Is Competition the Entry Barrier? Consumer and Total Welfare Benefits of Bundling

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Entry Barrier ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Total Welfare

scholarly journals Particulate Pollution and the Productivity of Pear Packers

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Chang ◽  
Joshua Graff Zivin ◽  
Tal Gross ◽  
Matthew Neidell
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Sizable Fraction ◽  
Total Welfare

We study the effect of outdoor air pollution on the productivity of indoor workers at a pear-packing factory. Increases in fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a pollutant that readily penetrates indoors, leads to significant decreases in productivity, with effects arising at levels below air quality standards. In contrast, pollutants that do not travel indoors, such as ozone, have little, if any, effect on productivity. This effect of outdoor pollution on indoor worker productivity suggests an overlooked consequence of pollution. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest the labor savings from nationwide reductions in PM2.5 generated a sizable fraction of total welfare benefits. (JEL D24, J24, L66, Q13, Q51, Q53)

scholarly journals Equity-efficiency implications of a European tax and transfer system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eren Gürer
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Social Planner ◽  
Transfer System ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Tax And Transfer System ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Total Welfare ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis study simulates three income tax scenarios in a Mirrleesian setting for 24 EU countries using data from the 2014 Structure of Earnings Survey. In scenario 1, each country individually maximizes its own welfare (benchmark). In scenarios 2 and 3, total welfare in the EU is maximized over a common budget constraint. Unlike scenario 2, the social planner of scenario 3 differentiates taxes by country of residence. If a common tax and transfer system were implemented in the EU, countries with a relatively higher mean wage rate—particularly those in Western and some of the Northern European countries—would transfer resources to the others. Scenario 2 implies increased labor distortions for almost all countries and, hence, leads to a contraction in total output. Scenario 3 produces higher (lower) marginal taxes for high- (low-) mean countries compared to the benchmark. The change in total output depends on the income effects on labor supply. Overall, total welfare is higher for the scenarios involving a European tax and transfer system despite more than two thirds of all the agents becoming worse off relative to the benchmark. A politically more feasible integrated tax system improves the well-being of almost half of all the EU but considerably reduces the aggregate welfare benefits.

Does Investors' Desire to Punish Misreporting Affect Their Litigation Decisions and Managers' and Investors' Welfare?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason L. Brown ◽  
Donald V. Moser
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Financial Incentive ◽  
Securities Markets ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Experimental Markets ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Legal Fees ◽  
Financial Penalty ◽  
Do So

ABSTRACT Shareholder litigation is an important part of the regulation of securities markets that can influence corporate managers' reporting behavior. Prior research shows that conventional economic factors affect investors' litigation decisions. We use experimental markets to examine whether investors engage in costly litigation even without a direct financial incentive to do so and whether this affects managers' reporting decisions and managers' and investors' welfare. We find that investors frequently litigate when they can impose a financial penalty on managers for misreporting even though they cannot recover their legal fees or receive restitution for their losses. Moreover, this deters managers' shirking and misreporting and improves managers' and investors' welfare almost as effectively as when investors can recover their legal fees and receive restitution for their losses. Overall, our results indicate that, in addition to financial incentives, investors' desire to punish misreporting plays an important role in their litigation decisions, and that may yield substantial welfare benefits.

The effects of sow maternal behaviour on piglet mortality in an open farrowing system

1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 196-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.N. Marchant ◽  
D.M. Broom ◽  
S. Corning
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behaviour ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Survival And Growth ◽  
Piglet Mortality

Community lactating systems offer a number of potential welfare benefits to the sow and her litter. However, giving the sow greater freedom of movement and choice of environments also has potential risks. With less restriction, the maternal qualities of the sow will have a greater influence on the survival and growth of her litter. The objectives of this experiment were to determine what behaviours of the sow influenced piglet mortality in an open communal farrowing system

scholarly journals Risk of Low Birth Weight According to Household Composition in Brussels and Montreal: Do Income Support Policies Variations Explain the Differences Observed between Both Regions?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7936
Author(s):  
Mouctar Sow ◽  
Myriam De Spiegelaere ◽  
Marie-France Raynault
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Households With Children ◽  
Vulnerable Households ◽  
Welfare Families ◽  
The Impact

Variations in social policy between countries provide opportunities to assess the impact of these policies on health inequities. This study compares the risk of low birth weight in Brussels and Montreal, according to household composition, and discusses the impact of income support policies. For each context, we estimated the impact of income support policies on the extent of poverty of welfare recipients, using the model family method. Based on the differences found, we tested hypotheses on the association between low birth weight and household composition, using administrative data from the birth register and social security in each region. The extent of poverty of welfare families differs according to household composition. In Quebec, the combination of low welfare benefits and larger family allowances widens the gap between households with children and those without children. The risk of LBW also differs between these two contexts according to the number of children. Compared to children born into large welfare families, first-born children are more at risk in Montreal than in Brussels. In addition to the usual comparative studies on the topic, our study highlights the importance of an evaluative perspective that considers the combination of different types of income support measures to better identify the most vulnerable households.

