AAEA - Agricultural & Applied Economics Association

The Awards committee has evaluated the nominations for AAEA awards in 11 categories. Table 1 shows the number of nominations in each of these categories for this year (and information from the previous chair of committee is available for the previous four years). This year the committee gave 14 awards and 4 honorable mentions in the 11 categories. Thanks to the sub-committee chairs Wally Huffman (Enduring Quality), Dave Weatherspoon (Policy), Marshall Martin (Extension), Luanne Lohr (Master's Thesis), Andrew Barkley (Doctoral Dissertation), Randy Rucker (Communication), James Wilen (Teaching), and Katherine Smith (Research Discovery) for their careful, timely, and judicious work in choosing the winners. A large thank you as well to all of the subcommittee members who helped in this year's selection process.

In addition, the three journals of the association chose award-winning articles (and two honorable mentions). So, a total of 14 categories of awards will be presented at the award ceremony this year (August 1, 2000). The award winners and honorable mentions in these categories are shown below.

As is normally the case, about one-third of the members of each subcommittee rotate off each year, including most chairpersons. I look forward to working with President Bruce Gardner in the coming months to replace those members retiring from these committees with new persons who bring diversity and broad experience to this process. I will contact current chairs for their recommendations for committee chairs for next year.

Outstanding Master's Thesis Award (22 nominations)
Devry S. Boughner, "The Economics of 2-Tier Tariff-Rate Import Quotas: An Empirical Application to the United States Dairy Industry," Cornell University, Harry de Gorter, Advisor.

Isabelle Schluep, "The Law and Economics of "Consumer Only" Financed Export Subsidies: A Context for the WTO Panel on Canadian Dairy Pricing Policy," Cornell University, Harry de Gorter, Advisor.

Honorable Mention:
Yin Xia, "Technology Structure and Productivity Change in the U.S. Meat Products Industry," Oregon State University, Steven Buccola, Advisor. Outstanding

Ph.D. Dissertation Award (29 nominations)
John Cranfield, "Aggregating Non-Linear Consumer Demands-A Maximum Entropy Approach," Purdue University, Paul Preckel, Advisor.

Stijn Reinhard, "Econometric Analysis of Economic and Environmental Efficiency of Dutch Dairy Farms," Wageningen University, Geert Thijssen and A.J. Oskam, Advisors.

Jonathon Keith Yoder, "Wildlife on Private Land: Contracting over Wildlife-Inflicted Property Damage and Abatement," North Carolina State University, Gerald Carlson, Advisor.

Distinguished Teaching Less than 10 Years Experience (4 nominations)
Frank Dooley, Purdue University

Undergraduate Teaching, More Than 10 Years Experience (6 nominations)
Raymond Folwell, Washington State University

Graduate Teaching, More Than 10 Years Experience (4 nominations)
Jeffrey Williams, University of California, Davis

Distinguished Extension Program
Individual (3 nominations)
Timothy Kelsey, Pennsylvania State University, "Local Taxes and Our Community."

Group (3 nominations)
"Managing Risk and Profits." The institutions and authors are:
Iowa State University: Robert Wisner (Director), S. Elwynn Taylor, William Edwards, Neil Harl, Sergio H. Lence, Bruce A. Babcock, Phillip Hufferd, Dermot J. Hayes, Marci Cox
Ohio State University: Dean Baldwin (Director), Cameron Thraen (Director), Normand St-Pierre (Director), Bernie Erven, Neal Blue, James Dayton, Robert Fleming, Janice DiCarolis, Leisa Boley
University of Wisconsin: Robert Cropp (Director), Kevin Bernhardt (Director), John Ambrosious, Doug Sutter, Gary Frank, Brian Gould, Marcia Hazen
Cornell University: Wayne Knoblauch, Mark Stephenson
Kansas State University: G. Art Barnaby, Jr. Michigan State University: James Hilker, Roy Black, Jeffrey Andresen, Chris Wolf
North Carolina State University: Geoff Benson
North Dakota State University: George Flaskerud
Pennsylvania State University: Robert Weaver
University of California-Davis: L.J. Butler
University of Illinois: Darrel Good
University of Maryland: Kevin McNew
Miller and Associates: Greg Miller

Distinguished Policy Contribution (4 nominations)
Ralph Heimlich, USDA-ERS, Washington, D.C.

Quality of Communication (14 nominations)
David Orden, Robert Paarlberg, Terry Roe, "Policy Reform in American Agriculture Analysis and Prognosis," Copyright 1999 by The University of Chicago Press.

Honorable Mention: Gerald C. Nelson, Timothy Josling, David Bullock, Laurian Unnevehr, Mark Rosegrant, and Lowell Hill, "The Economics and Politics of Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture: Implications for WTO 2000," (with Julie Babinard, Carrie Cunningham, Alessandro De Pinto, Elisavet I. Nitsi), Bulletin 809, November 1999, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Copyright 1999 by University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Quality of Research Discovery (9 nominations)
Robert Innes, "Self-Policing and Optimal Law Enforcement When Violator Remediation is Valuable," Journal of Political Economy (107, no. 6): 1305-1325. Honorable Mention: Joseph A. Herriges and Catherine L. Kling, "Nonlinear Income Effects in Random Utility Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics (81, no. 1): 62-72

James N. Sanchirico and James E. Wilen, "Bioeconomics of Spatial Exploitation in a Patchy Environment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (37): 129-150.

Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Article
Theofanis Tsoulouhas and Tomislav Vukina. "Integrator Contracts with Many Agents and Bankruptcy," American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81 (Feb.): 61-74

Honorable Mention: Darren L. Frechette and Paul L. Fackler. "What Causes Commodity Price Backwardation?" American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81 (November): 761-771

Outstanding Review of Agricultural Economics Journal Article
Steven T. Buccola and James E. McCandlish, "Rent Seeking and Rent Dissipation in State Enterprises." Review of Agricultural Economics (21, Number 2, Fall/Winter issue): 358-373.

Outstanding Choices Article
Jason F. Shogren and John Tschirhart, "The Endangered Species Act at Twenty-five." Choices (Third Quarter, 1999): 4-9

Honorable Mention: Robert Innes, "Regulating Livestock Waste: An Economic Perspective." Choices (Second Quarter, 1999): 14-19.

Publication of Enduring Quality (4 nominations)
Yoav Kislev and Willis Peterson, "Prices, Technology and Farm Size." Journal of Political Economy 90 (1982): 578-595

Number of Submissions to Each Award Category
Award Category	Year
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Masters Thesis	33	28	26	22	30	22
Ph.D. Dissertation	29	29	24	28	28	29
Distinguished Teaching
Less Than 10 Years Experience	9	8	6	3	4	4
Undergraduate Teaching, Ten or More Years	11	7	9	5	4	6
Graduate Teaching, Ten or More Years	-	7	8	5	6	4
Extension Program
Individual	4	3	2	0	2	3
Group	8	7	2	3	5	3
Policy Contribution	7	7	8	7	9	4
Communication	19	18	14	11	11	14
Research Discovery	11	18	14	13	10	9
Enduring Quality	6	10	10	9	9	4

Total	137	142	123	106	118	102

AJAE Editors
Giancarlo Moschini, Kathleen Segerson, Richard J. Sexton, Spiro E. Stefanou, Editors

We received 974 manuscripts between 1 November 1996 and December 15 1999, implying an annual rate of 312 submissions over the 37 � month period. This submission rate over the term of our editorial administration is nearly identical to the submission rate the previous editor reports over a similar period.

Table 1 presents the total manuscript handling time for the period 1 November 1996 through 1 July 2000 and summarizes the days elapsed from the time a manuscript is received at the Pennsylvania State University editorial office until a response is mailed to the corresponding author. This time includes the handling time of approximately 10-14 days for the manuscripts coordinated by the Editors at other locations. The average response time over this period was 96 days on a first submission, 83 days on a second submission and 30 days on a third submission. Twelve manuscripts were passed to a fourth round of review, which received a response in an average of 13 days.

Table 1. Journal Response Times, 1 November 1996 to 1 July 2000 (in percent)
	Rounds
Days	First	Second	Third	Fourth
0-15	8.9	7.9	53.1	83.4
16-30	3.1	5.8	15.0	8.3
31-45	2.3	5.8	12.4	0.0
46-60	4.3	11.2	4.4	0.0
61 -75	12.6	15.8	3.5	0.0
76-90	15.6	16.2	5.3	8.3
91-105	13.3	12.9	1.8	0.0
106-120	13.2	7.2	1.8	0.0
121-135	8.5	5.4	1.8	0.0
136-150	7.4	4.6	0.0	0.0
over 150	10.8	7.2	0.9	0.0
	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Average Days	96	83	30	13
Median Days	94	79	14	6
Note: This table includes all new manuscript subrnissions and resubmission originating with the past editorship.

Table 2 presents the disposition of all manuscripts received. A final decision has been made for 800 manuscripts with 174 still unresolved. Considering the manuscripts for which we have reached a final decision, we have accepted 210 manuscripts for publication and rejected 590 submissions implying an acceptance rate of 26 %. Of the 174 submissions currently under potential consideration, 163 manuscripts have either been resubmitted for further publication review or are in the hands of the authors awaiting their decision to pursue a revision.

Table 2. Disposition of Manuscripts, 1 November 1996 to 1 July 2000.
		Number
Manuscripts Received		974
Completed Processing		800
Accepted	210
Rejected	590
Currently in Process*		174
Open	11
Revision	163
*Open manuscripts refers to manuscripts that are with reviewers and no editorial decision has been made. The Revision category includes the manuscripts that have been resubmitted for further publication consideration or are in the authors' hands awaiting their resubmission decision.

Table 3 presents the number of days a manuscript is in review under an Editor's management until a final decision (acceptance or final rejection) is communicated to the authors. The average time to acceptance is 184 days with a median of 188 days. The average time to a final rejection is 95 days with a median of 91 days. Similar to last year's report, 90% of the final rejection decisions are made in the first round of review.

Table 3. Days in Review to Final Decision, 1 November 1996 to 1 July 2000 (in percent)
Days	Accept	Reject
0-28	3.8	16.1
29-56	3.3	5.1
57-84	3.3	12.2
85-112	8.1	34.2
113-140	12.4	12.4
141-168	12.4	9.3
169-196	11.4	4.2
197-224	17.1	2.7
225-252	9.0	1.9
253-280	7.6	0.7
Over 280	11.4	1.2
Total	100.0	100.0
Average Days	184	95
Median Days	188	91
Note: The "Days in Review" is counted as the number of days the manuscript is under the editors' management. It does not include the days the author holds the paper. These papers include those manuscripts that were originally submitted to the current Editors as well as resubmissions from past editorial administrations.

The 2000 volume of the AJAE will contain 66 articles. In addition, we are publishing 3 comments, 2 replies to comments, and 7 book reviews. The August 2000 issue contains 26 principal papers and discussions that were presented at the ASSA meetings in January 2000.

