Professional sports teams commonly reevaluate their location decisions based on the prospect of building new, more attractive, stadiums. Even though a large economic literature warns about the modest (and possibly negative) effects on the local economy of hosting a professional sports team, the economic effects of professional teams and stadiums remain blurry for the general public, and cities in the United States continue to compete to lure teams with generous public subsidies. This article integrates several contributions of the literature into one cohesive and simple framework based on cost–benefit analysis, and provides estimations of the average local economic effects of teams in the four biggest professional leagues in the United States. If professional sports games do not attract visitors from other cities, or if players and owners do not spend a significant share of their income in the area, hosting a team can negatively affect the local economy.

The relationship between animal welfare at slaughter and slaughterhouse profitability is complex, with potential trade-offs between animal welfare costs and benefits. Slaughterhouses currently lack data support for decisions on investments that can improve both animal welfare and profitability. Therefore, this study mapped the economic impacts for slaughterhouse businesses of improved cattle and pig welfare at slaughter. Specific aims were to: (i) highlight the possible economic impact of animal welfare improvements, based on the scientific literature; (ii) develop an economic model demonstrating the theoretical contribution of animal welfare to slaughterhouse profitability; and (iii) validate the economic model through focus group interviews with slaughterhouse personnel in Sweden. The findings indicated that investing in animal welfare improvements could result in accumulation of an intangible asset that can be considered together with other production factors in the economic model. Model validation stressed the importance of selling by-products for the economic outcome and of smooth workflow for productivity. The study thus improves understanding of the economic impacts of animal welfare at slaughter and incentives for slaughterhouse businesses to improve animal welfare. The results are important for public and private policy-makers interested in enhancing animal welfare at slaughter.

This study documents the COVID-19 disease-control measures enacted in rural China and examines the economic and social impacts of these measures. We conducted two rounds of surveys with 726 randomly selected village informants across seven provinces. Strict disease-control measures have been universally enforced and appear to have been successful in limiting disease transmission in rural communities. The infection rate in our sample was 0.001 per cent, a rate that is near the national average outside of Hubei province. None of the villages reported any COVID-19-related deaths. For a full month during the quarantine, the rate of employment of rural workers was essentially zero. Even after the quarantine measures were lifted, nearly 70 per cent of the villagers still were unable to work owing to workplace closures. Although action has been taken to mitigate the potential negative effects, these disease-control measures might have accelerated the inequality between rural and urban households in China.

Consensus does not exist for which cost forms (i.e., one accounting solely for explicit cost and the other for both explicit and opportunity costs as in relative opportunity cost) are used in calculating return on investment (ROI) for conservation-related decisions. This research examines how the cost of conservation investment with and without inclusion of the opportunity cost of the protected area results in different solutions in a multi-objective optimization framework at the county level in the Central and Southern Appalachian Region of the USA. We maximize rates of ROI of both forest-dependent biodiversity and economic impact generated by forest-based payments for ecosystem services. We find that the conservation budget is optimally distributed more narrowly among counties that are more likely to be rural when the investment cost measure is relative opportunity cost than when it is explicit cost. We also find that the sacrifice in forest-dependent biodiversity per unit increase in economic impact is higher when investment cost is measured by relative opportunity cost rather than when measured by explicit cost. By understanding the consequences of using one cost measure over the other, a conservation agency can decide on which cost measure is more appropriate for informing the agency’s decision-making process.

Influenza is an extremely contagious respiratory disease, which predominantly affects the upper respiratory tract. There are four types of influenza virus, and pigs and chickens are considered two key reservoirs of this virus. Equine influenza (EI) virus was first identified in horses in 1956, in Prague. The influenza A viruses responsible for EI are H7N7 and H3N8. Outbreaks of EI are characterized by their visible and rapid spread, and it has been possible to isolate and characterize H3N8 outbreaks in several countries. The clinical diagnosis of this disease is based on the clinical signs presented by the infected animals, which can be confirmed by performing complementary diagnostic tests. In the diagnosis of EI, in the field, rapid antigen detection tests can be used for a first approach. Treatment is based on the management of the disease and rest for the animal. Regarding the prognosis, it will depend on several factors, such as the animal's vaccination status. One of the important points in this disease is its prevention, which can be done through vaccination. In addition to decreasing the severity of clinical signs and morbidity during outbreaks, vaccination ensures immunity for the animals, reducing the economic impact of this disease.

