In this study we identify factors that influence farmers' expectations to sell some or all of their farming operation in areas where the increase in the conversion of agricultural land has been relatively rapid. Findings indicate that the following factors increase farmers' propensity to sell some or all of the agricultural operation for non-agricultural land use: perceived negative change (particularly difficulty in obtaining and retaining rental land and in purchasing land) increases the likelihood that farmers will expect the operation to become nonviable, which in turn increases the expectation to sell some or all agricultural land; lack of a child who will take over the operation; and declining profits from the operation. Factors that apparently exert little influence on the expectation to sell some or all of the farming operation include level of intrinsic rewards that a farmer experiences from his farming operation, the farmer's satisfaction with his community, and the farmer's closeness to retirement age.

The purpose of this research is to assess the social and health determinants of the use of four separate and distinct categories of complementary and alternative medical therapies: biologically based, mind-body, manipulative, and whole CAM medical systems. The behavioral model of health services use, which holds that health service use is a function of predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics, is used as the theoretical framework for linking specific determinants with the four categories of CAM use. Data are taken from a statewide interview survey of Kansas adults (N = 2,166) conducted in 2001.Results from multivariate analyses demonstrate that there is variation in the determinants of the use of different categories of CAM therapies. Overall, the results indicate that future research on the determinants of CAM must delineate between various CAM therapies to gain an accurate portrayal of the factors contributing to CAM use.

No abstract

One of the key questions for employers seeking to locate or expand their operations is whether a prospective community has an available and affordable labor force with the prerequisite skills. This study outlines an applied theoretical perspective and a set of survey methods to move beyond the inherent limitations of unemployment rates and other census data used to infer availability and prevailing wage rates of a community's workforce. Applying these methods to Kansas in 2001, the authors found more than 7% of Kansans of working age, or about 110,000 potential workers, were unemployed in some manner but were available for job opportunities. Another 12.6% of the Kansas labor force, or just more than 159,000 people, were employed (full-and part-time) and were actively seeking new employment opportunities. A total of 43.7% of the Kansas labor force, or about 651,000 people, would consider a new employment opportunity given the right circumstances.A key question for employers seeking to locate or expand their operations is whether a prospective community has an available and affordable labor force with the prerequisite skills (Aichlmayr, 2000). Although unemployment rates in most states and communities increased in 2002, it is difficult to infer the availability of a qualified workforce using standard U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The first section of this study outlines the applied theoretical and operational framework for assessing the available labor pool in an area. The second section details the survey methods used to estimate the available labor pool in any state or community and the findings from the application of these survey methods in Kansas in 2001. The final section assesses the limitations of these methods, the relevance of this research to site locators and employers seeking to relocate or expand, and the importance of this research, even in a higher employment environment.