The allocation of rewards in athletic contests

Similar to most top-tier matches in professional basketball, baseball and soccer, high-level competitions in individualistic sports, such as the tennis tournaments of Wimble-don and Flushing Meadows, the golf tournaments of Augusta and St. Andrews, as well as the marathons of New York and London attract not only thousands of spectators, but also a TV audience of millions of fans. Moreover, these (and other) individualistic sports have recently received increased attention also from economists trying to test a number of hypotheses that can be derived from "tournament theory" or - as a synonym - from "contest theory". The chapter is structured as follows: We first provide a brief description of the development of prize money levels and structures in the three different individual sports men-tioned in the previous paragraph (and, consequently, athletes' incomes over the last years (section 2). We then summarize the basic insights and the core predictions of tour-nament/contest theory (section 3) and review the available literature on the incentive effects of tournament pay systems in athletic contests (section 4). Finally, section 5 concludes and raises some of the questions that have not been answered yet and that should, therefore, be dealt with in future research.

The impact of managerial quality on organizational performance: evidence from German soccer

Although a considerable literature exists on the determinants of managerial compensation, much of it focussing on the role of incentives, there is much less known about the impact of managerial remuneration and quality upon attainment of organizational goals. In this paper we apply two distinct econometric methods to panel data on head coach quality and team performance in Germany?s premier soccer league. We find that, given a particular amount of spending on players relative to the rest of the league, a team that hires a better quality head coach can expect to achieve improved performance.

Weed communities in organic and "conventional" wheat fields

Non-Peer ReviewedWeed communities were assessed in organic wheat fields and in nearby fields managed with chemical inputs ("conventional"). The weed species that were most abundant (green foxtail, wild buckwheat, Russian thistle, redroot pigweed, stinkweed) were common to both systems, and to both years of the study. Wild oat and kochia were relatively more abundant in "conventional" fields; lamb's-quarters and wild mustard were relatively more abundant in organic fields. Organic fields had, on average, 1.6 times the number of species and 3 times the number of individual weeds compared to nearby "conventional" fields. Producers that managed fields organically used summerfallow and tillage to the same extent as their "conventional" neighbours. Organic wheat fields were seeded later than "conventional" fields. The crop rotation for organic fields was more likely to include legumes and cereals other than wheat; "conventional" fields were more likely to be monocrop wheat or to include canola or mustard. Producers of organic wheat perceive a greater range of weed control options than their "conventional" neighbours, and a majority do not consider their difficulties with weeds to have increased since they adopted an organic system

Direct Measurement of Effective Magnetic Diffusivity in Turbulent Flow of Liquid Sodium

The first direct measurements of effective magnetic diffusivity in turbulent flow of electro-conductive fluids (the so-called beta-effect) under magnetic Reynolds number Rm >> 1 are reported. The measurements are performed in a nonstationary turbulent flow of liquid sodium, generated in a closed toroidal channel. The peak level of the Reynolds number reached Re \approx 3 10^6, which corresponds to the magnetic Reynolds number Rm \approx 30. The magnetic diffusivity of the liquid metal was determined by measuring the phase shift between the induced and the applied magnetic fields. The maximal deviation of magnetic diffusivity from its basic (laminar) value reaches about 50% .Comment: 5 pages, 6 figuser, accepted in PR

Does Wheat Cultivar Choice Affect Crop Quality and Soil Microbial Communities in Cropping Systems?

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars may have differential effects on soil microbial communities and the breadmaking quality of harvested grain. We compared six Canadian spring wheat cultivars under organic and conventional management systems for yield, breadmaking quality and soil phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) profile. Yields were lower, but protein levels were higher in the organic system. Cultivars differed for quality traits, but all cultivars had acceptable levels for processing. There were small differences in PLFA profiles for cultivars in the conventional system, but none in the organic system. More significant correlations between grain quality and PLFA measures were present in the organic system. Protein levels and breadmaking quality at least equal to conventional systems can be achieved in organic systems. Wheat cultivars differed for grain quality in both organic and conventional systems, and culivars altered the soil microbial profile in conventional systems. Microbes may play a greater role in determining crop quality in organic systems than in conventional systems

Wheat and lentil crop loss and harvest difficulties doe to wild tomato (Solanum triflorum)

Non-Peer ReviewedCrop loss studies were conducted in wheat and lentil near Delisle, Laird, and Vonda, Saskatchewan in 1991 and 1992. Wheat yield and biomass were reduced at one of four sites . Lentil yield was reduced at three of six sites; while lentil biomass was reduced at four of six sites. Wild tomato was most competitive when it emerged early and at high density, and when the crop vigour was low. In the fall of 1992, data were collected on the effect of wild tomato on harvestability. Wheat harvestability is not affected by wild tomato. Wild tomato caused soil to adhere to the lentil seed (earth-tag), and increased the moisture content of the lentil sample. Wild tomato berry juice mixed with harvest debris and this mixture plugged the concaves and the augers of the combine. Wild tomato seed is being spread by harvest equipment

Connection between slow and fast dynamics of molecular liquids around the glass transition

The mean-square displacement (MSD) was measured by neutron scattering at various temperatures and pressures for a number of molecular glass-forming liquids. The MSD is invariant along the glass-transition line at the pressure studied, thus establishing an ``intrinsic'' Lindemann criterion for any given liquid. A one-to-one connection between the MSD's temperature dependence and the liquid's fragility is found when the MSD is evaluated on a time scale of approximately 4 nanoseconds, but does not hold when the MSD is evaluated at shorter times. The findings are discussed in terms of the elastic model and the role of relaxations, and the correlations between slow and fast dynamics are addressed.Comment: accepted by Phys Rev E (2010