Capital accumulation, unemployment, and the putty-clay

This note studies the dynamics of labor markets in a putty-clay framework. It analyzes the evolution of job creation and job destruction in an economy without market frictions. Unemployment and labor market flows emerge under putty-clay technologies because low productive jobs become unused factors. As capital accumulates, firms destruct low productive jobs by obsolescence. Simultaneously, the use of capital intensive technologies s new jobs by the low substitution between capital and labor.

Heat storage in alloy transformations

The feasibility of using metal alloys as thermal energy storage media was investigated. The elements selected as candidate media were limited to aluminum, copper, magnesium, silicon, zinc, calcium, and phosphorus on the basis of low cost and latent heat of transformation. Several new eutectic alloys and ternary intermetallic phases were determined. A new method employing X-ray absorption techniques was developed to determine the coefficients of thermal expansion of both the solid and liquid phases and the volume change during phase transformation. The method and apparatus are discussed and the experimental results are presented for aluminum and two aluminum-eutectic alloys. Candidate materials were evaluated to determine suitable materials for containment of the metal alloys. Graphite was used to contain the alloys during the volume change measurements. Silicon carbide was identified as a promising containment material and surface-coated iron alloys were also evaluated. System considerations that are pertinent if alloy eutectics are used as thermal energy storage media are discussed. Potential applications to solar receivers and industrial furnaces are illustrated schematically

Altruism, Fertility, and the Value of Children: Health Policy Evaluation and Intergenerational Welfare*

This paper accounts for the value of children and future generations in the evaluation of health policies. This is achieved through the incorporation of altruism and fertility in a “value of life” type of framework. We are able to express adults’ willingness to pay for changes in child mortality and also to incorporate the welfare of future generations in the evaluation of current policies. Our model clarifies a series of puzzles from the literature on the “value of life” and on intergenerational welfare comparisons. We show that, by incorporating altruism and fertility into the analysis, the estimated welfare gain from recent reductions in mortality in the U.S. easily doubles.value of life, mortality, fertility, altruism, intergenerational welfare, willingness to pay

Altruism, Fertility, and the Value of Children: Health Policy Evaluation and Intergenerational Welfare

This paper accounts for the value of children and future generations in the evaluation of health policies. This is achieved through the incorporation of altruism and fertility in "value of life" type of framework. We are able to express adults' willingness to pay for changes in child mortality and also to incorporate the welfare of future generations in the evaluation of current policies. Our model clarifies a series of puzzles from the literature on the "value of life" and on intergenerational welfare comparisons. We show that, by incorporating altruism and fertility into the analysis, the estimated welfare gain from recent reductions in mortality in the U.S. easily doubles.

Heat storage in alloy transformations

The theory of eutectic transformation was examined to find guidelines to the best material combinations to examine. The heats of transformation were measured calorimetrically, and the volume changes of expanding solid mixtures and homogeneous liquid solutions, especially during the transformation between the two states at fixed temperature, were measured by changes in X-ray absorption. Heat flow models appropriate to storage in phase change materials were developed along with efficient calculating procedures so that the relative importance of the problems associated with energy storage density, heat conduction, and similar properties could be assessed

Heat storage in alloy transformations

The feasibility of using metal alloys as thermal energy storage media was determined. The following major elements were studied: (1) identification of congruently transforming alloys and thermochemical property measurements; (2) development of a precise and convenient method for measuring volume change during phase transformation and thermal expansion coefficients; (3) development of a numerical modeling routine for calculating heat flow in cylindrical heat exchangers containing phase change materials; and (4) identification of materials that could be used to contain the metal alloys. Several eutectic alloys and ternary intermetallic phases were determined. A method employing X-ray absorption techniques was developed to determine the coefficients of thermal expansion of both the solid and liquid phases and the volume change during phase transformation from data obtained during one continuous experimental test. The method and apparatus are discussed and the experimental results are presented. The development of the numerical modeling method is presented and results are discussed for both salt and metal alloy phase change media

Introduction: Immersed in Lithics

The idea of holding a conference to discuss how we can explore what affects our approaches to, and understanding of, lithic artefacts and their analysis emerged from a hands-on workshop entitled Northern Knap-in in November 2014. In that workshop we wanted to explore how prehistoric people in the north of England, which is perceived by many as being a (lithic)resource-poor region, might have adapted to the lack of good quality flint and chert for tool manufacture and so we experimented with the working of non-flint raw materials. Many things emerged from that day including how the experimental knapping of materials other than flint allowed us to think outside the conventional box, and how communal knapping and grinding demonstrated some of the different ways that people interacted and adapted to each other’s rhythm when making artefacts. We were also struck (excuse the pun) by how much non-lithic specialists contributed to the questions we raise in lithic analysis. This brought home to us the importance of finding other, sometimes non- conventional, ways in which we can engage with the past. This eventually led to the Immersed in Lithics Conference in February 2016