The Rybczynski Theorem, Factor-Price Equalization, and Immigration: Evidence from U.S. States

Recent literature on the labor-market effects of U.S. immigration tends to find little correlation between regional immigrant inflows and changes in relative regional wages. In this paper we examine whether immigration, or endowment shocks more generally, altered U.S. regional output mixes as predicted by the Rybczynski Theorem of Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) trade theory. This theorem describes how regions can absorb endowment shocks via changes in output mix without any changes in relative regional factor prices. Treating U.S. states as HO regions, we search for evidence of regional output-mix effects using a new data set that combines state endowments, outputs, and employment in 1980 and 1990. We have two main findings. First, state output-mix changes broadly match state endowment changes. Second, variation in state unit factor requirements is consistent with relative factor-price equalization (FPE) across states, which is a sufficient condition for our output-mix hypothesis to hold. Overall, these findings suggest that states absorb regional endowment shocks through mechanisms other than changes in relative regional factor prices.

Systemic and local responses to repeated HL stress-induced retrograde signaling in Arabidopsis

Chloroplasts of leaves under high light stress initiate signals to the nuclei of both exposed and distal leaves in order to acclimate against the potential threat of oxidative damage: a process known as high light systemic acquired acclimation (HL SAA). This study explores the nature of HL SAA, synergistic interactions with other environmental stresses, and the impact of repeated HL stress on the acclimation response of exposed and distal leaves. This necessitated the development of novel experimental systems to investigate the initiation, perception, and response to HL SAA. These systems were used to investigate the HL SAA response by monitoring the induction of mRNA in distal leaves not exposed to the HL stress. Acclimation to HL is induced within minutes and the response is proportionally dependent on the quality and quantity of light. HL SAA treatments in conjunction with variations in temperature and humidity reveal HL SAA is influenced by fluctuations in humidity. These treatments also result in changes in auxin accumulation and auxin-responsive genes. A key question in retrograde signaling is the extent to which transient changes in light intensity result in a "memory" of the event leading to acclimation responses. Repeated exposure to short term HL resulted in acclimation of the exposed tissue and that of emerging and young leaves (but not older leaves) to HL and oxidative stress

Expansion Strategies of U.S. Multinational Firms

Recent theoretical work tends to characterize multinational enterprises as arising through either horizontal or vertical foreign direct investment (FDI). Empirical research tends to find stronger support for the former than for the latter. In this paper, we use recent, detailed data on U.S. multinational firms to revisit the question of why multinationals go abroad. We examine three types of foreign activities of U.S. multinationals: global outsourcing, the use of export platforms, and wholesale trading. Our results suggest that vertical FDI is more common than previous research suggests, and more generally that the foreign affiliates of multinationals span a diverse set of activities that each respond to policies and characteristics of host countries in quite different ways.

Public Finance and Individual Preferences Over Globalization Strategies

In the absence of distortionary tax and spending policies, freer immigration and trade for a country would often be supported by similar groups thanks to similar impacts on labor income. But government policies that redistribute income may alter the distributional politics. In particular, immigrants may pay taxes and receive public services. Imports, obviously, can do neither of these. This suggests quite different political coalitions may organize around trade and immigration. In this paper we develop a framework for examining how pre-tax and post-tax cleavages may differ across globalization strategies and also fiscal jurisdictions. We then apply this framework to the case of individual immigration and trade preferences across U.S. states. We have two main findings. First, high exposure to immigrant fiscal pressures reduces support for freer immigration among natives, especially the more-skilled. Second, there is no public-finance variation in opinion over trade policy, consistent with the data that U.S. trade policy has negligible fiscal-policy impacts. Public-finance concerns appear to be crucial in shaping opinions towards alternative globalization strategies.

The [+spread] of the Northern Cities Shift

Sociolinguistic research has been greatly enriched by the application of instrumental acoustic methods. This is especially true in the study of vocalic changes where formant frequencies offer detailed pictures of subtle shifts of vowel quality. In the usual shorthand, F1 and F2 are accepted as correlates of vowel height and frontness respectively though most researchers recognize that formant frequencies are affected by other articulatory factors than just tongue position. In this research, we examine one of the most significant of these factors: lip configuration. This articulatory factor plays a key role in many vowel changes including the Northern Cities Shift (NCS), the focus of our study. Traditional accounts of the NCS (e.g. Labov 1994) describe the changes in terms of tongue position. Some role for labiality is often acknowledged in the latter case which involves unrounding. We argue, however, that lip configuration is also implicated in centralization. We examine the effects of lip configuration in the NCS through a video study of subjects from the St. Louis region. Speakers were recorded on digital video reading prepared materials. The experimental set-up allows us to precisely measure articulatory landmarks (e.g. vertical and horizontal lip distance, lip protrusion) from a display. The audio output from the recording was subjected to acoustic analysis so that comparisons between lip configuration and acoustic outcome could be made. Preliminary results confirm our hypothesis that speakers participating in the NCS demonstrate significant lip spread. To make sense of these findings we consider the acoustic consequences of lip rounding and spreading. By lengthening the vocal tract, rounding acts to lower formant frequencies, while unrounding and spreading have the opposite effect. In this way the changes in lip configuration observed in the NCS serve to enhance the acoustic effects of the changes in tongue position. These observations also shine light on some previously puzzling findings in our work on the NCS: fronted tokens often show extremely high F1 values in addition to the expected higher F2 values. In some cases, the formant data suggested that the primary direction of movement for this vowel was lowering rather than fronting. The present study leads us to reconsider this articulatory interpretation and suggest that increased F1 (and F2) values may indicate that lip spreading is being employed by NCS speakers as a complement to shifting tongue positions. Finally, we also weigh the possibility that lip configuration could be adopted by some NCS participants as an alternative to lingual positioning

Gene ontology analysis for RNA-seq: accounting for selection bias

GOseq is a method for GO analysis of RNA-seq data that takes into account the length bias inherent in RNA-se

Measurement of Lumbar Multifidus Asymmetry in Amateur Cricket Pace Bowlers using Real-Time Ultrasound

International Journal of Exercise Science 11(3): 875-885, 2018. Objectives: To determine if lumbar multifidus asymmetry existed between the fifth lumbar (L5) and 1stsacral (S1) spinal level in a group of amateur cricket pace bowlers and a healthy non-cricketing group of males, and to determine if there were significant differences between groups in lumbar multifidus asymmetry at rest, on contraction, or during activation. Design: A prospective single blinded cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty healthy participants were recruited to two groups: an amateur cricket pace bowling group (n=20) and a non-cricketing group (n=20). Bilateral real-time ultrasound imaging of lumbar multifidus was conducted at the L5/S1 level in a resting and contracted state. Muscle thickness was measured and percentage activation was calculated. A force probe device was used to standardise force, inclination and roll of the ultrasound probe during real-time ultrasound imaging. Results: There was evidence of asymmetry in both groups, but differences between dominant and non-dominant sided lumbar multifidus thickness were non-significant. Between group comparisons of lumbar multifidus asymmetry indicated no significant difference for rest or activation. However, the cricket group had a significantly greater asymmetry of lumbar multifidus when contracted compared to controls (p=0.04). Conclusions: The results indicate that amateur cricket pace bowlers had significantly greater contracted lumbar multifidus asymmetry than non-cricketers. The resting lumbar multifidus asymmetries demonstrated previously in elite pace bowlers were not found in this population. Future research should investigate lumbar multifidus asymmetry in amateur pace bowlers in relation to lower back injury, and make comparisons between amateur and elite cricket pace bowlers