News reports from the western united states occasionally report incidents of cattle ranchers slaughtering many newborn calves and burying them in mass graves rather than transporting them to markets. assuming that this is rational behavior by profit-maximizing "firms," explain what economic factors may influence such behavior. justify your answer.

Martha participates in a research study in order to receive extra credit for her psychology class. when she arrives in the research office she is given a can of what looks and tastes like beer, but which actually contains no alcohol. in the adjoining room martha's classmate karen is also participating in the study. karen receives a can of alcoholic beer. if the experiment was designed to test the effects of alcohol on concentration, then who is exposed to the independent variable?