Smuggling, Camouflaging, and Market Structure

We examine how market structure and enforcement affect smuggling and welfare in a model where smuggling is camouflaged by legal sales. Conditions are given for when some, but not necessarily all, firms smuggle. With camouflaging, the market price is below the price when all sales are legal, so smuggling improves welfare if the price effect outweighs excess smuggling cost. This welfare effect is directly related to the degree of competition. Increased enforcement in this model potentially reduces welfare. The model is shown to be consistent with evidence on cigarette smuggling in the United States for 1975-1982.

The Disclosure and Licensing of University Inventions

We examine the interplay of the three major university actors in technology transfer from universities to industry: the faculty, the technology transfer office (TTO), and the central administration. We model the faculty as an agent of the administration, and the TTO as an agent of both the faculty and the administration. Empirical tests of the theory are based on evidence from our survey of 62 US research universities. We find that the TTOs reported licensing objectives are influenced by their views of faculty and administration, which supports the assumption that the TTO is a dual agent. The theory yields predictions for whether or not faculty disclose inventions and if so, at what stage, which in turn affects license contract terms. We also examine how the portion of inventions disclosed at different stages varies with faculty quality. Quality is found to be inversely related to the share of license income allotted to faculty.

Priorities for sustainable turfgrass management: a research and industry perspective

This paper provides a brief review and assessment of the key environmental, regulatory and technical issues facing the turfgrass sector with specific reference to the European context. It considers the range of externalities or ‘drivers for change' facing the industry, and the challenges and opportunities available for promoting and achieving more sustainable turfgrass management within the sports, landscape and amenity sectors. The analysis confirms that there are a number of key areas where a concerted research and industrial effort is required. These include responding to the pressures from government demands for greater environmental regulation, the increasing pressure on natural resources (notably water, energy and land), the emerging role of turf management in supporting ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity, the continued need to promote integrated pest management, and the looming challenges posed by a changing climate, and urgent need to adapt. Whilst many of these externalities appear to be risks to the sports turf industry, there will also be significant opportunities, for those where the labour, energy and agronomic costs are minimized and where the drive to adopt a multifunctional approach to sportsturf management is embraced

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR THE MINNESOTA RAIL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM METHODOLOGY AND A CASE STUDY

The objective of this study is to develop a methodology for evaluating the economic feasibility of participating in the Minnesota Rail Service Improvement Program by eligible individuals or groups.Public Economics,

Smuggling, Camouflaging, and Market Structure

We examine how market structure and enforcement affect smuggling and welfare in a model where smuggling is camoflaged by legal sales. Conditions are given for when some, but not necessarily all, firms smuggle. With camouflaging, the market price is below the price when all sales are legal, so smuggling improves welfare if the price effect outweighs excess smuggling cost. This welfare effect is directly related to the degree of competition. Increased enforcement in this model potentially reduces welfare. The model is shown to be consistent with evidence on cigarette smuggling in the United States for 1975-1982.Research Seminar in International Economics, Department of Economics, University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100799/1/ECON259.pd

University-Industry Spillovers, Government Funding, and Industrial Consulting

This paper presents a theoretical model of faculty consulting in the context of government and industry funding for research within the university, which then frames an empirical analysis of the funding and consulting of 458 individual faculty inventors from 8 major US universities. In the theory, firms realize that they free ride on government sponsored research of the faculty they hire as consultants and faculty realize their university research projects indirectly benefit from their firm experience. The model accounts for faculty quality, project characteristics, faculty share of license revenue from university research, and the university's research support. Empirically we find that government research funding is positively related to consulting, independent of faculty quality. We find that government and industry funding for university research are strategic complements as well as evidence of the ability of universities to leverage their research infrastructure to attract research funding.

Interwell connectivity analysis in a low-permeability formation using a modified Capacitance Model with application to the East Pembina Field, Cardium Formation, Alberta

From the 1950s to the present, the Cardium Formation has been extensively produced. Exploitation has moved from the high-permeability western areas to very heterogeneous lower permeability, “halo-oil” regions in the east. In this case study, we briefly summarize the geology and assess the degree of interwell communication in selected areas from the East Pembina Field. For the Interwell Connectivity (IWC) evaluation, we use a modified version of the Capacitance Model (CM-PW) for connectivity analysis in areal windows. The CM has been used to analyze flow rates to measure IWC. The direction of the largest IWC change agrees with the expected maximum stress direction in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The model also captures differences between pre- and post-fracturing connectivities. The matches of predicted to measured production using the CM-PW are fair to good, 0.76 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.95