Impacts of Technology Adoption: Comparing Returns to the Farming Sector in Maine under Alternative Technology Regimes

This thesis tests if certain technology choices are associated with a reduction in the proportion of farming activities in the agro-food system in Maine. Goodman, Sorj, and Wilkinson define appropriationism as the replacement of farming sector activities by industrial inputs. Based on the concept of appropriationism, industrial fanning systems using large amounts of synthetic inputs contribute less to fanning than more agrarian systems, like organic fanning. Thus, returns to the farming sector should be greater for organic compared with conventional potato fanning in Maine since organic farming uses fewer industrial inputs. Goodman et. al. define substitutionism as the displacement of farming sector commodities and activities by industrial processes in the marketing sector. Based on the concept of substitutionism, returns to the farming sector should be greater for Lay's Classic®™ potato chips made from natural potatoes compared with Baked Lay's®™ potato crisps manufactured from processed dehydrated potatoes. Returns to the farming sector are defined as returns to the farmer or farm family from farming activities, returns to farm labor, and returns to farmers and farm labor producing inputs used on the farm. Results show absolute returns to the farming sector are less for organic compared to conventional tablestock potato farms in Maine. However as a proportion of farm revenues, large organic farms that market at least 25% of their produce to retail stores or directly to consumers do as well as conventional farms. When comparing returns as a proportion of consumer expenditures, these organic farms do better than conventional farms. Returns to the farming sector are less for organic because of yield penalties, cost of marketing services, and diseconomies of size for organic tablestock potato farms. Expanding acreage and reintegrating livestock with cropping systems may increase returns to the fanning sector. Organic farming demonstrates difficulties in providing marketing services at the farm level. Providing marketing services limits the ability to expand production to capture economies of size. Maine organic potato farmers emphasize non-monetary values such as supporting sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency, the intrinsic value of work, and close community and family connections. Returns to the farming sector as a proportion of consumer expenditures are about three times greater for Lay's Classic®™ potato chips than for Baked Lay's®™ potato crisps, since the value that farmers receive for potatoes used to produce dehydrated potato flakes in one pound of crisps is about half of the value that farmers receive for potatoes used to make one pound of chips. However, this assumes farmers assign a cost to producing low-grade potatoes for dehydration proportionate to their value. Premium potatoes are used to produce potato chips. Low-grade potatoes are used to produce the dehydrated potato flakes used to make potato crisps. Returns to the farming sector are slightly greater for potato crisps if no costs are allocated to producing low-grade potatoes for dehydration. A shift in consumer preferences from potato chips to crisps may result in a geographical shift of potato production from Maine to the Pacific Northwest assuming no food-grade dehydration facilities are built in Maine.

Physical properties of sediment cores from the Labrador Sea

Sediment core logs from six sediment cores in the Labrador Sea show millennial-scale climate variability during the last glacial by recording all Heinrich events and several major Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles. The same millennial-scale climate change is documented for surface-water d18O records of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (left coiled); hence the surface-water d18O record can be derived from sediment core logging by means of multiple linear regression, providing a paleoclimate proxy record at very high temporal resolution (70 yrs). For the Labrador Sea, sediment core logs contain important information about deep-water current velocities and also reflect the variable input of IRD from different sources as inferred from grain-size analysis, benthic d18O, the relation of density and p-wave velocity, and magnetic susceptibility. For the last glacial, faster deep-water currents which correspond to highs in sediment physical properties, occurred during iceberg discharge and lasted for a several centuries to a few millennia. Those enhanced currents might have contributed to increased production of intermediate waters during times of reduced production of North Atlantic Deep Water. Hudson Strait might have acted as a major supplier of detrital carbonate only during lowered sea level (greater ice extent). During coldest atmospheric temperatures over Greenland, deep-water currents increased during iceberg discharge in the Labrador Sea, then surface water freshened shortly after, while the abrupt atmospheric temperature rise happened after a larger time lag of >=1 kyr. The correlation implies a strong link and common forcing for atmosphere, sea surface, and deep water during the last glacial at millennial time scales but decoupling at orbital time scales.

