A cross sectional study of the prevalence and associated risks for bursitis in 6250 weaner, grower and finisher pigs from 103 British pig farms

A cross-sectional study of 93 farms in England was carried out to estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors for bursitis. A total of 6250 pigs aged 6–22 weeks were examined for presence and severity of bursitis. Details of pen construction, pen quality and farm management were recorded including floor type, presence of bedding, condition of the floor and floor materials. The prevalence of bursitis was 41.2% and increased with each week of age (OR 1.1). Two-level logistic regression models were developed with the outcome as the proportion of pigs affected with bursitis in a pen. Pigs kept on soil floors with straw bedding were used as the reference level. In comparison with these soil floors, bursitis increased on concrete floors where the bedding was deep throughout (OR 4.6), deep in part (OR 3.7), and sparse throughout (OR 9.0), part slatted floors (OR 8.0), and fully slatted floors (OR 18.8). Slip or skid marks in the dunging area (OR 1.5), pigs observed slipping during the examination of the pen (OR 1.3) and wet floors (OR 3.6) were also associated with an increased risk of bursitis. The results indicate that bursitis is a common condition of growing pigs and that the associated risk factors for bursitis were a lack of bedding in the lying area, presence of voids and pen conditions which increased the likelihood of injury

Price Floors and Competition

A potential source of instability of many economic models is that agents have little incentive to stick with the equilibrium. We show experimentally that this may matter with price competition. The control variable is a price floor, which increases the cost of deviating from equilibrium. Theoretically the floor allows competitors to obtain higher profits, as low prices are excluded. However, behaviorally the opposite is observed; with a floor competitors receive lower joint profits. An error model (logit equilibrium) captures some but not all the important features of the data. We provide statistical support for a complementary explanation, which refers to how "threatening" an equilibrium is. We discuss the economic import of these findings, concerning matters like resale price maintenance and auction design.Price competition; price floors; Bertrand model; experiment; salience; logit equilibrium; threats

Housing, health, and happiness

Despite the importance of housing for people's well-being, there has been little work done to assess the causal impact of housing and housing improvement programs on health and welfare. In this paper the authors help fill this gap by investigating the impact of a large-scale effort by the Mexican government to replace dirt floors with cement floors on child health and adult happiness. They find that replacing dirt floors with cement floors significantly reduces parasitic infestations in young children, reduces diarrhea, reduces anemia, and improves cognitive development. Finally, they also find that this program leave adults substantially better off, as measured by satisfaction with their housing and quality of life and by their significantly lower rates of depression and perceived stress.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Disease Control&Prevention,Housing&Human Habitats,Access to Finance,Construction Industry

Impact of urban geometry on indoor air temperature and cooling energy consumption in traditional and formal urban environments

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the URI link.This study explores the effect of outdoor microclimatic environment on indoor conditions in a tropical warm-humid climate. An indoor air temperature and building energy performance analysis is carried out for the real case-study areas to examine the impact of urban geometry on building indoor conditions. The study incorporates microclimatic data from CFD, micro-climatic tool ENVI-met into building energy performance analysis using IES-VE. Findings reveal that diversity in urban geometry in deep urban canyons is helpful in reducing the indoor air temperature and cooling load. On average, cooling load in model rooms in the formal area is 21% higher for 1st floors (40% for top floors) compared to the corresponding rooms in the traditional area. In terms of solar gains, the difference was 30% for the 1st floors and 91% for the top floors, with rooms in the formal area having the higher ranges. Furthermore, the room air temperature in the traditional area was found to be 0.6-1.6 Deg C lower than those in the formal area

The Economics of Wage Floors

This paper contains a theoretical analysis of and summaries of empirical information on consequences of wage floors in the labor market imposed by minimum wages and by labor unions. Excess supplies are rationed in part probabilistically ("first come, first served"), and in part systematically -- by raising hiring standards, or by discrimination and nepotism. Effects on employment, unemployment, and labor force participation, and on wage differentials between the II covered'' and the free sector follow. Empirical information on these effects is cited in the minimum wage case, but only wage differentials are analyzed in the union context. Other consequences outlined here are: lengthening of school attendance, reduction of hours of work, substitution of paid out wages for fringes in the minimum wage case. However, union pressure on fringes is greater than on wages. This strategy produces larger income and greater job security for union members. The minimum wage reduces opportunities for job training and consequent wage growth. Quits initially decline as wages are pushed up, but turnover is likely to increase as the training content of jobs is reduced. Union wage and fringe advantages reduce quits significantly. However, training as well as wage growth are reduced.

Do employer preferences contribute to sticky floors?

We investigate the importance of employer preferences in explaining Sticky Floors, the pattern that women are, compared to men, less likely to start to climb the job ladder. To this end we perform a randomised field experiment in the Belgian labour market and test whether hiring discrimination based on gender is heterogeneous by whether or not jobs imply a promotion (in comparison with employees’ current position). We find that women get 33% less interview invitations when they apply for jobs implying a first promotion in functional level. On the other hand, their hiring chances are not significantly affected by the job authority level of the job