“Insufficient for the Support of a Family” - Wages on the Public Works During the Great Irish Famine

This paper presents a model of the money wage paid on the public works during the Irish Famine. The administrators are assumed to minimise a cost function that includes the divergence from the target as well as the increase compared to the wage that current information is available on. Estimation reveals a lag of four weeks existed between price changes occurring and adjustment to the money wages. Most seriously, the administrators systematically failed to take full account of the extent of price changes.

Credit Unions and the Supply of Insurance to Low Income Households

The low-income credit union modelled in this paper is an institution with a particular form of contract designed to allow it to operate among agents that are excluded from using banks. Specifically credit unions deal with those potentially on the minimum income guarantee. The challenge facing them is to distinguish between those whose motivation is consumption smoothing and those who seek the largest credible loan with the intention of defaulting. This is achieved by setting the level of the minimum deposit and the loan and deposit rates such that an intentional defaulter has no incentive to join the credit union.credit unions, intentional defaulter, financial contract

The Irish rural economy 1844-54: a general equilibrium approach to famine, relief and change

The crisis in the Irish rural econoll\Y wrought by the potato blight presents a challenging area for economic analysis. Despite terrible mortality and large scale emigration, there was a significant increase in livestock numbers. Any investigation of the mechanism by which these developments occurred immediately faces two distinct problems. Firstly there is the question of peasant economic behaviour - is it distinct from the neoclassical paradigm of the econofl\Y made up of individuals and firms? Secondly, there is the lack of comprehensive statistics.In response to these difficulties a rigorous model of the peasant economy is developed in the thesis. The theoretical structure provides a framework on which the historical evidence, which tends to be highly uneven in quantity and quality, may be hung and wrought into a pattern. Moreover, by being concrete, the historical evidence allows us to restrict the model's generality, making it a much more practical instrument.The defining characteristic of a peasant economy is taken to be the absence of a capital market. The peasant is simultaneously a producer and a consumer with his central economic decision being between present and future consumption. Since output is generated after a lag, the problem is one of intertemporal allocation of resources, which is solved by using non-linear programming.Optimal behaviour for the peasant differs from that of the firm due in the main to the existence of a budget constraint. This, together with the peasant's position as a consumer and the production lag, leads to comparative static results which are distinct from traditional demand theory. With consumption often being near the physical minimum, we find the peasant's supply of hours schedule to be distinctive, which has important consequences for wages during the Famine .Counterpoised to the theoretical mode l of peasant behaviour is the historical evidence of the pre-Famine rural economy. From the latter we basically require an appreciation of the agricultural production function and the potential for substitution between factors. To gain this it was necessary to undertake an extensfve investigation of cropping systems and the techniques of tillage and livestock production. This was supplemented by analysing the evidence on land utilisation, where the role of land quality was captured by using the valuation evidence. The land and labour markets were intertwined in the rural economy and are examined carefully since, together with the product markets (inputs and outputs are interchangeable) they constitute the general equilibrium system.The course of agricultural production in the years 1845-47, for which we have only limited statistical material, is analysed using the same approach as employed previously. A simplified model is developed and its behaviour is noted under assumptions which are relevant to the period under consideration . Within this framework a detailed study of the historical evidence is developed. The blight had two direct economic consequences. There was a loss of income from the potato crop, though in some cases this could be compensated by price changes of other products. Secondly , there was an increase in the real wage rate.Because physiology sets a floor to the real wage rate, the labour market could not be cleared during the Famine. As a consequence excess l abour supply rapidly developed. Since the existing welfare provisions were inadequate the British government introduced special relief measures. These have been analysed principal ly from the viewpoint of the constraints on expenditure which they included.The blackest year of the Famine was 1847 . It also marks the beginning of recovery and the beginning of reliable and comprehensive statistics of agricultural production. This pennits a mode l of the recovery to be estimated. The production decisions of the peasant are constrained by a budget and thus we concentrate upon the factors which would directly affect this. We consider the role of rents, rates and crop yields upon the growth of real wealth in the rural economy.The period of the recovery is taken to be 1847-54, during which time we assume the supply of l abour to be infinitely elastic. The short time period requires that cross-sections of time series be pool ed. Estimation is carried out under differing assumptions and the . results are compared

