Kevin T. McNamara

Farm Household Income and On- and Off-Farm Diversification

The paper analyzes the relationship between off-farm labor allocation and on-farm enterprise diversification as farm household income stabilization strategies with census data from the federal state of Upper Austria, Austria. The results suggest that both on-farm diversification and off-farm labor allocation are related to farm and household characteristics. Larger farm households tend to allocate more labor to off-farm income activities.

Economic and Fiscal Impacts of a Business Incubator

Business incubators are one option communities have to support business survival and growth. Incubators are locally based institutions that provide shared physical space and business support services to new and young firms. Most incubator evaluations have not measured total employment and income impacts or the fiscal impacts generated by incubator firms. This article describes the economic and fiscal impacts of one business incubator to illustrate how an incubator can encourage jobs and income in a local community. Incubators generate jobs and income and create linkages with firms inside and outside the local economy over the long run. The cost of creating these jobs is competitive with those costs associated with attracting manufacturing investment into a local community. Incubators can have an impact on communities that are not well positioned to attract such external investments.

An Application of Spatial Poisson Models to Manufacturing Investment Location Analysis

The influence product markets, agglomeration, labor, infrastructure, and government fiscal attributes had on manufacturing investment flows in Indiana between 2000 and 2004 were estimated using Poisson regression, geographically weighted regression, and a spatial general linear model. Counties with access to urbanization economies, product markets, available labor, a high-quality workforce, and transport infrastructure were more likely to attract manufacturing investment. These effects were magnified to some extent when inter-county spatial effects were modeled. The distributional assumptions of the spatial models are different, but both methods are useful for understanding the spatial context of the factors influencing manufacturing investment flows.

Local Input Linkages: A Comparison of Foreign-owned and Domestic Manufacturers in Georgia and South Carolina

BARKLEY D. L. and MCNAMARA K. T. (1994) Local input linkages: a comparison of foreign-owned and domestic manufacturers in Georgia and South Carolina, Reg. Studies 28, 725–737. Input purchasing patterns of foreign-owned and domestic manufacturers were compared to determine if local economic impacts varied by country of ownership. Input purchasing data were obtained from a 1990 survey of South Carolina and Georgia manufacturers. Tobit estimation results indicate nonmetro foreign-owned firms had significantly higher propensities to purchase inputs in-county than domestic branch plants located in nonmetro counties. No significant differences existed between the input purchase propensities of metro domestic and foreign-owned manufacturers. However, foreign-owned firms were disproportionately represented in industries with relatively weak indirect and induced effects on the local economies. Relatively strong overall impacts may not be associated with the relatively large initial input purchases of foreign-owned...

A MODEL FOR THE ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF PLANTATION BIOMASS PRODUCTION FOR CO-FIRING WITH COAL IN ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

Public and private electric utilities are considering co-firing biomass with coal as a strategy to reduce the levels of CO2, SO2 and NO, in stack emissions, as well as a response to state legislative mandates requiring the use of renewable fuels. This analysis examines the conditions under which biomass co-firing is economically feasible for utilities and woody biomass producers and describes additional environmental and community benefits associated with biomass use. This paper presents a case study of woody biomass production and co-firing at the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) Michigan City Unit No.12 power plant. A Salix (willow) production budget was created to assess the feasibility of plantation tree production to supply biomass to the utility for fuel lending. A GAMS model was developed to examine the optimal co-firing blend of coal and biomass while minimizing variable cost, including the cost of ash disposal and material procurement costs. The model is constrained by the levels of pollution produced. This model is used to examine situations where coal is the primary fuel and waste wood, willow trees, or both are available for fuel blending. Capital costs for co-firing were estimated outside of the model and are incorporated into the total cost of co-firing. The results indicate that under certain circumstances it is cost-effective for the power plant to co-fire biomass. Sensitivity analysis is used to test biomass price sensitivity and explores the effects of potential public policies on co-firing.

Assessing plantation biomass for co-firing with coal in northern Indiana: A linear programming approach

Abstract Tightening environmental regulations and the signing of the Kyoto Protocol have prompted electric utilities to consider co-firing biomass with coal to reduce the levels of CO 2 , SO 2 , and NO x in stack emissions. This analysis examines the cost competitiveness of plantation produced woody biomass and waste wood with coal in electricity production. A case study of woody biomass production and co-firing in northern Indiana is presented. A Salix (willow) production budget was created to assess the feasibility of plantation tree production to supply biomass to the utility for fuel blending. Co-firing with waste wood from primary and secondary wood processing activities and local municipalities also is considered. A linear programming model was developed to examine the optimal co-firing blend of coal and biomass while minimizing variable cost, including the cost of ash disposal and material procurement costs. This model was used to examine situations where coal is the primary fuel and waste wood, willow trees, or both are available for fuel blending. The results indicate that co-firing woody biomass is cost-effective for the power plant. Sensitivity analysis explored the effect of waste wood prices on co-firing cost.

Taxes and the Location Decision of Manufacturing Establishments

This study examines the impact of local tax differentials on the location of manufacturing firms. The study improves on previous substate location/growth studies in constructing a tax measure that better reflects the tax burden that firms are likely to face. The results of the study indicate that firms tend to avoid counties that have relatively high property tax rates. These findings suggest that tax relief incentives can be an important component of a countys industrial recruitment program.

A COUNTY-LEVEL MODEL OF MANUFACTURING PLANT RECRUITMENT WITH IMPROVED INDUSTRIAL SITE QUALITY MEASUREMENT

Empirical analysis of manufacturing plant location requires the use of a single industrial site quality measure. Under hedonic price theory, the price of industrial sites can be explained by their quality characteristics. The estimated site price is included with ten other location factors in an ordered, categorical logit model of plant attraction to Georgia counties. The results inform public decision-makers of the relative impact of site location factors and how changes in location factors can alter the probability of attracting a manufacturing plant.

Policy implications of alcohol and tobacco demand in Poland

Abstract Demand models for alcohol and tobacco have been estimated from annual data providing point elasticity estimates. The results indicate that vodka and tobacco consumption are price-inelastic. The importance of revenues from alcohol and tobacco to the government budget was emphasized because of a chronic budget deficit. The results suggest that revenue from tobacco sales would increase following cigarette price increases. However, the long-run solution should lead to increased economic activity that lowers the importance of alcohol and tobacco sales and achieve a socially desired decrease in consumption of alcohol and tobacco.

Community Choice Between Volunteer and Professional Fire Departments

This article presents an economic model for community choice between volunteer and professional fire protection services. Using data from the Indiana State Fire Marshal and the 1991 U.S. census, regression techniques were used to estimate the share of county population served by volunteer fire protection from variables measuring community demands for fire protection and relative costs of volunteer and professional departments. The results provide evidence that professional departments are cost-effective at high levels of fire protection and volunteer departments are cost-effective at low levels of fire protection. Per capita income, population density, education, property value, percentage of renters, farm receipts, and the percentage of commuters were found to be significant determinants of fire protection choice.