67,554 research outputs found
The value of collective reputation for environmentally-friendly production methods: The case of Val di Gresta
No full textIn this paper we investigate consumers' preferences for various environment-friendly production systems for carrots. We use discrete-choice multi-attribute stated-preference data to explore the effect of collective reputations from growers of an Alpine valley known for its environment-friendly production: Val di Gresta 'the valley of organic orchards'. Data analysis of the panel of discrete responses identifies unobserved taste heterogeneity for organic, bio-dynamic and place of origin, while observed heterogeneity for income is addressed by a piece-wise linear function. The implied sample distributions of individual-specific WTP for each of these random attributes are then compared. Results indicate that Integrated Pest Management is preferred to biodynamic as an emerging method. The presence of a premium for Val di Gresta produce is confirmed. The use of an experimental design to identify the relevant second order effects reveals the presence of a reputation effect which can be decomposed into a generic effect from place of origin and a specific one for each EFPMs. Farmers operating in geographically limited marginal areas, such as mountain valleys, may find it useful to invest in collective reputation through high quality standard to achieve higher returns. This strategy may compensate for the dwindling public support to farm income from EU programmes
Using Flexible Taste Distributions to Value Collective Reputation for Environmentally Friendly Production Methods
No full text"In this paper, we investigate consumer preferences for various environmentally friendly production systems for carrots. We use discrete choice multi-attribute stated preference data to explore the effect of the collective reputation of growers from an Alpine valley with an established reputation for its environmentally friendly production: Val di Gresta 'the valley of organic orchards.' Data analysis of the panel of discrete responses identifies unobserved taste heterogeneity for organic, biodynamic, and place of origin along with extra variance associated with experimentally designed alternatives. The assumed parametric taste distributions are each tested using the semi-nonparametric specification proposed by Fosgerau and Bierlaire, while the null of normality cannot be rejected for organic and biodynamic production methods, though it is for the place of origin. The latter is found to be bi-modal, with modes at each side of zero. The use of a flexible taste distribution increases the plausibility of this form of heterogeneity and it appears promising for future applied studies." Copyright (c)2008 Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
Physical Self-Concept in Athletes with Congenital versus Acquired Disabilities
No full textQuesto studio di ricerca trasversale, eseguito attraverso un ‘Randomized Block Design’ (RBD),
ha esaminato le differenze in merito all’autodescrizione del sè corporeo tra gli atleti con disabilità motorie
congenite e acquisite e ha valutato l'influenza dell'età di insorgenza della disabilità sulle percezioni del sè
fisico. Abbiamo reclutato 201 atleti con disabilità motorie acquisite e 185 atleti con disabilità motorie
congenite. I partecipanti, sia maschi che femmine, avevano un’età compresa tra i 12 e 28 anni. A
fondamento del RDB, abbiamo utilizzato una funzione specifica di SPSS 21.0 per creare e confrontare due
campioni casuali di 100 partecipanti con disabilità congenite e 100 partecipanti con disabilità acquisite.
Tutti i partecipanti hanno completato il Questionario sull’Auto-Descrizione del Sè Corporeo – Short
(PSDQ-S, Scarpa, Gobbi, Paggiaro e Carraro, 2010), sul quale abbiamo testato le differenze tra gruppi
attraverso l’ANOVA. Abbiamo anche utilizzato l'analisi di correlazione di Pearson per esaminare le
relazioni tra le variabili "anni senza disabilità" e "anni di pratica sportiva" e le dimensioni del concetto di sé
fisico. I partecipanti con disabilità acquisite hanno ottenuto punteggi medi più elevati rispetto ai
partecipanti con disabità congenite in quasi tutte le sottoscale del PSDQ. L'insorgenza precoce della
disabilità motoria sembra influenzare negativamente l'autostima e la maggior parte delle dimensioni del
concetto di sé fisico, mentre "gli anni di pratica sportiva" influenzano positivamente le dimensioni
dell'auto-descrizione del sè fisico e l'autostima.This cross-sectional and randomized block design (RBD) study examined differences in physical
self-concept among athletes with congenital and acquired motor disabilities and assessed the influence of
age of disability onset on physical self-concept perceptions. We recruited 201 athletes with acquired motor
disabilities and 185 athletes with congenital motor disabilities. Ages ranged from 12-28 years, and athletes
were both male and female. For RDB, we used a specific function of SPSS 21.0 to create and compare two
random samples of 100 participants with congenital disabilities and 100 participants with acquired
disabilities. All participants completed the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ-S; Scarpa,
Gobbi, Paggiaro, & Carraro, 2010), on which we tested group differences with ANOVA. We also used
Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationships between both ‘years without disability’ and ‘years
of sports practice’ and dimensions of physical self-concept. Participants with acquired disabilities had
higher average physical self-concept scores, relative to those with congenital disabilities. Early onset of
physical disability negatively affected self-esteem, and most dimensions of physical self-concept, while
‘years of sports practice’ positively influenced physical self-description and self-esteem
Quality of Life After Restorative Proctocolectomy for Ulcerative Colitis
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Quality of life after restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis - Different questionnaires lead to different interpretations
Author(s): Scarpa, M (Scarpa, Marco); Ruffolo, C (Ruffolo, Cesare); Polese, L (Polese, Lino); Martin, A (Martin, Alessandro); D'Inca, R (D'Inca, Renata); Sturniolo, GC (Sturniolo, Giacomo C.); D'Amico, DF (D'Amico, Davide F.); Angriman, I (Angriman, Imerio)
Source: ARCHIVES OF SURGERY Volume: 142 Issue: 2 Pages: 158-165 DOI: 10.1001/archsurg.142.2.158 Published: FEB 2007
Times Cited: 15 (from Web of Science)
Cited References: 34 [ view related records ] Citation Map
Abstract: Background: According to some researchers, health-related quality-of-life scores for patients who undergo restorative proctocolectomy (RPC) for ulcerative colitis (UC) are comparable to those of healthy control subjects. Other studies show evidence that patients who undergo RPC experience a health-related quality of life similar to patients with mild UC or UC in remission.
