Strategic Investments in the Pulp and Paper Industry: A Count Data Regression Analysis

This paper analyses the effects of price and market size variables on the investment propensities in the pulp and paper industry. A panel of 15 European countries in the time period 1984 - 1997 is used in the regression analysis. We find the wages, the US/ECU exchange rate, the price of paper and the installed production capacity to be the main determinants of strategic investments in this industry. Our measure of market size have no - or only very small - effects.Lumpy investments; Prices; Market size; Agglomeration; Distance; Investment determinants

A Welfare Ranking of Two-Sided Market Regimes

Two-sided network effects in card payment systems are analysed under different market structures, e.g., competition, one-sided monopoly, bilateral monopoly and duopoly; with and without an interchange fee; for the so-called Baxters case of non-strategic merchants. A partial ranking of market structures according to their welfare effects is provided. Some support is found for the policy adopted by the EU Commission in the competition law case concerning Visas interchange fees

An Econometric Analysis of the European Commission's Merger Decisions

Using a sample of 96 mergers notified to the EU Commission and logit regression techniques, we analyse the Commission's decision process. We find that the probability of a phase 2 investigation and of a prohibition of the merger increases with the parties' market shares. The probability increases also when the Commission finds high entry barriers or that post-merger collusion is easy. We do not find significant effects of political variables, such as the nationality of the merging firms or the identity of the commissioner.competition law; antitrust; merger; merger reulation

Strategic Investments in the Pulp and Paper Industry: A Count Data Regression Analysis

This paper analyses the effects of price and market size variables on the investment propensities in the pulp and paper industry. A panel of 15 European countries in the time period 1984 - 1997 is used in the regression analysis. We find the wages, the US/ECU exchange rate, the price of paper and the installed production capacity to be the main determinants of strategic investments in this industry. Our measure of market size have no - or only very small - effects

Balancing extensive ambition and a context overflowing with opportunities and demands: A grounded theory on stress and recovery among highly educated working young women entering male-dominated occupational areas

Several factors underline the issue of stress-related health among young highly educated women. Major societal changes might provide more new challenges with considerably changed and expanded roles than were expected by earlier generations, especially among women. The quantity of young women with higher education has also increased threefold in Sweden in less than two decades and there are a growing number of young women that hereby break with traditional gender positions and enter new occupational areas traditionally dominated by men. The research questions in the present study were: “What is the main concern, regarding stress and recovery, among young highly educated working women breaking with traditional gender positions and entering male-dominated occupational areas?” and “How do they handle this concern?” We conducted open-ended interviews with 20 informants, aged 23-29 years. The results showed that the synergy between highly ambitious individuals and a context overflowing with opportunities and demands ended up in the informants’ constantly striving to find a balance in daily life (main concern). This concern refers to the respondents experiencing a constant overload of ambiguity and that they easily became entangled in a loop of stress and dysfunctional coping behavior, threatening the balance between stress and sufficient recovery. In order to handle this concern, the respondents used different strategies in balancing extensive ambition and a context overflowing with opportunities and demands (core category). This preliminary theoretical model deepens our understanding of how the increasing numbers of highly educated young women face complex living conditions endangering their possibility of maintaining health and work ability

A 2,000-year record of eelgrass (zostera marina L.) colonization shows substantial gains in blue carbon storage and nutrient retention

Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes that resulted in a shallow, sheltered environment favoring seagrass growth. Seagrass establishment led to up to 20- and 24-fold increases in sedimentary carbon and nitrogen accumulation rates, respectively. This demonstrates the capacity of seagrasses as efficient ecosystem engineers and their role in global change mitigation and adaptation through CO2 removal, and nutrient and sediment retention. By combining regional climate projections and landscape models, we assessed potential climate change effects on seagrass growth, productivity and distribution until 2100. These predictions showed that seagrass meadows are mostly at risk from increased sedimentation and hydrodynamic changes, while the impact from sea level rise alone might be of less importance in the studied area. This study showcases the positive feedback between seagrass colonization and environmental conditions, which holds promise for successful conservation and restoration efforts aimed at supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the provision of several other crucial ecosystem services

Poly-substance use and antisocial personality traits at admission predict cumulative retention in a buprenorphine programme with mandatory work and high compliance profile

Background: Continuous abstinence and retention in treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders are central challenges for the treatment providers. The literature has failed to show consistent, strong predictors of retention. Predictors and treatment structure may differ across treatment modalities. In this study the structure was reinforced by the addition of supervised urine samples three times a week and mandatory daily work/structured education activities as a prerequisite of inclusion in the program. Methods: Of 128 patients consecutively admitted to buprenorphine maintenance treatment five patients dropped out within the first week. Of the remaining 123 demographic data and psychiatric assessment were used to predict involuntary discharge from treatment and corresponding cumulative abstinence probability. All subjects were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR, and the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP) and the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC), all self-report measures. Some measures were repeated every third month in addition to interviews. Results: Of 123 patients admitted, 86 (70%) remained in treatment after six months and 61 (50%) remained in treatment after 12 months. Of those discharged involuntarily, 34/62 individuals were readmitted after a suspension period of three months. Younger age at intake, poly-substance abuse at intake (number of drugs in urine), and number of conduct disorder criteria on the SCID Screen were independently associated with an increased risk of involuntary discharge. There were no significant differences between dropouts and completers on SCL-90, SSP, SOC or AUDIT. Conclusion: Of the patients admitted to the programme 50% stayed for the first 12 months with continuous abstinence and daily work. Poly-substance use before intake into treatment, high levels of conduct disorder on SCID screen and younger age at intake had a negative impact on retention and abstinence