Pay-As-You-Go Electricity: The Impact Of Prepay Programs On Electricity Consumption, William M. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Prepay or pay-as-you-go programs are an increasingly popular type of rate plan offered by electric utilities. Under these plans, ratepayers must keep a positive balance at all times to avoid being automatically disconnected, they are charged daily for their usage, and they are provided with a means to monitor their consumption. One of the suggested benefits of these plans is that they allow electricity consumers to better manage their usage. Using household level monthly usage data from customers enrolled in prepay programs at two Kentucky rural electric cooperatives, we investigate whether there is a change in consumption after these customers …

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights 2013-2014, Jim Jansen, Roger Wilson

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Reports

No abstract provided.

Nebraska's Animal Agriculture: Economic Impacts Of Cattle, Hog, Dairy, And Poultry Industry Changes., Bruce Johnson, Eric Thompson, Anil Giri, Tshepelayi Kabata

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Nebraska Animal Agriculture: Economic Impacts of Cattle, Hog, Dairy, and Poultry Industry Changes

Is Nebraska's agriculture system operating to its full potential? One concern is that the state exports a high proportion of its crop output as commodities. Also, while nearby states experienced significant livestock production growth Nebraska has not kept pace, particularly in hog and dairy production.

In light of these concerns, this report analyzes livestock expansion scenarios. It provides a set of economic performance measures to sub-state regions and county-level economies. These measures will allow economic considerations to be incorporated into stakeholders' decision-making processes.

The following scenarios were …

The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment Along The New York And Pennsylvania Border, Brendan Cosgrove

Honors Theses

In the United States, the rapid increase in shale gas production has recently stimulated local economies. This paper investigates the regional economic impact of shale gas development. The border of New York and Pennsylvania provides a natural experiment for its economic impact because of the moratorium on fracking in NY and the supportive fracking regulations in PA. Using BLS data from 2001-2013, results show that shale gas development has a statistically significant impact at the industry level, but not across the entire economy. The findings contribute new evidence to the economic benefits and the boom-bust cycle of shale gas extraction.

Economic Analysis Of Carbon Sequestration Under Catastrophic Risk And Price Uncertainty In Kentucky, Lijiao Hu

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Internalizing carbon value for forest landowners has the potential to increase carbon supply in forest and mitigate CO₂ in the atmosphere. In this study, we developed a modified Hartman model to investigate how payments of carbon offsets impact the optimal management of hardwood forests in Kentucky under condition of catastrophic events. Different carbon markets were modeled and several sensitivity analyses were performed to examine varied management strategies to achieve maximized financial return or highest environmental benefits. Furthermore, another model was developed to incorporate the impact of risk aversion to price uncertainty using E-V model. We were able to identify …

The Effects Of Household Socio-Demographics On Restaurant Threshold Prices, Georgette Owusu-Amankwah

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This study examines the determinants of a household’s threshold price for a restaurant meal cost increase; the level of cost increase that would cause households to either eat in restaurants less frequently or change what they would typically purchase. The design of the study is formulated using a Tobit model to examine the threshold price by differing social, economic and demographic characteristics of households in Kentucky as well as their preferences for restaurant-specific characteristics.

The empirical estimates suggest that households that frequently have dinner at restaurants, households with higher incomes and households that strongly prefer full-service restaurants have a positive …

Climate Risk Analysis On The Food Security In Saguday, Quirino Province, Jose Santos R. Carandang, Glenn S. Banaguas

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Saguday is a 5th-class municipality of Quirino Province. The nine barangays of Saguday namely – La Paz, Cardenas, Salvacion, Santo Tomas, Rizal, Tres Reyes, Dibul, Cardenas and Gamis – are all vulnerable to climate change and calamities, not only because of the scarce resources of the municipality, but also due to the geographical and climatological condition of the area. Rainfall rates are projected to increase due to climate change and there will also be some likely increase in mean maximum tropical cyclone wind speed due to the projected 21st century warming (Knutson et al., 2010). Its location in Quirino Province …

Moving To A New Paradigm: A Reflection On Ethics, Sara Bajor '15

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

Eating Healthy On A Budget: A Grocery Cart Display, Kara R. Wilcoxon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many barriers to healthy eating have been reported including having to give up favorite food dishes, consuming lesser desired food items, and perceiving that fresh, unprocessed food is too expensive. For a week, customers were able to view a display of two grocery carts: one filled with healthy foods and the other filled with unhealthy foods. Each cart had the cost and nutritive values of the contents posted. For 6 hours on 3 different days, the researcher interviewed interested shoppers (n=33). While the majority of the shoppers indicated they were very concerned about their families eating healthy (mean score 4.2/5), …

Essays On The Value Of A Firm’S Eco-Friendliness In The Financial Asset Market, Muhammad S. Ahmadin

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation presents three different closely related topics on the value of eco-friendliness in the financial market. The first essay attempts to estimate hedonic stock price model to find a contemporaneous relationship between stock return and firms’ environmental performance and recover the value of investor’s willingness to pay of eco-friendliness. This study follows stock and environmental performances of the 500 largest US firms from 2009 to 2012. The firms’ environmental data come from the Newsweek Green Ranking, both aggregate measures: green ranking (GR) and green score (GS), and disaggregate measures: environmental impact score (EIS), green policy and performance score (GPS), …

The Windy City: Property Value Impacts Of Wind Turbines In An Urban Setting, Corey Lang, James J. Opaluch

