A survey of ethnographic approaches to the Eastern Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi

Professional ethnographers selected on the basis of extensive field research and publication are described in terms of the duration of their fieldwork, their ethnographic orientation, language competence, and bibliography. While the orientation to fieldwork and to analytical writing has changed since 1908, the change has not led to integrative theoretical work. Some of the basic, hard questions for anthropologists are at stake, and the materials described here are only a beginning.     

THE HARVESTING DECISION WHENA STANDING FOREST HAS VALUEA

This paper analyzes the optimal harvest age of a forest if the forest provides a flow of valuable services while standing in addition to the value of the timber when it is harvested. A basic conclusion is that the presence of recreational or other services provided by a standing forest may well have an important impact on when or whether to harvest.     

INFORMATION STRUCTURES OF PRODUCT MARKETS

Buyers demand continuing information flows to guide their choices among competing product brands. They select portfolios of information types, some supplied by sellers of the branded goods, some not. This paper investigates the determinants of businesses' outlays on information (media advertising, sales force, other sales promotion). They include buyers' overall demands for information, buyers' access to sources not controlled by the seller, the relative efficiency of seller-supplied information, and competitive conditions in the product market. The hypotheses about effects on sellers' total information outlays are strongly supported. Some evidence appears on determinants of the mixture of information types they provide.     

OPTION VALUE: A GENERAL APPROACH

This article examines a potential bias if expected consumer surplus is used to measure the benefits of a price change under uncertainty. This bias, which is called option value, may be positive or negative. A general framework is developed for analyzing the determinants of the sign of option value, and this framework is applied to three types of uncertainty: income uncertainty, quality uncertainty, and uncertainty over consumer tastes. In the first two cases, option value has a determinate sign; however, in the last case, option value may be positive, negative, or zero in an unpredictable fashion.