Policy Perspectives on Social,Agricultural, and Rural Sustainability1

Abstract Three types of agricultural, or sustainability, policy are introduced. One deals with the interests of society, another with the agricultural sector, and the third with rural people and places. Each type serves different purposes, interest groups, and issues. Yet, they share some common ground. Because social, agricultural, and rural objectives are interdependent, we need all three policy types if any is to be effective in a highly specialized society. Agricultural policy often substitutes for rural policy, but this is inadequate. Factors shaping the rural policy context include regionality, the large rural population, the rural situation, lack of rural human resource development, technological displacement, and legislation. The environment, economic change, physical infrastructure, social services, jobs, and the role of land grant universities are issues to be considered in rural policy.     

The Logic and Meaning of the Logico-Meaningful Method*

La “recherche du sens logique” chez Pitirim A. Sorokin n'est pas une méthode qui contredise les principes généraux de la science, comme longtemps les critiques I'ont prétendu. Il s'agit plutôt d'une méthode qui rencontre les exigences prescrites afln d‘élaborer des modèles théoriques d'un niveau d'abstraction élevéà partir de données empiriques. Cette methode propose une façon d'agencer les faits sociaux et culture] s en ayant recours a un ensemble conceptuel grace a des types ideaux. II s'agit d'une espèce de conceptualisation qui a une grande valeur explicative et qui peut permettre de plus l’élaboration de nouvelles théories.     

The formal dynamics of controlled populations and the echo,the boom and the bust

This paper analyzes the pattern of fluctuations of births in an age-structured population whose growth is subject to environmental or economic constraint. It synthesizes the traditional demographic analysis of age-structured renewal with constant vital rates and the economic analysis which treats population change endogenously. When cohort fertility depends on relative cohort size, or when period fertility depends on labor force size, fluctuations of forty or more years replace the traditional "echo" or generation-length cycle. Twentieth-century U. S. fertility change agrees well with the theory, as the "Easterlin Hypothesis" suggests; but the period model fits better than the cohort model.     

Major capital decisions and technological change

This paper reviews a wide array of the analytical approaches to major capital decision-making available in the literature; indicates some of their weaknesses, especially when major technological changes are involved; suggests some modifications to improve their usefulness; and illustrates some of the additional benefits offered by such redesigned models The approaches examined are: neo-classical, including certainty and uncertainty models; behavioral, including organizational and simulation models; and financial, including evaluative and resource allocation models.After reviewing some of the practical issues confronted in the decision making process a modified general framework is presented to help strengthen the analysis of proposed capital projects Finally, bases are suggested for integrating evaluative investment criteria with the production capabilities embodied in major capital facilities and engendered by major technological innovations.     

Moving beyond aid: Research co‐operation with central and Eastern Europe

The events surrounding the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 represented a watershed for the research and technological development (RTD) co‐operation activities of the European Union/ European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries with the Central and Eastern European and Baltic states (CEBS).

In a first phase one could find some non‐targeted and exploratory type of RTD co‐operation activities, quite often in line with strategies aiming at keeping the transition process alive. These were gradual and at different paces, depending on the country under consideration, being superseded by a more targeted set of programmes increasingly featuring a distinct set of priorities and target areas which also display interesting national differences. This second phase, which has not yet been completed, is the main concern of the present study.     

Measurement and Replication: Evaluating the Consistency of Eight U. S. Fertility Surveys

This paper addresses the comparability of data from eight national fertility surveys conducted in the United States between 1955 and 1980. We examine the extent to which substantive conclusions about the levels and correlates of the timing offirst birth vary across these data sources by comparing samples of women who were eligible to be included in more than one study. Results obtained from Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and logistic regression analyses of several measures of timing indicate few study effects. Thus findings based on data from one survey can be replicated with comparable data from another. One notable exception is the relationship between contraceptive use prior to the first birth and the timing of that birth. The contraceptive variable appears to be poorly measured, leading to unstable estimates of the relationship. In general, our results suggest: (1) the feasibility of pooling data from the various surveys when modeling delayed childbearing; and (2) reasonable accuracy in assessing trends in the timing of first birth from multiple data sources.     

Age and marital status at first birth and the pace of subsequent fertility

Taking care to minimize the truncation bias inherent in cross-sectional data and controlling for other variables, this paper demonstrates the strong effects of both age and marital status at first birth on the pace of subsequent fertility. These effects are particularly strong in the interval immediately following the first birth but persist even into the fourth interval. Important differences are found with respect to the experience of rapid fertility, rather than in the mean lengths of intervals. These results add to the growing attention to the social dimensions of age as a variable in fertility processes.