Suburban Encroachment on the Old North 40: The Search for Effective Measures to Preserve Agricultural Land

A bstract . Since 1956, more than 40 states have passed some form of legislation to preserve agricultural land. These statutes or constitutional amendments invoke a variety of economic and/or legal strategies to obtain their objectives, but the most common strategy is that of the differential tax. None of the various strategies is entirely effective, however, although land resource allocation problems have prompted some economists to reexamine the merits of land value taxation. A survey of pertinent literature on land value taxation is examined in an effort to determine whether a system based on single tax principles might offer a simpler, more equitable, and therefore preferable solution to the problem of land resource allocation according to criteria believed to foster environmental conservation or social goals.     

A pull system for delegating knowledge work

A pull system using kanban is commonly used in manufacturing settings to efficiently control the flow of goods. Its success in service operations is limited to processes similar to production lines when the output is repetitive. This paper examined how well a pull system for delegating non-repetitive output performed in an experimental setting of knowledge work, similar to what is found in many services. Results indicated that performance, as measured by completion time for cognitive tasks, improved under a pull as opposed to a push system of delegation. The improvement occurred with no change in output quality, stress levels, or satisfaction. Portions of this data were presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Philadelphia, PA, August, 2007.