scholarly journals PartSeg: a tool for quantitative feature extraction from 3D microscopy images for dummies

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Bokota ◽  
Jacek Sroka ◽  
Subhadip Basu ◽  
Nirmal Das ◽  
Pawel Trzaskoma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Cell Nucleus ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Entry Barrier ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
3D Microscopy ◽  
Nuclear Structures ◽  
Bulk Processing ◽  
Microscopy Images

Abstract Background Bioimaging techniques offer a robust tool for studying molecular pathways and morphological phenotypes of cell populations subjected to various conditions. As modern high-resolution 3D microscopy provides access to an ever-increasing amount of high-quality images, there arises a need for their analysis in an automated, unbiased, and simple way. Segmentation of structures within the cell nucleus, which is the focus of this paper, presents a new layer of complexity in the form of dense packing and significant signal overlap. At the same time, the available segmentation tools provide a steep learning curve for new users with a limited technical background. This is especially apparent in the bulk processing of image sets, which requires the use of some form of programming notation. Results In this paper, we present PartSeg, a tool for segmentation and reconstruction of 3D microscopy images, optimised for the study of the cell nucleus. PartSeg integrates refined versions of several state-of-the-art algorithms, including a new multi-scale approach for segmentation and quantitative analysis of 3D microscopy images. The features and user-friendly interface of PartSeg were carefully planned with biologists in mind, based on analysis of multiple use cases and difficulties encountered with other tools, to offer an ergonomic interface with a minimal entry barrier. Bulk processing in an ad-hoc manner is possible without the need for programmer support. As the size of datasets of interest grows, such bulk processing solutions become essential for proper statistical analysis of results. Advanced users can use PartSeg components as a library within Python data processing and visualisation pipelines, for example within Jupyter notebooks. The tool is extensible so that new functionality and algorithms can be added by the use of plugins. For biologists, the utility of PartSeg is presented in several scenarios, showing the quantitative analysis of nuclear structures. Conclusions In this paper, we have presented PartSeg which is a tool for precise and verifiable segmentation and reconstruction of 3D microscopy images. PartSeg is optimised for cell nucleus analysis and offers multi-scale segmentation algorithms best-suited for this task. PartSeg can also be used for the bulk processing of multiple images and its components can be reused in other systems or computational experiments.

scholarly journals Rearing experience with ramps improves specific learning and behaviour and welfare on a commercial laying farm

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate I. Norman ◽  
Claire A. Weeks ◽  
John F. Tarlton ◽  
Christine J. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Early Life Experience ◽  
Bone Damage ◽  
Specific Learning

AbstractTo access resources in commercial laying houses hens must move between levels with agility to avoid injury. This study considered whether providing ramps during rear improved the ability of birds to transition between levels. Twelve commercial flocks (2000 birds/flock) on a multi-age site were examined between 1 and 40 weeks of age. All birds had access to elevated perching structures from 4 days of age. Six treatment flocks were also provided with ramps during rear to facilitate access to these structures. Flocks were visited three times during rear and three times at lay to record transitioning behaviour and use of the elevated structures, together with scores for keel bone and feather damage. Ramp reared flocks used the elevated structures to a greater extent at rear (P = 0.001) and at lay, when all flocks had ramps, showed less hesitancy [i.e. pacing (P = 0.002), crouching (P = 0.001) and wing-flapping (P = 0.001)] in accessing levels. Mean levels of keel bone damage were reduced in ramp reared flocks (52%) compared with control flocks (64.8%) at 40 weeks of age (P = 0.028). The early life experience of the ramp reared flocks enabled specific learning that translated and persisted in later life and resulted in overall welfare benefits.

scholarly journals OutFin, a multi-device and multi-modal dataset for outdoor localization based on the fingerprinting approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Alhomayani ◽  
Mohammad H. Mahoor
Keyword(s):  
Global Navigation Satellite System ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Entry Barrier ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Global Navigation ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

AbstractIn recent years, fingerprint-based positioning has gained researchers’ attention since it is a promising alternative to the Global Navigation Satellite System and cellular network-based localization in urban areas. Despite this, the lack of publicly available datasets that researchers can use to develop, evaluate, and compare fingerprint-based positioning solutions constitutes a high entry barrier for studies. As an effort to overcome this barrier and foster new research efforts, this paper presents OutFin, a novel dataset of outdoor location fingerprints that were collected using two different smartphones. OutFin is comprised of diverse data types such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular signal strengths, in addition to measurements from various sensors including the magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and ambient light sensor. The collection area spanned four dispersed sites with a total of 122 reference points. Each site is different in terms of its visibility to the Global Navigation Satellite System and reference points’ number, arrangement, and spacing. Before OutFin was made available to the public, several experiments were conducted to validate its technical quality.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document