The circulation physiology of agroecosystems

This paper represents an effort to enlarge the understanding of the biophysical foundation of agroecosystemsby using an analogy with the circulation of the blood in the human body. The circulation function in the human body canbe represented as arterial pressure. The factors affecting arterial pressure in the human body have direct counterpartsin the cultivation-husbandry system. The relationship between circulation pressure and the factors affecting that pressurein the cultivation-husbandry system are similar to the relationship between the arterial pressure and factors affectingarterial pressure in the human body. Furthermore, circulation resistance in the cultivation-husbandry system can beshown to be analogous to the calculation of peripheral resistance in the human body by Poiseuille’s formula.     

Ethical Differences Between Men and Women in The Sales Profession

This research addresses the question of whether men and women in sales differ in their ethical attitudes and decision making. The study asked 209 subjects to respond to 20 ethical scenarios, half of which were "relational" and half "non-relational." The study concludes (1) that there are significant ethical differences between the sexes in situations that involve relational issues, but not in non-relational situations, and (2) that gender-based ethical differences change with age and years of experience. The implications of these finding for sales organizations are discussed.     

人类活动对生物多样性的影响

The impact of human activity on biodiversity is very complicated, making it difficult to design practical indicators for assessment. Currently, state and response indicators are listed within Chapter 15 of Agenda 21, but no mention is made of driving force indicators and how they relate to biodiversity protection. This paper repre-sents an effort to identify and then operationalize the idea of driving force indicators at national level Five humaninduced factors affecting biodiversity were discussed: (a) habitat loss and fragmentation; (b) overexploitation of resources; (c) species introduction; (d) pollution; and (e) climate change. From these five factors, a subset was selected to serve as possible driving force indicators: (1) habitat loss, (2) the ratio of exotic species to indigenous ones, and (3) the change in pollution status. Although the three indicators are relatively simple, they cover the most important human impacts on biodiversity and offer the potential for further redefinition and ultimate use within the spirit of biodiversity protection.     

The impact of volatility derivatives on S&P500 volatility

This study investigates whether the newly cultivated platform of volatility derivatives has altered the volatility of the underlying S&P500 index. The findings suggest that the onset of the volatility derivatives trading has lowered the volatility of both the cash market volatility and the cash market index, and significantly reduced the impact of shocks to volatility. When big sudden events hit financial markets, however, the volatility of volatility seems to elevate in the U.S. equity market as a result of increased global correlations. Regardless of the period under examination and the estimator employed, long‐run volatility persistence is present. The latter drops significantly when the credit crunch period is excluded from the post‐event date sample period. The correlation between the broad equity index and the return volatility remains low, which in turn strengthens the role of volatility derivatives to facilitate portfolio diversification. The analysis also shows that volatility is mean reverting, whereas market data support the impact of information asymmetries on conditional volatility. In the post‐event date phase, no asymmetries are found when the recent crisis is not accounted for. Finally, comparisons with other international equity indices, with no volatility derivatives listed, unveil that these indices exhibit higher volatility and slower recovery from shocks than the S&P500 index. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:1190–1213, 2009     

THE ECONOMIC SCIENCE FICTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE: A FREE‐MARKET PERSPECTIVE ON THE STERN REVIEW AND THE IPCC

The Stern Review and the IPCC believe that anthropogenic climate change is a serious global threat and demands an urgent response. Examining the IPCC's projections of future climate change and Stern's estimates of its costs from a free‐market perspective shows that they are based on flawed methodological assumptions and reflect an excessively optimistic approach to knowledge of the future. The foundations of reliable knowledge for a sound policy framework have not been put in place.     

The Economic Analysis of Industrial Accidents: a re-assessment

Conventional economic approaches to the analysis of industrial accidents utilise the hedonic pricing approach. This approach usually excludes potentially important institutional, sociological and macroeconomic determinants of occupational safety. Initially we identify some of the theoretical and empirical problems with orthodox economic analysis in this area. An alternative model is then formulated which explicitly encompasses a broader range of determinants. Finally, the model is tested using UK industry accident data, the results being inconsistent with the compensating differentials' emphasis of orthodox analysis but supportive of the augmented model.     

Economics Courses Offered and Required in Two-year Colleges

Reporting the results of a nation-wide survey of economics in junior colleges, Dawson lists the courses given and indicates which students are required to take economics. Not surprisingly, Principles of Economics is most common, and business students are the ones most likely to be required to take it. The average number of courses offered is three, although some schools offer as many as 10. A breakdown by type of college (public, independent, church-related) is presented, and suggestions for improvement are offered.     

Purposive Leisure: Examining Parental Discourses on Family Activities

Current social psychological definitions of leisure may not adequately capture or describe family leisure. This study used discourse analysis to explore the meanings of family leisure as revealed by parents of preteen children (aged 10-12 years). The data came from a study of 31 families (23 two-parent families and 8 one-parent families) living in Ontario, Canada. Thirty mothers and 23 fathers were interviewed about their family leisure activities, experiences, attitudes, and beliefs about family participation. Analysis showed that family participation was highly valued by all of the parents. However, rather than being freely chosen or intrinsically motivated, family leisure was purposive in that it was organized and facilitated by parents in order to achieve particular short- and long-term goals. One set of goals related to family functioning, including enhanced family communication and cohesion, and a strong sense of family. Another set of goals related to the beneficial outcomes of family activities for children, including learning about healthy lifestyles as well as learning moral values. It is argued that the purposive nature of this form of leisure practice reflects current ideologies about motherhood, fatherhood, and the family in North American society.     

Political Processes in Management,Organization and the Social Shaping of Technology

The notion of path dependence is regularly deployed to account for the way past commitments have an important bearing on current choices. We make a distinction between the notions of past and path dependence and focus on path dependence as two types of event sequences: selfreinforcing and reactive. We then address the issue of how the notion of path dependence can be reconciled with a temporal-relational perspective on agency. These notions are tested and refined using a longitudinal case study of ICI's move away from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and the decision to build three plants to produce one CFC alternative (HFC-134a) for the global refrigeration market. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of path dependence for research on technological and firm evolution.     

Austrian economics and climate change

The aim of this paper is to outline and defend an Austrian policy response to climate change. A privatised climate change policy, based on Austrian welfare economics, is the only way to defend to the greatest possible degree the liberties both of fossil fuel users and people whose property rights will be violated if carbon emissions cause climate change. Neoclassical and ‘Post-Austrian’ analyses of climate change are both theoretically unsound and impractical, in requiring for their implementation a foundation in reliable scientific knowledge that is not available. Anthropogenic climate change is a putative interpersonal conflict rather than market failure. The use of fossil fuels should be subject to side-constraints designed to avoid the infringement of other people’s property rights. Tort litigation would protect these rights, where necessary. Litigation would also promote the public understanding and even the advancement of climate science.