bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Total Factor Productivity, Annual User Charges, Capital Stocks and Cost Allocation: A Synthesis
Authors: Salerian J. , Jomini P. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractTotal factor productivity (TFP) is an increasingly popular method of measuring the productivity of Government Trading Enterprises (GTEs) over time. It is important that the productivity changes reflect real improvements in productivity, rather than the particular treatment of financial items such as the written down value of assets. The annualised cost of capital (or annual user charge) is an important component of the measurement of TFP. This article compares three alternative methods of calculating an annual user charge (current cost accounting, the economic carrying charge and the discount weighted average tariff). Each method of calculating the annual user charge is combined with three methods of calculating the capital stock (deflated written down value, deflated replacement cost and the deflated value of the annual user charge). The trend in the input index is influenced by the method used and, in turn, affects the evolution of TFP. This is particularly important in GTEs where assets tend to be large, and asset additions or replacements occur infrequently.To demonstrate the importance of this, a case study of Transperth's electrification of its urban passenger rail system is presented. The study shows that estimates of productivity varied by up to 20 per cent within three years of the assets being replaced.
Gender Inequality in the Provision of Employer‐Supported Education
Authors: Miller Paul , Mulvey Charles 
Published: January 2008

Abstract Only 27 per cent of females compared with 51 per cent of males undertaking programs of education in Australia do so with financial or other support from their employer. Using data from the How Workers Get Their Training, Australia 1989 survey, an analysis of this differential is undertaken by investigating the effects of dependent children and by controlling for differences in other characteristics between males and females. Although after controlling for these differences the absolute difference between males and females was small, 3.5 percentage points, the estimated bias in favour of males accounts for over 80 per cent of this differential; that is, less than 20 per cent of the differential can be accounted for by differences in male and female characteristics.
Developing with Foreign Investment: Malaysia
Authors: Athukorala Premachandra , Menon Jayant 
Published: January 2008

AbstractOver the past two decades, there has been a decisive shift in trade and industry policy in developing countries (DCs) away from import substitution and towards export‐orientation. As part of this policy shift, an increasing number of DCs have become more receptive to foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite its policy relevance, the literature on the role of FDI in the export expansion of manufactured exports from DCs is sparse. This article attempts to fill this gap through a case study of the role of export‐oriented FDI in Malaysia's rapid industrialisation. The overall conclusion of the article is that export‐oriented FDI has brought significant returns to Malaysia principally because the general economic climate has been favourable for the internationalisation of production for a considerable period of time.
Capital Constraints and Employmen
Authors: Fahrer Jerome , Simon John 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article considers whether capital is a significant constraint on employment in Australia. We calculate the level of capital‐constrained employment for seven sectors of the Australian economy. The calculations suggest that the manufacturing; transport, storage and communication; and recreation, personal and other services sectors have sufficient capital installed to increase employment. In two other sectors, mining and wholesale and retail trade, the potential for increases in employment through increased capital utilisation may be constrained by surplus labour (as of June 1993). While some sectors are capital constrained at the moment, we find that the investment requirements to increase employment in these sectors are not onerous. We also project investment requirements in each of the sectors for employment growth over the next five years. These projections suggest that a jump in investment followed by relatively modest growth is required to sustain growth in employment.
The Revival of Economic Liberalism: Australia in an International Perspective
Authors: Henderson David 
Published: January 2008

AbstractOver the past 15 years or more, all the member countries of the OECD, including Australia, have liberalised their economic systems: there has been a general adoption of market‐oriented economic reforms. This article surveys the process of reform during this period for all the OECD economies, but with special reference to developments in Australia. It looks at five main areas of policy: financial markets (national and international), public finance, privatisation and deregulation, labour markets, and international trade. It considers in turn the nature of the process, the course and content of reforms, the main causal influences at work, and the impact and significance of liberalisation. In doing so, it draws extensively on work carried out in the OECD Secretariat.
Privatisation and Crime
Authors: Zagorski Krzysztof 
Published: January 2008

Abstract While criminalisation of the Russian economy can partly be explained by privatisation in conditions of underdevelopment of free market institutions, the emphasis on privatisation as the prime cause of crime may lead to gross oversimplification. The present article claims that faster and more radical, rather than slower and partial, privatisation could create less room for criminal behaviour in Russia. Half‐measures applied to privatise the Russian economy have contributed to prolonged uncertainty and to a blurred demarcation between the private and government sectors as well as between management and ownership in business enterprises. Prolonged coexistence of the two sectors creates too much opportunity for criminal behaviour. Moreover, an explanation of the growth in crime in Russia is impossible without analysing the legacies of the former communist system, the developments in politics (including demoralisation of the ex‐communist state apparatus), cultural factors and the specific features of the privatisation as actually conducted.
An Ordered‐Probit Analysis of Price and Performance in Competitively Tendered Contracts
Authors: Domberger Simon , Li Eric Ah Lik 
Published: January 2008