Physical properties of sediment cores of the Bengal Fan

We examined geophysical data from a Multi-Sensor Core Logger (MSCL), a logging device providing continuous measurements of gamma-ray attenuation, p-wave travel time, and magnetic susceptibility on marine sediment cores. In the first part we focused on the gamma-ray system and compared two different calibration methods. From the gamma-ray attenuation, we calculated densities and porosities by incorporating mass weighted attenuation coefficients. The application of an iteration method reduces the error of the density and porosity estimates compared to GRAPE data. In addition, we derived equations to calculate water content and dry bulk density from gamma-ray attenuation measurements. Comparison with physical properties determined on discrete samples revealed a very good correlation of both data sets (r = 0.99). This correlation is valid for sediments from substantially different geological settings (e.g., turbidites, hemipelagic muds, and opal-rich sediments). In the second part we applied our data to marine geological questions. For sediments from the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone, there is indication that the content of biogenic opal can be assessed using a correlation of density and p-wave velocity. For sediments from the Bengal Fan, the relationship between the MSCL acoustic impedance (the product of density and p-wave velocity) and the grain-size distribution in discrete samples can be used to predict clay and sand/silt ratios for sediment cores from the shelf and upper continental slope.

Physical properties of 39 sediment cores from the Bengal Fan and northeast Indian Ocean

We obtained sediment physical properties and geochemical data from 47 piston and gravity cores located in the Bay of Bengal, to study the complex history of the Late Pleistocene run-off from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and its imprint on the Bengal Fan. Grain-size parameters were predicted from core logs of density and velocity to infer sediment transport energy and to distinguish different environments along the 3000-km-long transport path from the delta platform to the lower fan. On the shelf, 27 cores indicate rapidly prograding delta foresets today that contain primarily mud, whereas outer shelf sediment has 25% higher silt contents, indicative of stronger and more stable transport regime, which prevent deposition and expose a Late Pleistocene relic surface. Deposition is currently directed towards the shelf canyon 'Swatch of No Ground', where turbidites are released to the only channel-levee system that is active on the fan during the Holocene. Active growth of the channel-levee system occurred throughout sea-level rise and highstand with a distinct growth phase at the end of the Younger Dryas. Coarse-grained material bypasses the upper fan and upper parts of the middle fan, where particle flow is enhanced as a result of flow-restriction in well-defined channels. Sandier material is deposited mainly as sheet-flow deposits on turbidite-dominated plains at the lower fan. The currently most active part of the fan with 10-40 cm thick turbidites is documented for the central channel including inner levees (e.g., site 40). Site 47 from the lower fan far to the east of the active channel-levee system indicates the end of turbidite sedimentation at 300 ka for that location. That time corresponds to the sea-level lowering during late isotopic stage 9 when sediment supply to the fan increased and led to channel avulsion farther upstream, probably indicating a close relation of climate variability and fan activity. Pelagic deep-sea sites 22 and 28 contain a 630-kyear record of climate response to orbital forcing with dominant 21- and 41-kyear cycles for carbonate and magnetic susceptibility, respectively, pointing to teleconnections of low-latitude monsoonal forcing on the precession band to high-latitude obliquity forcing. Upper slope sites 115, 124, and 126 contain a record of the response to high-frequency climate change in the Dansgaard-Oeschger bands during the last glacial cycle with shared frequencies between 0.75 and 2.5 kyear. Correlation of highs in Bengal Fan physical properties to lows in the d18O record of the GISP2 ice-core suggests that times of greater sediment transport energy in the Bay of Bengal are associated with cooler air temperatures over Greenland. Teleconnections were probably established through moisture and other greenhouse-gas forcing that could have been initiated by instabilities in the methane hydrate reservoir in the oceans.

Age model and color measurements of sediment cores from the eastern equatorial Pacific

