...December 2008 Title* Author Aslihan Arslan Abstract: Economic models of land allocation may lead to expectations for farmer response that “surprisingly" do not materialize, if market prices fail to reflect the value of farmers' product. “Shadow prices" rather than market prices explain resource allocation better for farmers who attach significant non-market values to their own crops. I extend the theoretical model in Arslan and Taylor (2008) to explain why the land allocation of such farmers may not respond to market signals even if transaction costs are not binding. I estimate the proportion of land subsistence maize farmers allocate to traditional versus modern maize varieties using nationally representative rural household data from Mexico – the center of diversity of maize. I conclude that shadow prices explain land allocation better than market prices and discuss the importance of non-market values in understanding both farmers' supply response and on-farm conservation of traditional crops with non-market values. Keywords: Land allocation, shadow prices, non-market values, traditional crops, on-farm conservation, Mexico JEL classification: O12, O13, Q12, Q39 Aslıhan Arslan Kiel Institute for the World Economy 24100 Kiel, Germany Telephone: (431) 881 4499 E-mail: aslihan.arslan@ifw-kiel.de * I thank to the Center on Rural Economies of the Americas and Pacific Rim (REAP) and Program for the Study of Economic Change and Sustainability in Rural Mexico (PRECESAM) for...
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...economic, cultural, religious, social, political, etc.’ The advent of the British colonialism and the settler economy negatively impacted Kikuyu women because the loss of land meant a loss of access to and authority over land. Kikuyu women found that they no longer had the variety of soils needed to grow indigenous foodstuffs. Traditionally, certain pieces of land were associated with the growth of certain crops. Thus the variety of soils was required to ensure food security . Moreover, land loss meant women were restricted to smaller tracts of land for cultivation. Continuous cultivation of these areas of land led to soil exhaustion and nutrient depletion which ultimately adversely affected crop yields. Land alienation reduced the economic independence enjoyed by women by compromising their economic productivity. As colonialism continue to entrench itself in African soil, the perceived importance of women’s agricultural contribution to the household was reduced as their vital role in food production was overshadowed by the more lucrative male-controlled cash crop cultivation. Secondly, colonialism...
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...12 times. Envisioned the city on the Hill. Roger Williams: Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay for agitating ideas like the separation of church and state. Moved North to the area now known as Providence, Road Island and established the Protestant Church. Eliza Lucas Pinckney: Was in Charge of 3 South Carolina plantations by the age of 16. Imported indigo to her plantation, which became a very important cash crop. John Smith: Leader of Jamestown Colony in Virginia. First explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay part of the first settlement to the New World. Helped save colony from devastation. Anne Hutchinson: Was a Puritan spiritual adviser and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy that shook the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She helped create a theological schism that threatened to destroy the Puritans' religious experiment in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters. John Rolfe: Was married to Pocahontas and moved to England with her. Most notably established the tobacco industry in the colonies and was killed by Indians upon re-arrival in the new world. Pocahontas: Was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Daughter of Powhatan and married to John Rolfe. John Calvin: Influential Frenchman who helped develop Calvinism, which contained the idea of pre-destination. He Fled to America for religious freedom. Ferdinand Magellan:...
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...The Age of Exploration began due to improvements in ship technologies such as the compass, which helped them sail in the right direction, the caravel, triangular sails which allowed them to travel against the wind, and the astrolabe, which allowed them to sail using the stars. Another reason that exploration started, was because of the dominant trait in all humans, curiosity. Exploration also started due to the capturing of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and the need to find new trade routes. The results of exploration were the discoveries of new resources, new cultures, and the changing of the map. New resources such as tobacco, maize, and potatoes were found in the New World. These crops were sometimes used for food, and other...
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...George Washington Carver was a botanist and chemist, born into slavery on January 5, 1861, in Missouri. He was best known for his work with the peanut, creating more than 200 new uses for the plant, including recipes, cosmetics, lubricants, etc. He also worked with soybeans and sweet potatoes, attempting to persuade Southern farmers to plant them over cotton, for the sake of the soil that had been ravaged by plants that only took a few nutrients and never returned them. At birth, he, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by raiders from Arkansas, selling them in Kansas. Moses Carver hired a John Bentley to find them, and upon doing so, negotiated with the raiders for the infant George. Bentley was rewarded for his efforts. When slavery had been abolished, Moses and his wife decided to raise the young George as their own child, encouraging him to follow his intellectual pursuits, teaching him the basics of reading and writing. Carver tried applying to several colleges, before finally being accepted by Highland College in Highland, Kansas. They ultimately rejected him, though, due to revealing his race when he arrived. He was then accepted into Simpson College in Iowa, studying art and piano. When his teacher noticed his skill at painting plants and flowers, she encouraged him to study botany at the Iowa State Agricultural College, which he did. He was the first black student to attend. He went on to get his master’s degree in botany, then teaching at the school, being the...
