Intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: A reassessment using data on individual workers

We re-examine the relationship between intra-industry trade and labour reallocation, using individual-level data on manufacturing worker moves in the United Kingdom. The contribution of this analysis is twofold. First, we estimate the impact of intra-industry trade on worker moves between occupations as well as between industries. Second, we run individual-level regressions that allow us to control for worker heterogeneity. Our results suggest that intra-industry trade does have the stipulated attenuating effect on worker moves, both between occupations and between industries, but that this effect is relatively small compared to other determinants of labour reallocation

Applications of Bayesian model selection to cosmological parameters

Bayesian model selection is a tool to decide whether the introduction of a new parameter is warranted by data. I argue that the usual sampling statistic significance tests for a null hypothesis can be misleading, since they do not take into account the information gained through the data, when updating the prior distribution to the posterior. On the contrary, Bayesian model selection offers a quantitative implementation of Occam's razor. I introduce the Savage-Dickey density ratio, a computationally quick method to determine the Bayes factor of two nested models and hence perform model selection. As an illustration, I consider three key parameters for our understanding of the cosmological concordance model. By using WMAP 3-year data complemented by other cosmological measurements, I show that a non-scale invariant spectral index of perturbations is favoured for any sensible choice of prior. It is also found that a flat Universe is favoured with odds of 29:1 over non--flat models, and that there is strong evidence against a CDM isocurvature component to the initial conditions which is totally (anti)correlated with the adiabatic mode (odds of about 2000:1), but that this is strongly dependent on the prior adopted. These results are contrasted with the analysis of WMAP 1-year data, which were not informative enough to allow a conclusion as to the status of the spectral index. In a companion paper, a new technique to forecast the Bayes factor of a future observation is presented.Comment: v2 to v3: minor changes, matches accepted version by MNRAS. v1 to v2: major revision. New results using WMAP 3-yr data, scale-invariant spectrum now disfavoured with moderate evidence. New benchmark test for the accuracy of the method. Bayes factor forecast methodology (PPOD, formerly called ExPO) expanded and now presented in a companion paper (astro-ph/0703063

Using Financial Incentives and Improving Information to Increase Labour Market Success: A Non-Parametric Evaluation of the 'Want2Work' Programme

The `Want2Work´ programme was designed to help individuals back into work. This article uses propensity score matching to evaluate the success of a policy that cannot otherwise be evaluated using standard parametric techniques. Using a range of estimation methods, sub-samples and types of job, the scheme was successful. Our most conservative estimates indicate that participants were 4-7 percentage points more likely to find employment than a control group of non-treated job-seekers. Effects were even stronger for Incapacity Benefit recipients. Moreover, there is little evidence that participants were placed in low quality or temporary jobs

Comparing Spanish L2 use of regional phonemes after study abroad in Spain and Mexico

The present study analyzed the use of regional phonemes by native-English speakers before and after spending a year abroad in either Spain or Mexico. The variables selected were the interdental voiceless fricative [θ] and the uvular voiceless fricative [χ], along with their variations. Semi-structured oral interviews were used to elicit data before their sojourn and at the end of their stay. Results show that many participants used [θ] and [χ] more after spending a year in Spain and participants preferred [s] and [h] after spending a year in Mexico. Data on social networks were collected throughout the study for the Spain participants, though results show there was no correlation to the use of regional phonemes. Though many participants had strong social networks during their sojourn, their L2 identity was more of a “temporary sojourner,” perhaps influenced by the ultimately multilingual study abroad experience

The Influence of a Wilderness Experience Program on Students\u27 Attitudes toward Wilderness

The purpose of the study was to examine how a wilderness education program (WEP) influenced students\u27 attitudes towards wilderness and to understand what part of the experience students perceived led to changes in their attitudes toward wilderness protection and preservation. Developing a better understanding of how education influences environmental beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors is important in the wilderness education and resource management fields as they seek the best methods to preserve wildland resources

A process activity monitor for AOS/VS

With the ever increasing concern for computer security, users of computer systems are becoming more sensitive to unauthorized access. One of the initial security concerns for the Shuttle Management Information System was the problem of users leaving their workstations unattended while still connected to the system. This common habit was a concern for two reasons: it ties up resources unnecessarily and it opens the way for unauthorized access to the system. The Data General MV/10000 does not come equipped with an automatic time-out option on interactive peripherals. The purpose of this memorandum is to describe a system which monitors process activity on the system and disconnects those users who show no activity for some time quantum

Relating plankton assemblages to environmental variables using instruments towed by ships-of-opportunity

Undulating Oceanographic Recorders (UORs) and Continuous Plankton Recorders (CPRs) equipped with a suite of sensors were towed by merchant vessels in the North Sea between 1988 and 1991, recording a range of environmental variables. These were used to interpret the results of analyses of the plankton taken on CPR tows off the northeast coast of the UK in 1989 and in the Skagerrak and Kattegat in July 1988 and through 1989. Correlations were found between the biota and the environmental variables. The tidal front off the northeast coast of the UK and the front between the low salinity water in the Kattegat and the higher salinity water in the Skagerrak were dominant factors correlating with the distribution of the plankton assemblages. Discontinuities, defining the positions of the fronts, in the values of physical variables (temperature and, where measured, salinity and turbidity) were closely identified with geographical divisions between plankton assemblages. Measures of irradiance were found to be important on several occasions, presumably due to diel migrations of the zooplankton