High-resolution records of glacial-interglacial variations in biogenic carbonate, opal, and detritus (derived from non-destructive core log measurements of density, P-wave velocity and color; r >= 0.9) from 15 sediment sites in the eastern equatorial (sampling resolution is ~1 kyr) clear response to eccentricity and precession forcing. For the Peru Basin, we generate a high-resolution (21 kyr increment) orbitally-based chronology for the last 1.3 Ma. Spectral analysis indicates that the 100 kyr cycle became dominant at roughly 1.2 Ma, 200-300 kyr earlier than reported for other paleoclimatic records. The response to orbital forcing is weaker since the Mid-Brunhes Dissolution Event (at 400 ka). A west-east reconstruction of biogenic sedimentation in the Peru Basin (four cores; 91-85°W) distinguishes equatorial and coastal upwelling systems in the western and eastern sites, respectively. A north-south reconstruction perpendicular to the equatorial upwelling system (11 cores, 11°N-°3S) shows high carbonate contents (>= 50%) between 6°N and 4°S and highly variable opal contents between 2°N and 4°S. Carbonate cycles B-6, B-8, B-10, B-12, B-14, M-2, and M-6 are well developed with B-10 (430 ka) as the most prominent cycle. Carbonate highs during glacials and glacial-interglacial transitions extended up to 400 km north and south compared to interglacial or interglacial^glacial carbonate lows. Our reconstruction thus favors glacial-interglacial expansion and contraction of the equatorial upwelling system rather than shifting north or south. Elevated accumulation rates are documented near the equator from 6°N to 4°S and from 2°N to 4°S for carbonate and opal, respectively. Accumulation rates are higher during glacials and glacial-interglacial transitions in all cores, whereas increased dissolution is concentrated on Peru Basin sediments close to the carbonate compensation depth and occurred during interglacials or interglacial-glacial transitions.

Ultimate and failure strengths of normal muds and serpentinite muds of ODP Leg 125 samples

Serpentinite seamounts in the Mariana forearc have been explained as diapirs rising from the Benioff zone. This hypothesis predicts that the serpentinites should have low strengths as well as low densities relative to the surrounding rocks. Drilling during Leg 125 showed that the materials forming Conical Seamount in the Mariana forearc and Torishima Forearc Seamount in the Izu-Bonin forearc are water-charged serpentinite muds of density <2 g/cm**3. Wykeham-Farrance torsion-vane tests showed that they are plastic solids with a rheology that bears many similarities to the idealized Cam clay soil model and is well described by critical-state soil mechanics. The serpentinite muds have ultimate strengths of 1.3 to 273.7 kPa and yield strengths of approximately 1.0 to 50 kPa. These muds thus are orders of magnitude weaker than salt and are, in fact, comparable in density and strength to common deep-sea clay muds. Such weak and low-density materials easily become diapiric. Serpentinite muds from the summit of Conical Seamount are weaker and more ductile than those on its flanks or on Torishima Forearc Seamount. Moreover, the summit muds do not contain the pronounced pure- and simple-shear fabrics that characterize those on the seamount flanks. The seamounts are morphologically similar to shield volcanoes, and anastomosing serpentinite debris flows descending from their summits are similar in map view to pahoehoe flows. These morphologic features, together with the physical properties of the muds and their similarities to other oceanic muds and the geochemistry of the entrained waters, suggest that many forearc serpentinite seamounts are gigantic (10-20 km wide, 1.5-2.0 km high) mud volcanoes that formed by the eruption of highly liquid serpentinite muds. Torishima Forearc Seamount, which is blanketed by more ìnormalî pelagic/volcaniclastic sediment, has probably been inactive since the Miocene. Conical Seamount, which seems to consist entirely of serpentinite mud and is venting fresh water of unusual chemistry from its summit, is presently active. Muds from the flanks of Conical Seamount are stronger and more brittle than those from the summit site, and muds from Torishima Forearc Seamount are stronger yet; this suggests that the serpentinite debris flows are compacted and dewatered as they mature. The shear fabrics probably result from downslope creep and flow, but may also be inherited.

Age model and stable oxygen isotope mean values of ice core SZ99 from Akademii Nauk ice cap on Severnaya Zemlya

Between 1999 and 2001, a 724 m long ice core was drilled on Akademii Nauk, the largest glacier on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic. The drilling site is located near the summit. The core is characterized by high melt-layer content. The melt layers are caused by melting and even by rain during the summer. We present high-resolution data of density, electrical conductivity (dielectrical profiling), stable water isotopes and melt-layer content for the upper 136 m (120 m w.e.) of the ice core. The dating by isotopic cycles and electrical conductivity peak identification suggests that this core section covers approximately the past 275 years. Singularities of volcanogenic and anthropogenic origin provide well-defined additional time markers. Long-term temperatures inferred from 12 year running mean averages of d18O reach their lowest level in the entire record around 1790. Thereafter the d18O values indicate a continuously increasing mean temperature on the Akademii Nauk ice cap until 1935, interrupted only by minor cooling episodes. The 20th century is found to be the warmest period in this record.

