bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Current Practice: Diagnosis and Treatment in Primary Healthcare
Authors: BenEzra David
Published: May 2007

In a primary healthcare facility, there are certain ‘rules of thumb’ that can be recommended for the diagnosis and treatment of conjunctivitis. The type of discharge is a crucial factor in the differential diagnosis and can also be a clue towards the management in primary care. It is important to identify whether the conjunctivitis is an isolated case or part of another disease, and if it is acute or chronic, and I would suggest taking a smear or culture sample whenever possible. When the aetiology is not clear, I would try antibiotics. If the patient is allergic, and an allergic conjunctivitis is suspected, the best management today is to use mast cell stabilisers, and combine these with conservative measures of frequent washings, and compresses. If the aetiology remains doubtful, or if there is no obvious improvement using these treatments, the patient should be re‐evaluated and/or referred to an ophthalmologist or specialist eye centre. The use of corticosteroids for conjunctivitis should certainly be avoided in primary healthcare. Conjunctivitis is often self‐limited and the drug‐induced consequences of improper management can be far more devastating than the disease itself.
Possible correlation of leptin with body fat distribution and adiposity: Evaluation of serum leptin in South Indian population
Authors: RAM MANI RAVISHANKAR , MALATHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published: May 2007

Background:  Leptin, an adipocyte‐derived hormone, is known to play an important role in body fat. Gender, age, degree of obesity and sex steroids are expressed differentially in men and women.

Methods:  We measured serum leptin, testosterone and β‐estradiol concentration by radioimmunoassay in 300 subjects (60 normal weight, 60 underweight, 60 overweight, 60 obese and 60 morbidly obese) by age group (18–40 years and 41–62 years), using full‐length recombinant human leptin as a standard.

Results:  The present study found that morbidly obese and obese men and women older than 50 years had 50–70% higher body mass index (BMI)‐adjusted leptin levels than younger subjects. In addition, obese and underweight subjects showed a tendency towards lower BMI‐adjusted leptin levels in younger than older, in both men and women subjects. Multiple regression analysis showed that age was positively correlated with leptin in both genders, even if the slope of rise was twice as high in women than in men. Together, these results indicate that in both genders, most prominently in females, aging is associated with increased leptin production that is independent from the amount of fat and/or the role of sex hormones.

Conclusion:  In conclusion, our data show that serum leptin concentrations in men and women gradually increase during aging, being higher in women than in men, but they are independent from BMI and other hormones. The inclusion of several hormones in our regression model showed that only testosterone in men, and estradiol and androstenedione in women were independent contributions to serum leptin levels, possibly accounting for part of the leptin sexual dimorphism in a south Indian population.
Cryopreservation of human sperm in patients with malignancy: First 2 years’ experience
Authors: ISHIKAWA HIROMICHI , KANEKO SATORU , MIYAJI KEISUKE , TAKAMATSU KIYOSHI
Published: May 2007

Background:  Patients with malignancy (n = 130) participated in the sperm cryopreservation program.

Methods:  After washing and concentrating, sperm was cryopreserved using KS‐VIm cryoprotectant medium. Participant background factors such as age, marital status, underlying disease, presence or absence of previous treatment and semen findings (concentration, motility and morphology) were analyzed to determine parameters associated with the program.

Results:  Patients in their 20s were most common (64 cases) and 94 cases were unmarried at the first visit. The main underlying diseases were testicular tumor (53 cases), leukemia (43 cases) and malignant lymphoma (13 cases). The program was completed for 118 cases. For leukemia, all semen parameters were closer to normal in patients without previous treatment (untreated group, UG) compared with the treated group (TG). When semen findings in the UG were classified according to underlying disease, sperm concentration was lower in patients with testicular tumor compared with those who had leukemia or malignant lymphoma. Four couples underwent reproductive therapies with the cryopreserved sperm through assisted reproductive technology, and three babies were born to two couples.

Conclusion:  Sperm cryopreservation liberates patients with malignancy from iatrogenic infertility as a consequence of intensive therapy, allowing them to retain reproductive ability.
THE ENTRY OF THE LIBERALS INTO THE, LABOUR PARTY 1910–1920
Authors: DOWSE ROBERT E.
Published: May 2007

“It (Socialism) is a rock, and is irremovable. It is as firmly fixed as the earth itself. It is a line of demarcation over which neither Liberal nor Tory may pass and retain his creed”—Yorkshire Factory Times, 10th July, 1892, cited by E. P. Thompson in J. Saville and A. Briggs’Essays in Labour History, (London 1960).
TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY: A QUANTITATIVE APPRAISAL*
Authors: Diamond J.
Published: May 2007

Abstract

Within the last decade the promotion of tourism has gained a prominent place in many development plans. Recently, however, doubts have been cast on previous attempts to analyse its contribution to development. This paper describes a quantitative technique which remedies some of their more obvious defects. The method is then applied to the Turkish situation, and the implications of the results are examined in the light of an explicit policy preference function.
THE DEMAND FOR ENERGY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Authors: Uri Noel D.
Published: May 2007