Avian electrocutions are a global conservation problem. Power outages associated with electrocutions are problematic for electric utilities focused on delivering reliable electric power. We used contextual data, photographs, line voltage, outage type and assessments of power line components to quantify outage-causing avian electrocutions throughout each of Iran’s 31 provinces. We evaluated records of 222 avian-caused outages involving 235 electrocuted birds in 2018. Of these, 14.5% involved species of conservation concern, and a few (at least eight) sparked fires when the plumage of electrocuted birds ignited and fell into dry vegetation. Most avian-caused outages (96%) involved distribution voltages, and 91% involved phase-to-ground contacts attributable to grounded concrete pylons with grounded steel crossarms. These are the most common type of power line structure in Iran. Insulators were involved in 37% of outage-causing avian electrocutions, fused cutouts 29%, transformers 33%, and midspan collisions 1%. Given the numbers of these components in the electrical system, fused cutouts and transformers were involved in more outage-causing avian electrocutions than expected due to chance. The average body size of electrocuted birds was largest for incidents involving suspension insulators, smaller for birds electrocuted on other insulators, and smallest for electrocutions on fused cutouts and transformers. Given that most avian electrocutions do not cause outages and given the similarity across electric systems in the region, our findings likely indicate a much larger avian electrocution concern throughout the middle east. Retrofitting power line components to reduce avian contacts would reduce impacts to wildlife and improve the electrical system’s reliability, reduce costs associated with unplanned outages, and reduce risks associated power line ignitions of fires.

Ecodesign has gained significant traction in recent years ranging from academic research to business applications at a global scale. Initial emphasis on the environmental aspect of design has evolved to include economic and social aspects, with projects ranging from small-scale products to large-scale industrial systems. In this paper, the authors re-analyse 10 of their major ecodesign research projects of the past ten years to identify five categories of challenges and promising future directions for ecodesign research. This paper is primarily a retrospective position paper based on the authors’ experience of actual design studies, providing also a relevant literature review and summary of design practices.

In recent years, several initiatives have sought to encourage redemption of food assistance benefits at direct-to-consumer (DTC) market venues such as community supported agriculture programs and farmers’ markets in the USA, with the dual goal of increasing access to healthy foods for low-income families and sales of locally-grown foods for farmers. Proponents of these interventions assert that these programs have a positive impact on local economies yet there is limited evidence to validate this argument. This research project used a customized input-output model to simulate potential economic impacts of programs and policies that enable Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to shift purchases from traditional food retailers to DTC venues in four states. Two different scenarios were explored: (1) increased outreach to low-income consumers and (2) financial support for using SNAP benefits at DTC market channels. We found a positive, though modest, economic impact at the state level under both scenarios when accounting for (a) business losses in the food retail and wholesale sectors, (b) a shift in acreage from commodity to specialty crops and (c) the cost to taxpayers. Since most of the increased economic activity would be in the produce farming sector, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for this sector along with potential policy implications.

The Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading scheme has the ability to predict beef eating quality for each ‘cut×cooking method combination’ from animal and carcass traits such as sex, age, breed, marbling, hot carcass weight and fatness, ageing time, etc. Following MSA testing protocols, a total of 22 different muscles, cooked by four different cooking methods and to three different degrees of doneness, were tasted by over 19 000 consumers from Northern Ireland, Poland, Ireland, France and Australia. Consumers scored the sensory characteristics (tenderness, flavor liking, juiciness and overall liking) and then allocated samples to one of four quality grades: unsatisfactory, good-every-day, better-than-every-day and premium. We observed that 26% of the beef was unsatisfactory. As previously reported, 68% of samples were allocated to the correct quality grades using the MSA grading scheme. Furthermore, only 7% of the beef unsatisfactory to consumers was misclassified as acceptable. Overall, we concluded that an MSA-like grading scheme could be used to predict beef eating quality and hence underpin commercial brands or labels in a number of European countries, and possibly the whole of Europe. In addition, such an eating quality guarantee system may allow the implementation of an MSA genetic index to improve eating quality through genetics as well as through management. Finally, such an eating quality guarantee system is likely to generate economic benefits to be shared along the beef supply chain from farmers to retailors, as consumers are willing to pay more for a better quality product.

Products obtained from forests or other natural environments play a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries through income generation and the creation of employment opportunities. Although studies have been carried out to evaluate the dependence of local livelihoods on environmental products, quantify the linkage between poverty and biodiversity, and assess the impacts of resource depletion on household economics, most have been focused geographically on the tropics. Our study was conducted in the mountain village of Jumla, Nepal, to quantify the economic contribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (yarsagumba) to local households. Income from yarsagumba accounted for up to 65% of the total household cash income, on average, and its contribution was highest in the poorest households. It contributed to reducing income inequality by 38%, and the income was utilized to purchase food and clothes, celebrate festivals, pay for medical treatment and children's education, and for savings. There was a mean annual decline of 25 pieces in the per capita harvest of yarsagumba during 2010–2014. However, the decline had no adverse impact on household income, as the price increased.

