bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health insurance and the uptake of new drugs in the United States
Authors: Gemmill Marin , Serra-Sastre Victoria , Costa-Font Joan
Published: February 2010

This chapter investigates the effect of health insurance coverage on the use of relatively new prescription drugs. It focuses on statins, a class of lipid-lowering drugs that were considered a major breakthrough after a number of important clinical trials were published. The chapter is organized as follows: Section 2firstly it briefly reviews the literature on technology diffusion and the relationship between insurance and consumption, and also covers the institutional setting in the United States. Next it offers a model of pharmaceutical adoption. The next section provides the results of the analysis. Finally it concludes with a discussion of the results and the policy implications.
Genetic advances and health insurance
Authors: Filipova Lilia , Hoy Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter addresses the complex issue of the use of genetic advances by health insurance. Technical innovation in medical care in general generates a great deal of interest and controversy. Of particular interest is the role of insurance markets (or public insurance) in influencing the adoption of medical innovations. An additional important factor in the context of genetic advances, such as the development of new genetic tests, is the impact of regulations prohibiting insurers from using test results directly as relevant factors in the design and pricing of insurance contracts. Such regulations, of varying force, have been adopted throughout much of Europe. The chapter discusses how such regulations may affect the way that genetic advances affect the adoption of genetic tests and related health care strategies, and what impact this could have on both insurers and consumers.
Intellectual property rights and pharmaceutical development
Authors: Rovira Joan
Published: February 2010

This chapter clarifies the concept of pharmaceutical innovation, how it is related to well-being and other social goals, and what the best way to promote it is. The first section addresses the various interpretations of the term ‘innovation’, especially in the field of medicines and health services in general, and how they differ across different actors, such as innovators, patent offices, and pricing and reimbursement agencies. The second section highlights the public characteristics of pharmaceutical innovation and how economic systems have addressed this market failure; it outlines the characteristics of intellectual property (IP) systems in pharmaceuticals, and the arguments for and against them. The third section addresses the problems of IP (intellectual property) systems in an increasingly globalized world and the negative effects of IP harmonization for access to medicines in developing countries. The fourth section outlines some of the alternative options that have been advocated to reform, complement, or substitute the present IP systems. The chapter ends with a review of the main findings and some concluding policy implications.
Stability, existence and uniqueness
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter develops the stability theory needed for the existence of the classical partition. This is extended to quantum stability with emphasis on the physically important case of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics with Coulomb interactions. The existence and uniqueness of the thermodynamic limit is discussed in detail. Open questions are presented.
Mayer virial expansions and Groeneveld’s theorems
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter introduces the concept of the low density virial expansion of the equation of state, and derives the Mayer diagram theory for computing this expansion. Groeneveld's theorems for non-negative potentials and bounds on the radius of convergence of the virial expansion are proven.
Ree–Hoover virial expansion and hard particles
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter derives the modification of the Mayer expansion made by Ree and Hoover. Analytic expressions for the virial coefficients B2,B3, and B4 are given and Monte–Carlo results for Bn for 5 ≤ n ≤ 10 in dimensions 1 ≤ D ≤ 10 are presented. Various approximate equations of state used to ‘fit’ these coefficients are summarized. Low order virial coefficients for hard squares, cubes and hexagons are given. Open questions relating to the signs of the virial coefficients for hard spheres and discs and to the relation of virial expansions to freezing are discussed.
High density expansions
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter sketches the basic principles of molecular dynamics computations. It presents the results of high density computations for hard spheres and discs. It provides data for the freezing transition of hard spheres and the transition for hard discs. It discusses phase diagrams obtained by numerical methods for the inverse power law potential, hard spheres with an additional attractive square well and the Lenard–Jones potential.
The star-triangle (Yang-Baxter) equation
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter defines transfer matrices, and the existence of a one-parameter family of commuting transfer matrices is defined as the condition of integrability. The local star-triangle (Yang–Baxter) equation is introduced for vertex, spin, and face models and used to demonstrate the commutation of the transfer matrices. The star-triangle equation is solved for the six-vertex, eight-vertex, SOS, RSOS, hard hexagon, and chiral Potts models. The commutation of the transfer matrix with the related quantum spin chain is derived.
The hard hexagon, RSOS and chiral Potts models
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter presents the exact results for the grand partition function of the hard hexagon model in both low and high density regions are presented. In the low density region, these results are used to derive the first 25 virial coefficients of the virial expansion. The analyticity of the pressure in the density plane in both the low and high density regions are then presented. The general theory of the chiral Potts model as a two-dimensional statistical model is presented and the eigenvalues of the three-component superintegrable case are computed in detail. The order parameter is discussed and the phase diagram of the general three-component integrable chiral Potts spin chain is given. Open questions are discussed about Q operators, eight-vertex model degeneracies, and conjectures for correlations functions of the superintegrable chiral Potts model.
Reductionism versus complexity
Authors: McCoy Barry M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter presents philosophic discussion of the difference between reductionism and complexity, which focuses on the dependence of phenomena on past history, on the size of the system, and on the very curious question of why intuition is derived that is applied to real systems from very specialized models that have strong and unrealistic symmetry properties.
3 Pluralism, Incompletely Theorized Agreements, and Public Policy
Authors: Ruger Jennifer Prah
Published: February 2010

