Farmer Health Insurance Cooperatives: An Innovative Solution for Other Americans?

Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital,

Mobility in Rural Credit Markets: A Honduran Case Study

In this paper I analyze mobility in rural credit markets. A panel data set of rural Honduran households is used to study credit market transitions; specifically, the dynamic evolution of formal and informal sector participation. Mobility patterns among four different credit market states are analyzed, namely those who have formal sector participation, informal sector participation, participation in both sectors and nonparticipation in rural credit markets. I use a random effects dynamic multinomial logit model which can accommodate unobserved heterogeneity. The main findings are that state dependence plays a significant role in ones ability to borrow.Agribusiness,

Fostering growth of the rural non-farm sector in Africa: The Case of Tanzania

We use a survey of small rural enterprises from Tanzania to demonstrate quantitatively the economic importance of this sector and to identify participants' characteristics and obstacles to the sector's expansion and productivity. In stark contrast to most of the findings for the formal sector where taxation and other regulatory constraints were identified as key constraints in most of the countries, infrastructure constraints (but not regulatory obstacles) pose a formidable barrier to rural households' participation in rural non-farm and to investment and increased productivity by existing ones. The fact that such constraints emerge as particularly harmful for small enterprises suggests that policies to improve delivery of the public services in question will be important to provide a basis for a flourishing rural non-farm sector which in turn will have an important role for poverty reduction.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

An Empirical Investigation of Reputation Loan Size Dynamics in Rural Credit Markets in Honduras

This paper examines the role of two types of reputation - borrower credit history and productivity - in disequilibrium supply and demand models of loan size dynamics in formal and informal credit markets. Using panel data on Honduran households, full- and partialinformation regime switching econometric models yield four principal findings: (1) credit contracts in the formal sector are largely collateral driven and not reputation driven; (2) the informal sector credit contracts are borrower reputation based; (3) the informal sector utilizes positive/negative credit histories in both markets to credibly reward/punish borrowers; and (4) technical efficiency has a positive impact in determining loan size in both sectors on the demand and supply side of the market.

Livelihood diversification and the expansion of artisanal mining in rural Tanzania: drivers and policy implications

This paper provides an extended analysis of livelihood diversification in rural Tanzania, with special emphasis on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Over the past decade, this sector of industry, which is labour-intensive and comprises an array of rudimentary and semi-mechanized operations, has become an indispensable economic activity throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, providing employment to a host of redundant public sector workers, retrenched large-scale mine labourers and poor farmers. In many of the region’s rural areas, it is overtaking subsistence agriculture as the primary industry. Such a pattern appears to be unfolding within the Morogoro and Mbeya regions of southern Tanzania, where findings from recent research suggest that a growing number of smallholder farmers are turning to ASM for employment and financial support. It is imperative that national rural development programmes take this trend into account and provide support to these people

Assessing the Economic Feasibility of Capturing and Utilizing Carbon Dioxide from Ethanol Production in South Dakota

Since the Industrial Revolution, anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have spiked dramatically, prompting discussions on climate change. Mitigating climate change requires significant reductions in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as CO2 is the most abundant anthropogenic GHG. A process that assists in offsetting the exponential growth in CO2 emissions is carbon capture and storage (CCS). Integrating carbon capture technology into the ethanol industry can provide an economically feasible way to achieve net reductions in CO2 emissions. The proposed work investigates the economic viability of applying CCS technologies to the 16 ethanol facilities in South Dakota (SD) and quantifies the potential reduction in CO2 emissions for the state. A pipeline network is developed within the state, transporting the congregated CO2 to the oil fields in Harding County, SD. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is examined as a storage option as this method provides additional revenue to the CCS operation and creates a more economically feasible option. Sensitivity analyses are performed to evaluate the impact of variations in performance parameters on the system. Results from this study show a positive net present value (NPV) for each CO2-EOR scenario; hence, a CCS operation in SD can be economically viable when combined with the ethanol industry, and the financial benefits from EOR and tax credits are considered. Sensitivity studies show NPV is highly sensitive to oil price and oil recovery rates. Additionally, the modeled CCS system can geologically store 50.44 million MtCO2 in the Harding County oil fields. Thus, over the simulated storage period, 50.44 million MtCO2 are put to beneficial use and prevented from entering the atmosphere

Public Health and Crime Rates in Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a rapidly growing city that has an emerging public health concern. While the city boasts high ranks in quality-of-life metrics, crime remains a significant concern as it does with most growing cities. This thesis aims at exploring the relationship between public health and crime for the city of Sioux Falls. It emphasizes how social determinants such as poverty, housing insecurity, mental illness, and systemic inequality contribute to crime rates. Through a public health framework, the study proposes a three-tiered approach, primary, secondary, and tertiary preventions. Each of these preventions will address both the root causes of crime and its downstream impacts. It also draws from national models such as the Seattle Social Development Project and the Texas Reinvestment Initiative to find evidence-based strategies that can be adapted to the city of Sioux Falls. Integrated community-based prevention efforts, especially those that target youth, at risk populations, and formerly incarcerated individuals, can reduce crime and overall improve public safety. Through these approaches, it is possible to reduce crime, improve public safety, and promote long term community well-being

The band structure of BeTe - a combined experimental and theoretical study

Using angle-resolved synchrotron-radiation photoemission spectroscopy we have determined the dispersion of the valence bands of BeTe(100) along $\Gamma X$, i.e. the [100] direction. The measurements are analyzed with the aid of a first-principles calculation of the BeTe bulk band structure as well as of the photoemission peaks as given by the momentum conserving bulk transitions. Taking the calculated unoccupied bands as final states of the photoemission process, we obtain an excellent agreement between experimental and calculated spectra and a clear interpretation of almost all measured bands. In contrast, the free electron approximation for the final states fails to describe the BeTe bulk band structure along $\Gamma X$ properly.Comment: 21 pages plus 4 figure

Urban and Metropolitan Universities: Leaders of the 21st Century

Urban universities can distinguish themselves by addressing todays critical urban issues through new ways of combining teaching, research, and service, and by working in partnership with others on comprehensive and integrated approaches. The University of Illinois at Chicago is pursuing this by means of the Great Cities concept: an institutional commitment to meeting the needs of the metropolitan area. Key factors in establishing such a mission and partnership process in a complex urban environment are leadership, broad-based participation, and realism