Economic Analysis for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment: Synthesis and Scenario Valuation of Changes in Ecosystem Services

We combine natural science modelling and valuation techniques to present economic analyses of a variety of land use change scenarios generated for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment. Specifically, the agricultural, greenhouse gas, recreational and urban greenspace impacts of the envisioned land use changes are valued. Particular attention is given to the incorporation of spatial variation in the natural environment and to addressing issues such as biodiversity impacts where reliable values are not available. Results show that the incorporation of ecosystem services and their values within analyses can substantially change decisions.     

Do Off‐Label Drug Practices Argue Against FDA Efficacy Requirements? A Critical Analysis of Physicians' Argumentation for Initial Efficacy Requirements

The amended Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act requires efficacy certification for a drug's initial uses (“on‐label”), but does not require certification before physicians may prescribe the drug for subsequent uses (“off‐label”). Does it make sense to require FDA efficacy certification for new drugs but not for new uses of old drugs? Using a sequential online survey, we carried on a “virtual conversation” with some 500 physicians. The survey asked whether efficacy requirements should be imposed on off‐label uses; almost all physicians said no. It asked whether the efficacy requirements for initial uses should be dropped, and most physicians said no. We then asked respondents whether opposing efficacy requirements in one case but not the other involved an inconsistency. In response, we received hundreds of written commentaries. We organize and discuss these commentaries with an eye to understanding how the medical market certifies off‐label drug uses and how this compares to FDA certification. Does off‐label medicine use suggest that efficacy requirements should be placed on new uses of old drugs? Does it suggest that efficacy requirements on new drugs should be lifted? We explore these questions, and ask whether the response of many of the doctors exhibits the familiar behavior bias toward the status quo.     

Trend/cycle decomposition of regime-switching processes

We present a new approach to trend/cycle decomposition of time series that follow regime-switching processes. The proposed approach, which we label the “regime-dependent steady-state” (RDSS) decomposition, is motivated as the appropriate generalization of the Beveridge and Nelson decomposition [Beveridge, S., Nelson, C.R., 1981. A new approach to decomposition of economic time series into permanent and transitory components with particular attention to measurement of the business cycle. Journal of Monetary Economics 7, 151–174] to the setting where the reduced-form dynamics of a given series can be captured by a regime-switching forecasting model. For processes in which the underlying trend component follows a random walk with possibly regime-switching drift, the RDSS decomposition is optimal in a minimum mean-squared-error sense and is more broadly applicable than directly employing an Unobserved Components model.     

Technology as perceived by R&D team leaders: an analysis

The work reported in this paper was carried out as part of a larger study on the uncertainties experienced by R&D scientists and engineers. It pertains to the development of a perceptual measure of technology, and its subsequent application to an R&D work context. Twelve perceptually based characteristics of technology were identified from literature, and formed the basis for a questionnaire. The survey methodology was adopted in this study. Responses to the questionnaire were elicited from sixty leaders of R&D teams belonging to the Telecommunications and Space Technology R&Ds. Analysis of data revealed that while certain characteristics seemed to constitute the 'core' of technology, the dominance of certain others varied between teams from the two R&Ds. This suggests that managerial implications from the perception of technology should be drawn with specific reference to the context. The study outlines some implications for R&D managers based on the profile of technology perception.     

Otra Empanada en la Parilla: Examining the Role of Culture and Information Sharing in Chile and Australia

One of the biggest assets of a firm is its information base. Included in this information base is a knowledge of prior errors and failures. Extant research suggests that while the propensity to share “bad news” (i.e. a prior error) is dependent on the cost of sharing, the perceived value of that cost may be culturally dependent. One area of interest that has received substantial attention in the prior literature has been cross‐cultural differences in negative information sharing in general, as well as the particular context in which the individual's superior is either present or absent during the information‐sharing process. Our study examines the role of the two cultural values (individualism/collectivism and to a lesser extent power distance) in explaining national differences in information sharing. By focusing on a sample from Chile and Australia, we were able to remove the regional cultural dimension of face, which has been inherent in prior studies that used Greater China as the representative of a collectivist society. Results from our quasi experiment show that when a supervisor is present during information sharing, collectivist Chilean decision‐makers are more willing to share negative information with their colleagues than their counterpart and individualist Australian decision‐makers. Our results also show that when a supervisor is absent, both Australian and Chilean decision‐makers are willing to share more negative information but the increase in the Australian propensity is significantly greater than that of the Chileans.     

The same yet different: Worker reports on labour practices and outcomes in a single firm across countries

This paper examines cross-country differences in labour policies and practices and employee performance and attitudes toward work from a sample of nearly 30,000 employees in a large multinational manufacturing firm. The analysis shows: 1) large establishment and country differences in work practices, performance, and attitudes toward work across countries; 2) qualitatively similar responses of workers to work practices across countries; 3) a strong link between the establishment average of employee reports on the quality of labour-management relations and establishment average measures of employee performance 4) a positive relation between average employee performance and average employee-management relations at the country level, but no relation between country level performance in the firm and measures of the extent of national labour regulations or practices.     

Euro and FIBOR interest rates: A continuous time modelling analysis

The introduction of the Euro in January 1999 and the new reference interest rate EURIBOR® which is widely used as the underlying interest rate for Euro denominated derivative contracts have opened up a new area of research in international financial markets. In this paper we estimate single factor models using daily EURIBOR® and FIBOR interest rate data. We also estimate a model allowing a level-GARCH specification and a two factor model. We find evidence of level-volatility effects in both rates.     

为服务认证

随着IS09001：2000质量管理体系认证的颁布,人们知道可以靠过程绩效指标衡量过程的有效性。当有清晰证据显示过程进展顺利时,对建立程序文件的依靠也就降低了。     

A resilience perspective of the SEEA

While the SEEA is an important advance in national accounting it remains deficient in a number of ways in regard to natural resources. The dynamic and interactive nature of ecosystems means that any linear, compartmentalised system of accounting will miss significant changes that influence human wellbeing. In particular, losses in resilience of critical capital stocks (through changes in underlying ecosystem variables that do not contribute directly to valued flows, and are therefore not included in the accounts) means that the accounts will not recognise that such stocks are becoming riskier, likely to collapse, and are therefore over‐valued. We present a stock‐based approach to measuring sustainable development (the Inclusive Wealth Approach of [Arrow KJ, Dasgupta P and Maler K‐G. (2003) Evaluating projects and assessing sustainable development in imperfect economies, Environmental and Resource Economics, 26:647-685]) at a regional scale, using an example from South East Australia, which includes an assessment of the resilience of critical capital stocks.