Abstract This article adopts an ordered‐probit estimation procedure to investigate the influence of competitive tendering on contract price and performance. Using a two‐equation recursive system the findings of Domberger, Hall and Li (1995) turned out to be robust to the ordered‐probit methodology which confirmed the strong negative effect of competitive tendering on contract price. The evidence also suggested that performance was either enhanced or remained the same in the presence of competition. Overall, the results of this investigation support the view that competitive tendering generates efficiency gains without adverse effects on quality of service.
The Social Structure of the Australian Urban Labour Market: 1976–1991
Authors: Hunter Boyd 
Published: January 2008

Abstract The changing social structure of the labour market has both distributional and efficiency implications for Australian society. This article analyses the increase in the employment inequality among Australian urban neighbourhoods (that is, Collectors Districts or CDs) between the 1976 and 1991 censuses. When CDs are ranked by socioeconomic status we find that the employment rate falls by more in the low status areas than in other areas. Given that participation and population growth rates are higher in the high status areas, this phenomenon is likely to be driven by differences in employment levels. Shift share analysis of changes in employment levels shows that the lower demand for workers who live in the low status areas has led to falls in employment in those areas. Therefore the structural shift in the Australian economy has been a major explanation of the differences in employment rate within Australian cities. The results raise questions about the current ability of Australia's economy to adjust to the structural change necessary in an open economy.
The Impact of the Welfare State on the Economic Status of Indigenous Australian Women
Authors: Daly Anne , Hawke Anne 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article uses census data and Department of Social Security administrative records to examine the role of social security income in explaining the growth and relative improvement in the income status of indigenous Australian women. The real median income of indigenous women was 81 per cent of that of non‐indigenous women in 1991 compared with 74 per cent in 1976. Much of the change has come about from an improvement in the position of indigenous women who were not in employment. The article argues that much of this improvement can be attributed to increased access to social security benefits for indigenous women and therefore needs to be qualified by the circumstances in which these women live.
The Australian Term Structure as a Predictor of Real Economic Activity
Authors: Alles Lakshman 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis study examines the empirical relation between the yield spread of the term structure of interest rates and future economic activity in Australia. Results indicate that the term spread has significant power to predict real GDP growth but not nominal GDP growth. The term spread has more power in forecasting cumulative future growth than marginal growth in periods ahead. Around one‐third of the variance of two year GDP growth can be explained by the term structure one to two quarters ahead. Explanatory power begins to decline beyond two to three years into the future whatever the combination of the long and short term yields used to measure the spread. The term spread has more explanatory power than the most widely used leading index for forecasting economic activity when forecasting cumulative GDP growth beyond two quarters.
Bank Deregulation, Supervision, and Agency Problems
Authors: Davis Kevin 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article argues that the financial instability of the 1980s following financial deregulation in Australia can be partly traced to a lack of attention to agency problems in banking. Because the market for corporate control and corporate governance structures in banking were unsatisfactory, the benefits of increased competition in financial product markets were offset by inadequate monitoring and controls on bank management. It is also argued that the current emphasis of prudential supervision on capital adequacy requirements can provide only a partial solution to achieving efficiency and stability in the financial sector—because it focuses only upon the agency relationships between owners and government/depositors. Complementary developments in corporate governance and control are required to address agency relationships involving bank management. Some recent developments in this area and in supervision of non‐bank financial markets are assessed from the perspective developed in this article.
Changes in the International Competitiveness of Australian Manufacturing: 1968 to 1989
Authors: Bloch Harry 
Published: January 2008

AbstractDisaggregated data for twenty‐seven Australian manufacturing industries are used to examine movements in international price competitiveness relative to each of sixteen major trading partners over the period 1968 to 1989. The changes in price competitiveness are decomposed into elements of exchange rates, tariff rates, profit margins and unit production costs. Great diversity in outcomes is found across both industries and trading partners, with differences in the growth of labour productivity and the cost of materials most closely associated with divergence in outcomes. The results show that domestic manufacturing industries have been able to achieve improved international competitiveness, where they have outperformed comparable industries in Australia's trading partners in terms of labour productivity growth or reductions in the costs of materials.
Income, Health and Happiness
Authors: Saunders Peter 
Published: January 2008

