The road to happiness : from mood during leisure trips and activities to satisfaction with life

Over the past years an increasing number of studies have investigated the link between travel and subjective well-being (SWB), often focussing on the effects of trip characteristics on satisfaction with particular trips. Two elements not frequently addressed in this research domain are (i) how trip satisfaction affects the mood during – and the evaluation of − the activity at the destination of the trip and (ii) how travel can affect long-term well-being. As engagement in out-of-home activities can improve eudaimonic well-being − referring to meaning of life, self-development and social relationships − it is possible that travel (satisfaction) does not only affect the overall evaluation of people’s lives (i.e., life satisfaction), but also eudaimonic well-being, through activity participation and satisfaction. In this study we will analyse the effect of satisfaction with leisure trips on the satisfaction with the leisure activity at the destination of the trip and look at how satisfaction with these short-term activity episodes affect both eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction. Results of this study applying a structural equation modelling approach on 1,212 respondents from the city of Ghent (Belgium) indicate that spill-over effects exist from trip satisfaction on leisure activity satisfaction and that both these short-term satisfactions affect eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction, whether directly or indirectly

Many-body localization in a disordered quantum Ising chain

Many-body localization occurs in isolated quantum systems when Anderson localization persists in the presence of finite interactions. Despite strong evidence for the existence of a many-body localization transition a reliable extraction of the critical disorder strength is difficult due to a large drift with system size in the studied quantities. In this work we explore two entanglement properties that are promising for the study of the manybody localization transition: the variance of the half-chain entanglement entropy of exact eigenstates and the long time change in entanglement after a local quench from an exact eigenstate. We investigate these quantities in a disordered quantum Ising chain and use them to estimate the critical disorder strength and its energy dependence. In addition, we analyze a spin-glass transition at large disorder strength and provide evidence for it being a separate transition. We thereby give numerical support for a recently proposed phase diagram of many-body localization with localization protected quantum order [Huse et al. Phys. Rev. B 88, 014206 (2013)].Comment: 4+ pages + 1.5 pages appendix, 5 figure

The influence of attitudes on Transit-Oriented Development: an explorative analysis

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), where compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods are being realized around existing or new public transit stops, is a promising tool to restrict urban sprawl and stimulate sustainable travel modes. However, TODs are not always as easy to implement at every location. In high-density city centres a TOD is relatively easy to implement, since density and diversity are already high and most residents have a positive stance toward car alternatives due to self-selection processes. In more low-density suburbs, however, the situation is more difficult. There is not only the problem of adapting the built environment, but also the problem that most initial residents have a preference for car use, since they chose their neighbourhood based on the physical characteristics of the initial neighbourhood. In this viewpoint we will look at how travel-related attitudes and residential self-selection can affect the success rate of TODs in three different situations. It seems that taking into account attitudes is especially important for the realization of TODs in low-density neighbourhoods

Urban sprawl : neighbourhood dissatisfaction and urban preferences : some evidence from Flanders

Early studies suggest that people living in rural neighbourhoods are more satisfied with their residential location than people living in cities. Consequently, most individuals seem to prefer low-density environments to reside in. More recent studies, however, state that rural residents are no more likely to be satisfied with their residential neighbourhood than their urban counterparts. In addition, a considerable, growing part of the population seems to have a clear preference for urban neighbourhoods. The results of our research, conducted in Flanders, Belgium, suggest that urbanites are more satisfied with their neighbourhood than rural residents are. Neighbourhood preferences differ less between urbanites and rural residents. However, there are differences indicating that urbanites have a preference for rural neighbourhoods and rural residents a preference for urban neighbourhoods. In sum, it seems that people, once they have selected their residential location, are not satisfied with the neighbourhood characteristics and tend to develop a preference for a different neighbourhood type. This mismatch can be partly explained by the strongly developed urban sprawl in Flanders, reducing the residential qualities of urban and especially rural environments. Restricting further urban sprawl, with the help of a more active spatial planning policy, seems necessary to increase neighbourhood satisfaction