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...Farm Financial Statements Ag Decision Maker File C3-56 Statement of Cash Flows—Summarizes all the sources and uses of cash by the business during a period of time. Statement of Owner Equity—Shows how net worth changed from the beginning to the end of the year. Forms for preparing each of these statements are found in this bulletin. Several supplemental schedules also are provided, on which assets and liabilities can be listed and subtotals of their values carried forward to the statements. Most of the information can be taken from the same sources used to prepare your income tax return, plus a listing of assets owned and liabilities owed. More detailed information can be found in the following ISU Extension and Outreach publications: •Your Net Worth Statement (FM 1791/AgDM C3-20) •Your Farm Income Statement (FM 1816/AgDM C3-25) •Financial Performance Measures for Iowa Farms (FM 1845/AgDM C3-55) •Twelve Steps to Cash Flow Budgeting (FM 1792/AgDM C3-15) T he financial position and performance of a farm business can be summarized by four important financial statements. The relationship of these statements is illustrated below. Information from these statements can be used: • to make important financing and investment decisions • to substantiate credit applications • to derive performance measures for analyzing the farm business • to develop budgets for planning purposes The major statements and their purposes are as follows: Net Worth Statement—Summarizes the property...
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...Africans The History of a Continent Chapter 11 Independent Africa, 1950-1980 Finally, the people of African felt like it was the dawn of a new era. An era of better health care, an era where people were happy, an era when babies where gladly made babies. A lot of things are characterized with this era. There was rapid population growth, growing economy, and independence. The gain of freedom also had its bad side. Debts were incurred, civil wars were fought, and political oppression was dominant. Rapid Population Growth Africa, being part of the baby boom had a drastic population increase around 1950. By the 1970’s the growth rate in sub Saharan Africa had increased from approximately 1 to 2.8 percent. One of the main reasons for the growth of the population was a continuous fall in death rate. The death rate fell from 22 per thousand to 16 per thousand between 1965and 1988. In sub-Saharan Africa, the life expectancy rose drastically from 39 to 51 between 1951 and 1988. Africa did not also experience as much crisis and hence the rate of crisis mortality also declined. The decline in infant mortality in Africa definitely played a big role in lowering the death rate. In the 1950’s 30-40 percent of children in most African countries died before the age of five. However in the mid 1970’s the infant mortality rate dropped to approximately 22-27 percent. The Western part of Africa however had higher mortality than most of the other countries. Another reason for the...
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...in America. Mason and Gorges split the land. Mason took the territory that lied between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers, and named it New Hampshire. Gorges took the remaining land. This New England colony was named New Hampshire in honor of actual Hampshire, England. The colony was founded in 1623. After working as secretary for King James I, George Calvert wanted to create a colony in America. King James died, so his son, King Charles I, became the ruler of England. In 1632, King Charles I approved the charter for George...
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...possible. This sometimes led to the development of experimental programs and projects. Some of the programs involved morale boosting murals that depicted an idealistic agricultural American society. The government was not the only producer of confidence boosting propaganda during the Depression, Hollywood also capitalized on the need for empowerment. Hollywood lost money and felt the same loss as people all over the United States. But Hollywood used this Depression for their gain. They altered their course of action to please the American people during this time. Hollywood then produced the Golden Age of Hollywood to boost American morale. Directors such William Wellman and King Vidor were at the forefront of Golden Age movie production. These directors aimed to capture the roles of womanhood and manhood in efforts to fortify American’s thoughts of the ideal American society. The New deal also created the implementation of the Works Project Administration (WPA), more specifically the Federal Project Number One, which aimed to assist people of the arts out of Depression and simultaneously using their works to get into the minds of Americans and regain their confidence. The Great Depression came at a time when America was at the forefront against the push of communism and even fascism. Americans were losing confidence in the government as well as having feelings of anger towards the seemingly over-abuse of power. Americans were feeling like their government was tightening in on their...
