Agglomeration, tax competition and local public goods supply.

In this paper we develop a framework for studying tax competition and local public goods supply in a setting where real and fiscal externalities interact with local democracy. We use the framework (a) to analyse if there is any reason to believe that local autonomy generally will give a tax race to the bottom (there is not), and (b) to look more closely at possible sources of oversupply or undersupply of publicly provided goods in a setting where local democracies compete for people. We identify two potential sources – the relationship between individual mobility and willingness to pay for publicly provided goods, and the mobility distribution of individuals (i.e. the distribution of individuals over residential preferences). The two could reinforce each other in a local democracy if the majority of the residents in a community are relatively mobile (the “American” case), while they would pull in opposite directions if the majority of residents are relatively immobile (the “European” case).Tax competition; local public goods; agglomeration; migration; regional economic policy

Graph-Based Classification of Self-Dual Additive Codes over Finite Fields

Quantum stabilizer states over GF(m) can be represented as self-dual additive codes over GF(m^2). These codes can be represented as weighted graphs, and orbits of graphs under the generalized local complementation operation correspond to equivalence classes of codes. We have previously used this fact to classify self-dual additive codes over GF(4). In this paper we classify self-dual additive codes over GF(9), GF(16), and GF(25). Assuming that the classical MDS conjecture holds, we are able to classify all self-dual additive MDS codes over GF(9) by using an extension technique. We prove that the minimum distance of a self-dual additive code is related to the minimum vertex degree in the associated graph orbit. Circulant graph codes are introduced, and a computer search reveals that this set contains many strong codes. We show that some of these codes have highly regular graph representations.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figure

On the Classification of All Self-Dual Additive Codes over GF(4) of Length up to 12

We consider additive codes over GF(4) that are self-dual with respect to the Hermitian trace inner product. Such codes have a well-known interpretation as quantum codes and correspond to isotropic systems. It has also been shown that these codes can be represented as graphs, and that two codes are equivalent if and only if the corresponding graphs are equivalent with respect to local complementation and graph isomorphism. We use these facts to classify all codes of length up to 12, where previously only all codes of length up to 9 were known. We also classify all extremal Type II codes of length 14. Finally, we find that the smallest Type I and Type II codes with trivial automorphism group have length 9 and 12, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Evaluation of NCA WASH Program in Iraq, 2005-2011

After a 14-year history of working in Iraq, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) began phasing out its operations there in 2011. This evaluation looks at the impact of water supply and desalination units they installed in schools, hospitals, cities and rural villages starting in 2005. Hygiene promotion and sanitation became a focus in the last few years of the period, and these activities are assessed as well, with all components being evaluated along the three main criteria of technical issues, sustainability, and gender equity. Overall, NCA's work has directly impacted drinking water supplies of 1 million beneficiaries, with the best results for sustainability coming from reverse osmosis units in hospitals and purification or compact units in cities and villages

Public goods production and private sector productivity.

In this paper we study how the use of resources in the public sector affects industrial structure, the size and the productivity in knowledge-intensive clusters in local communities. We also discuss how these considerations should be implemented in costbenefit assessments of local public goods supply. The topics are studied in a setting where there are gains from agglomeration in knowledge-intensive industries, creating clusters of firms in such industries. We find that the primary effect is a Rybczynski effect: If production in the public sector is knowledge-intensive, the size of the knowledge-intensive private industry declines when the public sector increases its production. If, on the other hand, public sector production uses relatively much unskilled labour, increased public goods production leads to higher production in the knowledge-intensive private industries. Private sector productivity is affected in the same way as production: If production in the knowledgeintensive industry increases, so does its productivity due to agglomeration effects; leading to higher wages for highly skilled labour.Agglomeration; external economies of scale; firm location; production cost; regional government policies.

Performance and parasitosis in heifers grazing mixed with sows

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of mixed grazing with first season heifers and pregnant sows on animal performance, gastro-intestinal helminths, pasture quality and sward structure during three grazing seasons. This presentation will focus on results from 1999, primarily regarding performance and parasitosis in heifers. There have been no earlier reports on such mixed grazing systems. Three grazing systems were studied in replicate: 1) Heifers grazing alone; 2) sows grazing alone; 3) heifers grazing together with sows. The heifers were inoculated with low doses of infective O.ostertagi larvae at turn-out. Continuous grazing was practised in paddocks regulated in size according to herbage allowance. Individual weight gain, faecal egg output and serum pepsinogen concentrations - as indicator of O.ostertagi infection - were measured fortnightly. The sward structure and quality were greatly influenced by the applied grazing system. The average daily gain of the heifers was significantly higher (P=0.0006) when grazing together with sows (1,121±45 g/day, n=16) than when grazing alone (869±48 g/day, n=14). The mean pepsinogen concentrations were elevated in the heifers grazing alone. It is concluded, that weight gains were significantly better and infection levels with O.ostertagi were significantly reduced in heifers grazing together with sows

A comparison of FPS-16 and GMD-1 MEASUREMENTS and methods for processing wind data. Phase II - Analysis of time variability of atmospheric parameters Final report

Comparison of FPS-16 and GMD-1 radar tracking and radiosonde measurements and methods for processing wind data - time variability of atmospheric parameter