http://hdl.handle.net/1957/30471 Fri, 24 May 2013 06:26:15 GMT 2013-05-24T06:26:15Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35499 Taking the Pulse of the Universe Redbird Smith, Helen Marie There are, at least, four basic characteristics of the universe that are the data source for North American cultures in maintaining a balance between the physical sense of the universe and the intuitive non-dimensional spiritual sense of the universe. This balance is delicate and can become distorted by too many words, too many hypothetical constructs, too many models, and too many non-related experiences. That is the senses become contaminated and can no longer read the data that are available. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35499 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35498 Cultural Biodiversity: Indigenous Relationships within Their Environment Happynook, Tom Mexsis When we talk about indigenous cultural practices we are in fact talking about responsibilities that have evolved into unwritten tribal laws over millennia. These responsibilities and laws are directly tied to nature and is a product of the slow integration of cultures within their environment and the ecosystems. Thus, the environment is not a place of divisions but rather a place of relations, a place where cultural diversity and bio-diversity are not separate but in fact need each other. The most important aspects of cultural bio-diversity are those that integrate people, (the human relationship), with the ecosystems found within their environment. Some indigenous practices had cultural importance at the time they were being practiced, (arranged marriages, etc), but most indigenous practices, such as fishing, hunting and gathering have a much deeper ecological management role. These indigenous practices maintained the balance within nature, the environment and the ecosystems. I am not talking about the morality of the cultural practice, but rather the cultural practice of responsibility to bio-diversity. It is from this perspective that we begin to realize that the realm of cultural diversity and bio-diversity are not separate from the environment but rather connected through our relationships with the ecosystems. This is cultural biodiversity; a practice which has been developed and nurtured over millennia; in the Nuu-chah-nulth language “Hishuk Tsawalk”, everything is one, everything is connected. In today’s world, laws have been created around “the human relationship aspect”. Unfortunately, these laws have established a system that leaves humans outside of nature or makes us believe that we are dominant over the environment or a cancer on this earth. We have even created a set of consequences for any broken human relations within this system: fines, prisons, institutions, etc. On the other hand, indigenous peoples have lived within the “law of nature”. It is within this boundary that our indigenous systems of justice, tribal laws, societies and cultural practices developed and have turned into the indigenous rights of today. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35498 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35497 Income Sharing Amongst Medieval Peasants: Usury Prohibitions and the Non-Market Provision of Insurance Bekar, Cliff Traditional economic analysis posits market-based institutions as being substitutes for non-market based institutions. The process of development then tends to be seen as the process of substituting the more efficient market based institutions for their less efficient counterparts. This paper argues that non-market institutions are at times more efficient than market based institutions. Informal pooling arrangements constituted an important method of non-market consumption smoothing for medieval peasants. Usury prohibitions were promulgated in order to support such arrangements in the face of competition from more market-based alternatives, i.e., the capital market. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35497 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35496 Applying Parallel Genetic Algorithms to Economic Problems: The Case of Agricultural Land Markets Balmann, Alfons; Happe, Kathrin This paper elaborates the use of distributed Genetic Algorithms (DGA) to study an artificial land rental market. The study is based on a spatial comparative-static model in which a number of spatially ordered agents (farms) compete in an auction for renting land. Each agent’s behavior is determined by a genetic algorithm that is applied to an agent specific population of genomes representing particular bidding strategies. Agents interact directly through a migration mechanism that allows to spread renting strategies across the population of agents as well as indirectly over the rental market. Two market constellations are considered and different simulations with a variety of parameter constellations (migration rate, placement of farms, etc.) are run: First, a situation of limited market access is defined. A series of simulation experiments shows that for this scenario the DGA generates results that fit comparative static equilibrium conditions like allocative efficiency and zero-profits. Second, in a limited market access scenario, only under very special conditions the DGA generates results that comply with oligopolistic behavior. The results of the two scenarios are analyzed and discussed as to the influence of the DGA procedure itself and a possible economic and game theoretic interpretation. Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/35496 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z