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impact of wind turbines on house values in Rhode Island. In contrast to wind farms surrounded by sparse development, in Rhode Island single turbines have been built in relatively high population dense areas. As a result, we observe 48,554 single-family, owner-occupied transactions within five miles of a turbine site, including 3,254 within one mile, which is far more than most related studies. We estimate hedonic difference-in-differences models that allow for impacts of wind turbines by proximity, viewshed, and contrast with surrounding development. Across a wide variety of specifications, the results suggest that wind turbines have no …

Farmers’ Market Shopping Behaviors And The Association Of Fruit And Vegetable Intake, Sarah G. Perkins

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake continues to decline among sub-population in the United States. Current policies and interventions have aimed to improve intake by improving access to fruits and vegetables. One Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested strategy is to improve access to farmers’ markets in rural areas. The aims of this study were to determine if the frequency of shopping at Farmers’ Markets is associated with fruit and vegetable intake, adjusted for age, income and education and to compare rural and non-rural areas frequency of Farmers’ Market attendance based on Kentucky farmers’ market interview participants (n = 102). …

Food Miles: Environmental Protection Or Veiled Protectionism?, Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Andrew D. Mitchell

Journal Articles

This article examines the international trade, environmental, and development implications of campaigns to convince consumers to make food purchases based on food miles. Buying food from nearby sources has become a popular objective. One of the unmistakable messages of the “locavore” movement is that importing food – particularly food that comes from far away – causes environmental harm. The theory is that transporting food long distances results in the release of high levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere and is thus a dangerous contributor to climate change. Proponents of this view therefore argue that “food miles” – the …

The Domestic Natural Gas Shortage In China, Ting Guo

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This thesis analyzes the domestic shortage in the Chinese natural gas market. Both the domestic supply and demand of natural gas are growing fast in China. However, the supply cannot catch up with the demand. Under the present pricing mechanism, the Chinese natural gas market cannot get the equilibrium by itself. Expensive imports are inadequate to fill the increasing gap between the domestic demand and supply. Therefore, the shortage problem occurs. Since the energy gap can result in the arrested development of economics, the shortage problem need to be solved. This thesis gives three suggestions to solve the problem: the …

The Effectiveness Of Post-Katrina Disaster Aid: The Influence Of Sba Loans On Small Businesses In Mississippi, Anna Josephson, Maria I. Marshall

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

Following Hurricane Katrina, the United States government provided $45 billion in loans and rebuilding funds to individuals and businesses for the purpose of repairing the damage caused by the hurricane. However, it is not yet clear what impact this assistance had on small businesses in affected areas. In particular, the role of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans has yet to be fully examined. Though few doubt the benefits of short-term and immediate disaster relief, there is some debate on the benefits of SBA loans. Evidence suggests that receiving business loans may do more harm than good if the loan ultimately …

Urban Hydroponics For Diversified Agriculture: Part Ii, Jose Santos R. Carandang, Robert W. Taylor, Josemari S. Calleja, Edito A. Busayong, Eric Camilo R. Punzalan

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Achieving food security in urban communities proves to be a challenging task. The inability of cities to produce its food requirement means that food has to be imported from faraway places. Traffic congestion, rising fuel prices, and poor road infrastructure have caused problems in transporting food from farms to markets. The increase in rates of spoilage of perishable vegetables and in transportation costs is a food security issue that needs to be addressed.

Assessing Farmers’ And Landowners’ Attitudes Towards Environmental Sustainability And Their Motivations Towards Walking Tourism In Sheep’S Head Way, Co. Cork, Gráinne Dwyer

Irish Business Journal

Numerous studies within academic literature examine motivations of walkers engaging with nature-based tourism activities, such as hillwalking. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the suppliers of this type of tourism, namely landowners and farmers. This research hopes to address this identifiable gap in tourism research in a confined study area located in the Sheep’s Head Way in Co. Cork. The purpose of this research was to examine geographical spatial differences in environmental attitudes, and to determine the factors that influenced the landowner’s intentions to permit the walkway throughout their land. To examine these factors, seven semi-structured interviews were …

Rural Latino Adolescent Health: Preliminary Examination Of Health Risks And Cultural Correlates, Timothy D. Nelson, Katherine M. Kidwell, Brian E. Armenta, Lisa J. Crockett, Gustavo Carlo, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Latino adolescents living in rural settings may be at increased risk of health problems; however, data describing the health status of this population are limited. This study examined 60 rural Latino adolescents and found high rates of health risk, including at-risk/clinical results for hemoglobin A1C (23.3%), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (55%), systolic blood pressure (21.7%), and overweight/obesity (55%). Time in sedentary behaviors was high and physical activity was limited. Adolescent language use was associated with health risk status, with greater use of English associated with lower risk. Health psychologists could promote improved health by providing health behavior interventions to this underserved …

Coexistence Of Gm, Conventional And Organic Food Not Always Possible, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The coexistence of genetically modified (GM) products with their conventional and organic counterparts has been one of the most scrutinized issues surrounding the introduction of products of agricultural biotechnology into the agri-food system. Fears that the widespread adoption of GM products will drive their conventional (and, perhaps, organic) counterparts out of the market have been countered by arguments that their presence enhances the equilibrium product variety in the market. Central to the argument is, of course, the possibility of coexistence of GM, conventional and organic products with the main focus having been on farm production systems and the prospect of …

Gmos And Iprs Are Key Weapons In Fight Against Hunger, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the food system and the assignment of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for plant genetic resources are among the most notable features of the increasingly industrialized agri-food marketing system of numerous developed and developing countries around the world. IPRs have provided innovating firms with incentives to aggressively pursue improvements of crop characteristics (such as herbicide tolerance, insect and virus resistance, drought tolerance and increased nutritional value) through gene splicing techniques, and the agronomic benefits associated with the genetically modified (GM) products have resulted in their embrace by a significant number of agricultural producers …