Computer Adoption and Returns in Transition

Across nine transition economies, it is the young, educated, English-speaking workers with the best access to local telecommunications infrastructures that work with computers. These workers earn about 25% more than do workers of comparable observable skills who do not use computers. Controlling for likely simultaneity between computer use at work and labor market earnings makes the apparent returns to computer use disappear. These results are corroborated using Russian longitudinal data on earnings and computer use on the job. High costs of computer use in transition economies suppress wages that firms can pay their workers who use computers.

Computer Adoption and Returns in Transition: Theory Appendix

Across nine transition economies, it is the young, educated, English-speaking workers with the best access to local telecommunications infrastructures that work with computers. These workers earn about 25% more than do workers of comparable observable skills who do not use computers. Controlling for likely simultaneity between computer use at work and labor market earnings makes the apparent returns to computer use disappear. These results are corroborated using Russian longitudinal data on earnings and computer use on the job. High costs of computer use in transition economies suppress wages that firms can pay their workers who use computers.sorting; computer adoption; Returns; earnings; technology; Eastern Europe; Central Asia

Computer Adoption and Returns in Transition

Data from nine transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe are used to examine the role of computer adoption for returns to education. As in western economies, computers are adopted most heavily by young, educated, English-speaking workers with the best access to local telecommunications infrastructures. These same attributes have been associated with rising relative earnings in transition economies. Controlling for likely simultaneity between computer use and labor market earnings, we find much larger returns to individuals from computer adoption than have been found in established market economies. The large returns are explainable by the high cost of adoption and the scarcity of computer skills. As of 2000, only 14% had ever tried a computer. Consequently, despite much larger individual returns, computers are associated with an 8% increase in average incomes in the nine countries

Technique of definition of cracking resistance characteristics of metal plates and envelopes of small thickness

The technique of cracking resistance tests of metal plates of small thickness is given. Features of such tests, among which are occurrence of warp in the places of fastening of plates, occurrence of waves because of loss of stability at out-centre loading are shown. Ways to eliminate these shortcomings with the help of special equipment are specified. Tests by the proposed methods allow to make recommendations for technology and choice of steels at creation of valve tapes

Temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of imidazolium ionic liquids.

The electrical conductivities of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquids and of 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids with different anions were determined in the temperature range between 123 and 393 K on the basis of dielectric measurements in the frequency range from 1 to 10^7 Hz. Most of the ionic liquids form a glass and the conductivity values obey the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation. The glass transition temperatures are increasing with increasing length of the alkyl chain. The fragility is weakly dependent on the alkyl chain length but is highly sensitive to the structure of the anion.ionic liquids; molten salts;

Characterization of cascadable excitability in a silicon-on-insulator microring

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New Constraints on Methane Fluxes and Rates of Anaerobic Methane Oxidation in a Gulf of Mexico Brine Pool via In Situ Mass Spectrometry

Deep-sea biogeochemical cycles are, in general, poorly understood owing to the difficulties of making measurements in situ, recovering samples with minimal perturbation, and, in many cases, coping with high spatial and temporal heterogeneity. In particular, biogeochemical fluxes of volatiles such as methane remain largely unconstrained because of the difficulties with accurate quantification in situ and the patchiness of point sources such as seeps and brine pools. To better constrain biogeochemical fluxes and cycling, we have developed a deep-sea in situ mass spectrometer (ISMS) to enable high-resolution quantification of volatiles in situ. Here we report direct measurements of methane concentrations made in a Gulf of Mexico brine pool located at a depth of over 2300 m. Concentrations of up to 33 mM methane were observed within the brine pool, whereas concentrations in the water directly above were three orders of magnitude lower. These direct measurements enabled us to make the first accurate estimates of the diffusive flux from a brine pool, calculated to be $1.1\pm0.2 mol m^{-2} yr^{-1}$. Integrated rate measurements of aerobic methane oxidation in the water column overlying the brine pool were $~320 \mu mol m^{-2} yr^{-1}$, accounting at most for just 0.03% of the diffusive methane flux from the brine pool. Calculated rates of anaerobic methane oxidation were $600-1200 \mu M yr^{-1}$, one to two orders of magnitude higher than previously published values of AOM in anoxic fluids. These findings suggest that brine pools are enormous point sources of methane in the deep sea, and may, in aggregate, have a pronounced impact on the global marine methane cycle.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog