Solar heat gain coefficient of complex fenestrations with a venetian blind for differing slat tilt angles

Measured bidirectional transmittances and reflectances of a buff-colored venetian blind together with a layer calculation scheme developed in previous publications are utilized to produce directional-hemispherical properties for the venetian blind layer and solar heat gain coefficients for the blind in combination with clear double glazing. Results are presented for three blind slat tilt angles and for the blind mounted either interior to the double glazing or between the glass panes. Implications of the results for solar heat gain calculations are discussed in the context of sun positions for St. Louis, MO

Optimal Taxation with Home Production

Optimal taxes for Europe and the U.S. are derived in a realistically calibrated model in which agents buy consumption goods and services and use home capital and labor to produce household services. The optimal tax rate on services is substantially lower than the tax rate on goods. Specifically, the planner cannot tax home production directly and instead lowers the tax rate on market services to increase the relative price of home production. The optimal tax rate on the return to home capital is strictly positive and the welfare gains from switching to optimal taxes are large

Competing with the Dragon: Employment and Wage Effects of Chinese Trade Competition in 17 Sectors Across 18 OECD Countries

The rapid rise of China on the global economic stage could have substantial and unequal employment and wage effects in advanced industrialised democracies given China's large volume of low-wage labour. Thus far, these effects have not been analysed in the comparative political economy literature. Building on new pooled time-series data, we analyse the effects of Chinese trade competition across 17 sectors in 18 countries between 1990 and 2007. Our empirical findings reveal overall employment declines and higher earnings inequality in sectors more exposed to Chinese imports. We devote particular attention to a new channel, increased competition from China in 59 foreign export markets, which positively affects the high-skilled whilst the low-skilled bear the brunt. Hence, this study shows that neglecting the competition in foreign countries leads to underestimation of the distributive effects of trade. More generally, our findings provide new insights into how international trade, technological change, and labour market institutions contribute to the widely observed trend of rising inequality

Taxation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

We examine how basic research should be financed. While basic research is a public good benefiting innovating entrepreneurs it also affects the entire economy: occupational choices of potential entrepreneurs, wages of workers, dividends to shareholders, and aggregate output. We show that the general economy impact of basic research rationalizes a pecking order of taxation to finance basic research. In particular, in a society with desirable dense entrepreneurial activity, a large share of funds for basic research should be financed by labor taxation and a minor share is left to profit taxation. Such tax schemes induce a significant share of agents to become entrepreneurs, thereby rationalizing substantial investments in basic research. These entrepreneurial economies, however, may make a majority of citizens worse off if those individuals do not possess shares of final good producers in the economy. In such circumstances, stagnation may prevail

U-Values of Flat and Domed Skylights U-Values of Flat and Domed Skylights

ABSTRACT Data from nighttime measurements of the net heat flow through several types of skylights is presented. A well-known thermal test facility was reconfigured to measure the net heat flow through the bottom of a skylight/light well combination. Use of this data to determine the U-factor of the skylight is considerably more complicated than the analogous problem of a vertical fenestration contained in a test mask. Correction of the data for heat flow through the skylight well surfaces and evidence for the nature of the heat transfer between the skylight and the bottom of the well is discussed. The resulting measured U-values are presented and compared with calculations using the WINDOW4 and THERM programs

U-Values of Flat and Domed Skylights U-Values of Flat and Domed Skylights

ABSTRACT Data from nighttime measurements of the net heat flow through several types of skylights is presented. A well-known thermal test facility was reconfigured to measure the net heat flow through the bottom of a skylight/light well combination. Use of this data to determine the U-factor of the skylight is considerably more complicated than the analogous problem of a vertical fenestration contained in a test mask. Correction of the data for heat flow through the skylight well surfaces and evidence for the nature of the heat transfer between the skylight and the bottom of the well is discussed. The resulting measured U-values are presented and compared with calculations using the WINDOW4 and THERM programs

Method of measuring nighttime U-values using the Mobile Window Thermal Test (MoWiTT) Facility

Although primarily designed for studying the dynamic net energy flows through fenestration systems over the full diurnal cycle, the Mobile Window Thermal Test (MoWiTT) Facility is also frequently used to measure nighttime U-values. These measurements have the advantage of incorporating the exterior film coefficient resulting from the true ambient conditions at a particular time and location, rather than relying on a laboratory simulation of some assumed average or extreme condition. On the other hand, the MoWiTT is a much more complicated facility than a laboratory hot box, and the number of potential error sources is correspondingly larger. The method of deriving the nighttime U-value from directly measured data and the effect of random and systematic errors are discussed