Interfuel substitution,a priori, seems to be of considerable importance in the economy of the United Kingdom. Consequently, an appropriate model is developed and estimated. All energy sources are demonstrated to be substitutable. Coal is the most price responsive with natural gas, oil and electrical following. The results are not inconsistent with other studies of energy substitution. Moreover, when the issue of the stability of the demand for energy types is considered, the suggestion that the demand for coal, oil, natural gas, and electrical energy have remained virtually constant over the past three decades.
MODELLING HABIT PERSISTENCE*
Authors: Lubulwa A. S. G.
Published: May 2007

The purpose of this paper is to derive the demand functions corresponding to an intertemporal linear expenditure system in which goods are durable, and in which there are penalty costs for changes in planned stocks. Taste changes over time can be interpreted as changes in the technology converting goods into characteristics.
PRICE CONSTRAINTS, FORWARD MARKETS AND THE COMPETITIVE FIRM UNDER PRICE UNCERTAINTY*
Authors: Wang Leonard F. S.
Published: May 2007

This article proposes a model of the competitive firm simultaneously facing price constraints and forward markets under price uncertainty. The incorporation of a forward market is shown to be very important because a risk‐averse firm will set its production decision to the forward price regardless of its attitude toward risk. In addition, we show that risk aversion is a sufficient condition for a decrease in risk to reduce the amount hedged when risk is reduced through a mean‐preserving price squeeze.
SECTORAL AND MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS IN A TWO GOOD OPEN ECONOMY WITH AN INTERMEDIATE INPUT*
Authors: Fender John
Published: May 2007

A model of an open economy, in which two goods, a tradeable and a non‐tradeable, are distinguished, is constructed. There is also an intermediate input (oil) which is both produced domestically and traded, and which is used as an input in the traded sector. There are two assets, money and internationally traded bonds. In the model the effects of various changes, including an increase in the money supply, and increases in both the world price of, and the domestic output of, oil, are analysed.
REAL BALANCES, RELATIVE PRICES AND AN OPEN MODEL TEMPORARY EQUILIBRIUM WITH RATIONING THE MARSHALL‐LERNER CONDITIONS IN
Authors: Sampson Anthony A.
Published: May 2007

The model is of an open economy producing a single output, the demand for which depends on its price, the price of foreign output, real incomes and government spending. We thereby extend the rationed equilibrium model of Malinvaud to the simplest open economy. Residents hold foreign assets as well as domestic assets, hence exchange rate movements have real balance effects as well as relative price effects. The Marshall Lerner conditions are sufficient, but not necessary, for either an exchange rate depreciation or a fall in the domestic price level, to increase demand for domestic output. They are necessary, but not sufficient, for a depreciation or fall in the domestic price level, to improve the trade balance under Keynesian Unemployment.
SCALE ECONOMIES IN MULTIPRODUCT FIRMS
Authors: Shaffeer Sherrill
Published: May 2007

As normally employed, multioutput cost functions impose a bias against a finding of economies of scale, because a firm's optimal expansion path generally does not entail constant proportions over the various outputs. This bias can be overcome using a cost function defined in terms of a scalar aggregate output. An empirical example using New York commercial banks bears out the argument. As a sidelight, it is also argued that the traditional concept of scale economies is appropriate for policy purposes even when it conflicts with the more recently developed condition of natural monopoly (subadditivity of the cost function).
OPTIMAL CONSUMPTION WHEN INCOME FOLLOWS A MARKOV PROCESS
Authors: Hey John D.
Published: May 2007

In econometric investigations of consumption, the econometrician may either estimate the structural relationship or investigate the implication (revealed by Hall) that the marginal utility of consumption follows a random walk. Researchers have been inhibited from following the former route by the lack of an explicit theoretical relationship. This paper removes this inhibition by deriving the optimal consumption strategy of an individual with constant absolute risk‐aversion, whose income is generated by an nth order normal autoregressive process. We show that the implied structural relationship is linear in wealth and lagged income terms (up to the nth order). This facilitates informative and efficient econometric exploration of the consumption function.
THE MULTIPRODUCT DEPOSITORY FIRM, INTEREST‐BEARING TRANSACTION BALANCES, INTEREST‐BEARING RESERVES, AND UNCERTAINTY
Authors: Elyasiani Elyas
Published: May 2007

In this paper a model of depository firm behavior is developed in which the depository institution acts as a multiple product producer. The multi‐product model is an application of the general theory of value to the particular case of depository firms. It generalizes the theory of bank behavior to include production and cost aspects of banking activity as well as its financial aspects and reconciles the rivaling intermediary and firm‐theoretic views on depository institutions. By so doing, it bridges the gap between models which treat depository firms as mere portfolio holders and those which analyze the check clearance function in isolation. Risk aversion, production function constraint, jointness, and multiple sources of uncertainty are simultaneously introduced. The model is used to analyze the effects of interest payment on transaction balances, interest payment on reserves of depository institutions by the Central bank, and the Central bank policy swings.
EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTION IN INDEPENDENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Authors: Bee M. , Dalton P. J.
Published: May 2007

This article contributes to an established and growing literature in which a production function is estimated for educational institutions in order to investigate the relationship between school characteristics and performance.