This chapter draws on social choice theory and proposes incompletely theorized agreements (ITAs) as an approach to collective decision‐making in public policy and human rights. The chapter presents difficulties in social choice, as illustrated by Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, and delineates three ITA models, incompletely specified agreements, and incompletely specified and generalized agreements. Health and health capabilities are multidimensional concepts about which there is no unique view. This chapter develops the ITA framework to health and health care decision‐making, and begins to operationalize the health capability paradigm by extending it when dominance partial ordering and incomplete specification cannot resolve conflicts among different views about health. The incomplete ordering of the capability view, in combination with incompletely theorized agreements on that ordering, allows for reasoned health policy development and analysis in the face of pluralism and conflicting views.
7 A Health Capability Account of Equitable and Efficient Health Financing and Insurance
Authors: Ruger Jennifer Prah
Published: February 2010

This chapter provides an alternative moral framework for analyzing health financing. In the health capability paradigm, continuous universal health insurance is essential for human flourishing. Its central ethical aims are to ensure individual health, develop health functioning and agency, and enhance security. Universal health insurance requires resource redistribution, regulation and public goods creation. In contrast to mainstream economic theory, behavioral economics and prospect theory, the health capability paradigm's view of health insurance focuses on individuals' exposure to risk and their ability to manage it adequately, rather than their preferences regarding it. Under this paradigm, universal health insurance is morally justified because it ensures human flourishing and protects against vulnerability and insecurity. Unlike existing theories in medical ethics, a distinction is made between the promotion of equal access to health care and equal access to the gains in well‐being that accrue from risk pooling and health insurance. The chapter concludes with empirical evidence on the equity of health financing models and examines the public sector's role in creating equitable and efficient health systems, providing public goods and buffering market failures.
3 The Interplay of Business and Politics
Authors: Casarini Nicola
Published: February 2010

This chapter concentrates on the interplay between European corporate interests (backed by their respective governments) and Chinese leaders. The interplay of business and politics has come to characterize contemporary EU—China relations, putting on display the various facets of the EU. This chapter shows, on the one hand, how the various European Commission programmes and dialogue aimed at transforming China along liberal—democratic lines would give meaning and substance to the notion of the EU as a civilian (and normative) power while the EU member states (in particular the large ones) would tend to maintain good political relations with the Chinese regime in order to promote their national companies' business interests. Such mercantilist approach would be skilfully exploited by Chinese leaders to obtain political concessions. As this chapter explains, this trade‐off between markets and principles would largely benefit two‐way trade and lay the basis for the subsequent upgrading of political relations.
Concepts in Thermal Physics
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