Arne Hallam has done an outstanding job as Book Review Editor over the past three years. He has made an effort to present reviews on a broad spectrum of topics of interest to the profession. Our best wishes are extended to the new Book Review Editor, Amitrajeet Batabyal, at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Basil Blackwell Publishers commenced production of the AJAE with Volume 82. The Journal continues to be distributed on time with the electronic version typically appearing 2-3 weeks before subscribers receive the hard copy. While some minor production problems arose at the outset, we are confident that the future production of the AJAE will progress smoothly. There are two exciting developments concerning the electronic versions of the AJAE. Basil Blackwell has facilitated the electronic version of the AJAE which is posted with their other scholarly offerings at the ingenta.com site and a link is accessible from the AJAE homepage hosted at the AAEA Web site. The electronic version of the AJAE is available to all subscribers receiving a hardcopy. The second major electronic development is the inclusion of the AJAE as an economics title in JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization established with the assistance of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. JSTOR converts the back issues of paper journals into electronic formats that would allow savings in space (and in capital costs associated with that space) while simultaneously improving access to the journal content. The AJAE has the distinction of becoming only the 15th economics journal listed at this site.

We appreciate the input of the Associate Editors and we wish to acknowledge their excellent and important service to the Journal: Jay Akridge, James Blaylock, John Beghin, Michael Carter, Jean Paul Chavas, Ariel Dinar, Marcel Fafchamps, Barry Goodwin, Thomas Johnson, Harry Kaiser, Larry Karp, Subal Kumbhakar, Jeffrey LaFrance, Harvey Lapan, Erik Lichtenberg, Rigoberto Lopez, Anya McGuirk, Mario Miranda, Catherine Morrison Paul, Robert Myers, James Opaluch, Ian Sheldon, Jason Shogren, Dale Squires, and Alfons Weersink. In addition, the Journal could not thrive without the generous assistance of many referees. As always, the published version of this report contains the list of referees who have volunteered their services.

The editorial administration assistance of Deb Haggerty and Amy Lewis (Richard Sexton's office), Jane Mease (Spiro Stefanou's office), Na Li Dawson (Kathleen Segerson's office), and Sue Streeter (Giancarlo Moschini's office) is greatly appreciated, and we wish to further acknowledge our respective departments for their support of our editorial activities.

It has been an honor and our pleasure to serve as Editors of the AJAE for the past three years. We thank the AAEA Board for the opportunity to serve the profession in this capacity.

This has been a year of change for the magazine. Not only did a new editor take over from Harry Ayer after his very successful seven-year tenure, but the magazine was �outsourced� so that major production responsibilities are now handled by Clear Window Multimedia in Ballwin, Missouri. The transitions in the editorial office as well as in production processes necessarily caused some slips in schedules and frustrations over responsibilities. The 1st and 2nd Quarter issues were each mailed slightly later than schedule. The 3rd and 4th Quarter issues are approximately on schedule.

The Transition
The change of editorial responsibilities actually began in late summer, 1999 when Harry Ayer and I visited USDA agencies in Washington, D.C., to solicit their continued support of the magazine. It continued with my going to Tucson for an intense two-day �training session� on how to run a magazine. Harry was extremely helpful in providing details on how each editorial function was best handled. At the time of this visit, it was known that Sandy Clarke would not be assisting me with the magazine; it was not yet known what production company or process would be followed. This meant that several of Harry�s suggestions and procedures needed modification.

Through the fall months, Harry sent arriving manuscripts to me since his �Millennium Issue� was full and I would be making the decisions about any submissions that came in after late summer. During this period, Donna Dunn solicited proposals from five firms interested in producing the magazine. Consultations and conversations led to selection of Clear Window. Donna and I visited the Clear Window offices to talk details and to come to some agreements on the division of responsibilities between the editor, the production com-pany, and the AAEA business office. Some details relating to this division are yet to be resolved. At this time, I am acting as corresponding editor, acquisitions editor, technical editor, and copy editor. In addition, many of the administrative chores associated with the magazine must be handled from my office. I have also made trips to Clear Window at the beginning of each of the magazine�s technical production cycles. I expect to continue to make these trips. They are extremely helpful in alerting me to the production problems and alerting Clear Window to plans and problems that may be associated with future issues. This huge time requirement is untenable over the long run. Nonetheless, the magazine is being produced, and its production will continue.

Submissions, Solicitations, Acceptances, Rejections
Submission continue at a reasonable rate. Between January 1 and July 1, 40 manuscripts arrived in my office. Nine have been accepted for publication, eight have been rejected, 12 are in some stage of revision of editing, and nine are out for review. Ten of the 40 were solicited; the others were sent in by authors. This rate of sub-mission is slightly below last year, the Millennium Issue year, but above the two previous years.

The quality of submissions runs from very high to very low. Authors have been receptive to suggestions about revision and changes in style or level of discourse. One peculiarity setting the present magazine off from earlier years is the total lack of any submissions that would qualify as a �short article.� Authors typically send manuscripts with a cover letter indicating that they want their work to be considered as a �feature article.� I have also not had any correspondence that would qualify as a publishable comment on a published article or on a food, farm, or resource issue.

Financial Support
Harry Ayer and I visited USDA offices last July to ask for their continued support. Donna and I will visit the same offices just prior to the Annual Meeting in Tampa. We are somewhat apprehensive about USDA support. Last year brought a large one-time windfall from ERS (with Farm Foundation help). We will not likely have that this year. Additionally, FAS, a major supporter in past years, has already informed us that the agency will not be able to contribute to the support of the magazine. Donna and I will attempt to fill the gaps by opening negotiations with EPA and with private groups that may have a long-term interest in the magazine.