Existing studies in this area have generally met with only limited success. The present study, through its application of a statistical model to comprehensive data drawn from the UK private sector of education identifies a wide range of school characteristics which significantly influence performance.

The article offers meaningful results and guidelines for further development of techniques in the investigation of a topic which is relevant to both producers and consumers of education.
UNCERTAINTY AND THE THEORY OF MARK‐UP PRICING
Authors: Fraser R. W.
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the role of demand uncertainty in influencing a firm's mark‐up pricing decision. With no uncertainty the marginalist approach represents this mark‐up as inversely and solely determined by the elasticity of demand. Here it is shown that the introduction of uncertainty does not alter this simple dependency for a risk neutral firm. For a risk averse firm, however, the mark‐up is shown to depend on a range of factors, including the level of fixed and variable costs and the level of expected demand. It is argued that such variability of margin is more in keeping with observed behaviour.
THE ACCOUNTING PRICES OF THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION: AN ESTIMATION OF THEIR PARAMETERS IN THE CASE OF GREECE
Authors: Vauouras Ioannis S.
Published: May 2007

It is widely acknowledged that when accounting prices are used instead of market prices in project analysis they provide more adequate indicators of the social acceptability of the alternative investment projects. The first objective of this paper is the formulation of the methodology required for the determination of the accounting prices of the factors of production capital and labour in the case of Greece. The second is the estimation of the parameters needed for their valuation and the third is the derivation, under certain assumptions, of the actual accounting prices of capital and labour and their comparison with market prices in the case of Greece.
CARTEL PROBLEMS: THE INCENTIVE TO LIE ABOUT COSTS*
Authors: Simpson Paul , Waterson Michael
Published: May 2007

Osborne noted five problems a cartel has in restricting output to the mutual benefit of its members. Here, we examine one of these: the problem of location of the contract surface. We first model the situation where one firm is able to mislead cartel members about the level of its cost function. We show there is often, in theory, an incentive to do this and thereby increase profit if marginal costs are rising, though not if they are falling. We go on to examine the case where both firms cheat, and to consider possible solutions the cartel might adopt.
THE EFFECT OF REGULATION ON WAGES AND INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT PRICES UNDER BILATERAL MONOPOLY1
Authors: Law Peter J.
Published: May 2007

This paper seeks to determine whether, under bilateral monopoly, profit rate regulation induces an input price bias in addition to the well known Averch‐Johnson capital intensity bias. Using a Nash‐type employer‐union, fixed bargaining power model, it is found that regulation may induce lower as well as higher wage rates. Similarly, when the two parties are respectively capital equipment supplier and user, regulation of the user's profit rate has an ambiguous effect on the equipment rental rate. In both cases the input price effect is shown to depend on the elasticity of factor substitution and on how demand elasticity varies with output.
MONETARY ANTICIPATONS AND THE DEMAND FOR MONEY SOME UK EVIDENCE*
Authors: Cuthbertson K.
Published: May 2007

The Carr‐Darby ‘shock‐absorber’ hypothesis, that unanticipated changes in the money supply influence the demand for real money balances but anticipated changes do not, is tested on UK data for narrow money, M1. For comparison with earlier studies on US data we take the (real first order) partial adjustment model as one example of a ‘conventional’ demand for money function. However the Carr‐Darby hypothesis is also tested taking a more general autoregressive distributed lag model as the ‘conventional’ demand function. For both ‘conventional’ demand for money functions we find that the shock‐absorber hypothesis is not supported for M1 using UK data.
FORECASTING AND POLICY EVALUATION IN ECONOMIES WITH RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS: THE DISCRETE TIME CASE*
Authors: Hallett A. J. Hughes
Published: May 2007

Several techniques for solving dynamic rational expectations models have been proposed. This paper puts forward an alternative method for discrete time models, which is significantly simpler to use in practice. That solution is used to derive and compute optimal policy selections (incorporating ‘noncausal’ effects) which, by exploiting the discrete time framework, are also time consistent when sequentially reoptimized. Those decisions are shown to contain an optimal open loop component plus an innovations dependent correction mechanism. A numerical example is used to verify these properties, and to demonstrate the superiority of this policy selection technique over recursive methods (e.g. dynamic programming).
A NEW APPROXIMATE GLS ESTIMATOR FOR THE REGRESSION MODEL WITH MA(1) DISTURBANCES
Authors: Choudhury Askar H. , Chaudhury Mohammed M. , Power Simon
Published: May 2007

This paper introduces a new approximate GLS estimator for the regression model with MA(1) disturbances, which outperforms both the Balestra (1980) and the Park and Heikes (1983) approximations and which is almost as efficient as the exact GLS estimator.
AXIOMATICALLY BASED LOCAL MEASURES OF TAX PROGRESSION
Authors: Pfingsten Andreas
Published: May 2007

Starting from a set of plausible requirements for local measures of tax progression, we derive appropriate indices for different concepts of inequality. Value judgements on redistribution are made explicit in this procedure.
MONEY MARKET ARBITRAGE AND COMMERCIAL BANKS' BASE RATE ADJUSTMENTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Authors: Green Christopher J.
Published: May 2007

