A comparative study of farmers' markets visitors' needs and wants: the case of Alabama

Many studies refer to the importance of farmers' markets for both food producers and for visitors. For producers, the ability to obtain higher returns and/or market part of their produce as value‐added products can be strong incentives, while for consumers benefits include having access to fresher, often tastier foods or simply visiting as a social activity. Relatively few studies, however, explore visitors' needs and wants with regards to their farmers' market experience, that is, from visitors' perspective. The present study explores this dimension, comparing visitors' views in two different farmers' markets, one recently developed (since 2009) in a rural area vs. one already established (since 2004) in a university town (urban area). A total of 356 farmers' market visitors participated in the study. Respondents' comments from the two different farmers' markets are very much in agreement in the context of their needs and wants. Primarily, visitors want more product variety, an extended season, that is, not only limited to the summer season, and more vendors. The fact that more than half of the respondents regularly visit farmers' markets demonstrates their need and interest in locally produced foods. Given such strong interest, the potential for beneficial producer–consumer interactions in the sites studied appears to be enormous. Furthermore, farmers and other food producers have an ideal opportunity to increase the interest of consumers, ‘convert’ them to their foods and realise important benefits in the process. The overall findings also suggest opportunities for the establishment of other farmers' markets in a state (Alabama) with a long agricultural tradition.     

A NOTE ON THE EFFECTS OF TAXES ON OPTIMAL INVESTMENT

We integrate two approaches to portfolio management problems: that of Morton and Pliska (1995) for a portfolio with risky and riskless assets under transaction costs, and that of Cadenillas and Pliska (1999) for a portfolio with a risky asset under taxes and transaction costs. In particular, we show that the two surprising results of the latter paper, results shown for a taxable market consisting of only a single security, extend to a financial market with one risky asset and one bond: it can be optimal to realize not only losses but also gains, and sometimes the investor prefers a positive tax rate.     

Medical migration from Zimbabwe: magnitude,causes and impact on the poor

This article examines the migration of health professionals from Zimbabwe in the face of a worsening economic and political crisis. Drawing on data from selected health institutions, it shows that the magnitude of this migration is increasing, with no signs of slowing down, and that economic factors are largely responsible. This outflow has negatively affected the users of the health system, particularly the poor who cannot afford the alternative health services offered by the better-staffed and well-equipped private clinics and consequently have resorted to visiting traditional and faith healers. Based on the research findings, the study calls for a speedy resolution of the current economic and political crisis as a long-term solution for reducing the medical brain drain from Zimbabwe.     

Accelerated depreciation and the efficacy of temporary fiscal policy: Implications for an inflationary economy

The effect on investment of temporary tax rate changes depends on the age profile of depreciation deductions. If the depreciation allowance schedule is accelerated, then temporary cuts in the corporate tax rate could reduce investment. Inflation causes the age profile of real depreciation deductions to become accelerated and thus could make temporary tax cuts have a contractionary effect on investment. Two currently proposed reforms are shown to exacerbate this effect. Under each of these proposals, temporary tax cuts are likely to have opposite effects on investment in short-lived and long-lived capital, thereby complicating the conduct of countercyclical fiscal policy.     

An integrated view of tests of rationality,market efficiency and the short-run neutrality of monetary policy

This paper analyzes an important class of models in which expectations play an important role. Topics included in the analysis are tests of: (1) rationality of forecasts in either market or survey data, (2) capital market efficiency, (3) the short-run neutrality of monetary policy and, (4) Granger causality in macroeconometric models. The common elements of these tests are highlighted. In particular, cross-equation tests for rationality or the short-run neutrality of money are shown to be equivalent to more common regression tests in the literature. These results demonstrate that the exact specification of the relevant information set used in rational forecasts is not necessary for the cross-equation tests to have desirable asymptotic properties. Also discussed are the conditions for identification of coefficients and testability of hypotheses.     

Political Economy of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers: The Rural‐Urban Dynamics in Ghana

This study examined the political economy dimension of fiscal transfers from the national government to district assemblies based on the formula distribution policy created under Ghana's 1992 Constitutional democracy. The two‐step system GMM for dynamic linear panel analysis was estimated from locational perspectives of rural and urban in relation to political swing and aligned districts. Data on annual District Assemblies Common Fund transfers and election results were used for the analyses from 1994 to 2014 covering 167 assemblies. From the results, average transfers to each district was Gh 6.28 million but it increased by 3.5 per cent in politically aligned rural districts and by 6.4 per cent in urban swing districts. During election years, the increases were even higher, precisely 5 per cent and 10 per cent for rural aligned and urban swing districts, respectively. These suggested that the government generally targets more urban swing voters than rural aligned voters. The allocation formula was influenced by political factors, as election years tended to be associated with higher transfers. The swing effects dominated the sharing mechanism. Therefore, to reduce political influence on the allocation formula, an independent body should be established to make recommendations directly to parliament. This should dampen the political influence of incumbent governments on the allocations.