Advisory Board
The CHOICES Advisory Board includes 27 individuals, eight of whom will complete their terms at the end ofthis calendar year. My early impression was that the Advisory Board was too large to be an effective advisory body. This has not been the case. Given the rate of submissions and the number of questions that I forward to members of the Board, this number seems about right. I will seek permission to replace those going off the Board.

In addition to the usual tasks associated with reviews, the Advisory Board did the major part of the work in selecting the Outstanding Article from the four 1999 issues.

Summary Statement
CHOICES continues to be an important product of the Association. The reports that I have received regarding the quality of the First Quarter 2000 issue indicate that the magazine is read and used by agricultural economists. Several small changes have been made, but the character of the magazine remains essentially the same. I look forward to a productive year as an editor working with a remarkable Advisory Board.

We received 225 manuscripts between July 1, 1998 and May 30, 2000. Table 1 shows the disposition of these manu-scripts. A final decision has been made for 202 manuscripts. Of this number, 123 manuscripts have been accepted for publication and 122 manuscripts have been rejected, implying an acceptance rate of 39.6%.

Table 1. Disposition of Manuscripts Submitted to the RAE from July 1998 to January 2000
Number of Manuscripts Received:	225
Number Manuscripts Completed Processing:	202
Accepted - 80
Rejected - 122
Number Currently in Process	23
In review - 6
Returned to author - 17

Table 2 presents the number of days that a manuscript is in review until a final publication decision is communicated to the author. The average time for acceptance is 148 days. The average time to a final rejection is 106 days.

Table 2. Days in Review to Final Decision (in percentages) 1999 Issues
Number of Days	Accepted	Rejected
0-30	0	7
31-60	11	21
61-90	18	19
91-120	9	21
121-150	18	9
151-180	11	9
181-210	18	9
More than 210	15	5

TOTAL	100	100
Average days in review	148.5	105.7

A new web site and database designed to track each individual manuscript became fully operational in September 1999. Co-editors can access the database and update information regarding the status of manuscripts, which provides for more accurate tracking and information that is quickly accessible from one central location.

Blackwell Publishers will publish the RAE beginning with Volume 22. Blackwell is one of the leading publishers of scholarly journals and offers worldwide marketing and electronic distribution services. The transition from Allen Press to Blackwell has been smooth. We look forward to working with Blackwell in order to expand the distribution and readership of the RAE. We have already noticed increased manuscript submissions from authors located at European universities and research institutions.

The 2000 volume of the RAE will contain 40 articles. This includes feature articles, applied analysis, commentaries and case studies. The co-editors have provided outstanding service to the RAE. They are William Amponsah, William Kost, Sarahelen Thompson and Thomas Wahl. Also we acknowledge the professional contributions of the Editorial Council and our adminis-trative assistant, Susan Porter, at the University of Arkansas. In addition, the RAE has received generous assistance from many referees. The list of referees who have volunteered their service is shown in the appendix.

Committee on the Status of Blacks in Agricultural Economics (COSBAE)
Ntam Baharanyi, Chair

1. Election as a result of "suspending the Working Rules"
2. The mandate was one of maintenance in general, and new energy (personally)
3. Attempted to know and make contact with COSBAE Board/Results were incomplete
4. Assignments were made to select individuals (Handy Williamson/Diversity Workshop; Doris Newton/directory; Handy Williamson/Working Rules; Kim Aldridge/Reception and membership from the private sector; Don McDowell/fundraising; Ralph Christy, Carlton Davis, Don McDowell/PAWC; etc)
5. Results and Accomplishments

Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE)
Dorothy A. Comer, Chair

This annual report consists of two sections: (1) the current status of women in the agricultural economics profession and (2) the accomplishments of the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics (CWAE) over the past year. Both sections show an active participation of women in the profession.

1. The Status of Women in the Agricultural Economics Profession
Academia: While women continue to enter the profession, agricultural economics still remains a research area dominated by men. In the Fall 1998, 729 students were enrolled in doctoral programs in agricultural business and management. Of these, 218 (30 percent) were women. The American Economic Review (May 1999) reported 26.8 percent of the doctoral candidates in economics, which includes agricultural economics, were women. According to the results of the CWAE tracking survey, slightly fewer women with PhDs went into academia (62 percent vs. 69 percent). What was interesting about this was that more of the women went to non-land grant institutions whereas most of the men went to 1862 land grant institutions. On the master�s level considerably more fewer women than men went into academia (11 percent vs. 54 percent). The good news is that the salaries of recent PhD and MS women were almost identical with that of men. Lydia Zepeda and Mary Marchant (Review of Agricultural Economics 20:2(1998):406-421) found that 24 percent of the assistant profes-sors were women, which is fairly close with the percentage of doctoral students who are women. The percent of faculty who are women in the upper ranks drops off quickly. Twelve percent of associate professors are women and at the full professor rank, only two percent were women. That percentage has not changed since the 1980s and last year only three women were promoted to full professor. In economics eight percent of full professors are women. One has to wonder whether this lower percent at the upper ranks is from attrition or whether there are other reasons. Female agricultural economists are beginning to move into the administrative ranks within academia, both in academic programs and in research.