This paper is concerned with the opportunities for arbitrage which have arisen in the UK when large companies are able to borrow from a commercial bank and on‐lend the money in the market at a higher rate. Such arbitrage is commonly called ‘Round‐Tripping’. Round‐Tripping is investigated in a simple theoretical way, and then a simulation approach is used to estimate the amount of funds involved in Round‐Tripping in the 1970s. These estimates tend to support the view that Round‐Tripping was probably rather modest in amount in relation to the values of the main monetary aggregates.
A NOTE ON ADVERSE SELECTION
Authors: Sampson Anthony A.
Published: May 2007

A model of a labour market in which workers cannot signal their productivity is set up. The nature of adverse selection (too few good trades, too many bad trades, neither or both) is found to depend on the pattern of reservation wages.
A NOTE ON QUALITY, MARKET STRUCTURE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ‘INTEGER CONSTRAINT’
Authors: La Manna Manfredi M. A.
Published: May 2007

Faced with the integer constraint brought about by quality‐related fixed costs, a socially‐managed industry is more flexible than a free‐entry oligopoly, for it can adjust the integer‐constrained number of firms either upwards or downwards. As a result, and contrary to conventional wisdom, product quality may be identical under the two regimes.
MONOPOLY POWER AND DOWNWARD PRICE RIGIDITY UNDER COSTLY PRICE ADJUSTMENT
Authors: Balvers Ronald
Published: May 2007

A method of ‘backward deduction’ is used to analyse the decisions of a firm, setting price and quantity before demand observations are made, with the option to adjust price at a cost after demand is observed. It is shown for such a firm that the events of (1) downward price rigidity; (2) overproduction; and (3) a high degree of monopoly power are closely related. The paper distinguishes itself from the previous literature on costly price adjustment in its treatment of disequilibrium situations and focus on monopoly power in relation to price rigidity. The main results are obtained for a linear demand curve and a uniform demand distribution.
A NOTE ON THE AGGREGATION BIAS IN CURRENT PROCEDURES FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TRADE BARRIERS
Authors: Laird Samuel , Yeats Alexander
Published: May 2007

For purposes ranging from practical commercial policy matters to the testing of theoretical trade models, economists have utilized aggregate data relating to tariffs and non‐tariff barriers (NTBs) across countries. However, the statistics employed in these analyses are generally derived using aggregation procedures which are based on weights relating to trade that occurs under restrictions. While it is recognized that this approach incorporates a bias in the resulting averages, due to the fact that the products facing the highest tariffs or NTBs enter the calculation with relatively low (actual) trade weights, little information is available for quantifying the magnitude of this bias. This study provides such empirical evidence and also proposes indices that overcome some shortcomings of the traditional measures.
OPTIMALLY UNIFORM COMMODITY TAXES IN A NON LINEAR DEMOGRAPHIC DEMAND MODEL
Authors: Ray Ranjan
Published: May 2007

This paper derives a sufficient condition for optimally uniform commodity taxes within the demographically generalized RNLF'S demand functional form framework. This paper, besides admitting child subsidies, allows for non linear equivalence scales and demographically varying utility and demand functions. The derived condition is shown to yield some recent uniformity results as special cases.
THE ‘CHILLING EFFECT’ OF CONVENTIONAL ARBITRATION: A COUNTEREXAMPLE
Authors: Treble John G.
Published: May 2007

In the context of a simple model, it is demonstrated that it is possible for a conventional arbitrator to determine his decision in such a way as to remove the so‐called ‘chilling effect’. It is shown that an arbitrator adopting the kind of rule envisaged here would be more successful in moderating claims of the negotiators than would a final‐offer arbitrator.
WAGE AND EMPLOYMENT DETERMINATION WHEN EMPLOYMENT ADJUSTMENT IS COSTLY*
Authors: Pemberton James
Published: May 2007

The paper introduces employment adjustment costs into two widely used models of the trade union, and contrasts the resulting equilibrium wage and employment levels with those which result if employment can be costlessly adjusted.
AN APPROXIMATELY UNBIASED ESTIMATOR FOR THE THEORETICAL BLACK‐SCHOLES EUROPEAN CALL VALUATION
Authors: Chaudhury Mohammed M.
Published: May 2007

Black‐Scholes price estimate of a call is commonly formed by using an estimate of the stock return variance rate in the formula. This, however, produces systematic bias with respect to the model's value with the true variance rate. This paper proposes a new procedure to form Black‐Scholes price estimates using Taylor series approximation. Our Monte Carlo results favour the new procedure over the common and the recently proposed Butler‐Schachter approaches when bias magnitude and any systematic pattern thereof are the relevant concerns.
WORLD INCOME SHARES AND THE TERMS OF TRADE: A NORTH‐SOUTH GROWTH CYCLE
Authors: Mainwaring Lynn
Published: May 2007

The trading relationship between a primary‐producing South and a manufacturing North has dynamic properties of conflict and symbiosis similar to those of the closed‐economy, worker‐capitalist relationship. In a simple model these dynamics may lead to cyclical behaviour involving two variables, the Southern share of world income and the rate of exploitation of primary producing capacity. The rate of change of the terms of trade is also cyclical. Long‐run income shares are constant, however, implying that the Southern terms of trade rise by just enough to offset productivity savings on primary inputs.
MODELLING EXPECTATIONS: A REVIEW OF LIMITED INFORMATION ESTIMATION METHODS
Authors: Cuthbertson Keith
Published: May 2007

