Alien Registration- Landry, John (Waterville, Kennebec County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/15103/thumbnail.jp

National Hockey League guaranteed contracts: A principal agent problem impacting on performance

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate, through the lens of the principal–agent problem, the relationship between payment of National Hockey League (NHL) salaries and player performance during the period of 2005-2011 and explore the inherent issues within the NHL player compensation and incentive structure. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts a pragmatic philosophy with deductive reasoning. This paper focuses on the NHL season 2005-2011 and undertake analysis of historical player contracts and performance data of 670 players across 29 clubs to undertake liner regression analysis. Findings – This paper quantifies potential inefficiencies of NHL league contracts and defines the parameters of the principal–agent problem. It is identifies that player performance generally increases with salary, is higher in the first year of a contract and despite decreasing over the life of the contract, will usually peak again in the final year of the contract. Research limitations/implications – The research is based around figures from 2005-2011 and secondary statistical data. The study captures quantitative data but does not allow for an exploration of the qualitative perspective to the problem. Practical implications – Entry-level or first contracts are good for all teams and players because they provide incentive to perform and a reduction of risk to the team should a player not perform to expectations. The same can be said for players at the other end of the spectrum. Although not typically used much, performance bonuses for players over the age of 35 allow clubs to “take a chance” on a player and the player can benefit by reaching attainable bonuses. These findings therefore provide contributions to the practicing managers and coaches of NHL teams who can consider the results to help shape their approach to management of players and the planning of teams and succession planning for talent. Originality/value – The paper presents a comprehensive and current perspective of the principal–agent problem in NHL and extends the work of Purcell (2009) and Gannon (2009) in understanding player performance enhancement

How to Save a Leaky Ship: Capability Traps and the Failure of Win-Win Investments in Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Can managers enhance social responsibility while also improving profitability? Research demonstrates that there are “win-win” investments that improve both socially desirable outcomes and the bottom line, from energy and the environment to wages and workplace safety. Yet many such opportunities are not taken—money is left on the table. Here we explore this puzzle using the case of energy efficiency in a large research university, a setting that should favor implementation of win-win actions. However, despite a long time horizon, large endowment and pro-social mission, the university failed to implement many programs offering both large environmental and financial benefits. Using ethnographic field study and panel regression we develop a novel simulation model integrating energy use, maintenance, and facilities renewal. We find that the organization inadvertently fell into a capability trap in which poor performance prevented investments in win-win opportunities and the capabilities needed to realize them, perpetuating poor performance. Escaping the trap requires investments large enough and sustained long enough to cross tipping thresholds that convert the vicious cycle in to a virtuous cycle of better performance, greater investment and still better performance. We discuss how the organization is escaping from the trap and whether the results generalize to other contexts

Synthesis, Transport and Assembly of Wild Type and Mutant Precursors of the Small Subunit of the Chloroplast Enzyme Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase.

The small subunits of the chloroplast enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) are synthesized in the cytoplasm as precursors and transported into the organelle. The precursor (pS) of the small subunit (S) of RuBisCO contains an amino-terminal extension, the transit peptide, which is removed during or after transport into the chloroplast. The possible involvement of an RNA-containing component in transport of proteins into chloroplasts was investigated using a reconstituted system of pS translated in vitro and isolated chloroplasts. The post-ribosomal supernatant of the in vitro translation mixture and/or isolated chloroplasts were treated with ribonuclease prior to incubation for transport. Transport of pS was unaffected by the ribonuclease treatment indicating that an RNA is not involved in this process. While the targeting function of the pS transit peptide is well documented, the role in transport of the mature portion of the precursor has not been elucidated. Mutations in the mature portion of pS were constructed to assess the influence of the mature portion of the precursor on transport. Each mutant pS was analysed for transport into chloroplasts and assembly into RuBisCO. Mutations in the amino-terminal region of S severely interfere with transport of pS while mutations near the middle of S interfere to a lesser degree. These results indicate that the pS transit peptide is tailored for optimal transport of S. Assembly of mutant S into holoenzyme was poor, and a significant fraction was associated with RuBisCO binding protein which is postulated to assist assembly of the holoenzyme. Mutant S may be arrested at an intermediate step in the pathway of assembly. RuBisCO binding protein is homologous to the Escherichia coli groEL protein which binds unfolded proteins and mediates assembly of protein complexes. Fusion proteins containing pS or S fused to the carboxy-terminus of Staphylococcus protein A were expressed in E. coli and purified by protein A-affinity chromatography. GroEL protein copurified with protein A-pS and protein A-S but not protein A alone. Association of groEL protein with S expressed in E. coli indicates that RuBisCO binding protein, like groEL protein, may bind other unfolded or unassembled chloroplast proteins in addition to S

