THE ROBUSTNESS OF SINGLE INDEX MODELS IN CROP MARKETS: A MULTIPLE INDEX MODEL TEST: COMMENT

Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

High Speed Pupillometry

Measuring the parameters of the pupil in the human eye has become increasingly important in customised refractive surgery and other eye care applications. High-speed and high resolution CMOS cameras can be used to study the dynamics of eyelids and their interaction with the pupil at different illumination levels. We consider the problem of measuring the pupil size from a high-speed video. In particular, we develop a novel algorithm for setting intra-lid sectors for the detection and estimation of the pupil and iris outlines from a sequence of digital images. An application of the proposed methodology to the estimation of the pupil parameters during an eye blink is given

Race and Home Ownership from the End of the Civil War to the Present

We present new estimates of home ownership for black and white households from 1870 to 2007. Black ownership increased by 46 percentage points, whereas white ownership increased by 20 points. Remarkably, 25 of the 26 point narrowing occurred between 1870 and 1910. Part of this early convergence is accounted for by falling white ownership due to movement out of agriculture, but most is accounted for by post-emancipation gains among blacks. After 1910, white and black households increased ownership, but the racial gap barely changed. We discuss the influence of residential segregation, public policy, and permanent income on the ownership gap.

Distribution of Per Capita Income in Georgia: 1969-2000

Since the mid 1980s, the state of Georgia has been popularly characterized as consisting of two (or more) distinct economies or economic regions, the Atlanta Region and the remainder of the state. Since the appearance of the term "two Georgias" in the local lexicon, policy makers have attempted to address problems associated with the perception that Atlanta and its surrounding counties are experiencing tremendous economic growth, while the remainder of the state languishes. Because the quality and quantity of local public services are determined, in part, by local economic activity, concerns have been raised about the existence of two Georgias and how such an economic partition might affect the distribution of revenue generating capacity among counties across the state.Past research suggests that the average income of different areas of a country tend to converge as overall income rises. Using per capita personal income (PCI) data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), we compare 1969 PCI with 2000 PCI to determine: 1) if convergence has occurred 2) how changes in PCI are geographically distributed, and 3) whether these data support the popular conception that Georgia consists of two separate economies. Report #9

Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future: A Conversation between Pamela Tate and Robert Deahl about the Past 35 Years in Adult Learning

None Provide

The Labor Market Effects of the 1960s Riots

Between 1964 and 1971, hundreds of riots erupted in American cities, resulting in large numbers of injuries, deaths, and arrests, as well as in considerable property damage that was concentrated in predominantly black neighborhoods. There have been few studies of a systematic, econometric nature that examine the impact of the riots on the relative economic status of African Americans, or on the cities and neighborhoods in which the riots took. We present two complementary empirical analyses. The first uses aggregate, city-level data on income, employment, unemployment, and the area’s racial composition from the published volumes of the federal censuses. We estimate the “riot effect” by both ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares. The second empirical approach uses individual-level census data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for 1950, 1970, and 1980. The findings suggest that the riots had negative effects on blacks’ income and employment that were economically significant and that may have been larger in the long run (1960-1980) than in the short run (1960- 1970). We view these findings as suggestive rather than definitive for two reasons. First, the data are not detailed enough to identify the precise mechanisms at work. Second, the wave of riots may have had negative spillover effects to cities that did not experience severe riots; if so, we would tend to underestimate the riots’ overall effect.

Race and the Value of Owner-Occupied Housing, 1940-1990

The racial gap in the value of owner occupied housing has narrowed substantially since 1940, but this narrowing has not been even over time or across space. The 1970s stand out as an unusual decade in which the value gap did not narrow despite continued convergence in the observed characteristics of housing. A decline in the relative value of black-owned homes in central cities appears to have offset gains elsewhere during the 1970s, and this central city decline continued into the 1980s. In further exploration of the 1970s, we find evidence of a rising propensity for higher-income blacks to live in the suburbs. We also find a positive correlation between riots in the 1960s and widening of the value gap during the 1970s in a panel of cities.