1,735 research outputs found
Foreword: Special Issue on Opportunities and Challenges Facing the Rural Creative Economy
Community/Rural/Urban Development,
THE EFFECTS OF LOCAL TAXES AND SPENDING ON BUSINESS STARTUPS
This paper examines the effects of local taxes and government spending on new business startups in 8,576 Maine city-industries between 1993 and 1994. Empirical findings indicate that local property tax rates have a negative effect on the number of startups, whereas spending on education and total local government spending on public services have a positive effect on new business activity.Community/Rural/Urban Development,
INDUSTRY AGGLOMERATION AND INVESTMENT IN RURAL BUSINESSES
This paper examines the effects of local industry agglomeration on the investments in equipment and machinery made between 1995 and 1999 by rural Maine businesses. Empirical results indicate that industry agglomeration, measured at the county-industry and municipality-industry levels, has a positive effect on an existing establishment's probability of investment and the amount invested per worker.Community/Rural/Urban Development,
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Antipoverty Effects of Unemployment Insurance
[Excerpt] This report examines the antipoverty effects of unemployment insurance benefits over the past recession and through the beginning of the economic recovery. The analysis highlights the impact of the additional and expanded unemployment insurance (UI) benefits available to unemployed workers through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, RL. 111-5) and the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program (Title IV of RL. 110-252). In 2009, approximately 62% of all unemployed individuals were receiving UI benefits and thus were directly impacted by legislative changes to the UI system
When CoGeNT met PAMELA
If the excess events from the CoGeNT experiment arise from elastic
scatterings of a light dark matter off the nuclei, crossing symmetry implies
non-vanishing annihilation cross-sections of the light dark matter into
hadronic final states inside the galactic halo, which we confront with the
anti-proton spectrum measured by the PAMELA collaboration. We consider two
types of effective interactions between the dark matter and the quarks: 1)
contact interactions from integrating out heavy particles and 2) long-range
interactions due to the electromagnetic properties of the dark matter. The lack
of excess in the anti-proton spectrum results in tensions for a scalar and, to
a less extent, a vector dark matter interacting with the quarks through the
Higgs portal.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Updated references and included effects of solar
modulatio
The Effects of Workforce Creativity on Earnings in U.S. Counties
This paper examines the effects of local workforce creativity on county-level earnings. Descriptive analysis of the data shows that most of the high-creativity counties in the United States are part of metropolitan areas, and that employee earnings are high in these places. Regression results indicate that, other things being equal, workforce creativity enhances county-level labor earnings. However, the returns to creativity that we found can be confirmed only in the urban context. An extension of the analysis suggests that the creative workforce wage premium may be capturing the effects of "technical workforce creativity" on earnings.creative economy, wages, economic development, Labor and Human Capital,
Gamma-ray lines and One-Loop Continuum from s-channel Dark Matter Annihilations
The era of indirect detection searches for dark matter has begun, with the
sensitivities of gamma-ray detectors now approaching the parameter space
relevant for weakly interacting massive particles. In particular, gamma ray
lines would be smoking gun signatures of dark matter annihilation, although
they are typically suppressed compared to the continuum. In this paper, we pay
particular attention to the 1-loop continuum generated together with the
gamma-ray lines and investigate under which conditions a dark matter model can
naturally lead to a line signal that is relatively enhanced. We study generic
classes of models in which DM is a fermion that annihilates through an
s-channel mediator which is either a vector or scalar and identify the coupling
and mass conditions under which large line signals occur. We focus on the
"forbidden channel mechanism" advocated a few years ago in the "Higgs in space"
scenario for which tree level annihilation is kinematically forbidden today.
Detailed calculations of all 1-loop annihilation channels are provided. We
single out very simple models with a large line over continuum ratio and
present general predictions for a large range of WIMP masses that are relevant
not only for Fermi and Hess II but also for the next generation of telescopes
such as CTA and Gamma-400. Constraints from the relic abundance, direct
detection and collider bounds are also discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures; v2: minor clarifications, summary paragraph
added; v3: matches published version, minor clarifications, results unchange
Evaluating the application of research-based guidance to the design of an emergency preparedness leaflet
UNLABELLED: Guidelines for the design of emergency communications were derived from primary research and interrogation of the literature. The guidelines were used to re-design a nuclear emergency preparedness leaflet routinely distributed to households in the local area. Pre-test measures of memory for, and self-reported understanding of, nuclear safety information were collected. The findings revealed high levels of non-receipt of the leaflet, and among those who did receive it, memory for safety advice was poor. Subjective evaluations of the trial leaflet suggested that it was preferred and judged easier to understand than the original. Objective measures of memory for the two leaflets were also recorded, once after the study period, and again one week or four weeks later. Memory for the advice was better, at all time periods, when participants studied the trial leaflet. The findings showcase evaluation of emergency preparedness literature and suggest that extant research findings can be applied to the design of communications to improve memory and understandability. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Studies are described that showcase the use of research-based guidelines to design emergency communications and provide both subjective and objective data to support designing emergency communications in this way. In addition, the research evaluates the effectiveness of emergency preparedness leaflets that are routinely distributed to households. This work is of relevance to academics interested in risk communication and to practitioners involved in civil protection and emergency preparedness
Have We Observed the Higgs (Imposter)?
We interpret the new particle at the Large Hadron Collider as a CP-even
scalar and investigate its electroweak quantum number. Assuming an unbroken
custodial invariance as suggested by precision electroweak measurements, only
four possibilities are allowed if the scalar decays to pairs of gauge bosons,
as exemplified by a dilaton/radion, a non-dilatonic electroweak singlet scalar,
an electroweak doublet scalar, and electroweak triplet scalars. We show that
current LHC data already strongly disfavor both the dilatonic and non-dilatonic
singlet imposters. On the other hand, a generic Higgs doublet give excellent
fits to the measured event rates of the newly observed scalar resonance, while
the Standard Model Higgs boson gives a slightly worse overall fit due to the
lack signal in the tau tau channel. The triplet imposter exhibits some tension
with the data. The global fit indicates the enhancement in the diphoton channel
could be attributed to an enhanced partial decay width, while the production
rates are consistent with the Standard Model expectations. We emphasize that
more precise measurements of the ratio of event rates in the WW over ZZ
channels, as well as the event rates in b bbar and tau tau channels, are needed
to further distinguish the Higgs doublet from the triplet imposter.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; v2: updated with most recent public data as of
August 7. A generic Higgs doublet now gives the best fit to data, while the
triplet imposter exhibits some tensio
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