Table 1: Parameters of 21 samples from core III of Vernagtferner

The purpose of this study was: (1) To make an attempt at finding a stratification of the snowpack in order to help remove ambiguities in dating the snowlayers by standard methods. (2) To verify the depth at which the transition between firn and ice occurs. Clearly the first goal was missed, the structural information in a temperate firn being strongly smoothed out in time. Interesting details like horizontal ice lenses and layers of "cold snow" however, were revealed. In spite of strong variations of density, gravimetric density PG and ice density PI, computed from point density, are identical for the firn pack between Z = 2.0 m and 6.0 m. p(ice) = 0.522 ± 0.034 x 10**3 kg/m**3. The ice density of 0.8 x 10**3 kg/m**3, the assumed transition between firn and ice, was found to occur at a depth of Z= 19 m. Even at this level, rather important variations in density may be localized. Between Z= 19 m and 21 m, the ice density varies from 0.774 x 10**3 to 0.860 x 10**3 kg/m**3.

Rates of sulfide formation and oxidation in the Black Sea waters in February-April 1991

Rate of hydrogen sulfide oxidation in the redox zone of the Black Sea and rate of hydrogen sulfide formation due to bacterial sulfate reduction in the upper layer of anaerobic waters were measured in February-April 1991. These measurements were made using sulfur radioisotope under conditions close to those in situ. It was established that hydrogen sulfide is oxidized in the layer of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide coexistence under the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide layer. Maximum rate of hydrogen sulfide oxidation was recorded within the limits of density values dT of 16.20-16.30, while varying in the layer from 2 to 4.5 µmol/day. The average rate of hydrogen sulfide oxidation was 1.5-3 times higher than that during the warm season. Sulfide formation was not observed at most of the stations in the examined lower portion of the pycnocline layer (140 to 400 m). Noticeable sulfate reduction was detected only at one station on the northwestern shelf. Intensified hydrodynamics in the upper layers of the water mass during the cold season can be a probable reason for such noticeable changes in sulfur dynamics in the water mass of the Black Sea. Data suggesting that hydrogen sulfide oxidation proceeds under the hydrogen sulfide boundary indicate absence of the so-called "suboxic zone" in this basin.

Biogenic opal and carbonate concentration in late Neogene sediments of ODP Site 114-704

