title: Behavioural Economics: The Inferior-Good Effect

authors: Messick, Eric Michael

subjects: behavioural economics

abstract: These experiments used 15 domestic hens to investigate the inferior-good effect, a decrease in consumption of a commodity as income increases.  Experiment 1 investigated plain and salted wheat to serve as superior goods (opposite to inferior goods) and inferior goods.  Hens consumed mostly plain wheat when given ad-libitum access so it was the intended superior good and salted wheat was the intended inferior good.  In the next experiments, 3 s of plain wheat and 10 s of salted wheat were available for single responses on 2 keys during discrete trials.  Income changed by changing the inter-trial interval (ITI) of fixed-length sessions or the total number of trials.  Experiment 2 partially replicated the Silberberg et al. (1987) procedure, using the ITI income analogue for 6 hens.  When income increased, 4 hens sometimes responded less on the salted-wheat key (demonstrating the inferior-good effect), 2 of these hens and a 5th hen sometimes responded more on both keys but proportionally more on the plain-wheat key (termed here as a relative inferior-good effect).  Experiment 3a partially replicated the Hastjarjo et al. (1990a) procedure using the total-trials analogue for 7 other hens.  The inferior-good effect occurred across some conditions for 2 hens while other hens tended to respond on the plain-wheat key, suggesting lack of contingency contact.  When a 60-s ITI was added in Experiment 3b, variability increased for most hens, but only 1 hen showed the effect, 1 of the hens that did so in Experiment 3b.  These 6 hens' (1 died) 80% bodyweights were re-assessed in Experiment 4 and hens were below 80% during Experiments 3a and 3b, suggesting that the lack of the inferior-good effect was not due to some hens being at high weights.  The ITI analogue was used for these 6 hens in Experiment 5 and the effect occurred for 2 hens.  Experiment 6 added forced-choice trials to the total-trials analogue (with 60-s ITI) to guarantee contingency contact.  The inferior- and/or relative-inferior-good effect occurred for 3 hens.  Across Experiments 2 through 6, body weights were usually heavier in high-income conditions and a within-session pattern of early-salted-late-plain responding occasionally occurred.   Crop capacities  of 5 Experiment-2 hens and a new hen (1 died) were assessed in Experiment 7 and there was no relation between this measure and inferior-or relative-inferior-good effects.  Experiments 8 and 9 examined effects of pre- and post-feed in low-income conditions using the ITI analogue.  When hens were pre-fed, responding for 5 of 7 hens resembled responding in high-income conditions of Experiment 2 with more plain-wheat responding and similar or less salted-wheat responding in some conditions (behaviour similar to the inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but without the income change).  A similar pattern was found for 4 of 5 hens when hens were post-fed in Experiment 9, suggesting that food in the digestive tract may have played a role, and perhaps not the income manipulations themselves, where it (or other component of body weight) may have abolished quantity (i.e., the intended-inferior-good) as a reinforcer.  Although these experiments occasionally demonstrated inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but less convincingly than published studies, the effects of income may have been non-specific.  The usefulness of the inferior-good concept and other income-related economic concepts are thus challenged.

text: Behavioural Economics: The Inferior-Good Effect These experiments used 15 domestic hens to investigate the inferior-good effect, a decrease in consumption of a commodity as income increases.  Experiment 1 investigated plain and salted wheat to serve as superior goods (opposite to inferior goods) and inferior goods.  Hens consumed mostly plain wheat when given ad-libitum access so it was the intended superior good and salted wheat was the intended inferior good.  In the next experiments, 3 s of plain wheat and 10 s of salted wheat were available for single responses on 2 keys during discrete trials.  Income changed by changing the inter-trial interval (ITI) of fixed-length sessions or the total number of trials.  Experiment 2 partially replicated the Silberberg et al. (1987) procedure, using the ITI income analogue for 6 hens.  When income increased, 4 hens sometimes responded less on the salted-wheat key (demonstrating the inferior-good effect), 2 of these hens and a 5th hen sometimes responded more on both keys but proportionally more on the plain-wheat key (termed here as a relative inferior-good effect).  Experiment 3a partially replicated the Hastjarjo et al. (1990a) procedure using the total-trials analogue for 7 other hens.  The inferior-good effect occurred across some conditions for 2 hens while other hens tended to respond on the plain-wheat key, suggesting lack of contingency contact.  When a 60-s ITI was added in Experiment 3b, variability increased for most hens, but only 1 hen showed the effect, 1 of the hens that did so in Experiment 3b.  These 6 hens' (1 died) 80% bodyweights were re-assessed in Experiment 4 and hens were below 80% during Experiments 3a and 3b, suggesting that the lack of the inferior-good effect was not due to some hens being at high weights.  The ITI analogue was used for these 6 hens in Experiment 5 and the effect occurred for 2 hens.  Experiment 6 added forced-choice trials to the total-trials analogue (with 60-s ITI) to guarantee contingency contact.  The inferior- and/or relative-inferior-good effect occurred for 3 hens.  Across Experiments 2 through 6, body weights were usually heavier in high-income conditions and a within-session pattern of early-salted-late-plain responding occasionally occurred.   Crop capacities  of 5 Experiment-2 hens and a new hen (1 died) were assessed in Experiment 7 and there was no relation between this measure and inferior-or relative-inferior-good effects.  Experiments 8 and 9 examined effects of pre- and post-feed in low-income conditions using the ITI analogue.  When hens were pre-fed, responding for 5 of 7 hens resembled responding in high-income conditions of Experiment 2 with more plain-wheat responding and similar or less salted-wheat responding in some conditions (behaviour similar to the inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but without the income change).  A similar pattern was found for 4 of 5 hens when hens were post-fed in Experiment 9, suggesting that food in the digestive tract may have played a role, and perhaps not the income manipulations themselves, where it (or other component of body weight) may have abolished quantity (i.e., the intended-inferior-good) as a reinforcer.  Although these experiments occasionally demonstrated inferior- and relative-inferior-good effects, but less convincingly than published studies, the effects of income may have been non-specific.  The usefulness of the inferior-good concept and other income-related economic concepts are thus challenged.

