Self-employment grants vs. subsidized employment: Is there a difference in the re-unemployment risk?

Self-employment grants and employment subsidies are active labor market programs that aim at helping unemployed workers to escape unemployment by becoming self-employed or being hired at an initially reduced cost for the employer. In Sweden in the 1990's the participation rate in the self-employment program increased from virtually none to almost same as in the employment subsidy program. The advancement of the self-employment program is likely to be a result of (i) a change in the labor market program policy, and (ii) an increase in the supply of skilled unemployed workers. The justification for the policy change is unclear, however. The literature indicate that a rather specific group of unemployed workers may benefit from self-employment programs; Neither are there any strong reasons to believe in general that self-employment should be preferable to conventional employment through subsidies. We examine, ex post, the justification for the policy change by comparing the post-program duration of employment for the two programs. In addition, we focus in some detail on the outcome for female workers and workers of foreign citizenship. The reason for this is the explicit policy to direct those workers to self-employment. The data we study are the inflow to the two programs from June 1995 to December 1996. The program participants are followed to March 1999. The data contain detailed spell and background information on 9,043 unemployed workers who participated in the self-employment program and 14,142 who participated in the employment subsidy program. The second explanation, see (ii), for the increase in self-employment program implies a potentially serious selection problem. We discuss how the selection process may bias the effect estimate in the non-linear duration model that we use. Simulations help us to determine the magnitude of the selection bias in our application. Moreover, we exploit the existing behavioral heterogeneity across labor market offices to reduce the selection bias. We find that the risk of re-unemployment is more than twice as high for the subsidized employment program compared with the self-employment program. The large positive effect is, however, limited to male and female workers of Swedish origin. We thus conclude that the policy change in general has been successful, though we note that directing immigrant workers to self-employment is unlikely to improve the situation for this group of unfortunate workers on the Swedish labor market.Empirical Bayes methods; Employment duration; Program evaluation; Proxy variables; Selection bias; Simulations

A TYPICAL FARM SERIES: DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION TO A MISSISSIPPI DELTA FARM

Farm Management,

An Implanted, Stimulated Muscle Powered Piezoelectric Generator

A totally implantable piezoelectric generator system able to harness power from electrically activated muscle could be used to augment the power systems of implanted medical devices, such as neural prostheses, by reducing the number of battery replacement surgeries or by allowing periods of untethered functionality. The features of our generator design are no moving parts and the use of a portion of the generated power for system operation and regulation. A software model of the system has been developed and simulations have been performed to predict the output power as the system parameters were varied within their constraints. Mechanical forces that mimic muscle forces have been experimentally applied to a piezoelectric generator to verify the accuracy of the simulations and to explore losses due to mechanical coupling. Depending on the selection of system parameters, software simulations predict that this generator concept can generate up to approximately 700 W of power, which is greater than the power necessary to drive the generator, conservatively estimated to be 50 W. These results suggest that this concept has the potential to be an implantable, self-replenishing power source and further investigation is underway