Abstract This article utilises unit record data from the 1989–90 National Health Survey to explore the relationships between low income and perceptions of health and happiness. After describing how the key variables were constructed, attention is focused on the incidence of perceived poor health and unhappiness among those individuals living in income units on either side of a poverty threshold related to the Henderson poverty line. The results reveal that those in poverty generally have poorer health and are less happy than those above the poverty threshold. The observed differences are statistically significant for many income unit types, particularly non‐aged single people and couples with children. Attention then turns to exploring how health and happiness vary across the deciles of the income distribution. Again, significant differences are revealed, particularly when more sophisticated distributional measures are employed. Finally, consideration is given to the possibility that the results reflect reverse causality, and that the observed correlations incorporate the role of intervening variables.
CYCLIC REPRODUCTION, SEX DETERMINATION AND DEPRESSION IN THE CLADOCERA
Authors: BERG KAJ 
Published: January 2008

Summary.1. The two series of observations on Cladocera showing (a) that a state of depression produced by unfavourable external conditions in Daphnia females kept in cultures causes a change from parthenogenetic to gamogenetic propagation, and (b) that gamogenesis in nature is accompanied by a state of depression in the populations in question, go to prove the correctness of the hypothesis that in nature the transition from parthenogenesis to gamogenesis is caused by the influence of unfavourable external conditions. Unfavourable external conditions cause states of depression in the females and thereby the change in the mode of reproduction and so also a change in sex determination. (Section II.)2. A number of earlier and more recent laboratory experiments have given results which support this depression hypothesis. (Section III.)3. Investigations in nature on parthenogenesis and gamogenesis in the Cladocera and simultaneous observations on other functions in these animals likewise afford support for the depression hypothesis. (Section IV.)4. The reproductive cycle of the Rotifera is compared with that of the Cladocera. There is a good deal of evidence which would seem to indicate that in the Rotifera transition from parthenogenesis to gamogenesis—and so also the sex determination associated with it—is likewise caused by a state of depression, and that this state of depression may be induced by the influence of various external factors. (Section V.)5. A general survey is taken of some of the biological peculiarities characterising the state of depression associated with the change from parthenogenesis to gamogenesis. (Section VI.)
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHLORIDES IN TISSUES AND ANIMALS
Authors: IRVING LAURENCE , MANERY JEANNE F. 
Published: January 2008

Summary1. Chlorine is an important component of an adult animal organism as a whole, since its depletion quickly results in serious consequences.2. Chloride occurs in large and characteristic amounts in all tissues and fluids. Although a constant net composition is maintained, this chloride is not fixed, but an extensive movement occurs daily between different systems of the body. No conclusive demonstration of large chloride reserves has as yet been made.3. A study of teleost eggs showed that the total base concentration remained constant, that during development the chloride concentration was reduced, and that new bicarbonate, phosphate and protein anions compensated for the chloride lost. Growth proceeded through changes in anions rather than changes in cations. Chloride reduction is a characteristic of all embryonic growth.4. That chloride reduction accompanies specialisation is shown in embryonic development. Also the chloride concentration of adult tissues and fluids is inversely proportional to their degree of specialisation.5. The loss of chloride with growth cannot be explained by theories of membrane equilibria. The energy necessary for the excretion of chloride is derived from metabolic processes involving bicarbonate and phosphate anions. Chloride ions do not participate in oxidative reactions but behave as relatively inert complements to other anions.6. Because chloride is so easily determined, and since its movement attends changes in the concentration of other anions, and since low chloride is a sign of high specialisation, its concentration in tissues and fluids is useful as an initial indicator of the electrolyte make‐up or an electrolyte change in a system.
CONTROL OF MOVEMENTS BY THE CEREBRAL CORTEX IN PRIMATES
Authors: HINES MARION 
Published: January 2008

