An Analysis of Nations' Performance in International Multi-Sport Competitions

In recent years the competition between nations for success in elite sport has intensified, which has resulted in increasing sums of money being invested by some nations into elite sport development programmes. At the same time many governments around the world have adopted national sports policies that specify hosting major sports events as a major objective. A broad range of benefits have been suggested for both the country and the host city from staging these events. Set against this background of greater competition for hosting major sports events and achieving success in elite sport, the portfolio of publications contributes to knowledge in three ways. First, the research illustrates alternative ways by which nations' success in elite sport can be judged in major multi-sport events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Second, the research provides new insights into the impacts of hosting these events from an elite performance perspective by investigating the prevalence of a home advantage effect and the factors that contribute to its occurrence. Third, the research also demonstrates how competitive balance has evolved in the specific context of the Commonwealth Games

No Method to the Madness: The Failure of Section 14 of the Patent Reform Act of 2011 to Make Any Obvious Changes for the Better

This article briefly examines the short history of openly expressed concerns regarding tax patents and the legislative response crafted to address them. The goal here is not so much to argue in favor of tax patents, although there is nothing wrong with them in terms of basic legal principles, as it is to criticize the weak language of the bill, which in attempting to satisfy so many, or perhaps based on the substantive lack of understanding of the bill sponsors, led to the poor draftsmanship of an unnecessary part of the new patent act

Historical and contemporary trends in competitive balance in the Commonwealth Games. [Las tendencias históricas y contemporáneas en el equilibrio competitivo en los Juegos de la Commonwealth].

Studies of competitive balance in sport have considered primarily professional leagues and team sports. This paper investigates trends in competitive balance in a multi-sport event context – the Commonwealth Games – using three distinct indicators. The investigation demonstrated that the Games have become significantly less competitive overall between 1930 and 2010 (p < 0.01) according to two indicators – the percentage of nations to win a medal point and the coefficient of variation in nations' market share (medal points won divided by medals points available). Conversely, one indicator – Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (the sum of the squares of nations' market shares in a given edition) – revealed that there has been a strong, albeit insignificant, improvement in the overall standard of the competition over the last twenty years (p > 0.10). Events contested by 'men only' were found to be the most balanced relative to both 'women only' and 'mixed / open' events across all indicators. Boxing and athletics emerged as the most balanced sports compared with diving, cycling, swimming and, to a lesser extent, weightlifting. The findings are of value to competition authorities to determine whether to implement corrective measures in order to maintain or improve competitive balance

A comparative analysis of home advantage in the Olympic and Paralympic Games 1988-2018

In this paper we examine the extent to which nations that are awarded the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games benefit from success in elite sport through a quantifiable home advantage or host nation effect. The prevalence and size of home advantage in the Olympic and Paralympic Games is investigated over 16 editions (eight Summer Games and eight Winter Games) between 1988 and 2018 at an overall nation level and within ten sports. These include seven summer sports (archery, athletics, cycling, fencing, shooting, swimming and table tennis) and three winter sports (alpine skiing, biathlon and cross-country skiing). Our study supports the prevalence of a statistically significant overall host nation effect in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is also evident in Olympic archery, Paralympic athletics, Paralympic table tennis and Paralympic alpine skiing. At the same time, our analysis illustrates that the size of this effect did not differ significantly between able-bodied and para-sport events. Nations that experienced a large home advantage effect in the Olympic Games also had a large home advantage effect in the Paralympic Games. Our research contributes to the study of the impacts of hosting international multi-sport competitions, including the largely overlooked area of the Paralympic Games

Wu-ches-erik (Loon Woman) and Ori-aswe (Wildcat)

In this narrative the Coyote spirit possibly represents weaknesses in our characters--adversaries within each of us. Some of us are capable of suppressing, while others of us are not. Therefore, it is necessary to study the destructive nature of Coyote and Coyote's children in order to establish a better life. Coyote's Daughter, then, embodies the conflict for which we must prepare in order for there to be a better life for all of the elements of nature.Issue title; "Native American Oral Traditions: Collaboration and Interpretation.

The Caribbean Intellectual Property Office (CARIPO): New, Useful, and Necessary

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

Communication With The SAS 58 Auditor’s Standard Report: An Exploratory Study

In a field experiment, the authors examine whether three alternative versions of the auditor’s standard report communicate effectively the cognitive dimensions of understand-ability, engagement risk, and needed accommodation to a user group (investment and banking professionals) and an expert group (audit partners and managers). The study focuses on the mandated SAS 58 (AICPA 1988) three-paragraph auditor’s standard report (SR), the previously mandated two-paragraph auditor’s standard report (OSR) and a modified auditor’s standard report (MSR) more in harmony with the stated auditor’s responsibility for detecting fraud, as mandated by SAS 53 (AICPA 1988b) which was subsequently superceded by SAS 82 and SAS 99. The results indicate that both auditors and users are consistent in their belief that the SR represents an enhancement in understandability of the audit message over OSR, and that a format along the lines of MSR would not have represented an improvement over the SR format given the inconsistencies in ratings between auditors and users of the MSR (which contains explicit language relative to fraud). Specifically, auditors’ perception of engagement risk associated with the MSR is much higher than users’ perception and the demand for needed accommodation (additional information) is also greater for auditors than users. Overall, the results suggest that the ASB was effective in responding to the user needs with respect to the message communicated in the auditor’s report, a critical link in the financial information reporting process. This investigation has the potential to inform policy-making bodies concerned with adopting a report standard that fairly communicates the risks borne by both auditor and user groups