An understanding of thermal physics is crucial to much of modern physics, chemistry, and engineering. This book provides a modern introduction to the main principles that are foundational to thermal physics, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics. The key concepts are carefully presented in a clear way, and new ideas are illustrated with worked examples as well as a description of the historical background to their discovery. Applications are presented to subjects as diverse as stellar astrophysics, information and communication theory, condensed matter physics, and climate change. Each chapter concludes with detailed exercises. This second edition of the text maintains the structure and style of the first edition but extends its coverage of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics to include several new topics, including osmosis, diffusion problems, Bayes theorem, radiative transfer, the Ising model, and Monte Carlo methods. New examples and exercises have been added throughout.
Pressure
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter discusses pressure. One of the most fundamental variables in the study of gases is pressure. The pressure p due to a gas (or in fact any fluid) is defined as the ratio of the perpendicular contact force to the area of contact. The unit is therefore that of force (N) divided by that of area (m2) and is called the pascal (Pa = Nm-2). The direction in which pressure acts is always at right angles to the surface upon which it is acting. Molecular distributions, the ideal gas law, and Dalton's law are discussed.
Molecular effusion
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter discusses the effusion of gases through small holes and the concept of flux. Effusion is the process by which a gas escapes from a very small hole. The empirical relation known as Graham's law of effusion states that the rate of effusion is inversely proportional to the square root of the mass of the effusing molecule. The concept of flux is a very important one in thermal physics. It quantifies the flow of particles or the flow of energy or even the flow of momentum.
The thermal diffusion equation
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter looks at solving problems involving the thermal conductivity of matter using a technique developed by mathematicians in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The key equation describes thermal diffusion, i.e., how heat appears to 'diffuse' from one place to the other, and much of the chapter presents techniques for solving this equation. The thermal diffusion equation for a sphere, Newton's law of cooling, the Prandtl number, sources of heat, and particle diffusion are discussed.
Isothermal and adiabatic processes
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter applies the results of the previous chapter to illustrate some properties concerning isothermal and adiabatic expansions of gases. These results will assume that the expansions are reversible, and so the first part of the chapter explores the key concept of reversibility. This will be important for the discussion of entropy in subsequent chapters.
Heat engines and the second law
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter introduces the second law of thermodynamics, which is illustrated with an application to the theory of 'heat engines' - machines that produce work from a temperature difference between two reservoirs. The chapter begins by stating two alternative forms of the second law of thermodynamics and then discusses how these statements impact on the efficiency of heat engines.
Rods, bubbles, and magnets
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter shows how thermodynamics can be applied to other types of system. It considers three examples in detail: the elastic rod, the surface tension in a liquid, and the assembly of magnetic moments in a paramagnet.
The partition function
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter introduces the partition function, which encodes all the information concerning the states of a system and their thermal occupation. Topics discussed include writing down the partition function, obtaining the functions of state, and combining partition functions.
Statistical mechanics of an ideal gas
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

The partition function is a sum over all the states of a system of the relevant Boltzmann factors. Constructing the partition function is the first step to deriving all the thermodynamic properties of a system. A very important example of this technique is the ideal gas. This chapter calculates the partition function for an ideal gas and uses this to define the quantum concentration. It shows how the indistinguishability of molecules affects the statistical properties and has thermodynamic consequences.
Phonons
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

In a solid, energy can be stored in vibrations of the atoms which are arranged in a lattice. In the same way that photons are quantized electromagnetic waves that describe the elementary excitations of the electromagnetic field, phonons are the quantized lattice waves that describe the elementary excitations of vibrations of the lattice. This chapter discusses the analogous behaviour of lattice vibrations, quantized as phonons. It introduces the Einstein model and Debye model of the thermal properties of solids.
Real gases
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter introduces several equations of state, which take into account the interactions between molecules in a gas. These include the van der Waals model, the Dieterici model, and the virial expansion. The law of corresponding states is discussed.
Stars
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter applies some of the concepts of thermal physics developed earlier in this book to stellar astrophysics. Astrophysics is the study of the physical properties of the Universe and the objects therein. The chapter examines how gravity, nuclear reactions, convection, and conduction all lead to the observed properties of stellar material.
Earth's atmosphere
Authors: Blundell Stephen J. , Blundell Katherine M.
Published: February 2010

This chapter applies thermal physics to the atmosphere, attempting to understand how solar energy keeps the Earth at a certain temperature, the role played by the greenhouse effect, and how humans may be causing climate change.
From Trouble to Trauma: The Need for Public–Private Health Partnerships
Authors: Barton Laurence
Published: February 2010

This chapter discusses the importance of public—private partnerships in the area of public health. Topics covered include corporate planning for medical emergencies, the lessons learned by one multinational company about crisis management, and corporate planning and SARS. It presents questions intended to encourage robust dialogue between public health officials and their corporate counterparts in the environmental, health, and safety/security arenas.
Risk Communication in the British Pertussis and MMR Vaccine Controversies
Authors: Casiday Rachel
Published: February 2010

