Farmers as Producers of Clean Water: Getting Incentive Payments Right and Encouraging Farmer Participation

This research involved a field experiment using watershed payments as an incentive for farmers to address agricultural non-point pollution (ANP). Objectives were to: (1) describe how payments were estimated for a field experiment; (2) explain why a team approach is needed for ANP; (3) discuss the essential elements used for recruitment of farmers into a field experiment setting; and (4) address whether or not farmers were motivated to participate and pursue ANP abatement. One year into the experiment, the results are encouraging. About one-half of farmers who attended meetings are participating. They own or operate approximately 41% of the agricultural land in the watershed. Farmer actions to date have included determining an allocation formula for the payment, requesting watershed wide sampling, and cost sharing of ANP abatement.field experiment, team approach, agricultural non-point pollution, performance-based incentives, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

When More Democracy Means More Inequality: A Path Analysis

Path analysis is used to examine an observed positive relationship between inequality and democracy. Specifically, the impact of democracy and corruption on inequality and per capita income is assessed based on a cross-sectional data set covering 125 countries. We show high inequality democracies are associated with elevated corruption, lower per capita income, and a ceiling on democratic achievement. We argue that democracy increasing in tandem with inequality is consistent with authoritarian leadership attempting to grow an economy for self-enrichment. We propose measures of democracy need to account for democratic policies whose actual aim may be the enrichment of elites

The Competing Impacts of Negative Feedback on Academic Performance

A laboratory experiment is used to test the hypothesis that accumulating negative feedback initially boosts, and then decreases, student academic performance. The experiment presented university students with a short quiz, and students who did not meet a preset standard received a negative feedback message. The students then took a second quiz. An analysis of the difference in performance between the first quiz and second quiz supported the hypothesized inverted U-shaped response of academic performance to negative feedback. Refining feedback strategies based on insights from this model could boost the academic performance of a broad swath of students

Performance-based payments for conservation: Experience from a water quality field experiment.

Conventional government cost-share programs to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution are falling short of water quality goals in the U.S. This dissertation presents lessons learned from the first 15 months of a field experiment that tests an alternative to conventional government programs. This alternative pays farmers as a group based on quantity and ambient quality of water flowing from their watershed. Farmers decide what, if any, abatement action to take and how to allocate payments among themselves. Three research questions were examined: (1) Prior to initiation of a field experiment, can water prices and a watershed payment formula be computed and would this payment provide an economic incentive to reduce pollution?; (2) Can this watershed payment formula account for background levels of pollution?; and (3) Does the watershed payment formula and institutional framework created during this field experiment elicit desired participation and abatement responses from farmers? For the first research question, a nonlinear, optimization model was developed to derive the minimum water prices necessary to induce water quality protection, by creating a tradeoff between income from water and income from agricultural production. This question was evaluated by comparing ex ante payment simulations with actual payments made during the field experiment. Actual payments were found to be within the simulated annual payment range. Because nitrate-Nitrogen (n-N) concentrations in surface water are closely related to agricultural production, this pollutant was used to measure ambient water quality in this field experiment. Question two was addressed with regressions of ex ante data simulations. Results showed that a ratio of n-N loading (index watershed/experimental watershed) did eliminate the influence of background pollution levels related to discharge. However, when using data generated during the field experiment, watershed discharge was found to influence both n-N loading and observed ratios. These findings were attributed to the drought conditions observed during the experiment. Examining question three, 53% of farmer households in the watershed participated during the first year of the field experiment. Participating farmers rent or own approximately 36% of the agricultural land in the watershed. A probit analysis of farmer participation found that education level increases the likelihood of participation, and that farmers who are cultivating “prime†farmland participate at lower rates. This decrease was attributed to farmer perceptions that their participation in this field experiment would inject additional uncertainty into their farm income. Given that “prime†farmland in the experimental watershed has been identified as a high n-N runoff area, a key gauge of successful n-N reductions in this experiment will be bringing farmers of prime farmland into the project. Group-level actions during the field experiment provided evidence that the farmers are willing and able to work jointly to address the issue of n-N runoff. The participating farmers developed an allocation scheme to distribute payments among themselves. This payment scheme included using a large portion of each monthly payment (90%) to provide cost share support to farmers who wanted to adopt runoff-reducing farm practices. To date, two cost share disbursements have occurred, and one participating farmer sought government cost share support for a manure shed to reduce runoff from his farm. Surveys of participating farmers indicate that some group mechanisms like peer monitoring and information sharing are occurring. Contrary to observations in the literature, farmers in this field experiment demonstrated the ability to develop and to implement their own abatement practices. The results of this field experiment provide support for undertaking additional field experiments. Multiplying the number of case studies available for review may be the best way of increasing the comfort level of policy makers towards a payment scheme like the one tested here. In addition, I recommend that future field experiments include a social science researcher who can use qualitative research methods to conduct personal interview surveys to glean additional insights into farmer decision-making from what are likely to be small, heterogeneous population

