Willingness to pay for the conservation and management of wild geese in Scotland

In past times wild geese were an important resource, providing a source of meat, grease for lubrication and waterproofing, and feathers for bedding and arrow flights. Today, with the sale of goose meat no longer allowed in law, the only current market for geese is commercial shooting of non-endangered species such as the pink-footed goose. However, there are other benefits associated with geese which are not priced in the marketplace, but are valued. For example, some people positively value the opportunity to observe geese in the wild (a use-value), while others may take pleasure from simply knowing that they exist (a non-use value). These benefits cannot be provided by conventional markets because it would be prohibitively expensive to exclude people from watching geese and impossible to exclude them from caring about geese. In recent years a number of techniques such as Contingent Valuation (CV) and Choice Experiments (CE) have been established to establish the monetary values of non-market benefits. These techniques aim to measure the willingness to pay (WTP) of beneficiaries through the establishment of hypothetical markets

Are intellectual property rights stifling agricultural biotechnology in developing countries: IFPRI 2000-2001 Annual Report Essay

For more than a century, plant breeders in government-funded research centers have sought out crop varieties with characteristics that might help poor farmers in developing countries grow more food. They have painstakingly bred and cross-bred these varieties through generations to achieve a desirable mix of characteristics. At an accelerating pace in the 1960s and 1970s the work of these breeders changed the developing world — the higher-yielding varieties of wheat, rice, and other food staples they produced helped avert catastrophic famine in Asia — and their work continues to improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Now, however, critics of the newest tool in the agricultural researchers' toolbox — genetic engineering — argue that the new environment for agricultural research may leave farmers in the developing countries out in the cold. The largely misplaced concerns that patents and other forms of intellectual property are currently severely constraining the freedom to operate in developing countries is diverting attention from more crucial issues for agricultural researchers working on staple food crops.Intellectual property., Plant breeding Technological innovations., Plant genetic engineering., Biotechnology Developing countries.,

Accessing other people's technology: do non-profit agencies need it? how to obtain it?

As patents and other forms of intellectual property become more pervasive in the next generation of biotechnologies, designing polices and practices to ensure sufficient freedom to operate (i.e., the ability to practice or use an innovation) will be crucial for non-profit agencies in the developed and developing world, especially those intent on developing improved seed varieties and other technologies destined for commercial release. Are non-profits exempt from intellectual property claims? What constitutes infringement of a patent? How does a non-profit establish its freedom to operate? We address these issues in this paper and evaluate various options for accessing other people's technologies. Options include cross- licensing agreements, research-only or cost-free licenses, market segmentation strategies, mergers or joint ventures, and patent pooling or clearinghouse mechanisms. Responding creatively to the new intellectual property environment will have far reaching consequences for the future of non-profit research.Biotechnology., Intellectual property.,

Accessing other people’s technology for non-profit research

As patents and other forms of intellectual property become more pervasive in the next generation of biotechnologies, designing policies and practices to ensure sufficient freedom to operate (i.e., the ability to practice or use an innovation) will be crucial for non-profit research agencies, especially those intent on developing technologies destined for commercial release. Are non-profit organisations exempt from intellectual property claims? What constitutes infringement of a patent? How does a non-profit establish its freedom to operate? We address these issues in this paper and evaluate various options for accessing other people’s technologies. Options include crosslicensing agreements, research-only or cost-free licences, market segmentation strategies, mergers or joint ventures, and patent pooling or clearinghouse mechanisms. Responding creatively to the new intellectual property environment will have far reaching consequences for the future of non-profit research.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Using SAS to generate DDI-Codebook XML from Information Managed in Excel Spreadsheets

Presentation at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013DDI-C compliant files are used for two distinct rolls by ICPSR to generate variable documentation from information managed in Excel spreadsheets by the data producer. For completed studies, DDI-C compliant files are used to generate codebooks which include unweighted frequencies. For data in production, DDI-C is used to bulk load questions and variable attributes into a browser-based variable editor. This presentation will describe in moderate detail how SAS is used to generate the major DDI-C XML elements.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc

Radicals in English education, 1960-1980: A critical study

This is an interdisciplinary critical review of the radical movement in English education (schools) in the 1960s and 1970s. The term 'radical’ is defined and the contributing historical currents are analysed. The distinguishing features of this radicalism are identified. There is a descriptive history of 19 radical teachers' groups, of the school students movement and of the other groups which campaigned for radical changes in education. The ideas and strategies of these groups are examined and discussed. As examples of radical practice, the 14 free schools which were established in the 1970s are described. The phenomenon of free schooling is investigated under six headings: philosophy; the free school and the community: structures; the place of free schools in society; libertarian non-intervention; and the strategy of free schooling. Twelve 'radical dilemmas' are identified - issues on which the radicals were unable to reach agreement and which rendered the radical movement a multi-dimensional tendency rather than a unified political movement. The ideas put forward by the radicals are critically examined in two case studies: one a study of the experience of White Lion Street Free School; the other a study of radical theories of learning. In each case it is suggested that there are flaws in radical thinking which point to a need for more rigorous theoretical work. Certain themes which were under-developed by radicals are identified. The significance of the radical movement is assessed, and proposals are made for further research. An appendix lists all the criticisms made of schooling by the radicals in this period. The bibliography includes a comprehensive list of all the radical literature published in this period

The Perceptions of Northeast Tennessee Educators Regarding Arts Integration

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the perceptions of Northeast Tennessee Educators regarding arts integration. Specifically this study was an examination of the perceptions of district and K-8 school level administrators, K-8 general classroom teachers of math, science, social studies, or literacy, and K-8 arts specialists of dance, drama, music, or visual arts. Nine school districts in Northeast Tennessee agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected through an online survey system, SurveyMonkey.com. Data from 179 participants were used in the study. Seventeen items from the survey were measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Those items included: perceived need, claims of implementation, responsibility of implementation, comfort level for implementation, and the perceived possession of adequate resources and reported professional development for arts integration practices. The results concluded K-8 arts specialists\u27 perceived need for arts integration, claims of arts integration implementation, and perceived comfort level for arts integration implementation were significantly higher than K-8 general education teachers. Additionally, individuals with previous arts experience in high school or college had a significantly higher perceived comfort level for arts integration implementation that individuals with no previous arts experience in high school or college. However, there were no significant differences in perceived need for arts integration, claims of arts integration implementation, and perceived comfort level for arts integration implementation between district and school level administrators and K-8 general education teachers, and between district and school level administrators and K-8 arts specialists. Subsequently, there were no significant differences among district and school level administrators, K-8 general education teachers, and K-8 arts specialists in regards to perceived responsibility for arts integration implementation, perceived possession of adequate resources for arts integration, and reported offerings of professional development for arts integration

Forecasting new product trial with analogous series

types: ArticleNOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Business Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Business Research, 2015. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.03.032This study develops a simple method for forecasting consumer trial for national product launches. The number of consumers who try a brand in its first year on the market is accurately predicted from the number trying the brand in the first thirteen weeks following launch. No information about the specific category or marketing activities is required– just a simple multiplier computed from analogous series in other markets. These analogues provide an empirical generalization that can be easily applied by practicing managers to track and forecast the success of new brand launches. When subject to an out-of-sample test involving 34 fresh data sets, the analogues demonstrated 43 percent reduction in Mean Absolute Percentage Error compared to the most accurate marketing science model