Who depends on whom? On the relation between Peter Lombard’s commentary on Romans and the one of Herveus of Bourg-Dieu

In this article, Peter Lombard’s commentary on Romans is compared with the one of Herveus of Bourg-Dieu by questioning, if there is a dependency between both. The comparison shows, that either there was an unknown common source which was used by both of them, or Peter Lombard used the Enarrationes of Herveus of Bourg-Dieu; the second hypothesis is more probable and argues for dating the Lombard’s Collectanea on 1148 or later.Kto zależy od kogo? O relacji między Komentarzami do Rzymian autorstwa Piotra Lombarda i Herweusza z Bourg-DieuW tym artykule Komentarz do Rzymian Piotra Lombarda jest porównywany z dziełem Herveus z Bourg-Dieu. Porównanie pokazuje, że obydwaj używali wspólnego nieznanego źródła, albo Piotr Lombard posługiwał się Enarrationes Herveusa. Ta druga hipoteza jest bardzo prawdopodobna i jest argumentem za datowaniem Collectanea Piotra Lombrada na 1148 r. albo okres późniejszy

Does a satisfying trip result in more future trips with that mode?

Previous studies have indicated that travel satisfaction – the experienced emotions during, and cognitive evaluation of, a trip – can be affected by travel mode choice and other trip characteristics. However, as satisfactory trips might improve a person’s attitudes toward the used mode, persons may be more likely to use that same mode for future trips of the same kind. Hence, a cyclical process between travel mode choice and travel satisfaction might occur. In this paper we analyse this process – using cross-sectional data – for people who engage in walking and cycling for leisure trips in the Belgian city of Ghent. The focus on walking and cycling reflects recent studies indicating that active travel is often associated with the highest levels of travel satisfaction. Results support the idea of a cyclical process; the evaluation of walking and cycling trips positively affects the respondents’ attitude towards the respective mode, which in turn has a positive effect on choosing that mode. Furthermore, results indicate a strong effect of life satisfaction on travel satisfaction, suggesting a strong impact of long-term happiness on short-term satisfaction

The German Federal Republic: Problems and Prospects

The scope and subject for the lecture this morn­ing, The German Federal Republic: Problems and Pros­pects, is sufficiently broad for the speaker to follow his peculiar predilections in the choice of categories

Law and Economics of Patent Settlements in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The tradeoff between competition and innovation is a much-discussed problem in economic policy. The central question is how efficient markets can be ensured by setting an institutional framework which guarantees efficient prices and innovation from a consumer welfare perspective. Competition policy, in particular, has the task to set a framework for agreements between firms regarding these goals. The subject matter of this dissertation is to study agreements between firms which relate to patents and at the same time raise competition concerns regarding consumer welfare. For this reason, these agreements are an essential part of the tradeoff between competition and innovation. Generally, consumer welfare is influenced by existing products and their prices and quantities on one hand, and by the emergence of new products and services on the other hand. These two sides are not independent from each other. From an economic policy perspective, it is well understood that market power results in negative price effects for consumers. At the same time market power and resulting profits ensure an essential incentive mechanism to enable innovation. Since the innovation process goes along with costs, for instance for research and development, firms face the critical problem of the approbiability of resulting rents from innovation processes. In case this approbiability of the innovator is not sufficiently ensured, for instance through imitation of innovation by competitors, the market failure problem exists that there are not sufficient investments in innovation. A patent is an economic policy solution for this market failure problem and grants to the innovator a monopoly right which is temporally, locally and objectively limited for the marketing of an invention. In this regard the patent itself is an inherent tradeoff, because it must find a balance between innovation incentives on one hand and the problem of negative price effects because of the granted monopoly position on the other hand. The economic literature has extensively discussed the question of the optimal design of patent rights, for example their optimal length and breadth