This chapter examines and compares two vaccination controversies from recent decades: the safety of whole-cell pertussis vaccine in the 1970s and 1980s, and the more recent controversy about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine from 1997 onwards. Both of these controversies emerged in Britain with the publication of case reports of alleged paediatric neurological damage following immunization. Both were propelled by parental advocacy groups and legal actions on behalf of the affected children. And both resulted in diminished confidence in the vaccine in question and, more generally, in the state-sponsored public health system. This final aspect prompted widespread public health concern in both cases about under-immunization in the population, and about ways to improve risk communication and public confidence. A critical evaluation of the points of convergence and divergence between these two controversies is necessary to improve our understanding of why controversies about particular vaccines emerge, even when the bulk of scientific evidence points to their safety and utility, and will help develop effective risk communication strategies for the vaccine controversies that will surely arise in the future.
A Precautionary Tale—The Role of the Precautionary Principle in Policy-Making for Public Health
Authors: Fischbacher-Smith Denis , Calman Kenneth
Published: February 2010

This chapter examines some of the issues arising from the relationship between fear and perceptions of risk, and the implications that the precautionary principle might have in shaping the conflict that ensues in risk debates. It also explores the nature of the precautionary approach in practical terms and the nature of uncertainty as a core element in the process of public health risk management.
Communicating Risk Across Publics and Between Organizations: The Case of Childhood Accidents
Authors: Fischbacher-Smith Moira
Published: February 2010

This chapter begins by considering the nature of the public at whom health promotion is targeted, and illustrates the issues in relation to one particular area of risk: unintentional injuries. It then discusses the nature of this particular risk, the problem of communication with the target groups, and highlights the particular challenges faced by healthcare, social care, and voluntary organizations in creating interagency (or joined up) communication strategies.
Geographical Information Systems as a Means for Communicating About Public Health
Authors: Dunn Christine E.
Published: February 2010

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in interest in techniques for analysing spatially referenced data; not least in this expansion has been the development of geographical information systems (GIS). Some of the power of the technology of GIS lies in its ability to combine disparate types and sources of data, thereby allowing the user to explore and evaluate potential relationships between health outcomes and environmental risk factors. This chapter uses selective examples to illustrate the role which GIS can play in understanding and communicating about public health risks. It considers some of the specific opportunities which a GIS-based approach offers but it also addresses some of the inherent assumptions and limitations of spatial representations of risks to health. The chapter begins by outlining the meaning of the term ‘GIS’, before going on to discuss issues of data quality and the challenges of representing population risk exposure. A range of case studies is drawn upon in order to illustrate some of the capabilities of GIS for identifying and illustrating spatial patterns of risks to health, in ways that can inform experts charged with communication of public health risks. The discussion then goes on to outline ‘alternative’ forms of GIS that enable wider user-participation and which may be more directly applied to communication of risk to the public.
Exploring and Communicating Risk: Scenario-Based Workshops
Authors: French Simon , Maule John
Published: February 2010

The first edition of this book reported the authors' work in the Department of Health on developing a series of research-led training seminars for senior health services personnel to improve their processes of risk communication. This chapter reflects on what was learnt from these events, including how to design workshops and develop scenarios. The primary objectives of the chapter are: to outline the underlying philosophy underpinning the understanding of risk communication and how that feeds into the design of training seminars; to use recent experience of running risk communication events to reflect on the changes necessary to the seminars in terms of content, focus, underlying philosophy, and techniques covered; and to identify some more recent developments in the literature on risk perception and communication, considering the implications of these in the context of the training seminar content.
Plenitude of Power: Absolutism in the Middle Ages
Authors: Black Jane
Published: February 2010

The history and meaning of papal and secular plenitude of power are explained. Jacques de Revigny taught that rights guaranteed merely in civil law could be ignored without cause, and that even when a ruler infringed fundamental rights he did not have to spell out his justification. His approach was introduced into Italy by Cino da Pistoia. Baldo degli Ubaldi's concept of plenitude of power and its overwhelming force is described. Baldo's disapproval of the misuse of plenitude of power set a trend for the next generation of lawyers. Attitudes changed in the fifteenth century, jurists insisting that before rights could be infringed, the justification had to be genuine.
Lawyers and the Absolute Powers of the Duke
Authors: Black Jane
Published: February 2010

Chapter Four turns to the solutions offered by lawyers to the problem of absolute power in Milan. Paolo da Castro considered Visconti's claims solidly based on Giangaleazzo's investiture of 1396. But with the denial of imperial recognition to Francesco Sforza, a new ideology had to be fashioned. Radical solutions were put forward by Andrea Barbazza, Alexander Tartagni, and Francesco Corte il vecchio declaring that the duchy of Milan was an independent entity and the duke a sovereign ruler. Ludovico il Moro's imperial diploma, finally granted in 1494, proved a mixed blessing, undermining the newly established notion of Milanese independence. A legitimate foundation for plenitude of power in Milan was achieved by melding earlier theories to create the idea that the rulers of Milan had an intrinsic and independent right to their powers.
Plenitude of Power in Practice: Preserving Justice while Infringing Rights
Authors: Black Jane
Published: February 2010

How the rulers of Milan contrived to disregard laws and rights while still maintaining a reputation for justice is addressed here. The Visconti reputation for justice is explored. The practical usage of absolute power is described: it was employed to undermine individual rights in defending the regime from opposition; it was invoked to issue pardons, to overrule court judgments, to make good legal defects in a decree or concession, and to repeal existing laws. Skilfully composed preambles could make the overruling of laws and rights appear as a higher form of justice. The fifteenth century saw the use of the phrase plenitude of absolute power, which also acquired its own conventions. The requirement to articulate a just cause provided an opportunity for the government to parade its championship of justice, even as basic rights were being infringed.
Lawyers and the Repudiation of Ducal Absolutism
Authors: Black Jane
Published: February 2010

Chapter Six traces the growing antipathy in legal circles to the use of absolute power. Cristoforo Castiglioni and Raffaele Fulgosio endeavoured to distance both themselves and the regime from plenitude of power, blaming its misuse on unscrupulous petitioners. Bartolommeo Sozzini called it plenitudo tempestatis (plenitude of turmoil). For Francesco Corte, plenitude of power was bound to be associated with injustice, otherwise it would not be needed. Giasone del Maino at first shared the general disapproval of plenitude of power, but, as a close supporter of the Sforza, he was prepared to uphold their authority. The most outstanding legal minds working in the duchy in the early sixteenth century, Giovanni Nevizzano, Aimone Cravetta, and Andrea Alciato, were determined to discredit absolute power altogether.
The International Climate Change Legal and Institutional Framework: An Overview
Authors: Freestone David
Published: February 2010

This chapter provides an introduction to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) system and the key institutions as well as to the processes leading up to, and from, the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. It introduces some of the key concepts that will be further developed in later chapters. With the release of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report it is clear that radical action needs to be taken to avoid dangerous climate change. The Stern Review forcefully reminds us that early, radical action in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is also the most economically sensible approach.
The CDM Project Cycle and the Role of the UNFCCC Secretariat
Authors: Maria Netto , Kai-Uwe Barani Schmidt
Published: February 2010

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides for three ‘market-oriented mechanisms’: joint implementation (JI); emissions trading (ET); and the clean development mechanism (CDM). The main purpose of the three mechanisms is to maximize the cost-effectiveness of climate change mitigation by providing an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inexpensively abroad, rather than at home. This chapter provides an overview of the CDM actors and the steps in the CDM project cycle with an analysis of the role of the Secretariat in supporting these stages.
Trying to Catch up with the Executive Board: Regulatory Decision-Making and its Impact on CDM Performance
Authors: Matthias Krey , Heike Santen
Published: February 2010

This chapter highlights some of the main reasons for uncertainty regarding the Clean Development Mechanism's (CDM) project performance, to assess the complaints brought forward, and to summarize briefly the proposals for reform that have been made up till late 2008. It also discusses whether the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP) has lived up to the expectations of the private sector stakeholders in CDM projects and what still remains to be done. The first section describes the overarching principles of CDM rule-making and how it impacts on CDM project development. The second section focuses on the situation in which project developers as well as Certified Emission Reduction (CER) buyers find themselves when they need to predict if, when, and how many CERs a project will deliver in the future. The third section describes typical reasons for the uncertainty that surrounds the CDM potential of a proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation project at an early stage of project development, e.g. at Project Identification Note Stage (PIN). The fourth section exemplifies the challenges of determining the CDM potential of a project that has been submitted for validation with a corresponding Project Design Document (PDD). The fifth section looks at reasons for the uncertainty surrounding the issuance of CERs after there has been CDM registration of a project. Finally, overviews on proposals for reform and the decisions made by the COP/MOP in December 2008 designed to improve CDM performance are provided.
Emissions Trading before the European Court of Justice: Market Making in Luxembourg
Authors: Ghaleigh Navraj Singh
Published: February 2010

This chapter focuses on challenges to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance (CFI) — the ‘Community Courts’. It commences with a brief account of the prehistory of the EU ETS (Section 2), followed by its legal form and operation (Section 3), before addressing the Courts case law concerning Directive 2003/87/EC (Section 4).
Emissions Trading in the US: Legal Issues
Authors: LaMotte K Russell , Williamson David M (Max) , Hopkins Lauren A
Published: February 2010