The plethora of limited information estimation methods applied to expectations models are presented within a coherent framework based on standard econometric estimators. It is then possible to isolate those problems that arise solely because of the inclusion of expectations variables. The relationship between the economic solution of RE models and the appropriate choice of estimator is examined.
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR AN URBAN BIAS IN DEVELOPMENT POLICIES*
Authors: Gruver Gene W. , Zeager Lester A.
Published: May 2007

This paper presents a labor turnover model in which urban employers have an economic incentive to support an urban bias in development policies because of the indirect effect of rural incomes on urban training expenditures through the rate of labor turnover. A comparative static analysis of the model shows that an income transfer from rural workers to urban workers increases the profits of urban employers, even if urban employers are not directly involved in the transfer. Unlike previous versions of the labor turnover model, worker behavior is explicitly grounded in utility maximization.
CAPITAL‐LABOUR SUBSTITUTION AND SLOWDOWN IN SOVIET ECONOMIC GROWTH: A RE‐EXAMINATION
Authors: Bairam Erkin
Published: May 2007

This paper tests aggregate Variable Elasticity of Substitution production functions for the Soviet economy. The estimated equations show that the elasticity of substitution is less than unity and is decreasing quite rapidly.
REDISTRIBUTIVE EFFECT OF INCOME TAXATION: DECOMPOSING TAX BASE AND TAX RATES EFFECTS
Authors: Pfähler Wilhelm
Published: May 2007

This paper introduces Gini‐based decomposition formulae for the redistributive effect of income taxation. It examines the interaction between and the relative significance of tax base and tax rate components in the final determination of the overall redistributive effect. The resulting formulae can readily be applied to available income and tax statistics.
THE LORENZ ORDER AND THE EFFECTS OF TAXATION POLICIES
Authors: Arnold Barry C.
Published: May 2007

To any finite population of n individuals with associated incomes x1…, xn we can associate a Lorenz curve. By associating this population with a random variable X representing the income of a randomly chosen individual of the population, the concept of a Lorenz curve and the associated partial order (the Lorenz Order) based on nested Lorenz curves is readily extended to be defined in the class of all non‐negative integrable random variables. In this context well known results on inequality attenuating and inequality rank preserving taxation policies are found to admit simple more general proofs. Some results on the effects of random taxation are also reviewed. The effects of applying different taxation policies within subpopulations lead one to consider questions regarding inequality attenuation results in mixture settings. It is observed that, more generally, inequality comparisons can be unambiguously made between any non‐negative variables even if measured in dissimilar units.
THE DECOMPOSITION OF INCOME INEQUALITY: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE NORTHERN IRELAND FAMILY EXPENDITURE SURVEY FOR 1985
Authors: Borooah Vani K. , McGregor Patrick
Published: May 2007

This paper conducts an empirical investigation into the issue of inequality decomposition, using the 1985 FES micro data tapes for Northern Ireland. It is hoped that it makes three contributions. First, by using the raw data, it permits a fairly rich disaggregation of individuals. The disaggregation employed in this paper viz. by individuals belonging to different‘family types’and individuals of different‘economic status’seems particularly relevant to social policy. Second the data also permits a disaggregation of total income by type of income: this permits one to assess, for example, how much of total inequality is caused by inequality in the distribution of income from different sources. Finally, the analysis is consistent with the existing theoretical literature on inequality decomposition.

The main results may be summarized briefly. When the FES sample was divided by subgroups of family type or economic status, then, in 1985, most of income inequality in NI was due to within group rather than to between group inequality. When total income was disaggregated by income type, then inequalities in the distribution of wages and salaries made the largest contribution to the inequality of total income. Prosperous families in NI tended to contain within them a far greater proportion of secondary workers than did the less well off families. It was not implausible therefore that the distribution of employment between families made a major contribution to wage inequalities between them.
WAGE BARGAINING WITH A PRICE‐SETTING FIRM
Authors: Arnsperger Christian , de la Croix David
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the introduction of monopolistic competition into wage bargaining models: in addition to capital‐labour substitution, we also consider a cost‐push effect. The right‐to‐manage model requires strong restrictions on the objective functions and leads to problematic conclusions because the wage claims of the union are generally not compatible with the mark‐up requirement contained in the firm's price equation. In the efficient bargaining model, the union negotiates also the employment level, which gives it a way of extracting part of the monopoly rent: the firm's commitment to an efficient wage‐employment combination forces it to follow a pricing rule such that part of the surplus is transferred to the union.
A DISEQUILIBRIUM MODEL UNDER BILATERAL MONOPOLY*
Authors: Leslie Derek
Published: May 2007

The paper points out a crucial difference between the conventional disequilibrium macro model and partial equilibrium models of wage bargaining, In the former the real wage is constrained to be less than or equal to the marginal product, whereas in the latter the real wage is frequently constrained to be greater than or equal to the marginal product.

