The literature on the concept of economies of size in waste water management is extensive. However, only a limited amount of research has been completed which focuses on the extent of these economies associated with the regionalization of waste water management systems.

In any society a loss of confidence in the capacity of contemporary institutions and leadership to deal with current problems creates anxieties and feelings of loss of control. A classical reaction to such stress is efforts to return to earlier, presumably simpler, institutional forms and lifestyles, thereby regaining control and the lost sense of purpose and direction. Today in the Northeast, as in much of the nation, many people are alarmed by the recent disturbances and shocks to the American way of life: the energy shortage, the threat of nuclear disaster, high unemployment and prices, faltering state and local finances, and a recurring credibility gap at all levels of government. The perceived inability of institutional forms to deal with these concerns has fostered a re-examination of individual, local and regional goals and a rediscovery of more traditional values based on self-reliance. One manifestation of this phenomenon is the promotion in the region by some professionals and laymen alike of a policy of self-sufficiency in agricultural production.

The investment potential of warm-season grasses is compared with that of cool-season grasses, with special emphasis on hill-land beef production. In addition to evaluating relative costs and returns for various grazing systems, a sensitivity analysis is conducted. The results are then illustrated for a representative hill-land farm in West Virginia, and both an optimal and a set of quasi-optimal solutions are generated within the linear programming framework. In general, warm-season grasses are found to be a superior investment alternative for hill-land beef producers.

This study constructs a simulation model to evaluate the potential for conflict among residential and agricultural users of water in southern Rhode Island. The model estimates the profitability of irrigation of turf farms and projects the total use and the economic value of irrigation water. The results indicate that the economic value of irrigation water compares favorably with current residential water prices in the area. In addition, substantial demand for irrigation water is projected. Given current rates of growth in turf acreage and residential water use, there appears to be a significant potential for conflict, particularly given the absence of well developed institutions for allocating water among users.

Policy issues surrounding Federal programs for land retirement as a means of curtailing soil erosion are discussed in this paper. The analysis is structured around productivity differentials observed for New York cropland rated as highly erosive, moderately erosive, or nonerosive.

As the most densely populated area of the nation, New Jersey and the Northeast stand as a laboratory in which concepts and institutions might be developed and tested to preserve valuable nonrenewable farmland for multiple social uses including an ability to provide open space and life-sustaining food and fiber. In this context, there is a need to carefully consider the idea that actions by government and society generate or destroy economic values in property through the creation or modification of institutions and social organization. It is also true that the lack of action by government may result in the wasteful destruction of amenities which may be held in high regard by many individuals in society.

Researchers and extension personnel interested in dairy systems recognize the importance of high quality hay. It is generally assumed that feeding a higher quality hay should result in increased quantities of hay in the least cost balanced ration and thereby reduce total ration cost (Chase). The objective of this article is to quantify the direction and magnitude of changes in dairy cow ration composition and cost with increased hay crop quality.

Two approaches to formal multiple objective decision analysis are described, illustrated and compared. These two approaches, generating techniques and goal programming, are illustrated by the solution of a simple numerical example. This solution combined with some lessons from the field of psychology provide a basis for some judgments on the relative merits of the approaches.

Christmas tree sales are considerable throughout the United States. Understanding the drivers of purchase for Christmas trees is critical for producers and stakeholders within states with tree production. Using data from a choice experiment in combination with latent class modeling, we find that tree height is important, but tree species is less important. Further, we show that local labeling does not influence all consumers. With respect to retail location, we show that nursery/greenhouse and choose-and-cut retail outlets are preferred by a majority of consumers but not by all consumers. Recommendations for the varying retail outlets are provided.

Since the early 1960's, educators writing in the Journal of Farm Economics and its successor, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, have recommended three major curricular changes in agricultural economics programs. First, the curricula should be broadened and diversified, that is, offering more choice of electives of a general nature as opposed to more technical required couses [Hess, Kellogg, Sparks, Sledge, Spitze]. Second, more emphasis should be directed in terms of required formal courses in the written and oral communication skills [Kellogg, Koch, Mather, Sledge, Spitze]. Third, in support of broader curricula, an increase in courses in social sciences and humanities should be required [Hess, Koch, Manderscheid, Sparks, Spitze].

The Bishop-Simpson model, a variant of the traditional shift-share approach, is utilized for investigation of the development of the southern New Hampshire regional economy over time. Emphasis is placed on the strengths of the new technique in counteracting some of the limitations of traditional shift-share analyses. The B and S technique gives a clearer picture than the traditional shift-share approach of the relative advantages and disadvantages for region in terms of its specialization in slow or fast growing industries.

This article explores the environmental and market determinants of irrigation management in a five-state Great Lakes region. We found evidence that corn, soybean, and potato irrigators respond to the cost of water at the intensive margin. Evidence of a water-cost effect at the extensive margin was mixed. This article is unique in its geographic focus and its consideration of various temperature effects. We found evidence of a long-run average temperature effect on crop acreage allocation decisions and a short-run extreme heat effect on water application rates.