A Sequential Analysis of Problem Solving Using the Thought Listing Technique

This paper provides an analysis of human problem solving through exploration of the thought listing technique. Pat McGregor separates the paper into seven sections that investigate the definitions of problem solving and decision making in psychology, its applications, related literature, and methodological issues related to research

Equine obesity: current perspectives

Foreword Equine obesity is now so common that is has become accepted by many as the norm ( Owers and Chubbock, 2012 ). Rates of obesity may be as high as 70% in some populations and obesity is often associated with morbidities that may ultimately result in mortality. Obesity is a common feature in animals diagnosed with equine metabolic syndrome, a conflation of metabolic disturbances including insulin dysregulation, which may lead to laminitis. Obesity is a risk factor for insulin dysregulation and is therefore implicated in laminitis risk. In addition to laminitis, adverse consequences of obesity include orthopaedic disease, hyperlipaemia, hyperthermia, infertility and poor performance. Over time, perception of what constitutes a healthy body condition in horses has shifted, with the result that potentially harmful excess adiposity may not be recognised by owners or those working in the equine industry ( Owers and Chubbock, 2012 ). In addition, increasing numbers of equines are kept as companions rather than athletes and live relatively inactive lifestyles favouring the development of obesity. Finally, owners of leisure horses often think their horses are working hard when, in reality, their exertions have minimal impact on their energy requirements. Despite increasing awareness within the veterinary profession and equine industry of the impact of obesity on equine welfare, little progress seems to have been made in tackling it. This document was commissioned in order to provide veterinary surgeons with up-to-date information on equine obesity and to equip them to tackle it within their own practices. Recommendations were developed using an informal two-round Delphi process, considering published and unpublished research relating to equine obesity using a round table forum and online discussion. Where research evidence was conflicting or absent, collective expert opinion based on the clinical experience of the group was applied. The opinions expressed are the consensus of views expressed by the authors. Where agreement was not reached, opposing views are presented such that readers can understand the arguments fully. The document is focused on the management of horses and ponies; while much of the information herein is applicable to donkeys it is important to recognise that the metabolism and management of donkeys are different and further research is required before specific recommendations can be made. The expert group was organised by UK-Vet Equine with sponsorship from Baileys Horse Feeds. </jats:sec

Two or Four Bristles: Functional Evolution of an Enhancer of scute in Drosophilidae

Changes in cis-regulatory sequences are proposed to underlie much of morphological evolution. Yet, little is known about how such modifications translate into phenotypic differences. To address this problem, we focus on the dorsocentral bristles of Drosophilidae. In Drosophila melanogaster, development of these bristles depends on a cis-regulatory element, the dorsocentral enhancer, to activate scute in a cluster of cells from which two bristles on the posterior scutum arise. A few species however, such as D. quadrilineata, bear anterior dorsocentral bristles as well as posterior ones, a derived feature. This correlates with an anterior expansion of the scute expression domain. Here, we show that the D. quadrilineata enhancer has evolved, and is now active in more anterior regions. When used to rescue scute expression in transgenic D. melanogaster, the D. quadrilineata enhancer is able to induce anterior bristles. Importantly, these properties are not displayed by homologous enhancers from control species bearing only two posterior bristles. We also provide evidence that upstream regulation of the enhancer, by the GATA transcription factor Pannier, has been evolutionarily conserved. This work illustrates how, in the context of a conserved trans-regulatory landscape, evolutionary tinkering of pre-existing enhancers can modify gene expression patterns and contribute to morphological diversification

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland): health system review

The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series provide detailed descriptions of health systems in the countries of the WHO European Region as well as some additional OECD countries. An individual health system review (HiT) examines the specific approach to the organization, financing and delivery of health services in a particular country and the role of the main actors in the health system. It describes the institutional framework, process, content, and implementation of health and health care policies. HiTs also look at reforms in progress or under development and make an assessment of the health system based on stated objectives and outcomes with respect to various dimensions (health status, equity, quality, efficiency, accountability)