The paper builds a disequilibrium model under bilateral monopoly, paying explicit attention to the labour market. The well‐known union model of McDonald and Solow forms the basis of the labour market analysis. Just as the three regions of Keynesian Unemployment, Classical Unemployment and Repressed Inflation are configured in the conventional case, an equivalent exercise is undertaken but with the addition of a collectively negotiated wage. The particular wage agreement used is the Nash bargain.

The framework is then used to account for the unusual events that occurred in the UK labour market 1979–81, particularly the unprecedented rise in unemployment with no diminution of the inflation rate. It suggests that there was a shift in bargaining advantage in favour of employers, which resulted in an increased share of profits in national income. This regime change exacerbated the unfavourable circumstances for labour, which existed at that time.
PRICE‐COST MARGINS AND INDUSTRY STRUCTURE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF KOREA*
Authors: Kimenyi Mwangi S. , Lee Jooh , Shughart William F.
Published: May 2007

The structure‐conduct‐performance paradigm is tested using 4‐digit SIC Korean industry data for 1981 and 1986. The study investigates whether the observed institutional differences between developed and developing countries affects the performance hypothesis. The results suggest that structure and conduct variables influence price‐cost margins in much the same way as they do in developed countries. Nevertheless, the Korean government's credit rationing policies, by creating entry barriers, have the most important effects on industry performance.
THE SUBSTITUTABILITY OF CAPITAL, LABOR, AND R&D IN US MANUFACTURING
Authors: Goel Rajeev K.
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the relationship between inputs in industrial production. The inputs studied here are capital, labor, and research and development (R&D). Using translog technology, our cross‐industry analysis of six industries reveals that capital and labor are complements in production while R&D and labor are substitutes. However, the relationship between capital and R&D is not so clear cut. It is also found that constant‐returns‐to‐scale hold for only two of the six industries. A test of sensitivity to changes in the R&D depreciation rates suggests that some industries are sensitive to such changes.
STUDY‐GRANT SCHEMES AND EFFORT: AN ECONOMIC MODEL
Authors: Danish‐Lecker Tikva , Kahana Nava
Published: May 2007

This paper extends Becker's basic model on investment in human capital by introducing effort as a decision variable. Based on this extended model we consider the efficiency of two popular study‐grant schemes and propose a third which unequivocally increases the student's effort and may thereby resolve the moral hazard problem created by the student's self‐interested behaviour. In addition, some policy issues concerning conflicts between the students' and the policy‐maker's objectives are discussed.
PRICES OF SLAVES IN WEST AND WEST‐CENTRAL AFRICA: TOWARD AN ANNUAL SERIES, 1698–1807
Authors: Richardson David
Published: May 2007

Currently available price series for slaves during the eighteenth century need to be treated with much caution, and it seems unlikely that large quantities of new evidence will be unearthed. Further progress toward the creation of more reliable price series will thus require new methods of estimation. In this paper, a new price series for slaves at the African coast is calculated using data relating to the number of slaves shipped from the coast by British traders and the value of trade goods bartered for them.
TERMS OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITAIN *
Authors: Irwin Douglas A.
Published: May 2007

International trade and economic growth have been considered intimately linked in nineteenth century Britain. Conventional estimates of Britain's gross national product, however, fail to account for changes in the terms of trade and may be misleading indicators of changes in real income. Revised figures that incorporate terms of trade changes are presented here. One finding is that conventional estimates of GNP overstate growth in real income early in the century when the terms of trade deteriorated.
PRICE AND WELFARE EFFECTS OF OLIGOPOUSTIC MERGERS
Authors: McElroy F. William
Published: May 2007

When oligopolists merge, the new firm enjoys a lower cost structure than any of its premerger constituent parts. This is because of rationalization economies which are created as facilities previously operated at disparate marginal cost levels come under common control. The resultant price‐decreasing force is countered by the loss of competition due to the merger. The latter can stem not only from reduction in the number of competitors, but also from the possibility that, with a more concentrated market structure, firms’conjectures about each others’reactions will move in the direction of being more cooperative. The paper shows that, under normal conditions, the effects of diminished competition outweigh those of rationalization so that a price increase will result from the merger. In addition, the equivalence of merger to the imposition of taxes is exploited to derive a market‐share based test for mergers to cause welfare decreases. This complements a test proposed by Farrell and Shapiro that works only for welfare increases.
POLITICAL PARTIES AND GOVERNMENT BEHAVIOUR
Authors: Wren Colin
Published: May 2007

The paper attempts to explain and identify differences in party political behaviour in office, in terms of the weight they attach to unemployment and inflation. Reasons are advanced to suggest that incumbents do not take‐up the median voter position, but instead pursue differentiated policies (i.e. make choices) which are both consistent with their known ideology (preferences) and with maximizing their share of the vote at the next election. The model is fitted with UK data, and the results are encouraging, providing some support for the notion that parties pursue politically‐motivated policies throughout their term of office and not just in the run‐up to elections.
COMMON STOCHASTIC TRENDS: EVIDENCE FROM THE LONDON METAL EXCHANGE
Authors: Agbeyegbe Terence D.
Published: May 2007