A preliminary composite depth section was generated for Site 704 by splicing Holes 704A and 704B together over the interval 0-350 mbsf (0-9 m.y.). High-resolution carbonate and opal data from the cores were correlated with the calcium and silicon signals from the GST logging run in Hole 704B to identify missing and disturbed intervals in the cores. Paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic age boundaries were then transferred to the composite depth records to obtain an age model, and sedimentation rates were calculated by linear interpolation between datums. Algorithms relating measured dry-bulk density to carbonate content and depth were generated to produce predicted values of density for every sample. Accumulation rates of bulk, carbonate, opal, and terrigenous sediment components were then computed to generate a record of sediment deposition on the Meteor Rise that has a resolution of better than 200,000 yr for the period from 8.6 to 1.0 m.y. From 8.6 to 2.5 m.y., bulk-accumulation rates on the Meteor Rise averaged less than 2 g/cm**2/1000 yr and were dominated by carbonate deposition. The first significant opal deposition (6.0 m.y.) punctuated a brief (less than 0.6 Ma) approach of the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) northward that heralded a period of increasing severity of periodic carbonate dissolution events (terrigenous maxima) that abruptly terminated at 4.8 m.y. (base of the Thvera Subchron), synchronous with the reflooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian salinity crisis. From 4.8 to 2.5 m.y., carbonate again dominated deposition, and the PFZ was far south except during brief northward excursions bracketing 4.2-3.9, 3.3-2.9, and 2.8-2.7 m.y. At 2.5 m.y., all components of bulk-accumulation rates increased dramatically (up to 15 g/cm2/1000 yr), and by 2.4 m.y., a pattern of alternating, high-amplitude carbonate and opal cyclicity marked the initiation of rapid glacial to interglaci·l swings in the position of the PFZ, synchronous with the "onset" of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Both mass-accumulation rates and the amplitude of the cycles decreased by about 2 m.y., but opal accumulation rates remained high up through the base of the Jaramillo (0.98 m.y.). From 1.9 to 1 m.y., the record is characterized by moderate amplitude fluctuations in carbonate and opal. This record of opal accumulation rates is interpreted as a long-term "Polar Front Indicator" that monitors the advance and retreat of the opal-rich PFZ northward (southward) toward (away from) the Meteor Rise in the subantarctic sector of the South Atlantic Ocean. The timing of PFZ migrations in the subantarctic South Atlantic Ocean is remarkably similar to Pliocene-Pleistocene climate records deduced from benthic oxygen isotope records in the North Atlantic Ocean (Raymo et al., 1989, doi:10.1029/PA004i004p00413; Ruddiman et al., 1989, doi:10.1029/PA004i004p00353). These include northward migrations during "cold" intervals containing strong glacial isotope stages (2.4-2.3, 2.1-2.0, 1.95-1.55, 1.45-1.30 m.y. and at about 1.13 and 1.09 m.y.) and southward migrations during "warm" intervals containing weak glacial and/or strong interglacial stages (2.45-2.40, 2.30-2.10, 2.00-1.95, 1.52-1.45, 1.30-1.18, 1.11, and 1.06-0.93 m.y.). Although our preliminary composite record is not continuous (some stages are obviously missing), there is hope that future work will identify these missing intervals in the as yet incomplete Hole 704B and will extend this high-resolution Southern Hemisphere climate record back to 8.6 m.y.

On the Density and the Volume Density Property

This article gives a short introduction into the notions of density property (DP) and volume density property (VDP). Moreover we develop an effective criterion of verifying whether a given X has VDP. As an application of this method we give a new proof of the basic fact that the product of two Stein manifolds with VDP admits VDP.

The Production Technology of Philippine Domestic Banks in the Pre-Asian Crisis Periods: Estimation of Cost Function in the 1990-96 Period

This is to analyzes the operational behavior and technical progress among Philippine domestic banks, using micro-level data on individual banks. First, we summarize their major business activities and gain insight on how the structure is changing. Then, we formally estimate the cost function of Philippine domestic banks using panel data covering a seven-year period (1990-96). The presence of economies of scale and economies of scope is investigated and technical progress in the banking industry is measured. In addition, the results of analysis for the Philippines are compared with those of similar studies on Thailand conducted by the author previously.

Innovation in Eastern Europe : a case study of Czech Republic

In this study we evaluate innovative performance of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) based on the available statistics of innovation processes. We compare such country-level indicators as educational levels, investments in R&D, FDI, trade and licensing flows, patents and scientific articles, and find that the most developed CEE economies are also the most innovative. At the same time, as supported by the results of the interviews in Czech Republic, one of the top performers in the CEE region, its economy is facing a number of challenges that are similar to other middle-income countries around the world. We suggest addressing these challenges from the prospective of the Middle Income Trap, when a middle-income economy to sustain growth must learn to compete with advanced economies in high-skill innovation. Development of effective innovation policy should be a priority for the CEE countries to escape from the middle income trap.

Simulation analysis of the EU ELV/RoHS directives based on an applied general equilibrium model with Melitz-type trade specification

This paper explores the potential usefulness of an AGE model with the Melitz-type trade specification to assess economic effects of technical regulations, taking the case of the EU ELV/RoHS directives as an example. Simulation experiments reveal that: (1) raising the fixed exporting cost to make sales in the EU market brings results that exports of the targeted commodities (motor vehicles and parts for ELV and electronic equipment for RoHS) to the EU from outside regions/countries expand while the domestic trade in the EU shrinks when the importer's preference for variety (PfV) is not strong; (2) if the PfV is not strong, policy changes that may bring reduction in the number of firms enable survived producers with high productivity to expand production to be large-scale mass producers fully enjoying the fruit of economies of scale; and (3) When the strength of the importer's PfV is changed from zero to unity, there is the value that totally changes simulation results and their interpretations.