Bovine mastitis is an important animal production disease that affects the dairy industry globally. Studies have estimated the prevalence of this disease in approximately 30% of African countries, with the highest prevalence found in Ethiopia. This is despite the wide cattle distribution in Africa, and the largest number of dairy farms and herds in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. Furthermore, the estimated financial losses due to direct and indirect impacts of bovine mastitis are lacking in this continent. Therefore, intensive research efforts will help determine the continent-wide economic impacts and advance careful monitoring of disease prevalence and epidemiology. Here, published cases supporting the occurrence and importance of bovine mastitis in certain regions of Africa are outlined.

We investigate local economic impacts of shale gas development using the natural experiment of the discontinuity in regulation caused by New York's 2008 moratorium on fracking. Using county- and zip-code-level data for 2001–2013 to examine differences in New York and Pennsylvania counties before and after the moratorium, we find that shale gas development has a positive local impact on employment and wages in the natural resource, mining, and construction sectors and an offsetting reduction in employment in the manufacturing sector. Overall, we find no statistically significant local effects on total employment or on wages.

One commonly discussed benefit of broadband access in rural America is the potential for telemedicine visits that allow rural residents to take advantage of urbanized medical services. While the primary benefit of telemedicine is often viewed as improved health care access, the availability of these services also offers significant economic contributions to the local community. Site visits to 24 rural hospitals of varying size over a four-state area in the Midwest provide information to develop a methodology for estimating telemedicine's economic impact. Using this technique, telemedicine services contribute between $20,000 and $1.3M annually to these local economies, with an average of $522,000.

Background: There is strong evidence that clinical outcomes are improved for stroke patients admitted to specialized Stroke Units. The Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) created a Neurovascular Unit (NVU) using resources from General Internal Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery for patients with stroke and acute neurovascular conditions. Under resource-constrained conditions, the operational and economic impacts of the Neurovascular Unit were unknown. Methods: Retrospective patient-level data was studied from two years prior and one year post NVU implementation. Descriptive statistical analysis and non-parametric testing were conducted on the acute length of stay (LOS), alternate level of care LOS, total cost per bed-day and per visit, and patient flow within each medical service and hospital wide. Results: The median acute LOS per hospitalization for NVU-eligible patients decreased significantly (p=0.001). For Neurology patients, mean acute LOS decreased from 9.1 days pre-Neurovascular Unit to 7.6 days post and median acute LOS decreased from 6 to 5 days (p=0.002); however, mean alternate level of care LOS per visit more than doubled (from 1.6 to 4.1 days, p=0.001). For the Neurology service, the mean cost per visit decreased by $945, representing a 5% reduction (p=0.042) and the mean cost per bed-day decreased by $233, or 12.5% (p=0.026). Hospital wide, a saving of over C$450 000 was achieved. Conclusions: During the first year of operation, the NVU at TWH achieved decreased acute LOS per visit and lowered the total hospitalization cost per year for NVU-eligible patients. Addressing the issue of increased alternate level of care LOS could result in additional efficiencies.

As part of its strategy to attract new businesses, in 1994 the State of Alabama won the Mercedes Benz bid to establish an automobile assembly plant in Vance, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama at the cost of $222 to $253 million worth of incentives. The study assessed the economic impact of the Mercedes Benz investment using IMPLAN. The IMPLAN industry code 49, industrial construction, and industry code 384, motor vehicle, were used to project the impact of the investment for the construction and production phases respectively. The results from four scenarios indicated that the investment would generate sizable direct and indirect employment, income, output, and tax revenue for the state economy. From the estimated revenue, the pay-out period for the cost of the incentive would be from four to seven years. The scenarios also indicated that the increase in the volume of locally purchased automobile parts will increase the multiplier effects for the state economy. Currently, the direct benefits from suppliers accrue to other states with established suppliers networks. The finding also suggested a heavy concentration of the impact of Mercedes Benz plant in the north and northeast part of the state. These counties were also the beneficiaries of past agglomeration economies in terms of critical physical infrastructure and human resource development.

The economic impact of migrant farmworkers on an agriculture-dependent region is investigated. The direct effects of inflows of state and federal dollars for migrant services, and production of high-valued commodities are computed. Indirect and induced effects are modelled through the use of the IMPLAN input output model. Various alternatives to migrant labor are investigated, including production of less labor-intensive crops, acreage retirement, and contract H2A workers. Migrants are found to create substantial economic activity on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.