Identifisering og vurdering av risiko for drap - i en politikontekst

Evalueringer og forskningsrapporter har vist at det kan være utfordringer knyttet til vurderinger av risiko for drap. Samtidig er det tydelig at politiet via Politiloven er gitt et spesielt ansvar for å produsere trygghet, beskytte person og yte borgerne hjelp og tjenester i faresituasjoner. Med denne oppgaven har jeg forsøkt å finne ut hvem som gjør vurderingene i politiet, og fokusert spesielt på etterretning på bakgrunn av etterretnings ansvar for å gi kunnskap om personer som kan utøve kriminalitet. Videre har jeg forsøkt å belyse premisser som ligger til grunn for at vurderingene kan gjøres. Her fokuserte jeg på funnene fra evalueringen av politiets og PSTs håndtering av terror-hendelsen i Bærum, 10.august 2019, hvor de mente det var behov for tydeligere retningslinjer og instrukser, samt at planverk og retningslinjer knyttet til tipshåndtering ikke var ansett tilstrekkelig. Jeg fokuserte også på at bekymringene avdekkingsaktører i samfunnet generelt og internt i politiet må nå dem som skal vurdere, og hvordan det interne samspillet i denne sammenheng fungerte. Dernest søkte jeg å finne ut hvilke fremgangsmåter som ble benyttet av politiets etterretning til å identifisere og vurdere risiko for drap, og i hvilken grad disse fremgangsmåtene var kunnskapsbaserte. På bakgrunn av intervjuer med informanter fra etterretning i politiet fikk jeg et grunnlag for å gjennomføre overfor nevnte undersøkelser, som også gav svar på hvordan vurdering av risiko for drap ble gjort i dag, og premissene for vurderingene. Jeg undersøkte også relevant teori knyttet til vurdering av risiko for drap, og fant at ved å sammenligne funn fra intervjuene med teorien, et grunnlag for læringspunkter. Studien viste at politiets etterretning ikke benyttet evidensbaserte verktøy for å vurdere voldsrisiko, eller gjennomføre trusselvurderinger. Den viste også at dette ikke var et fag på politihøgskolen. Informantene, som alle jobbet med etterretning i politiet etterlyste grundigere verktøy, og fenomenkunnskap for å vurdere trusler og voldsrisiko. Samtidig ble det vist at andre politiavdelinger enn etterretning benyttet voldsrisikovurderingsverktøy, men da kun i familievolds- og æresrelatert voldskontekster. Dermed ble andre voldskontekster vurdert etter en skjønnsbasert tilnærming, og i noen tilfeller etter etterretningsmetodikk. Det ble heller ikke funnet at det ble brukt verktøy for å identifisere voldsrisiko, eller å selektere hvilke saker som skulle undergå en vurdering. Politiets etterretning benyttet dog etterretningsmetodikk, og i noen grad forholdt de seg til Norsk Standard NS 5832:2014 i forbindelse med trusselvurdering. Dette fanget dog ikke relevante risikofaktorer som man mulig ville fanget gjennom opplæring og evidensbaserte verktøy. Dagens praksis virket også å være tidkrevende, noe som gjorde at enkelte beslutningskontekster ikke var forenlige med praksisen

Robust Phase-Based Positioning Using Massive MIMO with Limited Bandwidth

This paper presents a robust phase-based positioningframework using a massive multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) system. The phase-based distance estimates of MPCstogether with other parameters are tracked with an ExtendedKalman Filter (EKF), the state dimension of which varies withthe birth-death processes of paths. The iterative maximumlikelihoodestimation algorithm (RIMAX) and the modeling ofdense multipath component (DMC) in the framework furtherenhance the quality of parameter tracking by providing anaccurate initial state and the underlying noise covariance.The tracked MPCs are fed into a time-of-arrival (TOA) selfcalibrationpositioning algorithm for simultaneous trajectoryand environment estimation. Throughout the positioning process,no prior knowledge of the surrounding environment andbase station position is needed. The performance is evaluatedwith the measurement of a 2D complex movement, which wasperformed in a sports hall with an antenna array with 128 portsas base station using a standard cellular bandwidth of 40 MHz.The positioning result shows that the mean deviation of theestimated user equipment trajectory from the ground truth is13 cm. In summary, the proposed framework is a promisinghigh-resolution radio-based positioning solution for current andnext generation cellular systems

Concept Developed for an Implanted Stimulated Muscle-Powered Piezoelectric Generator

Implanted electronic devices are typically powered by batteries or transcutaneous power transmission. Batteries must be replaced or recharged, and transcutaneous power sources burden the patient or subject with external equipment prone to failure. A completely self-sustaining implanted power source would alleviate these limitations. Skeletal muscle provides an available autologous power source containing native chemical energy that produces power in excess of the requirements for muscle activation by motor nerve stimulation. A concept has been developed to convert stimulated skeletal muscle power into electrical energy (see the preceding illustration). We propose to connect a piezoelectric generator between a muscle tendon and bone. Electrically stimulated muscle contractions would exert force on the piezoelectric generator, charging a storage circuit that would be used to power the stimulator and other devices