This chapter offers a guide to the key legal issues presented by national and sub-national greenhouse gas (GHG) regulatory initiatives in the United States. Section 2 provides an overview of sub-national trading schemes at the regional and state level, where mandatory regulations creating carbon trading regimes are most advanced in the United States. Section 3 surveys a number of legal issues that will play an essential role in the design and implementation of any cap-and-trade scheme in the United States, whether at the national or sub-national level. Section 4 addresses a series of constitutional challenges specific to state or regional programs that may limit the scope and perhaps the viability of these non-federal programs. Section 5 highlights a number of prospective legal issues that are likely to arise in designing a new federal climate change statute, such as the relationship between an emissions trading market and existing US environmental laws and trade policy. It also identifies the legal issues that may arise in the event that there is no new climate change-specific federal statute adopted, in which case the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) may instead seek to generate a market for emissions trading through regulations adopted under the existing Clean Air Act.
Offsets in the Emerging US Cap-and-Trade Programmes
Authors: Danish Kyle W
Published: February 2010

As the United States moves forward from voluntary efforts to the establishment of mandatory cap-and-trade programmes for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, offsets have become a central issue of policy. Offsets can help minimize the total costs associated with GHG regulation; offsets can also provide other benefits, such as economic development and reduced pollution. However, incorporation of offsets into a cap-and-trade programme requires careful attention to policy design. This chapter begins with a brief background on offsets, including a discussion of their value within a cap-and-trade programme, the use of offsets in various policy contexts, and different types of offset projects. It then discusses the most important design issues for an offset project programme: additionality of GHG emission reductions made, quantitative limits on offsets, addressing the risk of reversal of sequestered emissions, providing credit for early action offset projects, incorporating international offset projects, and projects aiming to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Each section highlights how leading proposals for US federal cap-and-trade legislation have addressed these issues. The final section discusses the use of offsets in state and regional cap-and-trade programmes.
Carbon Law and Practice in China
Authors: Tung Christopher
Published: February 2010

China has had considerable success in establishing policy and legal bases for climate change action. A robust industry has grown up in support of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects despite policy hurdles on ownership, pricing, and foreign investment, as well as post-2012 uncertainties. This chapter examines China's sustainable development and climate change policies and laws and their effectiveness in implementing China's international obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. It considers selected carbon law and practice issues in China to date. It also looks at how China will respond to the challenges and contribute to the development of effective climate change solutions after 2012.
The Role of Project-Based Mechanisms in the Future Carbon Market
Authors: Cozijnsen Jos , Coren Michael J
Published: February 2010

This chapter addresses the following question: ‘Can offset mechanisms help promote a low-carbon economy at a reasonable cost?’ The answer to this question is, yes. They are not the entirety of the solution — regulation and economy-wide incentives are needed — but as an addition to cap-and-trade, an essential component. Reforms will go a long way toward making offset mechanisms an integral and effective part of the global climate architecture. The first section of this chapter covers existing cap-and-trade systems and progress toward a global system. The second section identifies the building blocks needed to design an effective globally linked emissions trading system. Finally, a vision for a post-2012 climate treaty incorporating project mechanisms is outlined and the policies needed to increase global emission reductions and achieve the target of limiting temperature increase to 2°C are discussed.
Carbon‐Energy Taxation, Revenue Recycling, and Competitiveness
Authors: Andersen Mikael Skou
Published: February 2010

This chapter reviews the theoretical debate on the properties of environmental tax reforms and implications for competitiveness. Starting from the Porter hypothesis, a claim was made for improvements in competitiveness from shifting taxation from good to bad – from labour to pollution. The chapter argues with reference to Leibenstein (1966) that the benefits of tax‐shifting need to be appreciated not only from the perspective of allocative efficiency, but also from associated improvements in incentive efficiency. The review is followed by a closer inspection of the concept of competitiveness, whereby both its broader connotations as well as some official definitions are considered. The purpose is to present a clarification of the conceptual and methodological basis for the assessment of competitiveness impacts for energy‐intensive industries and European economies undertaken in this book. In the final section, the chapter presents the research methodology underlying the book as a whole and provides a brief introduction to individual chapters. The need for a complementary research design combining a top‐down macroeconomic with bottom‐up sectoral approaches is argued.
The Impact of Energy Taxes on Competitiveness: A Panel Regression Study of 56 European Industry Sectors
Authors: Enevoldsen Martin K. , Ryelund Anders , Skou Andersen Mikael
Published: February 2010

