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.

This study used least squares regression techniques to estimate the demand for fresh choice beef in the U.S., 1950–1978. From the demand equation, estimates of price, income and cross elasticity of demand were derived. An objective was to determine if elasticity of demand has been decreasing. Problems with pooling of data, serial correlation and multicollinearity were dealt with. Estimated price elasticity of demand was found to be .62. When this figure was compared to results of other studies (with the consideration that different estimating techniques and time periods were used) it was judged that elasticity of demand for fresh choice beef in the U.S. probably had declined between 1950 and 1978.

Potatoes suitable for frozen french fries are harvested in the fall and then apportioned for the rest of the year by processors. This involves storage in either fresh or frozen form. Participants in both the fresh and french fry market consider the level of frozen french fry stocks to be an important determinant of activity in these markets and therefore use stock information to form price expectations [Phillips et al., 16–18]. The ability to forecast the future level of stocks with some accuracy would undoubtedly be an additional aid in developing market strategies. This paper provides one means of forecasting frozen french fry stocks.

Conventional economic theory suggests that economists’ contribution to local government is primarily with respect to the production function type of knowledge. A characterization of local government decision making exposes some limitations on applicability of economic analysis of that kind. Public choice perspectives to local government help to redefine and elaborate the role of economic analysis in instructing local government decision making.

Entering the decade of the 80's, the U.S. faces a number of difficult challenges carried over from the decade just ended. A pressing domestic problem is that of poverty, and its many manifestations. Major cities are confronted with a particularly difficult problem. Concentrations of low-income persons, unemployment, congestion, dilapidated structures, high crime rates, struggling education systems, and deteriorated business and economic conditions, create a seemingly impossible morass of redevelopment problems. One aspect of the decline of the cities that has had particularly serious consequences, is the gradual deterioration of the food delivery system there. It is especially critical because of its implications for the diets and budgets of low-income families.

This study reports the development of a computer assisted testing (CAT) system and the use of this system over the past five years to develop a normative testing tool in an introductory microeconomics theory course. The CAT system is more than a testing tool and can be used to aid in instructional improvement by pinpointing difficulties in technical material areas, levels of learning abilities, general lack of understanding and patterns of mathematical, graphic and written problems. It would appear that the techniques used to develop the normative tests in this report could also be used to develop individual standarized examinations tailored to the learning objectives in other courses.

During the past decade, the significance of international trade for the United States’ economy has changed dramatically. In 1970, merchandise exports were $43 billion and accounted for five percent of the Gross National Product (GNP); merchandise imports amounted to $40 billion (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis). By 1977, such exports had increased to almost $120 billion and imports to $150 billion, in both cases a rate of increase almost double that for GNP over the same period.

The use of traditional multipliers in analyzing the impact of alternative development policies should only be undertaken with a full understanding of the theoretical constraints inherent in such an approach. Theoretical input-output models assume perfectly elastic supply of all inputs and demand for all outputs. Thus, traditional multipliers abstract from the relative size of changes in final demand, or production, since any change is theoretically possible. In actuality, supply and demand elasticities are not infinite. It may not be possible to increase sales to final demand by 300 percent; nor (due to land, labor or capital input scarcities) is it likely that a sector's production can increase by 100 percent. Therefore, in practice, some measure of the feasibility of a proposed change needs to be considered.

Economic base studies are an accepted economic tool for regional economic analysis. The economic base concept was first set forth as early as 1928 in a regional study of New York City. The economic base concept gained maturity through the work of Homer Hoyt in the 1930's. The first complete statement of the theory of economic base is contained in a text written by Weiner and Hoyt.

New Jersey is the most urbanized state in the nation; correspondingly, it also has the highest motor vehicle density, averaging 467 vehicles per square mile in 1976. In some metropolitan areas of the state, vehicle density may exceed 15,000 vehicles per square mile (New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection 1976). Motor vehicles are considered responsible for significant emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection 1978). Because of growing concern about these emissions, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decided to adopt an in-use motor vehicle exhaust emission testing program; this could be incorporated easily into the already-existing automotive safety inspection program and thus was calculated to be more cost effective than alternative strategies as well as being less disruptive to the state's transportation system (New Jersey).

Economic activity producing primary goods and services often generates secondary “products” or residuals. For those residuals that are highly toxic, the only alternatives are complete destruction or long-term storage in some safe and efficient manner. But for certain residuals that are biodegradable, such as animal wastes and sewage sludges (relatively free of heavy metals), recycling is possible, particularly through soil incorporation and eventual plant uptake. These residuals, on a dry weight basis, will normally contain some nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (less than 10 percent total), and organic matter of at least 50 percent.

Researchers are well aware that each technique for administering surveys has its own advantages and disadvantages. Direct interviews, either by telephone or in person, have a relatively high cost per contact but usually result in a higher percentage of questionnaire completions and greater control of the response quality. Mail surveys can be conducted at a lower per unit cost but are often characterized by lower response rates and an overall poorer quality of completed questionnaires. Even with follow-up mailings, recent studies at the University of Maine suggest that response rates of 35 to 45 percent can be expected on general land use surveys or recreation studies.

For the past two decades, New Hampshire has faced rapidly increasing population levels with the main thrust occurring in the southern portion of the State. For example, between 1960 and 1975, it is estimated that New Hampshire's population has increased by approximately 35 percent (New Hampshire Office of Comprehensive Planning [1978]). Employment has grown 105.6 percent between 1940 and 1970 for the three southern counties of the State (United States Department of Commerce [1975]). This trend of economic and population expansion has important implications for the State as a whole. These phenomena have put a severe strain upon the provision of municipal services, inflated land prices and increased property taxes. How New Hampshire as a state will deal with its situation in future years will depend in part on two parameters: (1) the value judgments (or lack thereof) contained in policy decisions about how development should expand, and (2) the amount and comprehensiveness of information supplied on which to base decisions. It is the latter parameter to which this paper addresses itself.

Until recently, the dominant demographic trend in the United States had been an increasing flow of people from rural to urban areas and a concentration of population in the nation's cities. Early in the 1970s, however, it became clear that this historically dominant trend had been reversed. People were leaving the cities for the countryside, and nonmetropolitan areas were experiencing higher population growth rates than metropolitan areas. The now familiar “turnaround” along with the socioeconomic characteristics of metro to nonmetro migrants and their reasons for moving has been well documented in the literature (Beale, 1975; Zuiches and Brown; Fugitt and Voss). Most evidence indicates that this trend emerges from a decline in metropolitan growth rates and an increase in nonmetropolitan growth rates originating twenty to thirty years ago, and is likely to be with us for some time into the future (Fugitt and Voss, pp. 10 and 37).