Biomass round bales infield aggregation logistics scenarios

Biomass bales often need to be aggregated (collected into groups and transported) to a field-edge stack or a temporary storage before utilization. Several logistics scenarios for aggregation involving equipment and aggregation strategies were modeled and evaluated. Cumulative Euclidean distance criteria evaluated the various aggregation scenarios. Application of a single-bale loader that aggregated bales individually was considered as the “control” scenario with which others were compared. A computer simulation program developed determined bale coordinates in ideal and random layouts that evaluated aggregation scenarios. Simulation results exhibited a “diamond pattern” of bales on ideal layout and a “random pattern” emerged when ≥ 10% variation was introduced. Statistical analysis revealed that the effect of field shape, swath width, biomass yield, and randomness on bale layout did not affect aggregation logistics, while area and number of bales handled had significant effects. Number of bales handled in the direct method significantly influenced the efficiency. Self-loading bale picker with minimum distance path (MDP, 80%) and parallel transport of loader and truck with MDP (78%) were ranked the highest, and single-bale central grouping the lowest (29%) among 19 methods studied. The MDP was found significantly more efficient (4%-16%) than the baler path. Simplistic methods, namely a direct triple-bale loader with MDP (64%-66%), or a loader and truck handling six bales running parallel with MDP (75%-82%) were highly efficient. Great savings on cumulative distances that directly influence time, fuel, and cost were realized when the number of bales handled was increased or additional equipment was utilized

PAJAK BUMI DAN BANGUNAN SEBAGAI INSTRUMEN KEMASLAHATAN UMAT DALAM PERSPEKTIF EKONOMI ISLAM

ABSTRAK Skripsi dengan judul “Pajak Bumi Dan Bangunan sebagai Instrumen Kemaslahatan Umat dalam Perspektif Ekonomi Islam” ini ditulis oleh Hasna Jannatu Zuhriya, NIM. 2824133036, pembimbing Nur Aziz Muslim, M. HI. Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi dengan adanya dana pembiayaan pembangunan negara yang antara lain bersumber dari pajak yang salah satunya adalah Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan. Strategisnya Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan objeknya meliputi seluruh bumi dan bangunan yang berada dalam wilayah Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia. Melihat sejarah awal negara Islam yang dipimpin oleh Nabi Muhammad Saw, Khulafaur Rasyidin dan seterusnya dalam menjalankan roda pemerintahan memerlukan adanya pendapatan, yaitu yang bersumber dari zakat, jizyah, kharaj, ghanimah, fai’ dan lainnya yang merupakan sumber pendapatan pada masa itu. Dalam bidang ekonomi Islam, pajak dapat mencegah penumpukan harta kekayaan dan menciptakan pendistribusian kekayaan kepada masyarakat. Sehingga dapat mendukung tercapainya kemaslahatan umat. Rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini adalah: (1) Apakah pajak dibolehkan dari sisi ekonomi Islam? (2) Apakah pajak bumi dan bangunan dibolehkan dari sisi ekonomi Islam? (3) Apakah objek pajak bumi dan bangunan sesuai dengan konsep distribusi kekayaan dalam ekonomi Islam? (4) Apakah tarif pajak bumi dan bangunan sesuai dengan prinsip kemaslahatan dalam ekonomi Islam? Tujuan dalam penelitian ini adalah: (1) mendeskripsikan apakah pajak dibolehkan dari sisi ekonomi Islam. (2) mendeskripsikan apakah pajak bumi dan bangunan dibolehkan dari sisi ekonomi Islam. (3) mendeskripsikan apakah objek pajak bumi dan bangunan sesuai dengan konsep distribusi kekayaan dalam ekonomi Islam. (4) mendeskripsikan apakah tarif pajak bumi dan bangunan sesuai dengan prinsip kemaslahatan dalam ekonomi Islam. Dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kepustakaan, yaitu penelitian yang data dan informasinya diperoleh dari sumber pustaka (bacaan) baik berupa buku-buku, hasil penelitian, dan bahan bacaan yang lainnya. Sumber data yang digunakan adalah sumber skunder. Dengan menggunakan metode analisis deduktif. Dari hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa: (1) Dalam ekonomi Islam, pajak termasuk sistem distribusi kekayaan. (2) Dengan prinsip untuk menciptakan kemaslahatan umum, PBB boleh dikenakan pada orang yang kaya sebagaimana prinsip maslahah mursalah. (3) Objek pajak bumi dan bangunan sesuai dengan konsep distribusi kekayaan dalam ekonomi Islam. (4) Sistem tarif pajak bumi dan bangunan yang ditetapkan telah memenuhi kriteria adil (kemaslahatan) dalam ekonomi Islam. Kata kunci: Pajak, Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan, Kemaslahatan Umat, dan Ekonomi Islam