Artfilms, Handicrafts and Other Cultural Goods: The Case for Subsidy

Though widespread, the practice of public subsidies for cultural activity lacks a rigorous and consistent economic rationale. We analyze a canonical market structure that characterizes much cultural activity: the competition of mass-produced goods with heterogeneous non- standardized goods that are imperfect substitutes. We analyze several types of market failure: uncertainty about preferences (we do not know what we like, and we do not know what we might like in the future); endogeneity of preferences (we like what our neighbors talk about, and we like what we're accustomed to); and externalities associated with production (future production costs are determined by current production). The model provides a basis for cultural subsidies to promote social welfare and economic development.

Preweaning mortality in loose-housed lactating sows: Behavioral and performance differences between sows who crush or do not crush piglets

The majority of piglet deaths occur within the first 72 h after parturition, with crushing by the sow as the most common cause of preweaning mortality. The aim of this study was to compare the behavior and performance of sows that killed piglets (CR) to those that did not (NC) inside a farrowing hut within the first 72 h after parturition. A total of 336 sows and their litters were used for comparisons. CR sows had more (P \u3c 0.01) piglets born/litter and born alive/litter than NC sows. Mortality was higher (P \u3c 0.01) for CR sows, with most piglet mortality in the first 72 h and there was a trend (P = 0.06) for CR sows to wean fewer piglets/litter than NC sows (7.8 ± 0.20 versus 8.4 ± 0.26), respectively. Behaviors were collected by time-lapse video on 20 sows, 10 from each group. Four sow postures: walking, standing, sitting and lying; four sow behaviors: pawing, rooting, nursing interval and nursing duration; and one sow location: out of hut were recorded. NC sows had a longer (P = 0.03) parturition compared to CR sows. Time (min) spent outside the farrowing hut did not differ between groups over the first 2 days, but on day 3 NC sows spent more (P = 0.01) time outside of the farrowing hut (20.2 ± 4.7) compared to CR sows (40.4 ± 4.8). NC sows spent more time pawing (P \u3c 0.01) than CR sows (5.2 ± 0.41 min versus 1.7 ± 0.38 min) but no differences were found for all other behaviors (P \u3e 0.05). There were no (P \u3e 0.05) group differences for sow lying postures. One hour prior to piglet mortality 62.5% of CR sows moved from lying sternal to lying lateral, 25% moved from lying lateral to lying sternal and 12.5% of CR sows went from standing to lying lateral. In conclusion, CR sows spent more time inside the farrowing hut on day 3, spent more time lying on their sternum prior to crushing a piglet and the behavioral sequence associated with crushing piglets was a shift in lying postures rather than a transition from sitting or standing to lying

Tracking Online Education in Canadian Universities and Colleges: National Survey of Online and Digital Learning 2019 National Report

Disponible en français dans EDUQ.info sous le titre "Évolution de l’apprentissage en ligne dans les universités et collèges du Canada : sondage national sur la formation à distance et l’apprentissage en ligne 2019"The Canadian National Online and Digital Learning Survey aims to track the status and development of online, distance and digital learning in public post-secondary education across Canada