This paper estimates the effect of environmental remediation on housing prices in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern (AOC) using a hedonic analysis of individual arms-length sales before and after a major remediation action between 2011 and 2015. Our design leverages this before-after comparison as well as the proximity of homes to remediation and the AOC boundary. Measuring the effect of AOCs in the housing market has always been a difficult task, given that water in AOCs can provide a mix of amenities and disamenities. Indeed, we find little evidence of a negative proximity effect when applying hedonic analysis to cross-section data. However, when we apply the analysis to a repeated cross section in a quasi-experimental framework, we find statistically significant evidence that living near the affected part of the AOC became more desirable after cleanup.

Expert and peer reviews and popularity are freely available both on the Internet and in printed materials for a variety of food products. Using two experimental studies with non-hypothetical tastings and auctions, we explore the impact of peer tasting popularity, actual peer ratings, and expert ratings on demand for wines consumers can or have tasted. We find that higher own wine ratings are associated with higher willingness to pay (WTP). Morevoer, higher peer and expert rating scores increase consumer WTP for wine even after controlling for the impact of consumers’ own ratings. Observed peer popularity also increases WTP for preferred wines.

Prior tests of Hicks’ Induced Innovation Hypothesis (IIH) have been greatly hampered because the lack of supply-side data implicitly requires the untenable assumption that the marginal research cost is the same for different inputs. We document that, with appropriate model specification and panel data, a two-way fixed-effects estimator can account for much of the non-neutrality of the innovation function. Using a test procedure that is robust to a time-variant and non-neutral innovation function, we test the IIH in U.S. agriculture for the period 1960–2004. We use only readily available data for innovation demand and total public research expenditures.

Facing increasing nonrenewable and environmental concerns with fossil power generation, renewable energy is being supported by government mechanisms. With the power generation cost of renewables generally higher than fossil fuels, determining the optimal level of these mechanisms requires an understanding of households’ prosocial behavior toward renewables. The issue is determining the magnitude households are willing to pay (WTP) for alternative renewables. Our hypothesis is this behavior varies by the type of renewable energy. As a test of this hypothesis, we apply a discrete choice experiment to measure households’ WTP. Results support our hypothesis with a positive WTP for solar energy, leading to a 62% reduction in solar subsidy, and a negative WTP for biomass and wind sources.

Dairy farming in Europe faces profound environmental, social, and economic sustainability challenges, which are of significant policy interest. These challenges support the need for a transition toward the uptake of more sustainable dairy farming practices. This paper examines the effects of an advisory instrument “balanced sustainability information” on farmers’ preferences for more grass-based feeding systems using a between-subjects design and a discrete choice experiment among a sample of Swedish dairy farmers. Conceptually, we develop a state-dependent utility framework with Bayesian updating to motivate the impact pathway. Our results demonstrate that on average, balanced sustainability information has negligible effects on farmers’ feed choices, which could be a consequence of opposing responses to the information, among others. Considering farmer heterogeneity based on their identities and prior knowledge, we find support for some evidence of treatment effects. Our findings highlight important and policy-relevant critical reflections about overoptimistic expectations of information provision as an instrument to nudge behavioral change toward more sustainable farming practices.

In this article, we present a model of the electricity sector where generation technologies are intermittent. The economic value of an electricity generation technology is given by integrating its production profile with the market price of electricity. We use estimates of the consumer's intertemporal elasticity of substitution for electricity consumption while parameterizing the model empirically to numerically calculate the elasticity between renewables and fossil energy. We find that there is a non-constant elasticity of substitution between renewable and fossil energy that depends on prices and intermittency. This suggests that the efficacy and welfare effects of carbon taxes and renewable subsidies vary geographically. Subsidizing research into battery technology and tailoring policy for local energy markets can mitigate these distributional side effects while complementing traditional policies used to promote renewable energy.

Using data from a survey of Pennsylvania food processors, we investigate what firm-level characteristics make a processor more or less likely to buy agricultural inputs and ingredients though contracts. We find that over 20 percent of Pennsylvania processors use contracts, and over 44 percent of agricultural inputs (based on value) are purchased under contract. We also analyze the two related questions of what firm attributes, attitudes, or other factors make a firm more likely to use contracts at all, and what factors lead a processor who does contract to use them more intensively.

The USDA's Market Access Program (formerly Market Promotion Program) recently underwent a major change to redirect all branded products export promotion funds to small domestic firms and cooperatives. The redirection responded to criticisms by the General Accounting Office of past allocations of branded products export promotion funds to large, experienced exporters. This study uses a firm-level analysis to examine whether firm size and export experience matter in how effectively firms use the promotion funds to increase their revenues. The results support neither the GAO criticisms nor the recent program redirection.