Nozzle Flow with Vibrational Nonequilibrium

Flow of nitrogen gas through a converging-diverging nozzle is simulated. The flow is modeled using the Navier-Stokes equations that have been modified for vibrational nonequilibrium. The energy equation is replaced by two equations. One equation accounts for energy effects due to the translational and rotational degrees of freedom, and the other accounts for the affects due to the vibrational degree of freedom. The energy equations are coupled by a relaxation time which measures the time required for the vibrational energy component to equilibrate with the translational and rotational energy components. An improved relaxation time is used in this thesis. The equations are solved numerically using the Steger-Warming flux vector splitting method and the Implicit MacCormack method. The results show that uniform flow is produced outside of the boundary layer. Nonequilibrium exists in both the converging and diverging nozzle sections. The boundary layer region is characterized by a marked increase in translational-rotational temperature. The vibrational temperature remains frozen downstream of the nozzle, except in the boundary layer

Field Experiments on Anchoring of Economic Valuations

A pillar of behavioral research is the view that preferences are constructed during the value elicitation process, but it is unclear whether, and to what extent, such biases influence real market equilibria. This paper examines the “anchoring” phenomenon in the field. The first experiment produces evidence that inexperienced consumers can be anchored in the value elicitation process, yet there is little evidence that experienced agents are influenced by anchors. The second experiment finds that anchors have only transient effects on prices and quantities traded: aggregate market outcomes converge to the intersection of supply and demand after a few market periods.field experiment, anchoring, valuation, experience

Wind Turbines and Coastal Recreation Demand

We examine the impact of coastal wind turbines on coastal tourism and recreation for residents of the northern CAMA counties in North Carolina. A combination of telephone and web survey data are used to assess the impact of coastal wind farms on trip behavior and site choice. Most of the respondents to our telephone survey claim to support offshore wind energy development, and independent survey data suggest that the observed levels of support may be indicative of the broader population in this region. Overall, we find very little impact of coastal wind turbines on aggregate recreational visitation; loss in consumer surplus associated with wide spread wind development in the coastal zone is insignificant at $17 (or about 1.5$55 per household. On average, we find no evidence of aversion to wind farms 4 miles out in the ocean, or for wind farms located in coastal estuaries. For all wind farm scenarios, we find evidence of preference heterogeneity– some respondents find this appealing while others find it aversive. Key Words: Recreation demand, tourism, renewable energy

Going Home: Evacuation-Migration Decisions of Hurricane Katrina Survivors

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many evacuees from the Gulf region began the difficult process of deciding whether to rebuild or restart elsewhere. We examine pre-Katrina Gulf residents’ decision to return to the post-disaster Gulf region—which we call the “return migration” decision. We estimate two separate return migration models, first utilizing data from a mail survey of individuals in the affected region and then focusing on self-administered questionnaires of evacuees in Houston. Our results indicate that return migration can be affected by household income; age; education level; employment, marital and home ownership status; but the results depend upon the population under consideration. We find no impact of “connection to place” on the return migration decision. While the impact of income is relatively small, we find that the real wage differential between home and host region influences the likelihood of return. Larger implicit costs, in terms of foregone wages for returning, induce a lower likelihood of return. Exploiting this difference at the individual level, we are able to produce estimates of willingness to pay to return home. Average WTP to return home for a sample of relatively poor households is estimated at $1.94 per hour or$3,954 per year.