Multifunctionality, Agricultural Policy, and Environmental Policy

In addition to supplying food and fiber, agriculture is a source of public goods and externalities. This article addresses two questions. First, do price and income support policies promote a multifunctional agriculture in an effective manner? Second, would policies targeted more directly at multifunctional attributes be more efficient than price and income support policies? The answer to the first question is no, at least for policies targeted at outputs (price supports, export subsidies, etc.). Public goods are not directly linked to production, but rather to land use and agricultural structures. Evidence in response to the second question is sketchier with respect to policies targeted at land.Environmental Economics and Policy,

DIFFERENTIAL RETURNS TO LABOR IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE

This article explores the speed of adjustment in Indian agricultural labor markets to changing economic circumstances. Agricultural wages in sixteen states during 1970-86 are analyzed. Results indicate that agricultural wages adjust quickly toward their long-run values, completing about one-fifth to one-fourth of the adjustment per year. Results also suggest strong linkages between the agricultural and nonagricultural labor markets. Interstate agricultural productivity differences have risen substantially in the last twenty-five years, and many feel this has led to a disintegration of the agricultural labor market. The findings suggest an indirect integration may be occurring through migration to nonagriculture.Labor and Human Capital,

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF WATER QUALITY PROTECTION FROM AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Experimental scaling study of fluid amplifier elements Final report

Scaling parameters of three fluid amplifier elements - bistable, boundary layer control, and vortex device

FOREWORD: Special Issue on Trade

International Relations/Trade,

Rendering and Compositing for Visual Effects

The methods used to create visual effects for feature film production are quickly evolving. Cutting edge techniques are constantly being improved upon, and the capability to solve unique problems is paramount in real world production. I present a creative project which utilizes novel applications of common techniques, such as projection mapping, multi-tile UV workflows, procedural texture generation, normal mapping, and image based lighting

Dancing with the Dragon Heads: Enforcement, Innovations and Efficiency of Contracts between Agricultural Processors and Farmers in China

Contractual breaches are very common in developing countries such as China. In order to prevent breaches of contract, the contractual designs between farmers and agricultural processors (Dragon Head Firms) in China are innovating in two ways: organizational innovations and contractual innovations. Due to contractual innovations, simple price-quantity contracts are evolving into complex cooperation contracts. Using data for over 500 state key processors in 2003 from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, we construct econometric models to study contractual choices, contract intensity, and their impacts on sales and profits for agricultural processors in China. The results indicate that capital and the number of contracted farmers are endogenous to contract choices. Processors are more likely to use cooperation contracts compared with price-quantity contracts as the number of contracted farmers increases, because the costs of coordinating, monitoring and enforcing price-quantity contracts may increase dramatically under these circumstances . On the other hand, contract types are not important for the number of contracted farmers, the intensity of contracts, or sales and profits for processors. The results also indicate that the elasticity of profits with respect to capital is 0.52, which implies that the returns to investing in the food processing industry are relatively high in China.Agribusiness,

Endogenous Matching and Contractual Choice between Agricultural Processors and Farmers in China

Contracts are widely used by agricultural processors for purchasing inputs not only in developed countries but also in developing countries such as China. The total number of formal, written contracts between farmers and food processors is increasing rapidly in China, and the formal contracts that exist are becoming more complex. Contractual design in China is evolving from simple price-quantity contracts toward more complicated arrangements known as cooperation contracts or joint-stock cooperation contracts, designed to share risk and mitigate opportunistic behaviors by the contracting parties. Due to small farm sizes, the contracted amount in the typical contract in China is very small compared with Western countries, and each processor usually has a large number of contracted farmers. This paper uses data from a 2003 survey of food processing firms by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture to analyze the determinants of contractual choices between these firms and farmers and the number of farmers that each firm contracts with. An important issue identified in the literature in analyzing the determinants of contractual choices is endogenous matching between parties to a contract and the effects of this endogenous matching on contract choice. We find strong evidence to support endogenous matching. In particular, our results indicate that firms which contract with a larger number of farms are more likely to use cooperation contracts than relational contracts.China, contractual design, endogenous matching, farms, food processing, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Q13, L14,

Rural Catholic Schools: Can They Be Saved?

This research project examined the numerous factors affecting rural Catholic grade schools in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and their ability to remain a viable educational option for families of rural communities in Southeastern Wisconsin. The literature review provides the history of Catholic education in the United States and details how changing demographics over the past 40 to 50 years within the Catholic population provides significant challenges for this educational model to continue in any geographic setting--inner city, urban, suburban, or rural. The use of interviews assisted with gathering qualitative data to understand the challenges facing the four rural Catholic grade schools participating in this research effort and how successful grade schools tackle these challenges. The findings indicate that while rural Catholic grade schools may have the support of their local parishes, the schools may not have the full support of parents of school-age children. So while the parish may support the school, there is simply no Catholic grade school without children. Thus, rural Catholic grade schools in the Milwaukee Archdiocese are left facing a path of strategic consolidation and regionalization in order for a chance to survive. More importantly, the local parishes of these communities are left with the overwhelming task of re-invigorating the parents of school-age children and infusing in the parents a willingness to accept Catholic culture fo

THE ALLOCATION OF LISA RESEARCH AND EXTENSION FUNDING

This article considers the political, economic, and environmental factors associated with the allocation of federal LISA (Low Input/Sustainable Agriculture) funds among states. A tobit model is estimated with LISA allocations as the dependent variable. Results indicate that pressure groups are important. LISA funding depends positively on membership in environmental organizations, the number of farms, and the size of the rural-nonfarm population, while it depends negatively on the size of the urban population. States with host LISA institutions receive significantly more funding, as do states with Senators in leadership positions on key congressional agricultural committees.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,