DEREGULATION AND INNOVATION IN RAILROAD SHIPPING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES: 1972-1995

This paper describes the important changes that occurred in the U.S. grain handling and transportation system in the period following deregulation in 1980. This system has evolved and will continue to do so in response to technological and institutional changes, competitive pressures, and a changed regulatory regime. The effect has been to induce investments throughout the system ultimately to improve the efficiency. Some of the important rail innovations include the use of rate discounts to induce more efficient movements from origins first, and more recently at destinations. In addition, each railroad has adopted car allocation systems comprising several mechanisms, giving shippers logistical choices which have also facilitated more efficient allocation of cars among shippers. Finally, a number of important implications for the Canadian industry are identified as it evolves through its forthcoming changes.transportation, grain, logistics, Public Economics,

PARTICIPATION AND LEARNING IN AUCTIONS: BIDDING DECISIONS IN EGYPTIAN OILSEED AUCTIONS

Auctions are common mechanisms for identifying prices and suppliers of commodities and are particularly important in agricultural marketing. Information asymmetries among bidders may be ameliorated over time through some form of learning. In this study, we incorporate prior decisions to participate, information from previous auctions, and firm-specific attributes to explain both the decision to bid and the level of the bid. Our analysis uses data from Egyptian oilseed tenders, an important market both for oilseeds and tendering. Because of the unbalanced nature of the panel data, we are able to evaluate the effects of signals received from previous tenders. We find that firms learn from previous auctions and can gain an informational advantage through some form of representation (e.g., by having an agent and/or direct sales agent to the country). Our results provide strong evidence that learning-by-doing affects the decision to participate and that learning affects the bid value. We also find that firms use outcomes of previous auctions to update information in both their decisions to participate in a market as well as determining the bid level. Finally, we find that firms with representation have a higher probability of participating in auctions and some evidence that they submit higher bids (earning higher returns).auction, bidding, tenders, optimal bids, learning, Marketing,

Description of the Fifth Instar of \u3ci\u3eApache Degeerii\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Derbidae)

(excerpt) Apache degeerii (Kirby) ranges from Maine south to Florida and west to Iowa and Texas; it has also been recorded from British Columbia and Washington (Metcalf 1945. Wilson and McPherson 1980). This derbid has been recorded from oak, beech, maple, and hickory (Swezey 19(4); otherwise no information on its biology is available

Testing device for verifying the performance of digital recorders

Test device, consisting of a pulse generator section and a manual program section, checks and calibrates digital recorder-printers. It is adaptable to other recorder configurations

Description of the Fifth Instar of \u3ci\u3eEpiptera Opaca\u3c/i\u3e (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea: Achilidae)

(excerpt) Epiptera opaca (Say) ranges from Quebec south to Georgia and west to Ontario and Mississippi; it has also been recorded from British Columbia (Beirne 1950, Wilson and McPherson 1980). This achilid has been associated with pines (Hepburn 1967); otherwise no information on the biology of this species is available. Based on observations of E. fusca (Walker), Hepburn (1967) noted that the immature stages of all species of Epiptera probably live beneath the loose bark of dead trees, presumably feeding on fungal hyphae

Cosomys, a New Genus of Vole from the Pliocene of California

Rodents are of rather common occurrence in the later Tertiary of North America, yet voles have been completely absent from the record with the exception of a single tooth of Neofiber found in the upper Pliocene San Pedro Valley beds of Arizona. Consequently material representing this important group should prove of interest in an interpretation of the history of the voles in North America. The specimens described in this paper are from late Cenozoic mammal-bearing beds exposed on the flanks of the Coso Mountains along the eastern margin of Owens Valley, nine and one-half miles east of Olancha, California. The age of the deposits from which the rodent material comes has been tentatively regarded as upper Pliocene by Dr. Chester Stock of the California Institute of Technology. A determination of age has been afforded chiefly by horse material from the same locality. The author wishes to thank Dr. Stock for the opportunity to study the material and for advice during the course of the investigation. Specimens of Recent voles were loaned for comparison by Mr. Donald R. Dickey of the California Institute of Technology, and by the United States National Museum. Preparation of the illustrations was super- vised by Mr. John L. Ridgway

New middle Pliocene rodent and lagomorph faunas from Oregon and California

The purpose of this paper is the description of two rodent faunas in the collections of the California Institute of Technology. Although coming from widely separated areas, these assemblages are of approximately the same age. The first fauna to be discussed is that from Pliocene strata near Rome, Malheur County, Oregon. It exhibits some diversity of type although the associated larger mammals are known by very fragmentary remains. The second rodent fauna comes from the Kern River deposits, San Joaquin Valley, California. The Kern River rodents and lagomorphs, and the larger mammals found with them, share with other Tertiary assemblages of the San Joaquin Valley the important task of determining the time relationships between the nonmarine deposits in which they are found and the standard marine sections of the Pacific Coast. The illustrations for this paper are from photographs by the late H. Wm. Menke, and have been carefully retouched and arranged into plates by John L. Ridgway