Government: Last year CWAE reported that females represent about one quarter of the professional staff in USDA�s Economic Research Service (ERS). Women have been successful in moving into senior manage-ment positions at ERS, and last year five were promoted into management positions. There continues to be women agricultural economists in senior positions elsewhere in government.

Publications: A scanning of the symposia, selected papers and selected posters presented at the 1999 AAEA meetings show that ten women were either authors or discussants for the 40 principal papers presented at the meetings in Nashville. A total of 142 women were represented in 369 symposium sessions, selected papers, and posters. No attempt was made to adjust for double counting because they may have been in more than one session. Three organized symposium was organized and presented by women only. �

Awards: In 1999, Gwyneth Carsten (U of Vermont) received the second place and Gina M. Riekhof (U of Missouri) placed third in the undergraduate paper competition. Eleni Gabre-Madhin (Stanford) was recognized for her award-winning dissertation. Mary Marchant (Kentucky) received the AAEA Distinguished Teaching, Less Than Ten Year�s Experience Award, and she was elected to the AAEA Foundation Board of Directors. Sandra Batie (Michigan State) was co-winner of the AAEA Outstanding Article in Choices. Mary Burfisher and Elizabeth Jones (ERS) received the AAEA Quality of Communications award. A number of women have received awards from the regional agricultural economics societies and from their institutions.

AAEA membership and participation: Gender was collected on the AAEA membership application form in 1998, but that practice was not continued. In addition to collecting gender of applicant on the membership form, CWAE also recommends that the AAEA ask for gender of authors on acceptance of articles for the association�s publications. Collecting these very basic demographic statistics is essential for an inclusive organization to keep track of its progress. Women are actively involved in the leadership of AAEA, with one woman (Julie Caswell) serving on the board; two (Laurian Unnevehr and Mary Marchant) on the AAEA Foundation board, and several served on committees. Participation by women in the hierarchy of the regional agricultural economics associations is much more prevalent. Mary Marchant (Kentucky) served as president and Kim Jensen (Tennessee) was vice-president of Southern Agricultural Economics Assn. in 1999. Dawn Thilmany (Colorado State) serves as vice president of the Western Agricultural Economics Association.

2. Accomplishments of the Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics
Janet Perry (ERS) worked tirelessly in her role as chair of CWAE for the first half of 1999. She provided valuable leadership and direction to the organization. In her role as past-chair, Janet has continued to be a valuable resource for the organization. Much of what is reported here is the result of her work and coordination.

The CWAE homepage has moved to be housed under the AAEA homepage. Lorie Srivastava (Michigan State) worked with Joan Poor (Maine) and Aslihan D. Spaulding (Kentucky). The page includes an introduction to CWAE, the committee�s working rules, officer and board member contact points, and electronic versions of the CWAE newsletter. Ann Vandeman (ERS) continues to be our CWAENET list-chair. CWAENET remains on the ERS listserv and has approximately 180 members. Posts range from job announcements and research topics, to career concerns and awards. Margot Rudstrom (U of Minnesota) and Cheryl DeVuyst (U of Illinois) are co-editors for the CWAE newsletter. CWAE went electronic with the 1999 spring/summer newsletter. Newsletters are posted to the CWAE homepage for electronic reference and members are notified when the next newsletter is available.

Electronic communication continues to facilitate CWAE�s operations and all the board�s business has been conducted through e-mail or phone this year. We have had quick response from board members. E-mail works because all board members have access and it allows us to consider information at convenient times, without travel or conference calls.

Laura Cheney, Dawn Thilmany (Colorado State), Susan Hine (Colorado State) completed the analysis of the CWAE Tracking Survey and they prepared a series of articles as part of the Feature The Status of the Profes-sion, in the Review of Agricultural Economics. The Survey was conducted in cooperation with the AAEA Employment Services and Membership committees and the Committee on the Status and Opportunities of Black Agricultural Economists, and funded by the AAEA Foundation Board.

CWAE continues to have a visible presence at the AAEA annual meetings. For the 2000 AAEA annual meet-ings CWAE will host its regular welcome reception on Sunday. Other activities include:

In 1999, Meredith Soule (ERS) prepared a proposal and CWAE was awarded funds to provide travel grants for two international female graduate students to attend the AAEA meetings in Nashville. Each recipient was a participant in the program. The recipients were our special guests at the CWAE reception and luncheon.

A number of CWAE members sponsored graduate students for the CWAE luncheon. This year arrangements have been made to allow donations to the Foundation to support sponsorships this year.

At the 1999 annual meetings in Nashville, an Undergraduate Student Breakfast was hosted by CWAE, funded by a grant from the AAEA Foundation. The theme for the breakfast was �Making a Connection.� The breakfast was well attended by undergraduates and a number of professionals joined to visit with the students. Joyce Cacho (Rabo-bank) addressed the students. CWAE has funds to host a breakfast again this year on Wednes-day morning in Tampa.

The Sylvia Lane Fellowship (special purpose) Fund continues to receive donations. Jean Kinsey, chair of the fellowship sub-committee, was successful in obtaining additional funding for the Lane Fellowship from the AAEA Foundation to award two Sylvia Lane Mentorships for the 1999-2000 academic year. Deanne Hackman, University of Missouri, was one recipient of an award to work with her mentor, Henry Hansmann, Yale University, The title of her project is �An Analysis of Ownership in New Cooperative Structures.� Armineh Zohrabian, Auburn University, was the second recipient to work with her mentor, Melinda Smale, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, on �An Economic Model of Utilization of the U.S. National Soybean Germplasm Collection.� Plans are to offer at least one mentorship this year.