Recent evidence from cointegration theory points towards the efficiency of the London Metal Exchange. We show that on theoretical grounds this evidence could be misleading. We also conduct multivariate and univariate unit roots tests on prices of three different metals, namely: copper, lead and zinc. The price data are seasonal and unadjusted quarterly data from the London Metal Exchange and they cover the period from 1972.1–1987.4. The evidence presented here supports the presence of common stochastic trends in metal price movements.
DOES A TRADE UNION SET A LOWER EFFORT LEVEL THAN WOULD BE DETERMINED IN A COMPETITIVE LABOUR MARKET?
Authors: Bulkley George
Published: May 2007

The level of effort which would be set by a firm hiring in a competitive labour market is contrasted with the effort level which would be chosen by a utilitarian trade union.
The growth of UK health expenditure
Authors: Whynes David K.
Published: May 2007

Over the past four decades, spending on health care in the United Kingdom has accounted for a rising share, both of total public spending and of the total output of the economy. Other industrial economies have had similar experiences, although the peculiar nature of the UK health service makes the general explanations offered for such expenditure growth inappropriate. Health spending growth in the UK, for the period 1949–89, is found to be strongly associated with output growth, and reasons to explain this relationship are advanced. The relationship's continued stability in the light of the 1989 health service reforms is questioned.
β‐Adrenergic and Muscarinic Cholinergic Receptor Densities in the Human Sinoatrial Node:
Authors: RODEFELD MARK D. , BEAU SCOTT L. , SCHUESSLER RICHARD B. , BOINEAU JOHN P. , SAFFITZ JEFFREY E.
Published: May 2007

Autonomic Receptors in Human Sinus Node. The objective of this study was to measure autonomic receptor densities in the human sinoatrial node and adjacent atrial myocardium to gain further insights into autonomic regulation of sinoatrial node function in the human heart. Sinoatrial nodes (n = 9) were acquired from human donors. Quantitative light microscopic autoradiography of radioligand binding sites in tissue sections was used to compare β‐adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptor densities within specific tissue compartments of the sinoatrial node and adjacent myocardium. Total β‐adrenergic receptors were measured with the nonsubtype selective radioligand [125I] iodocyanopindolol. β2‐Adrenergic receptors were determined by measuring the amount of radioactivity bound to sections incubated with radioligand in the presence of the highly β1‐selective antagonist CGP‐20712A. Specific autoradiographic grain densities were normalized to myocyte area/unit tissue area. Myocytes in the sinoatrial node occupied 47.7%± 0.1% of the total tissue area compared with 92.8%± 0.1% in myocardium (P < 0.001). Total specific β‐adrenergic receptor density per unit myocyte area was 3.5 ± 0.9 times greater in the sinoatrial node than in myocardium (P < 0.001). The relative densities of β1‐ (4.2. P < 0.002), β2‐ (2.6, P < 0.002), and muscarinic (3.3, P < 0.001) receptors were significantly greater in the sinoatrial node than in the atrium. Thus, total β‐adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptor densities are > 3‐fold higher in the sinoatrial node than adjacent atrial myocardium, reflecting their specialized roles in regulating cardiac rate and rhythm. The β2‐subtype is predominant in both regions. the β2‐subtype, however, is > 2.5‐fold more abundant in the sinoatrial node than in atrial myocardium. The relatively high β2‐receptor density in the human sinoatrial node is consistent with physiologic studies that implicate this receptor in regulating cardiac chronotropism.
Efficient Estimation for Patient‐Specific Rates of Disease Progression Using Nonnormal Linear Mixed Models
Authors: Zhang Peng , Song Peter X.‐K. , Qu Annie , Greene Tom
Published: May 2007

SummaryThis article presents a new class of nonnormal linear mixed models that provide an efficient estimation of subject‐specific disease progression in the analysis of longitudinal data from the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) trial. This new analysis addresses the previously reported finding that the distribution of the random effect characterizing disease progression is negatively skewed. We assume a log‐gamma distribution for the random effects and provide the maximum likelihood inference for the proposed nonnormal linear mixed model. We derive the predictive distribution of patient‐specific disease progression rates, which demonstrates rather different individual progression profiles from those obtained from the normal linear mixed model analysis. To validate the adequacy of the log‐gamma assumption versus the usual normality assumption for the random effects, we propose a lack‐of‐fit test that clearly indicates a better fit for the log‐gamma modeling in the analysis of the MDRD data. The full maximum likelihood inference is also advantageous in dealing with the missing at random (MAR) type of dropouts encountered in the MDRD data.
The Use of Tetrahymena to Evaluate the Effects of Gamma Radiation on Essential Nutrilites*
Authors: ELLIOTT A. M. , BROWNELL L. E. , GROSS J. A.
Published: May 2007

The complete synthetic medium for the growth of Tetrahymena pyriformis E was subjected to gamma‐radiation from cobalt60. A dose‐response curve indicated the range of radiation which damaged the medium so that growth of Tetrahymena was inhibited.

The essential vitamins and amino acids which comprise the medium were individually irradiated in solution. Media were prepared with single irradiated components and tested for their ability to support growth of the protozoa.

Thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenate, pyridoxine, folic acid, and thioctic acid were destroyed by less than 1 × 106 rep, while 2 × 106 rep was required to inactivate nicotinic acid. Most amino acids proved to be relatively radiation‐resistant. At the high radiation levels of 1 × 107 rep and 2.3 × 107 rep respectively, only serine and methionine were damaged. All other amino acids remained biologically active even after receiving 2.3 × 107 rep, the highest level of radiation employed. Organoleptic observations, however, showed radiation‐caused color and odor changes in many of those amino acids whose biological activity for Tetrahymena was unaffected. The nucleotide, guanylic acid, was also inactivated at 2.3 × 107 rep.
Studies in Carotenogenesis. Some Observations on Carotenoid Synthesis in Two Varieties of Euglena gracilis.
Authors: GOODWIN T. W. , JAMIKORN M.
Published: May 2007

Euglena gracilis v. bacillaris and E. gracilis v. fuscopunctata produce the same three carotenoids, β‐carotene, lutein and neoxanthin in approximately the same relative amounts. Lutein is the major pigment and β‐carotene represents about 10–15% of the total. The concentration of carotenoids in E. gracilis v. bacillaris is very high, reaching 700 mg./100 g. dry weight.

Streptomycin (0.02%, w/v) and darkness reduced growth of E. gracilis v. bacillaris by about 50% and carotenoid synthesis by about twenty times. Diphenylamine (1/70,000) reduced growth and carotenoid synthesis equally (about 50%). In no case was the synthesis of more saturated polyenes (the phytofluene series) stimulated.

The nature of the eye spot pigment is discussed.
Coenzyme A and the Malaria Parasite Plasmodium lophurae
Authors: TRAGER WILLIAM
Published: May 2007

The extracellular development of Plasmodium lophurae in vitro was favored by the addition, to the erythrocyte‐extract medium, of a coenzyme A (CoA) preparation of about 75% purity. The effect of CoA was the same regardless of the concentration of free pantothenate in the medium, indicating that the parasites require the complete coenzyme rather than its pantothenic acid moiety. Erythrocyte extracts were found to contain enzymes which hydrolyzed added CoA at a rate such that 8 units per ml. of coenzyme was only slightly destroyed after 3 hours’incubation but almost completely destroyed after 18 hours’incubation at 40°C. The CoA content of erythrocytes from chickens or ducks heavily infected with P. lophurae was about twice as high as that of erythrocytes from uninfected birds. The increased CoA was associated with the parasites, an observation suggesting that malaria parasites can accumulate this essential growth factor which they cannot synthesize. The CoA concentration in the livers of infected chickens was approximately 40% lower than that in the livers of control chickens. The livers of ducks on the 6th day of infection had a slightly lower CoA concentration than those of uninfected ducks. This depletion in CoA, together with the depletion in biotin previously demonstrated in P. lophurae infection, may play a role in the pathology of this infection.
A New Classification of the Schizogregarina
Authors: WEISER JAROSLAV
Published: May 2007

SUMMARY. The author proposes a new systematic division of the suborder Schizogregarina on the basis of the comparative morphology of the different stages of the life‐cycle of the different genera. Two families, Dischizae and Monoschizae, are divided into a total of 6 tribes: The Dischizae into Ophryocystinae with the genera Ophryocystis, Mattesia, Menzbieria, Lipocystis and Sawayella, and Machadoellinae with the genera Machadoella and Farinocystis; Monoschizae into the tribe Caulleryellinae with genera Caulleryella, Tipulocystis and Merogregarina, the tribe Syncystinae with the genera Syncystis and Lipotropha, the tribe Schizocystinae with the genera Schizocystis and Siedleckia and the tribe Selenidiinae with the genera Selenidium and Meroselenidium.
Chromatographic Analysis of the Asexual and Sexual Stages of a Ciliate (Vorticella microstoma)*
Authors: FINLEY HAROLD E. , WILLIAMS HAYDEN B.
Published: May 2007

SUMMARY. We have been investigating asexual and sexual stages in the life cycle of a ciliated protozoan, Vorticella microstoma, with the object of determining characteristic patterns at the biochemical level. In the course of our studies we have made progress in the chromatographic analysis of acid hydrolysates of the asexual (neuter) and the sexual forms. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to obtain from the neuter stages ninhydrin‐positive patterns which are characteristically different from the patterns derived from the sexual stage. These patterns are believed to be indicative of the biochemical peculiarities of the organisms. Ninhydrin‐positive patterns of the sexual stages of Vorticella microstoma are composed of 15 bands, in contrast with 10 bands observed in the patterns of asexual stages. In regard to color, bands 1–10 in the neuters are similar to bands 1–10 in the sexuals. The difference between the two ninhydrin‐positive patterns is believed to be significant, in that it indicates the biochemical peculiarities of the respective kinds of Vorticellae. It is suggested that chromatographic analyses may lead to the identification of the substance or substances liberated by the macroconjugant for the purpose of attracting microconjugants. The methods which have been successfully used in this study may be helpful to investigators who utilize protozoa as experimental organisms. We believe the methods and results reported here may have applications in the genetics of protozoa and in biological studies devoted to metazoan subjects.