year: 2007

title: Non linear evolution of Alfvén wave in the solar atmosphere

authors: Verdini, A.

subjects: Alfvén waves

abstract: We investigate the non-linear evolution of Alfvén waves in the solar atmosphere and wind, from the photosphere out to the Earth’s orbit. Photosphere and chromosphere are modeled as isothermal layers in static equilibrium, connecting across the transition region with a corona and wind. Nonlinear coupling between waves propagating in opposite directions is modeled by a phenomenological term containing an integral turbulent length scale. Spectrum modifications remain similar to what is found in a linear analysis and some characteristic features - i.e. oscillations at higher frequencies- persist despite nonlinear interactions.

text: Non linear evolution of Alfvén wave in the solar atmosphere We investigate the non-linear evolution of Alfvén waves in the solar atmosphere and wind, from the photosphere out to the Earth’s orbit. Photosphere and chromosphere are modeled as isothermal layers in static equilibrium, connecting across the transition region with a corona and wind. Nonlinear coupling between waves propagating in opposite directions is modeled by a phenomenological term containing an integral turbulent length scale. Spectrum modifications remain similar to what is found in a linear analysis and some characteristic features - i.e. oscillations at higher frequencies- persist despite nonlinear interactions.

year: 2005

title: George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of mokena hou, and some of their children

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: George Lipsey, an Irishman, went to the early Thames goldfield and became a publican. He soon acquired close links with Maori, notably with Ema Mokena, the younger daughter of Mokena Hou. After having two children, they married under Pakeha law just before the opening of the Te Aroha field, thereby ensuring that he was entitled to share in the goldfield’s revenue. From 1873 onwards he had been living at Te Aroha as a Pakeha Maori, erecting the first wooden house and the first Hot Springs Hotel. When gold was found, he encouraged Mokena Hou to open the field, and subsequently invested in the mines (as did Ema, to a much smaller extent). 
Ema and her two eldest children were granted land in a rapidly developing settlement, and the income received from leasing it enabled Lipsey to erect a substantial residence and to be a benefactor of the new settlement by donating land for churches and a school. A sympathetic landlord, he adjusted the rents to assist residents but opposed giving them the freehold because the land was held in trust for his two eldest children. Despite his steady income, his expenditure regularly exceeded it, and he ended up selling land, though not at first at Te Aroha. Initially opposed to his children selling their land, he came to accept this as being necessary, and spent years trying to obtain the highest prices possible from the government.
A leading figure in the local community, he held several local government positions. Sociable, with a fondness for drink that was usually under control, he was especially enthusiastic about horse-racing. As the spokesman for Ngati Rahiri, he advised the latter and was an interpreter.
All their children were educated, but some died tragically early deaths. After he died, the children sold their land because they needed money to develop their farms.

text: George Lipsey: a Pakeha Maori who married Ema Mokena, daughter of mokena hou, and some of their children George Lipsey, an Irishman, went to the early Thames goldfield and became a publican. He soon acquired close links with Maori, notably with Ema Mokena, the younger daughter of Mokena Hou. After having two children, they married under Pakeha law just before the opening of the Te Aroha field, thereby ensuring that he was entitled to share in the goldfield’s revenue. From 1873 onwards he had been living at Te Aroha as a Pakeha Maori, erecting the first wooden house and the first Hot Springs Hotel. When gold was found, he encouraged Mokena Hou to open the field, and subsequently invested in the mines (as did Ema, to a much smaller extent). 
Ema and her two eldest children were granted land in a rapidly developing settlement, and the income received from leasing it enabled Lipsey to erect a substantial residence and to be a benefactor of the new settlement by donating land for churches and a school. A sympathetic landlord, he adjusted the rents to assist residents but opposed giving them the freehold because the land was held in trust for his two eldest children. Despite his steady income, his expenditure regularly exceeded it, and he ended up selling land, though not at first at Te Aroha. Initially opposed to his children selling their land, he came to accept this as being necessary, and spent years trying to obtain the highest prices possible from the government.
A leading figure in the local community, he held several local government positions. Sociable, with a fondness for drink that was usually under control, he was especially enthusiastic about horse-racing. As the spokesman for Ngati Rahiri, he advised the latter and was an interpreter.
All their children were educated, but some died tragically early deaths. After he died, the children sold their land because they needed money to develop their farms.

year: 2016