Information revelation through option exercise

In many real-world situations, agents must formulate optionexercise strategies with imperfect information. In such a setting,agents may infer the private signals of other agents throughtheir observed exercise strategies. The building of an officebuilding, the drilling of an exploratory oil well, and the commitmentof a pharmaceutical company toward the research of a new drugall convey private information to other market participants.This article develops an equilibrium framework for option exercisegames with asymmetric private information. Many interestingaspects of the patterns of equilibrium exercise are analyzed.In particular, informational cascades, where agents ignore theirprivate information and jump on the exercise bandwagon, mayarise endogenously.     

The Impact of Socialism on Work Stoppages

The impact of socialism on work stoppages in 15 industrialized countries for the years 1956–1965 was tested using three measures of socialism: (1) the proportion of tangible wealth owned by the state, (2) the ratio of public welfare expenditures to gross national product, and (3) whether or not the socislist party was in power. Results of the analyses performed show that socialism a p peared to have little impact on work stoppage rates among the countries.     

Energy systems analysis for food policy

Recent work on energy systems analysis of food production systems has demonstrated the importance of energy to the food production sector of the economy. We show how energy requirements for food production are closely related to the intensity of production, and that there is a quantifiable trade-off between land and energy use. This trade-off is quite different for vegetable and industrial food as opposed to animals and fish. Thus the energy consequences to food production from changes in diet, shrinking land resources or increasing population may be readily computed.     

Conceptual frameworks used in funded nursing health services research projects

Theories not only suggest ideas for research, but they provide order and logic to an investigation and limit the number and type of variables to be considered to a reasonable few. Although relatively little health services research is done within nursing, there is a growing appreciation of the need for knowledge related to the use, costs, quality, delivery, organization, financing, and outcomes of health care and how nursing practice influences these variables. Conceptual frameworks used by investigators in funded grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show that workforce-related health services research of nursing phenomena is based on a wide variety of conceptual models, many of the investigator's own invention. Ultimately, there may emerge new theories or conceptual frameworks that combine clinical, organizational, financial, and outcome variables from the unique perspective of nursing. Such conceptualizations will guide future researchers and add coherence to the body of health services research into nursing issues.