Elections were held at the luncheon at the 1999 AAEA meetings where we elected the incoming Chair, Vice Chair and two members for the board. Holly Wang (Washington State) and Meredith Soule (ERS) put together the slate of nominees. Dori Comer (Florida), chair, Christy Gladwin (Florida), vice-chair, Joyce Cacho (Rabobank), board member and Cheryl Doss (Williams), board member joined Shannon Hamm (Senate Ag. Comm.) and Laura Martin Cheney (Michigan State) and Janet Perry (past-chair-ERS). Dawn Thilmany (vice-chair- Colorado State), Mary Marchant (past-chair-Kentucky), Jean Buzby (board member-ERS), and Christine Ranney (board member-Cornell) rotated off the board. This year CWAE will elect two new board members. In order to provide an additional opportunity to vote, CWAE will introduce on-line voting. It will continue with elections at the luncheon and via mail.

CWAE is considerably more fiscally sound this year relative to last year. This is because CWAE is now distributing its newsletter electronically. In 1999, CWAE began with a balance of $128; it collected $3,185 in dues and $80 from meeting registration. This brought the total revenues to $3,265. Expenses in 1999 totaled $804.54 and went to cover office supplies, postage and printing and duplicating costs for the first two editions of the newsletter. To date in 2000 CWAE has collected $870 in dues and has incurred $.45 in telephone expenses. This leaves CWAE with $3,458.89 to cover meeting expenses, maintenance for the homepage, the business meeting and the luncheon.

THANKS to Janet Perry for her invaluable support and to ERS for its administrative support of CWAE activities and for providing the poster listing our activities that we display at the AAEA meetings. ERS hosts the CWAENET discussion group as well. Appreciate is expressed to Michigan State for its support associated with the Tracking Survey. Special thanks go to Laura Martin Cheney, Susan Hine, Jennifer Grannis and Dawn Tilmaney for their hard work on the Survey. CWAE also appreciates the work of Lorie Srivastava (Michigan State) on the redesign of the CWAE homepage.

The CE Section members communicated on numerous occasions in the last year using the list serve. Two topics - the impact of farming on rural communities and the impacts of Internet sales taxes - generated a particularly large number of e-mail messages. In addition, the list serve was used to share information with section members, remind them of deadlines, or to find answers to questions of interest to members.

Members of the section met informally in conjunction with the North American Regional Science Association in Montreal in October 1999. Topics discussed included community economic impact tools, and a number of papers related to community economics were presented and discussed in selected paper sessions.

Many members of the section also attended the Rural Data Needs conference in Bethesda, Md., in the spring of 2000 at which AAEA President-Elect Bruce Gardner gave an address.

At least two proposals (an organized symposium and a poster) were submitted by one or more section members and accepted for presentation at the 2000 AAEA meeting in Tamps.

The CE Section will meet during the 2000 Tampa meetings and elect a new Chair-Elect in addition to conducting other section business.

(1) The triennial Employment Services Committee Survey is underway. The surveys have been sent and the responses have been received. Data entry of the survey responses is complete. We are waiting for additional pertinent data from the Food and Agriculture Education Information System (FAIES) to complete the data for analysis. Analysis will be completed and a report written over the coming year.

(2) We conducted an organized symposium, with Michele Marra as moderator, at the Nashville meetings in August 1999. The symposium focused on job opportunities and employer expectations for agricultural economists in the private sector. We had four symposium panelists - Tom Zacharias (National Crop Insurance Services, Inc.), Mark Lange (National Cotton Council), Neil Conklin (formerly with the Farm Credit Council), and Joe Coffey (Southern States Cooperative). A productive and lively discussion followed short presentations by the panel members. The assigned room for the symposium was full, with overflow into the hall. I would count this symposium as a significant success.

(3) We made recommendations to the Employment Center about their pricing policies for job candidates and potential employers. We have requested and recently received detailed budget information from the Employment Center on its operation and after analyzing the data we will discuss further recom-mendations for future pricing changes, if warranted. Basically, for this year, the fee for job candidates has been lowered substantially from last year�s fee, and the fee for employers has been changed to a one-time charge, regardless of the number of open positions for which they are recruiting.

Committee meetings - The committee met briefly at the Nashville meetings. The major topic of discussion was the Employment Center fees and the committee�s responsibilities for making recommendations to the AAEA Business Office about the fee structure. The committee voted to ask the business office for a break-down of the Employment Center�s costs so that a more informed recommendation could be made. An addi-tional �electronic meeting� was held in the spring of 1999 to discuss planning of the symposium discussed above and to review some brochures and forms for the AAEA Business Office pertaining to the Employment Center. The committee will meet at the AAEA meetings in Tampa on Monday, July 31 at 5 p.m. in the Marriott Hotel. Topics to be discussed include analysis of the Employment Center cost data, the survey data report, and planning for the following year�s organized symposium.

Economic Statistics and Information Resources Committee (ESIRC)
David Lambert, Chair

ESIRC Data Access Task Force Report, Doug Young, Chair
Two activities were completed during the past year by ESIRC�s Data Access Task Force. Committee members Doug Young and Rich Allen organized a successful Symposium for the AAEA Meetings in August 1999. Although scheduled during the last session of the meetings, the Symposium attracted about 30 partici-pants who actively engaged in discussion and questions. Joe Riley and Carol House highlighted new elec-tronic media and access protocols for USDA data. Discussants from academia, industry and government evaluated how well these new initiatives have worked.