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...Chapter 6 “The Crisis of the Porfirian Political Economy” In Morelos • Sugar production dropped drastically from 52,230,155 kilo (1908-1909) to 48,531,600 kilos • Mexican producers were facing an American tariff and new growers in Cuba • Tried to compensate the loss by selling to Mexico city and “domestic consumptions” • Event in Morelos reflected the Mexican agriculture at the time period • There was famine going on in the center and northern parts of the country. Corn shipments were being delivered from other countries cause of the shortage. Some 200,000 tons was imported between 1907-1910 • 1908-1909 there was a drought and that is why there was a shortage of corn. It was mostly due to lack of proper irrigation • The governments wasn’t willing to fund enough money for proper irrigation and also because of not having the sufficient farming tools. This lead to the inevitable down fall of Mexican agriculture • Diaz government had a plan for irrigation but because of the peasant displacement in favor of cash crop, which they farmed on their land, lead to a shortage of crops. Irrigation and the favor cash crop with the drought and crops that were infested in the south and center lead to the famine. • Because of this drought of crops domestic companies started coming into Mexico. This didn’t make Mexican society happy • In Veracruz, foreigners held 95 percent of the city’s private property. Cost of living doubles between 1901-1911 • There was a...
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...The Columbian Exchange is defined as “the transatlantic flow of goods and people that began with Columbus’s voyages in 1492” (Foner A-58). I, however, believe that definition is an oversimplification of such an important time period that would forever influence the course of the world and begin the age of globalization. The Columbian Exchange would have massive cultural, economic, and biological impacts so profound that they reach every corner of the globe today. The Columbian Exchange altered “millions of years of evolution” due to the introduction of foreign species of plants and animals. Colonists, explorers, and treasure seekers alike unknowingly threw the biological world into a state of chaos. There was a beneficial exchange of crops...
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...me with health, abilities and guidance to complete the project in a successful manner, and without His help I was unable to write this report. More than anybody else, I would like to acknowledge my teachers without their support and untiring efforts it was difficult for me to complete this report. They were always there to guide me whenever I felt stuck off and their encouragement always worked as morale booster for me. I have found them very helpful while discussing the tricky issues in this dissertation work. I would also like to thank Mr. Faraz khan (Operations Manager of MCB) for providing me the opportunity to have an excellent learning experience during my internship. His critical comments on my work have certainly made me think of new ideas and techniques....
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...An Illegal Cash Crop Cannabis, or in it's popular name, 'Marijuana', is a plant consisted of dried flowers. This unique plant has many variations of different types of chemicals, which can stimulate psychological and physiological effects upon a living thing. Breaking the recreational drug into a more complex version will result in 'hemp' or classified by the US government as a "Schedule 1 controlled substance drug". Along with it's 50,000 possible beneficial uses of the plant, hemp is considered to be the most essential cash crop and indispensible to the strength of the economy. One may ask the vital question, "Why is hemp illegal?" People too often refer to the dangers of cannabis's indigenous outcome, categorized as marijuana. Although...
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...Thought Paper Writing Assignment on: Life in the South Many colonists came to America because of a desire to prosper and to start a new life. The majority of the settlers were males under the age of twenty. They didn’t realize how harsh it was going to be in the South. I am sure they did not expect to die like so many of them did. The life that they hoped for was not the life that they received. The Southern colonies were an ideal place for agriculture. The long, warm, and moist climate was perfect for growing cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, rice, and indigo. Its rivers were useful for transportation. The hot weather made life in the south harsh and a death expectancy that was shorter than New England’s. There were four classes of settlers; they were the plantation owners, the middle class farmers, the indentured servants, and the slaves. Almost half of the settlers were indentured servants or slaves. How life was in the Southern colonies depended upon which class of people you came from. In a plantation, the wealthy planters’ children were educated at home by teachers that their parents hired; they had easy lives. They learned reading, writing, dancing, and music. Boys learned to ride horses and hunt, and spent lots of time outdoors. The older boys were taught how to run the plantation. The indentured servants were people who came to the colonies on contract. Their hopes were to come to America for a better opportunity of a good life. They would have their fare...
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...America’s Cash Crop “Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally upon our planet. Doesn’t the idea of making nature against the law seem to you a bit . . . unnatural?” ― Bill Hicks The legalization of marijuana is a debate being held all over the country. Everyone has their own opinion on the whole idea of marijuana. There are legislators who think that if marijuana is legalized that it will be grown illegally, and medically abused. There are potheads who think it would be cool and that they would get cheaper weed. But what it comes down to are the numbers. Marijuana is a cash crop. How can Wisconsin say no to numbers like fourteen billion, and thirty five billion dollars? Can legalizing marijuana rescue Wisconsin’s economy? Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington. In seventeen states, and DC it is legal to have at least an ounce of marijuana. In fourteen of them it is legal to even have plants (ProCon). Should Wisconsin be state number eighteen? NBC News produced an article Marijuana Called US Cash Crop and within that article they state “The study estimates that marijuana production, at a value of $35.8 billion, exceeds the combined value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.5 billion).” Wisconsin is in forty six billion dollars of debt and increasing every second (WisconsinDebtClock). If marijuana can bring in millions...
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