Laboratory and large-scale dust explosion research

This paper describes dust explosibility research in full-scale experimental mines and a 20-L laboratory chamber at the U.S. Bureau of Mines and in a 1-m³ laboratory chamber at Fike Corporation. The purpose of this research is to improve safety in mining and other industries that manufacture, process, or use combustible dusts. As part of this work, carbonaceous dusts with a wide range of volatilities and various particle size distributions were studied. Laboratory data on the minimum explosible concentrations of predispersed dusts were comparable to mine data for nominal dust loadings that were dispersed by the aerodynamic disturbance from a gas ignition zone. Recommendations are given on the limitations of small-scale testing such as “overdriving” by too strong of an ignitor. The effect of dust particle size on explosibility data is illustrated for coal and aluminum dusts. For both dusts, the finest sizes were the most hazardous. The inerting requirements for preventing explosions were also measured in both laboratory and large-scale systems. All the data show relatively good agreement between the laboratory and the large-scale tests.     

High Leverage and Willingness to Pay: Evidence from the Residential Housing Market

I document a strong correlation between paying the full listing price on homes and borrowing 100% loan‐to‐value. Homebuyers who do both overpay by 2.8% to 3.9% ($4,800 to $6,700) and are 22.7% more likely to have their properties foreclosed within one year. The correlation is not mechanical: there is a discontinuity in the average leverage around the full listing price. The correlation is stronger in areas with a high fraction of financially constrained and unsophisticated residents, and in areas of high past price growth (potentially indicative of buyer optimism).     

Are Chinese nationals’ attitudes to wildlife tourist attractions different from those of other nationalities?

Many wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) have negative impacts on animal welfare and species conservation. In the absence of regulation, raising standards requires tourists to create market pressure by choosing to attend WTAs with benefits for wildlife. We surveyed respondents from five countries – China, Australia, Canada, UK, and USA – to quantify how attitudes to captive animals, and towards WTAs’ outputs and standards, may vary with nationality. Our aim was to provide a firm basis for behaviour change interventions to alter current patterns of tourist consumption of WTAs. All respondents agreed on the importance of conservation and animal welfare, but Chinese respondents were twice as likely to believe that WTAs would not be allowed to exist if they were bad for animals, and that WTAs’ promotional materials were reliable indicators of welfare and conservation standards. These findings indicate Chinese respondents had fundamentally similar attitudes to those from the other countries, but differed in how those attitudes were likely to be applied. Chinese tourists may experience more barriers to aligning their actions with their values with respect to WTAs. Removing these barriers may require information campaigns to highlight the lack of regulation, and the unreliability of some WTAs’ promotional materials and tourists’ reviews.     

Can the North American ski industry attain climate resiliency? A modified Delphi survey on transformations towards sustainable tourism

As global temperatures increase, does accelerating climate change represent an existential crisis or a manageable challenge for the ski industry? Despite considerable evidence demonstrating the global ski industry is in the early stages of a climate-induced transition, global research on ski industry stakeholder perspectives shows varied levels of climate risk awareness, a focus on future vulnerability, and limited engagement in adaptation. Within North America, research has focussed on the physical climatic impacts to ski operations and possible skier responses, yet there lacks insight into industry perceptions on current and future climate vulnerability. This study fills this important knowledge gap using a Delphi survey to engage 52 leaders from across the continent in a dialogue on strategic climate responsiveness. Results demonstrate North American ski industry leaders’ climate risk perceptions range widely, and opinions diverge over if or how to respond at both an industry and destination scale. Simultaneously, industry experts believe mountain tourists increasingly value nature-based activities, place-bound products, and corporate responsibility. Analysing industry leaders’ responses through Enlightened Stakeholder theory highlights how aligning supply-side environmental management with demand-side tourist experiences may create opportunities for new partnerships, innovations, policies, and strategies needed to achieve climate-resilient and sustainable futures.     

Non‐Standard Time Wage Premiums and Employment Effects: Evidence from an Australian Natural Experiment

We examine the effect of increasing Sunday wage premiums on retail industry employment in Australia, exploiting a quasi‐experimental policy change across two neighbouring states. Using both aggregate and individual‐level data, we adopt a difference‐in‐difference regression framework to estimate the causal impact of the policy change on employment outcomes. We find no evidence of changes in the total number of employees, and no effect on hours per employee in the years following the policy implementation. However, there appeared to be a decline in hours per employee in the announcement year of the policy change. Overall, it appears that in an industry dominated by part‐time and casual employment, any adjustment to the new Sunday wage rates occurred principally through flexibility in hours, rather than in the number of employees.     

中国机构投资者投资分散不足的实证检验——以基金公司为例

从目前各个国家和地区的投资实践来看,大量证据显示,投资者并没有按照标准化的投资组合模型去分散投资,而是表现出明显的“投资分散不足”。文章以基金公司作为机构投资者的代表,对我国投资市场上投资的分布状况进行了研究,证实了在我国的金融市场上投资分散不足现象也是存在的。     

Irrigation production functions with water-capital substitution

The dynamics of biomass growth implies that the yield of irrigated crops depends, in addition to the total amount of water applied, on irrigation scheduling during the growing period. Advanced irrigation technologies relax constraints on irrigation rates and timing, allowing us to better adjust irrigation scheduling to the varying needs of the plants along the growing period. Irrigation production functions, then, should include capital (or expenditures on irrigation equipment) in addition to aggregate water. We derive such functions and study their water-capital substitution properties. Implications for water demand and adoption of irrigation technologies are investigated. A numerical example illustrates these properties.     

Evolution of the Amazonian frontier: Land values in Rondônia, Brazil

Patterns in property values provide strong signals about the future and sustainability of land use. This paper analyzes the determinants of land value in an Amazonian frontier settlement. We estimate hedonic price functions to identify factors that affect the value of farm properties in the western Brazilian Amazon. Distance to market explains nearly one-third of the variation in farm value, as predicted by the von Thünen model. After controlling for location relative to the central market and for municipality, we find that investment in the farms (as reflected in the stocking rate of pastures and the establishment of home gardens) has the next largest impact on land value. The value per hectare of land is negatively related to total lot size, suggesting that any economies of scale are outweighed by the cost of accessing remote corners of large properties. We do not find that land values are related to available measures of biophysical factors or to historic or current land use. Our results do not identify any premium for forest cover or for land uses considered to be more sustainable than pasture on the property itself. However, farm values are affected by neighboring land cover, specifically, the extent of barren land. Thus, local knowledge of factors contributing to future productivity, as summarized in land values, confirms that soil exhaustion can lead to a general decline in property values, while investments in a property both as a homestead and as a farm can help sustain frontier settlements.