During the summer of 1999, Doug Young, Fred Surls, and Katherine Reichelderfer completed an agree-ment on procedures for access to unpublished USDA-ERS data while preserving confidentiality standards. The agreement has now been in place for one first year. ERS published a brochure, �Accessing USDA Survey Data for Collaborative Research,� to publicize these opportunities. USDA-ERS staff member, Merritt Padgitt, was designated as ERS� representative for developing data sharing arrangements with users. Procedures are outlined for accessing data through contracts, cooperative agreements, cost-reimbursement agreements, and memoranda of understanding.

ERS has concluded that (1) the data access policy has worked well this first year and has not been overly burdensome to ERS, also (2) six MOU�s for direct access to unpublished data and three requests for special tabulations have been implemented in the past 10 months. Some seven of the 10 granted MOU�s have been with academic researchers. Some AAEA members have called Doug Young over the past year asking about how to take advantage of the policy.

Rural Policy: Issues, Data Needs, and Data Access Conference (David Lambert, David Kraybill, and David Zilberman, Organizers)
The rural policy conference was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Monday, March 27, 2000. Approxi-mately 80 participants attended. Following a keynote address by Bruce Gardner, papers were presented in four major topic areas: (1) Rural Issues and Rural Data; (2) Applications; (3) Innovative Approaches to Rural Devel-opment Analysis � Methods; and (4) Data Users and Data Systems. The original intent was to compile the twelve invited papers into a book addressing rural data needs and analysis. At this time (May 25, 2000), only one paper has been received. It is doubtful that the book will be written. An alternative format for disseminating the information presented at the conference will be sought.

2000 AAEA Annual Meeting Symposium
Rural Information Systems: Looking Back to See Ahead (Jim Horsfield, Organizer)
Rural social scientists from seven professional associations joined in July 1989 for a two-day symposium to discuss future data needs for rural America. This symposium will build on the record of the 1989 conference to assess changes in the economic and social environment in rural America over the decade and their implica-tions for rural information systems. The session will be moderated by James Horsfield (ERS/USDA), and will include presentations on: (1) Rural America in 2000 and Beyond: Data and Research Needs, by David Debertin (U. of Kentucky). (2) New Technology in Research: Geographic Information Systems, by Jerald Fletcher (West Virginia U.). (3) Gains and Losses in Public Data for Research, by Leroy Hushak (Ohio State U.). The session will close with a round-table discussion of the evolution of rural information systems since 1989.

FAMPS is co-sponsoring a pre-conference in Tampa entitled �Policy Issues in the Changing Structure of the Food System,� to be held Saturday, July 29. FAMPS has 9 members participating on the program. FAMPS is co-sponsoring this pre-conference along with the Farm Foundation, the AAEA Extension Section, and the Council on Food, Agricultural and Environmental Economics (C-FARE).

FAMPS is having its business meeting on Sunday, July 30 from 1-3 p.m. We will have an the election of officers as well as discuss what direction FAMPS should go and how FAMPS can serve its members.

FAMPS is sponsoring an organized symposium at the AAEA meetings in Tampa entitled �Markets for Tomorrow: Directions for Future Research and Policy on Producer Marketing and Risk Management.�

FAMPS is also sponsoring a free session entitled �Discrete Differentiation or Component Pricing of Agricultural Products�.

Earlier this year, FAMPS held its 2000 conference in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 13-14, 2000, entitled �Producer Marketing and Risk Management: Frontiers for the 21st Century�. The first morning was devoted to cutting edge research on commodity marketing and risk management. The afternoon session on the first day was devoted to research on value-added marketing, contracting, and strategic alliances. Like the morning session, presentations focused on alternative strategies, economic consequences and policy implications. The final session on the morning of the second day focused on private and public innovations in marketing and risk management. Papers were given by leading researchers. Discussants were from academia, private industry, and government.

The following is the report of the International Committee for 1999-2000. The AAEA International Committee is responsible for the International Banquet at the association annual meet-ings, for planning pre or post conferences on international themes, for encouraging submission of principal and selected paper and poster and organized symposium and free session proposals on international themes, and for other activities deemed to promote international activities in the association. The banquet speaker in Nash-ville was AAEA Fellow Bob Thompson of the World Bank. The banquet sold out and was very popular, per usual. This year, the committee selected Dr. K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, as our banquet speaker. The AAEA Foundation is generously supporting Dr. Amoako�s travel to the Tampa annual meetings. Dr. Amoako holds an economics Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley and is a driving force behind economic revitalization in Africa, so his presence at the AAEA meetings is a real coup for the Associa-tion. Committee member Simeon Ehui deserves special thanks for eliciting Dr. Amoako�s agreement to speak to the banquet.

Having held extremely successful preconferences each of the past two years, the Committee elected not to sponsor a pre- or post-conference in Tampa this year. The proceedings from the 1998 international preconference in Salt Lake City, Tradeoffs or Synergies? Agricultural Intensification, Economic Development and the Environment in Developing Countries, is in press now and due for release this summer from CAB International. David Lee of Cornell University and I edited that volume. The 1999 preconference in Nashville, jointly sponsored with the Industry Committee, and organized by Tom Reardon of Michigan State University, on �Agroindustrialization, Globalization, and Economic Development,� drew very positive reviews and about 140 attendees, dwarfing the other pre- and post-conferences and surpassing the previous year�s robust turnout. The proceedings from that preconference are also now moving to publication. A special issue of Agricultural Economics, guest edited by myself and Reardon and encompassing ten papers, is in press. A special issue of Environment and Development Economics, guest edited by Ed Barbier of York University, myself and Reardon and including four articles and a policy forum with about ten short essays, will move to publication late this summer. And a special issue is underway of the International Food and Agribusiness Marketing Review, guest edited by Mike Cook of the University of Missouri and Reardon, and comprised of 11 papers from the preconference. Thanks to generous funding from several institutions, the preconferencemade available seven travel grants to finance the travel and participation of a small share of the almost thirty outstanding agricultural economics undergraduate or graduate students who applied. For the first time, the Committee prepared a World Wide Web site to promote the preconference (http://www.cals.cornell.edu/dept/arme/staff/cbb2/ preconf.html).