SummaryOnly the area frontalis agranularis of the agranular isocortex allocated by Economo & Koskinas to the cytoarchitectural motor type of cortex (man and macaque) has yielded contraction of skeletal muscle by stimulation with electric currents. Regions surrounding Flechsig's primary areas, characterized by large pyramids in layer IIIc, were electrically excitable in the macaque; but in man no movements so far have been obtained from areas 18 and 22. Areas which share ho cytoarchitectural features of these electrically excitable regions have responded to stimulation with the electric current. With one exception it is impossible to allocate these results to particular cortici‐fugal systems. Regions from which movements of eyes and ears were obtained shared either cortico‐tectal or cortico‐bulbar systems.The frontal lobe of the monkey contains the neural mechanisms which maintain posture, start progression and choose the skeletal muscle to be innervated. The purposive use of that muscle in mass organization depends upon extrapyramidal systems; that in discrete organization upon the pyramidal system. Atrophy of skeletal muscle followed lesion of the pyramidal tract; hypertonia, contracture, brisk tendon reflexes, and clonus, followed ablation of extrapyramidal systems stemming from area 4; the ‘grasp reflex’ (reflex contraction of flexor muscles maintained by stretch) followed removal of extrapyramidal systems from area 6.Coincident with the remarkable mosaic type of localization of sensibilities within the three posterior lobes, control of movement, the initiation of contraction, fixation of more proximal muscles, distribution of tone, sequence of contraction with innervation of prime movers and of co‐operating muscles have migrated as a whole to the frontal lobe of the primate, Macaca mulatta. Compared with the cat, in which extrapyramidal activity is distributed generously in three of the four lobes of the cortex cerebri, the frontal lobe of the monkey, like that of man, ‘serves in the motor aspect of the mind’.
EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATIONS ON CHROMOSOMES
Authors: CATCHESIDE D. G. 
Published: January 2008

Summary(i) When nuclei are irradiated by X‐rays, neutrons or radioactive radiations either clumping of the chromosomes or breaks and structural rearrangements of the chromosomes are observed at metaphase according to the division stage, respectively late prophase and metaphase or resting stage and early prophase, reached at the time of radiation. (2) Chromosome structural changes are induced at the resting stage, chromatid at early prophase. The number of primary breaks induced greatly exceeds the total number of breaks observed at the subsequent metaphase. The majority of the breaks restitute after being open for a few minutes. Exchanges are possible during the time the breaks are open. If the dose of radiation is given at a high intensity, in a short time, so that all the primary breaks coexist, the yield of X‐ray induced exchanges is proportional to the square of the dose. If the dose is given at a lower intensity, in a longer time, some restitution of the earlier formed breaks occurs before the later ones are formed, and the yield of exchanges is then proportional to a lower power of the dose. (3) Only breaks with an initial separation of not more than 1 μ have an appreciable chance of taking part in an exchange. (4) In neutron and α‐ray experiments, in which a small number of ionizing particles cross the nucleus, the yield of exchanges is linearly proportional to dose and independent of intensity. Thus the majority of the exchanges are between pairs of breaks produced simultaneously by the same ionizing particle. (5) An ionizing particle may break both chromatids of a split chromosome at the same locus and an isochromatid break usually results. (6) A proportion of the primary chromatid breaks are unjoinable; hence a proportion of interchanges are incomplete, a proportion of isochromatid breaks show non‐union and a proportion of breaks not taking part in exchanges persist as visible chromatid breaks instead of restituting. (7) The number of primary chromatid breaks can be inferred (Table 2) and are found to differ for different radiations. A proton or an α‐ray traversing a chromatid has almost unit probability of causing a break. An electron is likely to cause a break only if the last 0–3 μ of its ionized track traverses the chromatid; hence a minimum of 15–20 ionizations must be produced in a chromatid of diameter 01 μ for the breakage probability to approach unity. The relative efficiencies of different wave‐lengths and types of radiation can be explained on this basis.I am greatly indebted to Dr D. E. Lea, Strangeways Laboratory, Cambridge, for his collaboration on radiation problems and especially on the present occasion for most generous permission to use unpublished calculations without which the present account would have been even more imperfect.
STAGES IN THE ORIGIN OF VERTEBRATES: ANALYSIS BY MEANS OF SCENARIOS
Authors: GANS CARL 
Published: January 2008

SummaryVertebrates lack an epidermal nerve plexus. This feature is common to many invertebrates from which vertebrates differ by an extensive set of shared‐derived characters (synapomorphies) derived from the neural crest and epidermal neurogenic placodes. Hence, the hypothesis that the developmental precursor of the epidermal nerve plexus may be homologous to the neural crest and epidermal neurogenic placodes. This account attempts to generate a nested set of scenarios for the prevertebrate‐vertebrate transition, associating a presumed sequence of behavioural and environmental changes with the observed phenotypic ones. Toward this end, it integrates morphological, developmental, functional (physiological/behavioural) and some ecological data, as many phenotypic shifts apparently involved associated transitions in several aspects of the animals. The scenarios deal with the origin of embryonic and adult tissues and such major organs as the notochord, the CNS, gills and kidneys and propose a sequence of associated changes. Alternative scenarios are stated as the evidence often remains insufficient for decision. The analysis points to gaps in comprehension of the biology of the animals and therefore suggests further research.