Railroad Capital Stock Changes in the Post-Deregulation Period

This paper involves the estimation of a model of railway road and equipment capital stocks and the changes in their levels that have occurred since 1983. The model is based on balancing the level of investment and the level of degradation of the capital stocks to create a data series for roadway capital and for equipment capital. A two-stage least squares errors in variables model is applied. This is appropriate as degradation and exact constant dollar investment are not directly observable. Results obtained from the model indicate that Class I railroads have increased their absolute capital stock levels over the period examined. This holds for both roadway and equipment capital although roadway capital has increased at a somewhat faster rate

Interesting Case Where the Heat Flow Increases the Heat Conductivity of a Fluid (Abstract)

If the molecules in liquid crystalline para-azoxyanisol are oriented by a magnetic field, the coefficient of heat conduction is thereby increased by (roughly) twenty-five per cent. The orientation of the molecules produces also orientation of the swarms, often called liquid crystals. Using the results of this experiment in conjunction with earlier experiments in which the flow of heat has also an orienting effect, one can state that the flow of heat decreases the coefficient of heat conduction

Corporate Philanthropy, Research Networks, and Collaborative Innovation

Using a unique dataset of corporate philanthropy, we find that direct giving activities are positively associated with higher levels and more influential, collaborative, and original innovation. In contrast, our results do not hold for corporate foundations’ contributions. Our results suggest that much of what is ostensibly promoted as philanthropy actually reflects research-related networking activities. The effect of direct giving on innovation is more pronounced in more opaque firms and more innovative and competitive industries. These findings provide evidence of the distinct motives by which firms choose between direct giving and foundation giving. Our study suggests that firms can use direct philanthropy to expand firm-boundaries by developing innovation with research partners.postprin

Modern rural landscapes in contemporary heritage imaginaries: the case of Germany’s southern Oderbruch

Using the Southern Oderbruch as a case study, this paper investigates the presence and representation of the modern rural landscapes of the German Democratic Republic within the region’s contemporary heritage and tourism landscape. Following an analysis of extant discourse production in place marketing materials and heritage sites (primarily local museums), the paper argues that although the unique landscapes developed in concert with the collective farms (landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften) of the GDR remain very much in situ, they remain largely invisible in the heritage and touristic representation of the Oderbruch, which tends to focus on more traditional manifestations of “pastoral beauty” and on historical events preceding the founding of the GDR. This paper hypothesizes several reasons for this conspicuous absence, arguing that the history of the LPG defies local will to narrativise due to its ongoing social, legal, and economic reverberations in everyday life. The second half of the paper reviews the current application effort fora European Cultural Heritage designation for the Oderbruch. The paper highlights the complexity of the situational landscape surrounding the production of heritage, in terms of political, economic, social, and symbolic factors and argues for similar analyses as a comparative path of investigation for the MODSCAPES project

Corporate philanthropy and innovation: The case of the pharmaceutical industry

For decades now, pharmaceutical companies have engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to strengthen their reputations, brand names, marketing, and public relations. But evidence from the authors’ recent study suggests that one particularly effective form of corporate philanthropy has been direct contributions to universities and other non-profit research organizations, many of which have led to relationships that have developed into highly productive research partnerships. Such direct industry support for academic institutions and other research partners has ranged from unrestricted gifts to fee-for-service, and has taken the form of joint ventures and new research institutions as well as research contests and other types of collaborations. Moreover, such corporate giving should be viewed as an important, and highly productive, part of these companies’ innovation strategies. In support of this argument, the authors report that direct contributions by big pharma result in a greater quantity and quality of innovations—as measured by new patents—than the research that results from other forms of corporate philanthropy, notably grants made to and administered by the companies’ own foundations. Such direct contributions are also associated with patents that are more likely to broaden the corporate scope beyond the firms’ traditional areas of expertise, and that tend to have greater success in obtaining FDA drug approvals, than the patents resulting from R&D conducted by corporate-sponsored foundations

RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LOWER GREEN RIVER FORMATION, SOUTHWEST UINTA BASIN, UTAH

Anastamosing, low gradient distributary channels produce {approx}30 gravity, paraffinic oils from the Middle Member of the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation in the south-central portion of the Uinta Basin. This localized depocenter was situated along the fluctuating southern shoreline of Lake Uinta, where complex deposits of marginal-lacustrine to lower delta plain accumulations are especially characteristic. The Middle Member contains several fining-upward parasequences that can be recognized in outcrop, core, and downhole logs. Each parasequence is about 60 to 120 feet thick and consists of strata deposited during multiple lake level fluctuations that approach 30 to 35 feet in individual thickness. Such parasequences represent 300,000-year cycles based on limited absolute age dating. The subaerial to subaqueous channels commonly possess an erosional base and exhibit a fining upward character. Accordingly, bedding features commonly range from large-scale trough and planar cross bedding or lamination at the base, to a nonreservoir, climbing ripple assemblage near the uppermost reservoir boundary. The best reservoir quality occurs within the laminated to cross-stratified portions, and the climbing ripple phase usually possesses more deleterious micas and/or detrital clays. Diagenesis also exerts a major control on reservoir quality. Certain sandstones were cemented by an early, iron-poor calcite cement, which can be subsequently leached. Secondary intergranular porosity (up to 20%) is largely responsible for the 10 -100 millidarcy rock, which represents petrophysical objectives for both primary and secondary production. Otherwise, intense compaction, silicic and iron-rich carbonate cements, and authigenic clays serve to reduce reservoir quality to marginal economic levels

The rural transition – Landwirstchaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften and landscape before and after German Reunification (1990).

This paper presents the case study of the MODSCAPES Technische Universität Berlin team: the Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften – LPGs (agricultural production collectives) of the former German Democratic Republic in the southern Oderbruch (Brandenburg). The paper is divided into two parts: The first discusses the planning and socio-economic theory of the LPGs developed by the East German state, and the ensuing spatial manifestations of these production—and eventually, settlement—schemes. Here, the major differences between the planned vision and the lived reality of these rural networks are highlighted. The second section analyses the post-Reunification development (after 1990), focusing on the former model LPG based in Golzow: we examine the legal procedures guiding the economic transition from socialism to capitalism, as part of the German Reunification (and inclusion in the European Community). We argue that in this period agricultural production has grown even larger in scale through new waves of modernization processes; and most significantly, that this subsequent wave of technological modernization capitalizes on the spatial legacy of the LPG