Hypothesis: The discrepancy in health-related quality of-life scores among studies may be due to different health-related quality-of-life analyses.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Outpatient clinic of a tertiary care center.
Patients: In the first phase of the study, we consecutively enrolled 24 patients with UC, 24 patients with Crohn disease, and 24 healthy controls. In the second phase of the study, 40 patients who underwent RPC, 43 patients with UC, and 44 controls were consecutively enrolled.
Interventions: We administered an Italian version of the Cleveland Global Quality of Life (CGQL) instrument, the Padova Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life instrument, and the Italian 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.
Main Outcome Measures: We evaluated the construct. validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change, and discriminant ability of the Italian CGQL instrument. We compared its discriminative ability with that of the Padova Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life instrument.
Results: The Italian CGQL instrument obtained good construct validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and sensitivity to change. The Italian CGQL score did not distinguish patients who underwent RPC from healthy controls and those with mild UC or UC in remission, while the Padova Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life instrument reported similar scores for patients who underwent RPC and those with mild UC or UC in remission, and showed a difference vs healthy controls.
Conclusions: We validated an Italian version of the CGQL score. The different results obtained with the CGQL and the Padova Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life instruments can be attributed to the different discriminative ability of the 2 questionnaires
Benefit estimates for landscape improvements: sequential Bayesian design and respondents’ rationality in a choice experiment
No full textA multi-attribute, stated-preference approach is used to value low and high impact actions on four major landscape components addressed by the Rural Environment Protection Scheme in Ireland. Several methodological issues are addressed: the use of prior beliefs on the relative magnitudes of parameters, standardized description of different levels of landscape improvements via image manipulation software, adoption of efficiency-increasing sequential experimental design, and sensitivity of benefit estimates to inclusion of responses from "irrational" respondents. Results suggest that Bayesian design updating delivers significant efficiency gains without loss in respondent efficiency, and estimates are upward-biased when irrational respondents are included
Valuing animal genetic resources: a choice modeling application to indigenous cattle in Kenya
No full textIn an effort to improve productivity and profits, many farmers have replaced traditional livestock breeds with higher yielding alternatives. While such changes may bring about short-term economic gains, the loss of traditional livestock breeds could result in the loss of an important genetic resource as a variety of important genetic traits adapted to local conditions gradually become less common in the population. This is a particular problem in Africa, where livestock make a substantial contribution to human livelihoods. Using the example of cattle in Kenya's pastoral livestock markets this study uses a choice experiment approach to investigate buyers' preferences for indigenous breeds such as the Maasai Zebu. The analysis employs a latent class approach to characterize heterogeneity in valuations both within and across respondents buying cattle for breeding, slaughter, or resale. The results show that there are at least three classes of buyers with distinct preferences for cattle traits and that most buyers favor exotic rather than indigenous breeds. Such preferences have implications for the conservation of indigenous cattle in Kenya and in other developing countries and suggest that some form of intervention may be required to ensure the preservation of this important animal genetic resource. Copyright 2008 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
A note on doubly nonlinear SPDEs with singular drift in divergence form
No full textWe prove well-posedness for a class of second-order SPDEs with multiplicative Wiener noise and doubly nonlinear drift of the form − div γ(∇·) +
β(·), where γ is the subdifferential of a convex function on R
d
and β is a
maximal monotone graph everywhere defined on R, on which neither growth
nor continuity assumptions are imposed
: A Monte Carlo Evaluation
No full textThe logit-mixed logit (LML) model advances choice modeling by generalizing previous parametric and semi-nonparametric specifications and allowing retrieval of flexible taste distributions. Using standard operating conditions in the field, we report results from Monte Carlo experiments designed to assess the finite sample bias-variance tradeoff for the LML using as a benchmark conventional Mixed logit models (MXL) under asymmetric and multimodal taste distributions. The LML specification always outperforms the MXL in terms of bias, but when the variance around modes is high the mean squared error (MSE) is lower than that of MXL only at sample sizes larger than usual and with some nuances. D-error minimizing experimental design predicated on multinomial logit significantly reduces MSE, but no clear winner is found between polynomial, step, and spline functions for the multidimensional grid function. Analysis of empirical data from a choice experiment on tap water shows that multimodality emerges only if higher number of node parameters are used in the LML
Distributional Effects of Price Reforms in the Italian Utility Markets
No full textIn this paper, we analyse some distributional effects of the reforms to water and energy services in Italy. We first document the new regulation setting in these services, illustrating the dynamics of utility prices and of household expenditure in the period 1998-2005. We then propose a way to measure the affordability of public utilities, in order to investigate how many households would incur a potentially excessive burden if they consumed a minimum quantity of utility services. Finally, we calculate this index on data from the Survey on Family Budgets ("Indagine sui consumi delle famiglie"). Our results show how the affordability of utility bills varies from region to region depending on climate, income, family endowment and family size. The analysis - also based on a counterfactual exercise - finds that so far, utility reforms do not seem to have produced any negative effects on weaker households. Copyright (c) 2008 The Authors.
Restructuring Italian utility markets: household distributional effects
No full textNota di Lavoro FEE
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