map of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Haemoglobin (Hb) and pantophysin (Pan I) markers have been used intensively in population studies of Atlantic cod (<it>Gadus morhua</it>) and in the analysis of traits such as temperature tolerance, growth characteristics and sexual maturation. We used an Illumina GoldenGate panel and the KASPar SNP genotyping system to analyse SNPs in three Atlantic cod families, one of which was polymorphic at the Hb β1 locus, and to generate a genetic linkage map integrating Pan I and multiple Hb loci.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Data generated allowed the mapping of nine Hb loci, the Pan I locus, and other 122 SNPs onto an existing linkage genetic map for Atlantic cod. Four Hb genes (i.e. α1, α4, β1 and β5) have been mapped on linkage group (LG) 2 while the other five (i.e. α2, α3, β2, β3 and β4) were placed on LG18. Pan I was mapped on LG 1 using a newly developed KASPar assay for a SNP variable only in Pan I^Aallelic variants. The new linkage genetic map presented here comprises 1046 SNPs distributed between 23 linkage groups, with a length of 1145.6 cM. A map produced by forcing additional loci, resulting in a reduced goodness-of-fit for mapped markers, allowed the mapping of a total of 1300 SNPs. Finally, we compared our genetic linkage map data with the genetic linkage map data produced by a different group and identified 29 shared SNPs distributed on 10 different linkage groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The genetic linkage map presented here incorporates the marker Pan I, together with multiple Hb loci, and integrates genetic linkage data produced by two different research groups. This represents a useful resource to further explore if Pan I and Hbs or other genes underlie quantitative trait loci (QTL) for temperature sensitivity/tolerance or other phenotypes.</p

What do Americans know about inequality? It depends on how you ask them

A recent survey of inequality (Norton and Ariely, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 9–12) asked respondents to indicate what percent of the nation’s total wealth is—and should be—controlled by richer and poorer quintiles of the U.S. population. We show that such measures lead to powerful anchoring effects that account for the otherwise remarkable findings that respondents reported perceiving, and desiring, extremely low inequality in wealth. We show that the same anchoring effects occur in other domains, namely web page popularity and school teacher salaries. We introduce logically equivalent questions about average levels of inequality that lead to more accurate responses. Finally, when we made respondents aware of the logical connection between the two measures, the majority said that typical responses to the average measures, indicating higher levels of inequality, better reflected their actual perceptions and preferences than did typical responses to percent measures

The available evidence suggests the percent measure should not be used to study inequality: Reply to Norton and Ariely

In this reply, we reiterate the main point of our 2012 paper, which was that the measure of inequality used by Norton and Ariely (2011) was too difficult for it to yield meaningful results. We describe additional evidence for this conclusion, and we also challenge the conclusion that political differences in perceived and desired inequality are small

Higher inequality increases the gap in the perceived merit of the rich and poor

The rewards people receive are often taken as indirect evidence of their merit. We outline an argument that addresses how the magnitude of macrolevel income inequalities affects perceptions of the distribution of merit in a society. We propose that higher levels of economic inequality will lead to perceptions of greater differences in merit such that societies with higher inequality will be characterized by a larger “merit gap,” namely, larger differences in the perceived merit of the rich and poor. We test these arguments using an online experiment that manipulated the level of inequality (high vs. low) in an anonymized society. Participants perceived a larger merit gap in high versus low inequality societies. Our arguments and findings have implications for attitudes about inequality and redistributive policies.Sociolog

Ideology shapes how workers perceive and react to workplace discrimination: An experimental study on parenthood discrimination

Employers use ideologically-tinged rhetoric to justify workplace discrimination. We argue that workers will be less likely to label biased treatment against them as discriminatory when they subscribe to those ideologies as well. We tested this prediction and the consequences of labeling for work attitudes and performance using an experiment that assigned parents to a low-status position in a work group, varying whether the decision invoked biased, ideological assumptions about parenthood. As expected, ideology drove mothers' (but not fathers’) labeling. Mothers were less likely to label biased treatment against them as discriminatory when they were conservative and when they subscribed to separate spheres and ideal worker ideologies. Mothers who labeled their treatment as discriminatory had more negative work attitudes than those who did not, but also tended to appeal the decision. Ideology thus shapes whether people label discrimination when it occurs as well as their subsequent work attitudes and justice-seeking behaviors.Sociolog

Power in Exchange Networks: Critique of a New Theory

Markovsky et al criticize Yamaguchi\u27s (1996) theory of power in social exchange networks, revealing internal theoretical contradictions. Yamaguchi responds to the criticisms

The History of the 389th Bombardment Group (H): a Study of the Use and Misuse of Strategic Bombers in the Second World War

This thesis describes and evaluates the successes and failures of the use of strategic bombers through the abilities of one heavy bombardment group, the 389th. It examines the different missions that determined the effectiveness of the Group. When employed in a strategic bombing role, the 389th contributed significantly to the destruction of the German war industries and transportation system. When used as a tactical bomber, a mission for which it had neither proper training nor equipment, the 389th was generally a failure