The focus of this chapter is the extent to which energy taxes – via the resulting increase in real energy prices, or in their own right – reduce or enhance industrial competitiveness. From a panel data set covering 56 industry sectors throughout Europe over the period 1990–2003, we estimate how changes in real carbon‐energy taxes and real energy prices affect, on the one hand, competitiveness measured in terms unit energy costs and unit wage costs and, on the other hand, economic performance expressed in terms of output (value added). Accordingly, the chapter distinguishes between competitiveness as an economic potential, for example low unit energy costs, and the effects of that potential which, for example, could be higher economic output. If the industries experience a lasting impact on unit energy costs leading to significantly lower output as a consequence of a tax‐imposed increase in real energy prices, it is a clear indication that this outcome resulted because the energy taxes reduced their competitiveness. Findings do not allow us to reject the Porter hypothesis in the specific case studied.
Energy‐Intensive Industries: Approaches to Mitigation and Compensation
Authors: Skou Andersen Mikael , Speck Stefan
Published: February 2010

This chapter addresses the approaches for mitigation and compensation applied to energy‐intensive industries in the countries which have introduced unilateral carbon‐energy taxes under environmental tax reform. While the gross burden of carbon‐energy taxes has amounted for up to 5 per cent of gross operating surplus, revenue recycling via reductions in employers' social security contributions has been employed to compensate for competitiveness effects. Energy‐intensive industries also enjoy benefits from the improvements in energy efficiency resulting from the tax incentives. As a result only few energy‐intensive sectors experience a net tax burden larger than 1 per cent of gross operating surplus.
Carbon Taxes and Emissions Trading: Issues and Interactions
Authors: Ekins Paul
Published: February 2010

The chapter puts carbon‐energy taxation and ETR in the context of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which has been operational since 2005. It describes the basic principles behind emissions trading and discusses the effects on competitiveness which have been estimated from the scheme, both as it is now and how it might develop to 2020. Many of the issues and effects are similar to those discussed elsewhere in the book in relation to ETR. The chapter then moves on to the interaction between taxes and trading, both in theory and as they exist in practice in the European Union. There are a number of good reasons why carbon‐energy taxation should be combined with the EU ETS, especially before the EU ETS moves to the full auctioning of quotas. However, the requirement for unanimity among EU member states on proposals for taxation at the EU level means that, notwithstanding the potential benefits, it will not be easy for new EU carbon‐energy taxes to be introduced.
Towards a typology of focus realization
Authors: Büring Daniel
Published: February 2010

Chapter 8 ‘Towards a Typology of Focus Realization’ by Daniel Büring presents a first attempt to formulate a cross‐linguistic theory of focus realization, that is, of how different languages express focusing. By far not all languages mark focused constituents via pitch accent placement, the way Germanic languages do.  Rather, focusing is variously reflected in prosodic phrasing, constituent ordering, via special focus morphemes, and perhaps in some cases, not at all.  The chapter explores the hypothesis that there is still something systematic to be said about focus realization, that is, that there is a common analytical apparatus that can capture the cross‐linguistic variation, based on the  Prominence Theory of Focus Realization.
15 Given and new information in spatial statements
Authors: Hörnig Robin , Weskott Thomas
Published: February 2010

Chapter 15 ‘Given and New Information in Spatial Statements’ by Robin Hörnig and Thomas Weskott investigates the given‐new partitioning in (German) spatial statements with unmarked and marked word order. Given‐new and poset licensing are examined as explanations of the remarkably good comprehensibility of marked sentences with an appropriate partitioning. It is proposed that word order optimizes partitioning for new and given locata.
1 Introduction: European Democracy in Transformation
Authors: Eriksen Erik O.
Published: February 2010

This Introduction spells out some of the supranational aspects of the multi-level constellation that makes up the European Union, which distinguish it from an ordinary international organization. Then, the presumption of democracy as the legitimation principle of power is outlined, and the question of why constitutionalism rather than state sovereignty comes to the fore in a post-Westphalian order is discussed. Thereafter, theories of European democracy are revisited and three different positions are outlined. Lastly, an overview of the following chapters is presented.
Chapter 3 The Case for Marking Public Plan Liabilities to Market
Authors: Gold Jeremy , Latter Gordon
Published: February 2010

