5,044 research outputs found

    The Business Cycle, Macroeconomic Shocks and the Cross Section: Evidence from UK Quoted Companies

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    Co-movements and correlations in the major macroeconomic aggregates has been the focus of much of the recent literature in business cycle research. In this paper we provide another dimension to business cycle analysis. We examine the evolution of the cross sectional distribution of the growth of UK quoted companies from 1968 to 1997 and find correlations between aggregate business cycle fluctuations and the higher moments of the cross sectional distribution. To explain this we analyse the sensitivity of firms to aggregate shocks, conditioning growth on firm size, age and industry. We find that the contemporaneous effects of aggregate shocks, both positive and negative, are significantly more pronounced for firms in the middle range of growth. This explains the cycle-related patterns in the moments of the growth rate cross section. These findings are of importance in understanding firm level as well as business cycle dynamics.

    Prognosis for Ecosystem Recovery Following Rodent Eradication and Seabird Restoration in an Island Archipelago

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    Invasive species are widespread and can have devastating effects on biota, especially insular biota. Invasive species eradications are increasingly employed to promote island recovery to preinvasion states. However, it remains unclear if additional restoration actions may be required on islands that were once heavily reliant on seabird guano for ecosystem functions. Active seabird augmentation has been suggested as necessary to exact ecosystem recovery on contemporary timescales in some cases. I use two experiments on offshore islands in Cook Strait, New Zealand, to test the hypothesis that seabird restoration will restore island ecosystem functioning following invasive rodent removal. The first is a small-scale single-island fertilization experiment that simulates seabird recovery. This experiment tested the recovery potential of offshore islands and was used to infer the density of seabirds needed to elicit ecosystem recovery. The second is a large-scale natural experiment that takes advantage of eight islands with differing rodent eradication and seabird restoration histories. I compared ecosystem functioning variables (d15N, C:N ratios in soil, plants, and spiders, as well as arthropod abundance and diversity) on two islands that had rodents eradicated and two islands undergoing seabird augmentation with two control islands (never invaded by rodents) and two positive control islands (currently invaded by rodents). The results suggest that islands do have the potential for recovery given nutrient amendments, but that islands with rodents eradicated and islands undergoing seabird augmentation have not recovered most of their ecosystem function. Finer, intra-island analysis showed that seabird restoration projects have the potential to speed the recovery process, but that the projects on the studied seabird restoration islands were not advanced enough to produce island-wide recovery. The results suggest that high seabird densities (5–10 burrows/m2) are needed to promote recovery to never-invaded control levels. Seabird augmentation, through chick translocation and/or social facilitation with decoys, vocalization playbacks, and/or mirrors can supplement passive seabird recovery on islands where seabirds have been extirpated or extremely reduced by invasive predators. Such restoration efforts may be necessary to promote ecosystem recovery on contemporary timescales

    A Recipe for Success: Essential Administrative and Interpersonal Considerations of Co-Teaching in Secondary Settings

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    A recipe for success: Essential administrative and interpersonal considerations of co-teaching in secondary settings

    Waive Goodbye to Appellate Review of Plea Bargaining: Specific Performance of Appellate Waiver Provisions Should Be Limited to Extraordinary Circumstances

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    In the federal criminal justice system, plea bargaining remains the predominant method for disposing of cases. An important provision in most plea agreements consists of the waiver of the defendant’s right to appeal the conviction or sentence. This note explores the constitutional, contractual, and policy implications of a recent Third Circuit decision that would allow specific performance as a remedy where a defendant’s only breach of the plea agreement consists of filing an appeal arguably precluded by an appellate waiver provision. This note argues that the approach taken by the Third Circuit in United States v. Erwin could effectively preclude the availability of judicial review for plea agreements and the validity of appellate waivers. Ultimately, this note argues that courts should only resort to the extraordinary remedy of specific performance if dismissal of the appeal would be insufficient to remedy the harm to the government or if the defendant has filed an appeal in bad faith

    Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover Following Rat Eradication

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    Islands house a majority of the world’s biodiversity and are thus critical for biodiversity conservation. Seabird nesting colonies provide nutrients that are integral to maintain island biodiversity and ecosystem function. Invasive rats destroy seabird colonies and thus the island ecosystems that depend on seabird-derived nutrients. After rat eradication, it is unclear how long ecosystem recovery may take, although some speculate on the order of centuries. I looked at ecosystem recovery along a chronosequence of islands that had 12–22 years to recover following rat eradication. I show that soil, plant, and spider marine-derived nitrogen levels and C:N ratios take mere decades to recover even after centuries-long rat invasion. Moreover, active seabird restoration could speed recovery even further, giving much hope to quickly conserve many endemic species on islands worldwide

    Waive Goodbye to Appellate Review of Plea Bargaining: Specific Performance of Appellate Waiver Provisions Should Be Limited to Extraordinary Circumstances

    Get PDF
    In the federal criminal justice system, plea bargaining remains the predominant method for disposing of cases. An important provision in most plea agreements consists of the waiver of the defendant’s right to appeal the conviction or sentence. This note explores the constitutional, contractual, and policy implications of a recent Third Circuit decision that would allow specific performance as a remedy where a defendant’s only breach of the plea agreement consists of filing an appeal arguably precluded by an appellate waiver provision. This note argues that the approach taken by the Third Circuit in United States v. Erwin could effectively preclude the availability of judicial review for plea agreements and the validity of appellate waivers. Ultimately, this note argues that courts should only resort to the extraordinary remedy of specific performance if dismissal of the appeal would be insufficient to remedy the harm to the government or if the defendant has filed an appeal in bad faith
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