Climate change, irrigation, and Israeli agriculture: Will warming be harmful?

This paper utilizes a Ricardian model to test the relationship between annual net revenues and climate across Israeli farms. The study finds that it is important to include the amount of irrigation water available to each farm in order to measure the response of farms to climate. With irrigation water omitted, the model predicts climate change is strictly beneficial. However, with water included, the model predicts that only modest climate changes are beneficial while drastic climate change in the long run will be harmful. Using the AOGCM Scenarios we show that farm net revenue is expected to increase. Although Israel has a relatively warm climate a mild increase in temperature is beneficial due to the ability to supply international markets with farm product early in the season.     

Optimal Farm-to-Market Transportation and Storage of Certain Agriculture Commodities: Bogota,Colombia ∗

Decision rules for the make-buy decision most often assume the form of single-item, incremental cost rules which, for application, require decisions to be made for each item in isolation from all others. While it has been recognized that such decision rules may be non-optimal in situations where equipment capacity limits exist, the literature has not considered other cases where non-optimality arises. The purpose of this paper is to use linear programming as a framework for evaluating the optimality of single-item, incremental cost rules. The major conclusion of this paper is that the presence of any type of binding constraint in the planning problem, regardless of its origin, renders a single-item decision rule potentially non-optimal. A set of optimal screening decision rules is developed to be used in conjunction with a linear programming model for make-buy decisions in cases where such binding constraints exist.     

Determinants of vacation travel among Israeli seniors: theory and evidence

This study investigates determinants of vacation travel among seniors. A consumer choice model is developed that incorporates effects of retirement and health on available leisure time, and effects of age and education on disposable income. The empirical implications of the model depend on leisure and income patterns, that in turn determine if time and budget constraints are binding. The model is illustrated using data collected from Israeli seniors. Results confirm theoretical predictions regarding the changing effectiveness of constraints as seniors grow older.     

A room with a view—A valuation of the Mediterranean Sea view

Aesthetic view is one of the ecosystem services of the Mediterranean Sea which can be estimated using price differences in the hotel market. Hotels situated on the Mediterranean Sea charge higher prices for a room with a sea view than for a room without it. The value of this view in 10 major Mediterranean regions was estimated in this paper using a hedonic price method. Data on 2819 hotel rooms in high season and 2406 rooms in the low season were collected from Booking.com and fixed effects regression was used to estimate the model coefficients. Hotel room prices were found to be higher by about 10% for a room with a view than for one with no view specification. No significant difference was found between regions or season. These findings lend support to the fact that the view of the Mediterranean is equally valued in all regions.     

Measuring the Recreational Value of Open Space

We develop aggregate measures of the recreational value of types of open space when data on individual site visitation are not available. Our procedure accounts for both the allocation (between the different types of open space) and participation (total number of trips) decisions. The procedure is applied to estimate the recreational value of three types of open spaces (beaches, urban parks and national parks) in Israel.     

Early Birds versus Just-in-Timers: The effect of procrastination on academic performance of accounting students

This study investigates the effect of procrastination on academic performance. Prior research has often relied upon self-reported measures of procrastination, which are only weakly correlated with actual procrastination. We use the start and submission of a set of online homework problems as two objective, direct measures of student procrastination and the grade on the assignments as a measure of performance. In our study, there were a number of potential benefits to submitting online assignments ‘just-in-time’. Thus, there was a direct benefit to procrastination, which students had to weigh against potential drawbacks. With a sample size larger than those previously reported in the literature, we find that for both procrastination measures, task procrastination is associated with lower task performance. To ensure that our results are not just an association between performance and student quality, we test for the association between task procrastination and task performance, while controlling for student quality. We find that even after controlling for student quality, task procrastination is associated with lower task performance.     

Rural poverty in Mexico: assets and livelihood strategies among the Mayas of Yucatán

Understanding poverty and sustainability needs livelihood studies that acknowledge heterogeneity at the community and household level. This is particularly true for Latin America where inequality and ethnicity are important aspects of poverty and sustainability. This paper is a detailed examination of the natural resources, socio-economic assets and livelihood strategies of two Mayan communities of the Mexican State of Yucatán. There were three fundamental objectives: to elucidate the people's perceptions of poverty, to analyse their resource use and livelihood strategies, and to suggest ways in which access to markets can reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the dominance of certain successful strategies are made clear. First, milpa—the traditional system of maize production—is a way of life for the Mayas. Secure access to maize-producing land is a valuable asset, partly because it also attracts government subsidies. Second, ownership of small livestock is also part of Mayan life. Ownership of other assets such as beehives gives access to (relatively) lucrative product markets. Third, active agribusiness marketing also requires assets: ownership of transport services; finance to assemble and sell products such as forest fruits, honey and maize; business skills and an ability to create commercial linkages to traders. Appropriate interventions for different wealth groups are suggested to enhance sustainable development of the communities.     

The precision of statistics of international migrations--a study of flows between Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany

The authors compare the quality of data concerning migration between Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany. Data are from the population registers of both countries. The analysis finds that German sources show migration levels between the two countries to be twice as high as do the Italian sources. Reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.     

A TECHNICAL NOTE ON THE MATHEMATICS OF NON-ANNUAL COMPOUNDING

An expected return-systematic risk (r,β) criterion is used to develop a decision framework for investing in inventory. The direct incorporation of risk in the model in the context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model avoids the shortcoming of exogenous risk specification, which is inherent in both the return on investment and cost minimization criteria commonly employed in inventory management.