Broadening the Mission: Research Activity among University Labor Education/Labor Studies Professionals

[Excerpt] This study examines research activity among university and college labor education/labor studies professionals. Using data gathered in a survey of faculty employed in the field, the paper presents information concerning the extent and focus of these research activities, the methodologies employed, the outlets for the research products that result, and the factors limiting such work. The findings of this study indicate that research, of both an applied and scholarly nature, is an increasingly significant part of the work of labor education/labor studies professionals. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications this trend has for the labor education/labor studies field, with special attention being given to the role research activity can play in meeting the needs of unions, union members, and union leaders

Liability, insurance and defensive medicine: new evidence

For the first time, we test for effects of liability on hospital care using measures of current perceptions of litigation risk at hospital level; in particular, the risk-sharing arrangements agreed between hospitals and their insurers. GMM and ML estimators are used to allow for possible endogeneity of risksharing arrangements. Our findings are consistent with the exercise of liabilityinduced discretion by hospitals, especially regarding use of costly diagnostic imaging. Hospitals facing higher expected litigation costs also use these tests more frequently, after controlling for activity levels, casemix and treatment outcome; the latter indicating that defensive medicine may be present. We also find evidence of fewer new claims against these hospitals, given adverse events, which may indicate the increased use of claims management processes by hospital managers concerned at the expected cost of litigation.Medical malpractice, defensive care, insurance, litigation

The reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales

Legal aid expenditure has risen dramatically in recent years, prompting attention from successive governments. A prominent theme of past and present government reform proposals has been the shifting of risk away from the taxpayer towards lawyers, clients and insurers by altering the means by which legal aid lawyers are paid. This paper explores this theme by presenting information on legal aid expenditure trends over the last two decades and then considering whether payment mechanisms have contributed to this performance. Finally, it reviews previous and current reform proposals in this area. It concludes that, because risk-shifting also alters incentives, it is essential that reform recognises and monitors these.

A formally verified proof of the prime number theorem

The prime number theorem, established by Hadamard and de la Vall'ee Poussin independently in 1896, asserts that the density of primes in the positive integers is asymptotic to 1 / ln x. Whereas their proofs made serious use of the methods of complex analysis, elementary proofs were provided by Selberg and Erd"os in 1948. We describe a formally verified version of Selberg's proof, obtained using the Isabelle proof assistant.Comment: 23 page

A Comparison of the NZTM and FPS Models of the New Zealand Economy

This paper investigates and compares the dynamic properties of the New Zealand Treasury model (NZTM) and the current version of the Reserve Bank’s Forecasting and Policy System model (FPS). The main use of both two models is to produce macroeconomic forecasts. The NZTM model produces forecasts that are used as an input into the final forecast numbers presented in the Economic and Fiscal Updates. The FPS model is used to produce the published forecasts in the Reserve Bank’s quarterly Monetary Policy Statement. Both models contain a number of judgements around the structure of the economy, the key shocks that impact on the economy, and how the economy evolves in response to these shocks. The paper concludes that one of the main differences between the two models occurs in the impact of a world price shock on the real exchange rate and subsequently on exports and imports. Another key difference is the mechanism through which the net foreign asset position returns towards equilibrium. In FPS, the external balance is partly attained by forward-looking consumers who adjust spending to reach desired wealth positions. In contrast, the real exchange rate is the key mechanism in NZTM for re-establishing equilibrium.New Zealand; NZTM; FPS; Macroeconomic forecasts; Net foreign asset position; forwarding-looking consumers; Real exchange rate

Unbalanced Nested Component Error Model and the Value of Soil Insecticide and Bt Corn for Controlling Western Corn Rootworm

We describe four recently developed panel data estimators for unbalanced and nested data, a common problem for economic and experimental data. We estimate a western corn rootworm damage function with each estimator, including separate parameters for random effects from year, location, and experimental errors. We then use each estimator to assess the cost of the western corn rootworm soybean variant and the net benefit of soil insecticide and Bt corn for controlling this pest. At current prices, we find that soil insecticide generates a net loss ranging about $0.50-$3.25/ac, while Bt corn generates a net benefit ranging $2.50-$7.00/ac.

VERTICALLY ALIGNED VS. OPEN MARKET COORDINATION: DOMINANCE OR CO-EXISTENCE?

Will a more tightly aligned system become the exclusive coordination or governance system in the pork industry? The analysis shows that the packer prefers to source hogs from both an aligned market and an independent market. This result is because the packer, facing variability in the demand for premium pork, must balance the cost of higher quality aligned hogs and independent hogs against the states of nature for demand for the premium product.Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

High-pressure annealing of a prestructured nanocrystalline precursor to obtain tetragonal and orthorhombic polymorphs of Hf3N4

Transition metal nitrides containing metal ions in high oxidation states are a significant goal for the discovery of new families of semiconducting materials. Most metal nitride compounds prepared at high temperature and high pressure from the elements have metallic bonding. However amorphous or nanocrystalline compounds can be prepared via metal-organic chemistry routes giving rise to precursors with a high nitrogen:metal ratio. Using X-ray diffraction in parallel with high pressure laser heating in the diamond anvil cell this work highlights the possibility of retaining the composition and structure of a metastable nanocrystalline precursor under high pressure-temperature conditions. Specifically, a nanocrystalline Hf3N4 with a tetragonal defect-fluorite structure can be crystallized under high-P,T conditions. Increasing the pressure and temperature of crystallization leads to the formation of a fully recoverable orthorhombic (defect cottunite-structured) polymorph. This approach identifies a novel class of pathways to the synthesis of new crystalline nitrogen-rich transition metal nitrides