Summer Annual Grasses - Kentucky

During the summer of 1965 , several varieties of summer annual grasses were seeded at the rate of 10-12 pounds per acre, in rows 3 feet apart, at the Woodford County Farm and at the Western Kentucky Substation. These varieties were replicated four times and harvested three times at each location. Harvest data are reported in the attached table. It should be noted that data from Woodford county are reported in dry matter per acre and that from Princeton in air-dry forage. Previous studies have indicated that yield data from 3-foot rows of this type of material should be multiplied by a conversion factor of 2 to 2.5 to make the data comparable with data from broadcast plantings under .the simulated grazing conditions used

Forage Sorghums

Wide interest and publicity relative to summer annual grasses has developed with the release, availability and publicity of forage sorghum-sudan hybrids. There are many varieties of sorghum-sudan crosses and similar materials currently on the market making intelligent recommendations concerning specific varieties most difficult. Our experience and that of workers in some other states indicate that most of these varieties behave somewhat similarly. One of the best ways to choose a variety in this case, is to buy a variety that you or a neighbor have had favorable experience with and buy from a known reputable dealer

Economic consequences and the motive to discriminate

Past research indicates that increasing the economic consequences of evaluations should theoretically discourage discrimination by making it more costly. In this paper I theorize that such consequences should also encourage discrimination in settings where evaluators may be motivated by performance expectations (e.g., stereotypes). I explore this theory using data from an online lending platform where a loan guarantee policy reduced the potential economic consequences of using borrower demographics during lending decisions. I find evidence that lenders evaluated female borrowers less favorably than male borrowers after the policy. This is consistent with the theory that the policy discouraged performance-motivated discrimination, while simultaneously encouraged consumption-motivated discrimination. Because I theorize about underlying motives for discrimination, the insights developed here should apply to a wide range of specific types of discrimination that vary according to these motives, including classic taste-based discrimination, homophily-driven discrimination, statistical discrimination, and status-based discrimination. Economic consequences may therefore represent an important dynamic link between different types of discrimination

A Study of the Relationship Between Certain Variables and Drug Usage

The purpose of this study was to identify some environmental and overt behavioral factors which are characteristic of drug users. This was attempted to enable individuals who work with adolescents to identify potential users

Your Lawn

PDF pages: 3

Essays on Motives and Market Outcomes

This dissertation examines the existence of heterogeneous motives in markets, particularly how a tension between profit motives and other utility can shape outcomes for organizations and individuals. I explore this tension in the context of biases, organizational identity, and investment behavior. Each of the three empirical chapters employs decision-level data from a different online crowdfunding platform. Academic researchers and the general public are increasingly interested in the phenomenon of "crowdfunding." The term, however, encompasses an incredibly diverse set of activities---ranging from the facilitation of for-profit start-up investments to the charitable funding of medical procedures. This diversity can make it difficult to generalize research insights from studies of any particular instance of the phenomenon. In the introductory chapter I develop a general framework for understanding the source of observed behavior on crowdfunding platforms given some simple assumptions about platform policies.The goal is to provide context for the subsequent chapters of the dissertation. The first empirical chapter examines biases against demographic groups, which are typically explained by one of two mechanisms: either decision makers have a taste for one demographic group over another, or demographics are employed as informational proxies for other unobserved but economically important traits. These mechanisms are difficult to empirically untangle despite the theoretical and practical importance of separating them. I attempt to do so in a Chinese peer-to-peer lending market by leveraging a loan guarantee policy that reduces the economic rationale for lenders to discriminate on borrower demographics such as gender and geography. Comparison of pre- and post-policy periods therefore provides a fruitful tool for measuring the degree of taste versus informational bias. I find that female borrowers appear to receive a preferential informational bias but a negative taste bias, while lenders' geographic bias toward borrowers located in the same province appears to be driven predominately by informational processes and not taste. These findings have implications for multiple sets of decision makers and underscore the theoretical importance of accounting for motives. Chapter two examines the potentially conflicting investment motives found on a non-profit hybrid identity crowdfunding platform, where simultaneous market-like and charity-like motives may lead lenders to respond differently to funding requests from entrepreneurs who appear to have high economic ability and high personal need. I survey actual lenders on the platform to measure their stated preferences for borrowers who fit each of these categories. I find that 1) lenders vary in their preference for these categories and this preference is correlated with their demographics, and 2) past loans made by lenders with an above-average preference for both need and ability were funded faster than loans in other categories. These results highlight how actors' preferences are largely endogenous to the market in which they are observed. In the final chapter I present the results of a simple online experiment conducted in conjunction with a peer-to-peer lending website. Potential lenders were presented randomized versions of the platform's lender registration web page. The content of the page varied in whether it promoted the potential social benefit of lending versus only the financial benefit. No difference was found between the treatment and control groups. The experiment provides some insight into how lenders self-select into crowdfunding activity and may serve as a model for similar experiments on other platforms

Low-code entrepreneurship: Shopify and the alternative path to growth

The past decade witnessed a surge in the availability of low-code tools, where software-based solutions can be developed with limited or no need for writing code. One of the most salient examples is Shopify, which enables a layperson to become a fully-functioning online retailer without ever resorting to writing code. We ask: how do low-code tools affect growth trajectory and entrepreneurial success? How do they change the resources required to scale-up and grow? We explore these questions in the context of the e-commerce sector during the 2010s. Several databases were integrated to construct a sample covering about 400 VC-backed startups; including a detailed profile of their financial, human and software tools. The analyses indicate that Shopify-based startups start life with fewer financial and human resources compared to their e-commerce peers. Yet, despite the leaner beginning, they achieve a similar level of successful exits. The value created per employee, and cash-on-cash return for investors, place Shopify-based startups on par with their peers

Reliability of the tuck jump injury risk screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players

Altered neuromuscular control has been suggested as a mechanism for injury in soccer players. Ligamentous injuries most often occur during dynamic movements, such as decelerations from jump-landing maneuvers where high risk movement patterns are present. The assessment of kinematic variables during jump-landing tasks as part of a pre-participation screen is useful in the identification of injury risk. An example of a field-based screening tool is the repeated tuck jump assessment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the within-subject variation of the tuck jump screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players. 25 pre and 25 post-peak height velocity (PHV) elite male youth soccer players from the academy of a professional English soccer club completed the assessment. A test, re-test design was used to explore the within-subject inter-session reliability. Technique was graded retrospectively against the 10-point criteria set out in the screening protocol using two-dimensional video cameras. The typical error range reported for tuck jump total score (0.90 – 1.01 in pre and post-PHV players respectively) was considered acceptable. When each criteria was analyzed individually, Kappa coefficient determined that knee valgus was the only criterion to reach substantial agreement across the two test sessions for both groups. The results of this study suggest that although tuck jump total score may be reliably assessed in elite male youth soccer players, caution should be applied in solely interpreting the composite score due to the high within-subject variation in a number of the individual criteria. Knee valgus may be reliably used to screen elite youth male soccer players for this plyometric technique error and for test, re-test comparison