The Committee actively encouraged submission of all types of proposals for the annual meetings in Tampa and is pleased to see that the final program will include the usual substantial range of sessions, symposia, papers, and posters on international topics.

The Committee has engaged in some discussion of the possibility of reorganizing as a section. As yet, there does not appear widespread support for the idea. Discussions on this topic are ongoing.

Election Committee
During the Graduate Student Breakfast at the 1999 Meetings, an Election Committee was selected to conduct the first election for officers for the Graduate Student Section.

Members
Jeff Johnson, Chair	Texas Tech University
Hiba Ahmed	Michigan State University
Tom Anton	University of Illinois
Aslihan Spaulding	University of Kentucky
Lorie Srivastava	Michigan State University
Wendy Umberger	University of Nebraska
Michele T. Villinski	University of Minnesota
Advisors
Dr. Darren Hudson	Mississippi State University
Dr. Lisa House	Mississippi State University
Dr. Blake Bennett	Texas Agricultural Extension Service

Requests were sent to Department Chairs in December 1999 for nominees for positions of chair, chair-elect, secretary, and three members-at-large. The committee received seven nominees. Ballots were mailed in March and counted on July 1. Twenty ballots were returned. Those elected officers are being contacted. The first Executive Committee meeting with the elected officers will be held during the Tampa meetings.

2000 Meetings in Tampa
Graduate student activities planned for the 2000 Meetings include the Graduate Student Breakfast on Monday, July 31, and Case Study Competition on Sunday and Monday, July 30 and 31. The GSS Executive Committee meeting will take place after the Graduate Student Breakfast. The Executive Committee will begin discussing plans for the 2001 AAEA Meetings.

The Professional Activities Committee organized and conducted several activities at the 1999 AAEA annual meeting. A �learning workshop� and two �frontier seminars� represented a continuation of ongoing activities. Learning workshops have been organized by the committee since 1990, while frontier seminars have been organized since 1995. A new activity, a �fellows retrospective,� was organized for the first time in 1999. A proposal for another new activity, �Masters Classes,� currently is under development by the committee.

Bruce Weber, from Oregon State University, chaired the planning committee for the post-conference learning workshop on �New Growth Theory and Applications in Agricultural and Rural Economics� at the 1999 AAEA meetings in Nashville. The workshop provided an introduction to the New Growth Theory and explored the potential it holds for agricultural economists to develop a better understanding of issues such as technological change, international trade patterns and the spatial distribution of economic growth across rural and urban areas. There were 45 registrants for the workshop, of which 37 were professionals and 8 were students. The total number of registrants in 1999 (45) was higher than in 1998 (39). Those attending the workshop rated their overall satisfaction with the program either very high or high. Steve Polasky, from Oregon State University, has agreed to chair the planning committee for the 2000 learning workshop on �Game Theory.�

Two frontier seminars were organized for the 1999 AAEA meeting in Nashville. Tom Cox of the University of Wisconsin presented a seminar entitled, �Applied Nonparametric Production and Consumption Analysis.� Steve Vickner of the University of Kentucky and Steve Davies of Colorado State University presented a seminar entitled, � Simultaneous Equations Panel Data Econometric Methods.� Both frontier seminars were well-attended and informal feedback was positive. Rob King and Scott Irwin of the Professional Activities Committee organized the seminars. In an effort to broaden participation in frontier seminar presentation, a call for frontier seminar proposals was published in the December 1999 issue of the AAEA Exchange newsletter. No proposals were subsequently received by the committee. As a result, no frontier seminars were scheduled for the 2000 AAEA meetings. The process for developing and organizing frontier seminars in the future will be discussed at the next committee meeting.

Paul Barkley, from Washington State University, took the lead in organizing a fellow�s retrospective honoring Philip Raup at the 1999 AAEA meeting in Nashville. The purpose of these sessions is to honor an AAEA Fellow whose professional life is nearing its end, but who is still active and making contributions to the field. At the same time, the session gives younger members of the profession a chance to hear and discuss the contributions of those who have made substantial contributions to their profession. The session honoring Philip Raup was quite well-attended, the discussion was lively, and informal feedback suggested this type of session should be continued. A fellow�s retrospective honoring James Shaffer is scheduled for the 2000 AAEA meeting. Paul Barkley is the organizer.

The idea of AAEA-sponsored �masters classes� was discussed extensively at the 1999 meeting of the Professional Activities Committee. A number of important questions have been raised regarding the concept, including:

Lois Schertz Willet, a member of the Professional Activities Committee, has prepared a draft proposal for masters classes that considers the issues. The proposal sketches out a model of the classes and provides suggestions for some topics. The proposal will be distributed to the Professional Activities Committee in advance of the 2000 annual meetings. Formal consideration of the proposal will take place at the 2000 meetings.

The Professional Activities Committee will meet on Sunday July 30, 2000 in Tampa, Flor