COST SAVINGS FROM CONSOLIDATING NORTH DAKOTA'S COUNTIES

Consolidation of county government services is often proposed as a way to reduce costs. A bill was proposed in the 1993 North Dakota Legislative Assembly to merge North Dakota's 53 counties into 15 "super counties." This study estimates county expenditure functions for four categories of services: (1) general government, (2) public safety, (3) roads and highways, and (4) health and welfare. The statistical results were used to estimate expenditures for the 15 consolidated counties and a 26-county alternative. The results indicate that the 15-county proposal would have achieved cost savings of 4.9 percent for the four service categories. Costs of road and highway, general government, and health and welfare services could be reduced 3, 10, and 15 percent, respectively, under the 15-county proposal, but public safety expenditures would increase 25 percent. The 26-county alternative would provide less total cost savings, but also fewer cases of cost increases. Consolidation of some, but not all, county government services provides the greatest cost savings. Note: Figures are not included in the machine readable copy--contact the Department for more information.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Impacts of Product Differentiation on the Crop Input Supply Industry

Agribusiness, Input Supply Industry, Seed, Pesticide, Farm Machinery, Structural Change, Porter’s Five Forces, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Q13, L10, L20, L80,

Market Potential for Northern Plains Farm Equipment in Brazil

International Relations/Trade,

ACREAGE RESPONSES TO EXPECTED REVENUES AND PRICE RISK FOR MINOR OILSEEDS AND PROGRAM CROPS IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS

Wheat, barely, flaxseed, and oilseed sunflower acreage respond to different economic variables. Wheat and barely acreage must be divided among program-complying, program-planted, and nonprogram-planted acreage because these categories respond to different variables and respond to own expected-revenue and price-risk variables in opposite ways. Flaxseed, sunflower, and nonprogram-planted acreage of wheat and barley have highly significant, positive responses to their own expected revenue and negative responses to their own-price risk. Flaxseed and sunflower acreage have been more responsive to their lagged values than to expected revenues for wheat.Crop Production/Industries,

Potential Food and Nonfood Utilization of Potatoes and Related Byproducts in North Dakota

Demand and Price Analysis,

WORLD FEED BARLEY TRADE UNDER ALTERNATIVE TRADE POLICY SCENARIOS

A spatial equilibrium model based on a quadratic programming algorithm was developed to analyze world feed barley trade and international competition among major exporters (Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States) under the current and alternative trade policy scenarios. The U.S. Export Enhancement Program (EEP) plays an important role to maintain U.S. market share in importing countries. Eliminating Canadian rail subsidy decreases Canadian offshore exports, but greatly increases its exports to the United States. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) increases feed barley trade within North America, but has little impact on world trade flows for feed barley. Canada benefits most under the Uruguay Round Agreement of GATT and the world free trade through significantly higher exports to offshore markets and the United States. Australia also gains from free trade. The European Union is worse off under free trade.feed barley, international grain trade, trade policy, spatial equilibrium model, International Relations/Trade,

PROGRAM AND NONPROGRAM WHEAT ACREAGE RESPONSES TO PRICES AND RISK

Wheat acreage responses to expected wheat price and price risk are reversed for program and nonprogram-planted acreage in the northern plains, central plains, southern plains, and U.S. Expected wheat price has a strong negative effect on program-complying wheat acreage. Government support prices have a positive effect on program-complying and program-planted acreage. Price risk has a positive effect on program-complying wheat acreage and a negative effect on nonprogram-planted acreage. Estimated price elasticities are higher than in studies where risk was ignored.Demand and Price Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty,

Animal pointing: changing trends and findings from 30 years of research

The past 30 years have witnessed a continued and growing interest in the production and comprehension of manual pointing gestures in nonhuman animals. Captive primates with diverse rearing histories have shown evidence of both pointing production and comprehension, though there certainly are individual and species differences, as well as substantive critiques of how to interpret pointing or “pointing-like” gestures in animals. Early literature primarily addressed basic questions about whether captive apes point, understand pointing, and use the gesture in a way that communicates intent (declarative) rather than motivational states (imperative). Interest in these questions continues, but more recently there has been a dramatic increase in the number of papers examining pointing in a diverse array of species, with an especially large literature on canids. This proliferation of research on pointing and the diversification of species studied has brought new and exciting questions about the evolution of social cognition, and the effects of rearing history and domestication on pointing production and, more prolifically, comprehension. A review of this work is in order. In this paper we examine trends in the literature on pointing in nonhumans. Specifically, we examine publication frequencies of different study species from 1987 to 2016. We also review data on the form and function of pointing, and evidence either supporting or refuting the conclusion that various nonhuman species comprehend the meaning of pointing gestures

Technology in University Physical Activity Courses: A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study

As younger generations become increasingly reliant on technology, higher educational institutions must continually attempt to stay with or ahead of the curve to foster 21st century teaching and learning. College and university physical activity courses (PACs) are encouraged to incorporate technology for effective pedagogical practices. No qualitative research has specifically examined the culture of PACs instructors’ attitudes and experiences with technology as a pedagogical tool. A mini-ethnographic case study explored the use of technology among seven graduate teaching assistants who shared their pedagogical experiences, teaching practices, and perceptions of technology within PACs. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, composite narrative accounts were presented to highlight unique characteristics of PAC instructors and develop meaning from their lived experiences. The findings revealed that PAC instructors use varying forms of technology, but all instructors rely on learning management systems as a pedagogical tool, which can be influenced by campus environment, pedagogical experiences, and social support. This pilot study contributes to the current gap in research related to technology in PACs and addresses the need to properly prepare instructors to teach in the digital age