Early on-line detection of exothermic reactions

On-line supervision exhibits in many respects properties complementary to those of established off-line safety tests. Thus, on-line methods are powerful tools for increasing the safety of chemical processes, especially in situations where unexpected hazards could occur. Known on-line supervising methods are described and their advantage and disadvantages are briefly discussed. The abilities of various on-line methods are demonstrated on a real case.     

The Power Motive and Organizational Structure: A Micro-Macro Connection

A model is described which includes a taxonomy of the power-motive profiles of individuals-a taxonomy of situational types based upon power considerations and a conceptual link among organizational structure, power-situation type, and individual power motives. The model provides a theoretical connection between micro and macro theories of organizational behaviour and adds some clarification and system to nPow theory. Résumé Le modèle décrit inclut la taxonomie des caractéristiques d'attraction au pouvoir des individus-une taxonomie de situations diverses fondée sur des considérations relatives au pouvoir et sur le lien conceptuel reliant la structure organisationnelle, le type de pouvoir découlant de la situation, et les motivations individuelles. Ce modèle prouve le lien théorique entre les théories micro et macro-économiques du comportement organisationnel, et clarifie et systématise la théorie nPow.     

Is There Persistence in the Impact of Emergency Food Aid? Evidence on Consumption, Food Security, and Assets in Rural Ethiopia

We identify the impact of emergency food aid programs after the 2002 drought in rural Ethiopia on future welfare. Based on a difference-in-differences matching estimator, participation in food-for-work increases growth in total consumption and food consumption eighteen months after the drought. Separately, receiving free food raises growth in food consumption, but, surprisingly, negatively impacts food security. Food-for-work benefited households in the middle and upper tail of the consumption distribution, while the better-targeted free food program benefited the poorest. Evidence suggests these impacts demonstrate accumulated and persistent effects of food aid received in the first twelve months after the drought.     

Estimating the economic value of big game habitat production from prescribed fire using a time series approach

This paper demonstrates a time-series production technique to quantify the deer harvest and deer hunting benefits of controlled burns or prescribed fire. The time series regression model showed a statistically significant and positive effect of prescribed fire on deer harvest. The net economic value of the resulting additional deer hunting benefit was estimated using the Contingent Valuation Method at $ 98 per additional deer harvested. The initial deer hunting benefits of an additional 1,000 acres of prescribed burning are between $ 2,674 and $ 3,128 or $ 2-3 per acre. The costs of prescribed burning greatly exceed these benefits, suggesting that deer hunting benefits represent only a small part of the multiple use benefits of prescribed fire.     

Separate Crop Accounts for the Western Grain Stabilization Program

Payouts from the Western Grain Stabilization Program are determined on the basis of prairie-wide net cash flow from grains. Of particular importance is what happens to the returns to wheat – the predominant crop. Thus while wheat producers in aggregate can be expected to benefit from the current program, producers of nonwheat crops may not. This paper examines the economics of separate crop accounts as a way of providing greater sensitivity to such producers. It is concluded that the gains are not large enough to warrant such a program change. Les paiements versés en vertu du Programme de stabilisation des grains de ?Ouest sont déterminés à partir des fonds autogénérés par la production céréalière à ?échelle des Prairies. Or, il est particulièrement important de savoir ce qu'il advient des revenus provenant de la production du blé, la culture prédominante dans cette région. Ainsi, même si on peut s'attendre que dans ?ensemble, les producteurs de blé tirent avantage du programme actuel, tel n'est peut-être pas le cas pour les producteurs ?autres céréales. Dans le présent article, nous examinons les aspects économiques ?un traitement séparé du blé et des autres céréales en guise de moyen pour mieux tenir compte des besoins de ces producteurs. Nous concluons que les avantages ainsi obtenus ne sont pas suffisamment importants pour justifier un tel changement du programme.     

Consumer information on Distributor and Manufacturer Brands of food

Consumer information affirms that distributor brands of food are less expensive than corresponding manufacturer brands¹ and that these brands are equal in quality [2, p. 8]. The price difference between these two types of brands thus represents a real gain to the consumer purchasing distributor brands rather than just a case of paying less for lower quality products. Furthermore, one source has estimated that ten per cent of the grocery bill can be saved through purchasing distributor brands [6]. The credibility of this information is open to question however, as few statements concerning the price and quality of these types of brands have been carefully documented in Canada. In the light of the limited empirical support and the substantial consumer benefit involved, the purpose of this study is to test the reported relation between the price and quality of distributor and manufacturer brands. Establishing a working definition for quality is a key problem encountered in price-quality analysis. Food quality is multidimensional and its various dimensions may be classified into two broad categories: subjective or sensory attributes such as taste, aroma, appearance; and objective attributes located below the threshold of perception such as nutrients and freedom from harmful micro-organisms. Because the sensory attributes are more amenable to measurement by non-food scientists and to variation in hidden attributes being controlled by law, this paper focuses on sensory quality. The quality and preference concepts overlap to some extent, as the subjective attributes of food are common to both quality and preference. To ensure that “sensory quality” is well distinguished from overall quality, “sensory quality” is referred to as “sensory preference”. Having gone some distance towards establishing an operational definition of quality, the principal objectives are: Summary The findings, though tentative and focused on the sensory component of quality, can scarcely be regarded as providing empirical support for the price-quality information referred to earlier. Distributor brands were notably less expensive for three-quarters of the products surveyed. As well, the manufacturer brand was rated significantly higher than at least one distributor brand for four of the ten products subject to sensory evaluation. The results therefore suggest that there is a very general tendency for distributor brands to be priced lower than manufacturer brands and to be of equivalent quality.