Farmers as Producers of Clean Water: Getting Incentive Payments Right and Encouraging Farmer Participation

This research involved a field experiment using watershed payments as an incentive for farmers to address agricultural non-point pollution (ANP). Objectives were to: (1) describe how payments were estimated for a field experiment; (2) explain why a team approach is needed for ANP; (3) discuss the essential elements used for recruitment of farmers into a field experiment setting; and (4) address whether or not farmers were motivated to participate and pursue ANP abatement. One year into the experiment, the results are encouraging. About one-half of farmers who attended meetings are participating. They own or operate approximately 41% of the agricultural land in the watershed. Farmer actions to date have included determining an allocation formula for the payment, requesting watershed wide sampling, and cost sharing of ANP abatement

Group decision-making theory and behavior under performance-based water quality payments

Two theoretical models explaining group allocation decisions under watershed level, performance-based payments are explored: (I) reward and penalize individual contributors; and (II) reduce the problem with cost-sharing and cooperative abatement. Under Model I, an optimal amount of pollution from individual contributors can be achieved with proper payment incentive and group allocation formula. Model II represents a cost effective solution to pollution reduction where the group optimizes its return from group payments, but does not necessarily achieve an optimal level of pollution. Field experiment observations support farmer behavior closer to Model II.Field experiment Non-point pollution Nitrates Watershed Cooperative abatement

A Nontimber Forest Products Bibliography Emphasizing Central Africa

Excerpt from the Introduction: This bibliography is meant to facilitate nontimber forest product (NTFP) work in central Africa by 1) helping people locate information and 2) providing people with the information directly, when possible. Because needs vary, the documents in this bibliography reflect a variety of approaches and topics. There are documents directly related to many aspects of central African NTFP's. There are also papers on other regions when the topic was relevant or the paper filled a gap in the central African literature. There is also a scattering of NTFP background pieces. Our hope is that anyone working on NTFP's in central Africa will find this mixture of information supportive and stimulating

Quantification of recA gene expression as an indicator of repair potential in marine bacterioplankton communities of Antarctica

Marine bacteria in surface waters must cope daily with the damaging effects of exposure to solar radiation (containing both UV-A and UV-B wavelengths), which produces lesions in their DNA. As the stratospheric ozone layer is depleted, these coping mechanisms are likely to play an even more important role in the viability of marine bacterial communities. The recA gene is ubiquitous among eubacteria and is highly conserved both in nucleotide and amino acid sequence. Besides its role in generalized recombination, the gene's translational product, RecA, is the regulator of 'dark repair' activity (DNA-repair mechanisms that do not require visible light as a cofactor). We have taken advantage of this function and used recA gene expression as a barometer of the DNAdamage repair capacity of bacterial assemblages in the Southern Ocean. Studies were conducted in the Gerlache Strait, Antarctica, in the austral springs of 1995 and 1996. Analysis of both recA mRNA and RecA protein extracted from natural communities indicated that the level of expression of this gene varied in a diel fashion, suggesting an increased repair capacity in these organisms. These included an early morning rise in RecA levels followed by a plateau or even a reduction in RecA concentration during the remainder of the day. A much greater increase in RecA was consistently observed after sunset, followed by a constant decrease during the night. Microcosm experiments with a RecA+ Gerlache Strait g-proteobacteria isolate, RM11001, demonstrated a similar diel pattern of expression. These studies demonstrate the usefulness of RecA as a biological indicator of DNA repair capacity in natural bacterial assemblages. They indicate that 'dark repair' of DNA damage is an important coping mechanism for bacteria in the marine environment of Antarctica.Peer reviewedMicrobiology and Molecular Genetic

Validation of the Dutch cystic fibrosis questionnaire (CFQ) in adolescents and adults

AbstractBackground: This study assesses the reliability and validity of the Dutch version of a disease-specific measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for adolescents and adults with CF (CFQ-14+). The 47-item CFQ-14+ covers nine domains, three symptom scales and one health perception scale. Methods: To assess psychometric characteristics of the CFQ-14+, cross-sectional (homogeneity, discriminative and construct validity) and test–retest designs were used. Eighty-four adolescents and adults with CF (mean age: 21.4 years, range 14.0–46.5 years) and a wide range of lung function (mean FEV1: 59,9% predicted, range 15–121%) completed the questionnaire during a routine visit. Results: Internal consistency was acceptable for most domains of the CFQ-14+ (α=0.43–0.92) and test–retest reliability was high for all domain scores (0.72–0.98). Several domains of the CFQ-14+ were able to differentiate between individuals with varying disease severity and between nourished and malnourished patients. Construct validity of the questionnaire was fair, with moderate to strong correlation between physically orientated domains and pulmonary function (rs=0.36–0.62). Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the CFQ-14+ questionnaire is a well-validated measure of HRQOL assessment in adolescents and adults with CF