Media outlets and their moguls: why concentrated individual or family ownership is bad for editorial independence

This article investigates the levels of owner influence in 211 different print and broadcast outlets in 32 different European media markets. Drawing on the literature from industrial organisation, it sets out reasons why we should expect greater levels of influence where ownership of individual outlets is concentrated; where it is concentrated in the hands of individuals or families; and where ownership groups own multiple outlets in the same media market. Conversely, we should expect lower levels of influence where ownership is dispersed between transnational companies. The articles uses original data on the ownership structures of these outlets, and combines it with reliable expert judgments as to the level of owner influence in each of the outlets. These hypotheses are tested and confirmed in a multilevel regression model of owner influence. The findings are relevant for policy on ownership limits in the media, and for the debate over transnational versus local control of media

More on Gribov copies and propagators in Landau-gauge Yang-Mills theory

Fixing a gauge in the non-perturbative domain of Yang-Mills theory is a non-trivial problem due to the presence of Gribov copies. In particular, there are different gauges in the non-perturbative regime which all correspond to the same definition of a gauge in the perturbative domain. Gauge-dependent correlation functions may differ in these gauges. Two such gauges are the minimal and absolute Landau gauge, both corresponding to the perturbative Landau gauge. These, and their numerical implementation, are described and presented in detail. Other choices will also be discussed. This investigation is performed, using numerical lattice gauge theory calculations, by comparing the propagators of gluons and ghosts for the minimal Landau gauge and the absolute Landau gauge in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. It is found that the propagators are different in the far infrared and even at energy scales of the order of half a GeV. In particular, also the finite-volume effects are modified. This is observed in two and three dimensions. Some remarks on the four-dimensional case are provided as well.Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, 6 tables; various changes throughout most of the paper; extended discussion on different possibilities to define the Landau gauge and connection to existing scenarios; in v3: Minor changes, error in eq. (3) & (4) corrected, version to appear in PR

Optimal transport on supply-demand networks

Previously, transport networks are usually treated as homogeneous networks, that is, every node has the same function, simultaneously providing and requiring resources. However, some real networks, such as power grid and supply chain networks, show a far different scenario in which the nodes are classified into two categories: the supply nodes provide some kinds of services, while the demand nodes require them. In this paper, we propose a general transport model for those supply-demand networks, associated with a criterion to quantify their transport capacities. In a supply-demand network with heterogenous degree distribution, its transport capacity strongly depends on the locations of supply nodes. We therefore design a simulated annealing algorithm to find the optimal configuration of supply nodes, which remarkably enhances the transport capacity, and outperforms the degree target algorithm, the betweenness target algorithm, and the greedy method. This work provides a start point for systematically analyzing and optimizing transport dynamics on supply-demand networks.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table and 4 figure

Population Sizing for the Redundant Trivial Voting Mapping

Mapping-Proble

Soil tillage and windbreak efects on millet and cowpea: I. Wind speed, evaporation, and wind erosion

Deforestation, overgrazing, and declining soil regeneration periods have resulted in increased wind erosion problems in dry areas of th; West African Sahel, but little is known about the bio-physical factors involved. This research was conducted to determine the effects of ridging and four different windbreak spacings on wind erosion, potential evaporation, and soil water reserves. A field trial was conducted from 1985 to 1987 on 12 ha of a Psammentic Paleustalf in Southern Niger. Millet, Pennisetum glaucum (L.), and cowpea, Vigmi unguiculata (L.) Walp., were seeded in strips on flat and ridged soil. Windbreaks of savannah vegetation were spaced at 6, 20, 40, and 91) m. The effects of ridging on wind speed, evaporation, and wind erosion were small and mostly non-significant. However, average wind speed at 0.3 m above ground in the center of cowpea and millet strips was significantly reduced from 2.8 to 2.1 m s"1 as windbreak distances narrowed from 90 to 6 m

Soil tillage and windbreak effects on millet and cowpea: II. Dry matter and grain yield

In the West Africa Sahel, sand storms occuring early in the growing season may severely damage emerging crops. This study was conducted to determine the influence of ridges and windbreaks on growth, water use and grain yield of millet, pennisetum glaucum (L.), and cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp

Public Benefits of Undeveloped Lands on Urban Outskirts: Non-Market Valuation Studies and their Role in Land Use Plans

Over the past three decades, the economics profession has developed methods for estimating the public benefits of green spaces, providing an opportunity to incorporate such information into land-use planning. While federal regulations routinely require such estimates for major regulations, the extent to which they are used in local land use plans is not clear. This paper reviews the literature on public values for lands on urban outskirts, not just to survey their methods or empirical findings, but to evaluate the role they have played--or have the potential to play-- in actual land use plans. Based on interviews with authors and representatives of funding agencies and local land trusts, it appears that academic work has had a mixed reception in the policy world. Reasons for this include a lack of interest in making academic work accessible to policy makers, emphasizing revealed preference methods which are inconsistent with policy priorities related to nonuse values, and emphasis on benefit-cost analyses. Nevertheless, there are examples of success stories that illustrate how such information can play a vital role in the design of conservation policies. Working Paper 07-2

Voting power measurement: a story of misreinvention

In this account of the history of voting-power measurement, we confine ourselves to the concept of a priori voting power. We show how the concept was re-invented several times and how the circumstances in which it was reinvented led to conceptual confusion as to the true meaning of what is being measured. In particular, power-as-influence was conflated with value in the sense of transferable utility cooperative game theory (power as share in constant total payoff). Influence was treated, improperly, as though it were transferable utility, and hence an additive and distributive quantity. We provide examples of the resulting misunderstanding and mis-directed criticism