State and local US pension plans hold an estimated $3 trillion in assets, with market values regularly disclosed in plan financial statements. By contrast, public defined benefit pension liabilities are routinely reported at actuarial values that may differ substantially from market values. The authors propose that a more accurate way to value plan liabilities measures the present value of accrued benefits discounted at market interest rates for fixed income investments that are (or are nearly) default-free. They illustrate the difference between these measures for a set of public sector pensions using publicly available information.
Chapter 11 Unifying Pension Schemes in Japan: Toward a Single Scheme for Both Civil Servants and Private Employees
Authors: Sakamoto Junichi
Published: February 2010

A topic of long-standing discussion in Japan has been how to equitably merge the retirement plans for civil servants and private employees, which in the past have been managed separately. Recent legislation sought to unify social security pension schemes for all employees by extending the coverage of the Japanese Employees’ Pension Insurance Scheme, which covers private employees, to include civil servants as well. The author describes how Japanese social security pension schemes have evolved, the forces driving the merger of these plans, and what future prospects may be.
Introduction and overview
Authors: Cheng Ta-Pei
Published: February 2010

Relativity means that physically it is impossible to detect absolute motion. This can be stated as a “symmetry in physics”. Special relativity (SR) is the symmetry with respect to coordinate transformations among inertial frames, general relativity (GR) among more general frames, including the accelerating coordinate systems. GR is also the relativistic theory of gravitation, and SR is valid only in the absence of gravity. Einstein's motivations to develop GR are reviewed, and his basic idea of curved spacetime as the gravitation field is outlined. Relativity represents a new understanding of space and time. GR provides the natural conceptual framework for cosmology. Experimental foundation of GR will be emphasized in our presentation. The necessary mathematics is introduced as it is needed.
Special relativity: The basics
Authors: Cheng Ta-Pei
Published: February 2010

Special relativity is introduced as the symmetry of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. The fact that a signal cannot be transmitted instantaneously led Einstein to propose a new kinematics: the passage of time is different in different inertial frames. The operational definition of time, consistent with a universal speed of light, is presented. Relativity of simultaneity, time dilation, and length contraction are discussed. We present an elementary derivation of the Lorentz transformation and discuss the physical meaning of each term in this transformation. The pole-and-barn and twin paradoxes are worked out to illustrate some of the counter-intuitive features of relativity.
Special relativity: The geometric formulation
Authors: Cheng Ta-Pei
Published: February 2010

Constancy of light speed allows us to interpret geometrically the relativistic invariant interval s as a length in the 4D manifold, called Minkowski spacetime, with a metric equal to diag(-1,1,1,1). Physics of SR follows directly from the Lorentz transformation, which is a rotation in the Minkowski spacetime. We introduce 4-vectors as the simplest example of tensors in Minkowski space, and construct their scalar products. Besides the 4-position vector, we also introduce the 4-velocity and 4-momentum. The principal features of a spacetime diagram and its representation of Lorentz transformations are presented. In particular, the causal structure of SR is clarified in terms of lightcones in a spacetime diagram.
Black holes
Authors: Cheng Ta-Pei
Published: February 2010

Black hole is an object so compact that it is inside its event horizon: a one-way surface through which particle and light can only traverse inward, and an exterior observer cannot receive any signal sent from inside. The Schwarzschild geometry is viewed in the Eddington-Finkelstein coordinates as well as in the Kruskal coordinates. Besides a black hole, the GR field equation also allows the solution of a white hole and a wormhole. The gravitational energy released when a particle falls into a tightly bound orbit around a black hole can be enormous. The physical reality of, and observational evidence for, black holes are briefly discussed. Quantum fluctuation around the event horizon brings about the Hawking radiation. This and the Penrose process in a rotating (Kerr) black hole comes about because of the possibility of negative energy particles falling into a black hole.
Tensors in general relativity
Authors: Cheng Ta-Pei
Published: February 2010

Differentiation of tensor components in a curved space must be handled with extra care. By adding another term (related to Christoffel symbols) to the ordinary derivative operator, we can form a “covariant derivative”; such a differentiation operation does not spoil the tensor property. The relation between Christoffel symbols and first derivatives of metric functions is re-established. Using the concept of parallel transport, the geometric meaning of covariant differentiation is further clarified. The curvature tensor for an n-dimensional space is derived by the parallel transport of a vector around a closed path. Symmetry and contraction properties of the Riemann curvature tensor are considered. We find just the desired tensor needed for GR field equation.