Position specific peak impact and running demands of professional rugby union players during game play

This study quantifies the maximum number of impacts and peak running demands during 1– to 10– minute rolling window periods in elite rugby union matches using a multi-team dataset (n = 2232 player-games). Maximum values for impacts (impacts·min−1) and running (m·min−1) were calculated for 161 athletes from four teams across the 2018 and 2019 Super Rugby seasons. The effect of window duration and playing position on peak impact and running demands were estimated using linear mixed effect models and prediction intervals. The peak impact and running demands for a 1-min period were 4.5 – 5.5 impacts·min−1 and 150 – 180 m·min−1, depending on playing position. While small variations in mean impact and running movements could be observed by position, the large prediction interval and individual player variation meant that there was no practically meaningful difference by position. As such, when prescribing training drills to replicate the peak demands in rugby union, impact and running movements of players can be similar, regardless of position. Using a prediction interval allows us to identify the range where the demands in a future game may fall, and are beneficial to use when also trying to prepare players for the demands of rugby union.

Productivity and Economic Growth in the European Union: Impact of Investment in Research and Development

This paper focuses on investment in research and development as a factor of labour productivity and economic growth. Our analysis confirms the link between expenditure for research and development (expressed in % of GDP) and labour productivity (expressed in the number of hours worked) based on selected data for EU Member States in the period 1995-2013. A causal link between variables of the concave parabola was confirmed, and the value of expenditure for research and development (2.85% of EU GDP) maximising productivity (per hour of work) was determined based on the examined data. In accordance with these findings, EU’s target of reaching 3% of GDP spent on research and development to be achieved by 2020 seems in support of reaching maximum productivity in the EU.

Union pay premium in China: an individual-level analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate the union-nonunion pay gap impact separately for wages and bonuses as well as total compensation to include both wages and bonuses in China. The way in which the impact varies as control variables are added is illustrated as is how the impact varies by the type of firm ownership. The overall pay gap is also decomposed into a component due to differences in their pay determining characteristics as well as a component due to differences in their returns to those characteristics. These separate components are also calculated throughout the pay distribution. Design/methodology/approach – Using the 2010 China Family Panel Studies Survey, a nationally representative survey in China, the methodology involves different estimation procedures as appropriate for the nature of the data and the dependent variables. First the authors estimate a single equation to determine the union-nonunion pay gap. Then the authors estimate the union impact on the various components of compensation (wages and bonuses). Next the authors decompose the relative contribution of each factor in explaining the wage gap. Finally, quantile regressions are used to examine the union impact across various levels of the pay distribution. Findings – The authors find a gross union-nonunion pay gap (wages + bonuses) of 42 percent, dropping to 12 percent after controlling for the effect of other pay determining factors. The union impact on wages is only 8 percent, but bonuses are about twice as high for union workers. The union impact is essentially zero for (state-owned firms) SOEs and for foreign-owned firms but it is large at 16 percent for private firms and even larger at 22 percent for government agencies. Of the overall pay gap of 42 percent, about three-quarters is attributable to differences in their endowments of pay determining characteristics and about one-quarter to differences in the returns for the same endowments of characteristics. Quantile regressions reveal that the pure or adjusted union wage premium exhibits a u-shaped pattern being highest in the bottom and to a lesser extent the top of the pay distribution. Originality/value – There are a dearth of studies examining the union-nonunion pay gap in China. Of the studies that examine this issue, all of them are at the enterprise level with no studies at the individual level. Taking a nationally representative dataset at the individual level, the authors are able to estimate the union-nonunion pay gap in China. The authors identify the portion of the gap that reflects differences in endowments of pay determining characteristics and the portion that reflects different returns to those characteristics, and the relative contribution of the different variables to those components; and how these components change over the pay distribution. The authors also offer explanations for many of these patterns.

Western Balkan states to feel EU Energy Union impact

Subject The implications of the EU's planned Energy Union for the Western Balkans. Significance The cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline underlined the exposure of the non-EU countries in the Western Balkans to EU energy policy. The EU's planned Energy Union will have implications for these states, which are grouped in the EU-backed Energy Community. Impacts The Energy Union's over-focus on gas could hold back development of the Western Balkans's greater potential in renewables. The Energy Union's potential may not be fully realised if the EU and Western Balkan do not deepen and widen regional ties. Small markets will exacerbate lack of funding from both state and private sources for major infrastructure projects.