The Private Provision of Public Goods: An Analysis of Homes on Golf Courses

This paper examines the joint production of golf and real estate development. The empirical results of this analysis show that, over time, golf courses are being constructed less for recreational golf and more for contractual assurance of green open space for homes. We believe that this fundamentally provides some evidence that the demand for environmental quality is growing and that markets are increasingly able to find creative contracting mechanisms to satisfy demands for public goods

The Sex Ratio and the Out-of-Wedlock Birth Rate in the United States during World War II

This paper provides a theoretical economic framework to study the effects of changes in the sex ratio on the out-of-wedlock birth rate in the United States. We model the demanders and suppliers of sexual relations as potential mates and the relative “price” of human sexual relations as the promises implicit within a traditional marriage (marriage, fidelity, wealth transfers, child support, etc.). We examine an instrument for the implicit “price” of sexual relations, namely the out-of-wedlock birth rate. We show that the reduction in the number of available sex partners for women during World War II decreased the “price”—in terms of marriage—that remaining men had to pay for sex. One result of this lower “price” is an increase in the number of children born out-of-wedlock during the war. According to our regression results, a reduction in the sex ratio of 10 males per 100 females in the U.S. population during World War II increased the out-of wedlock birth rate by six to ten percent

Atrasentan and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (SONAR): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Short-term treatment for people with type 2 diabetes using a low dose of the selective endothelin A receptor antagonist atrasentan reduces albuminuria without causing significant sodium retention. We report the long-term effects of treatment with atrasentan on major renal outcomes. Methods: We did this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at 689 sites in 41 countries. We enrolled adults aged 18–85 years with type 2 diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)25–75 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 of body surface area, and a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR)of 300–5000 mg/g who had received maximum labelled or tolerated renin–angiotensin system inhibition for at least 4 weeks. Participants were given atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily during an enrichment period before random group assignment. Those with a UACR decrease of at least 30% with no substantial fluid retention during the enrichment period (responders)were included in the double-blind treatment period. Responders were randomly assigned to receive either atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily or placebo. All patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was a composite of doubling of serum creatinine (sustained for ≥30 days)or end-stage kidney disease (eGFR <15 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 sustained for ≥90 days, chronic dialysis for ≥90 days, kidney transplantation, or death from kidney failure)in the intention-to-treat population of all responders. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of their assigned study treatment. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01858532. Findings: Between May 17, 2013, and July 13, 2017, 11 087 patients were screened; 5117 entered the enrichment period, and 4711 completed the enrichment period. Of these, 2648 patients were responders and were randomly assigned to the atrasentan group (n=1325)or placebo group (n=1323). Median follow-up was 2·2 years (IQR 1·4–2·9). 79 (6·0%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 105 (7·9%)of 1323 in the placebo group had a primary composite renal endpoint event (hazard ratio [HR]0·65 [95% CI 0·49–0·88]; p=0·0047). Fluid retention and anaemia adverse events, which have been previously attributed to endothelin receptor antagonists, were more frequent in the atrasentan group than in the placebo group. Hospital admission for heart failure occurred in 47 (3·5%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 34 (2·6%)of 1323 patients in the placebo group (HR 1·33 [95% CI 0·85–2·07]; p=0·208). 58 (4·4%)patients in the atrasentan group and 52 (3·9%)in the placebo group died (HR 1·09 [95% CI 0·75–1·59]; p=0·65). Interpretation: Atrasentan reduced the risk of renal events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease who were selected to optimise efficacy and safety. These data support a potential role for selective endothelin receptor antagonists in protecting renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of developing end-stage kidney disease. Funding: AbbVie

Three Essays in Political Economy

The first essay provides a theoretical framework that informs the ongoing debate regarding the effect of conservation easement subsidies on local property tax revenue. Supporters claim that conservation easements increase property tax revenue by providing environmental amenities that increase the value of adjacent properties. Critics argue that they decrease property tax revenue by lowering land values and shrinking the tax base. In instances when local property tax revenue decline due to the income tax deductibility of conservation easements, the decline is larger when the demand for land is more elastic, the proportion of non-agricultural land in the county is larger, the agricultural tax benefit is larger, and there is less Ricardian rent on agricultural land. The second essay examines the role of political parties in affecting presidential control and congressional oversight of antitrust enforcement. The Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust is a presidential appointee who carries out the administration\u27s desired level of antitrust enforcement. Congressional legislators have oversight and appropriations powers over the Antitrust Division. I assume that Democratic and Republican legislators have different preferences about the proper level of appropriations for the Antitrust Division. In spite of these presidential party control and congressional oversight relationships, I do not find any political effect on the number of antitrust cases filed from 1903 to 2005. My result suggests that Division bureaucrats have wide discretion in case selection and are independent of the influence of the White House and the Congress. The third essay studies the effect of a change in the sex ratio of males to females on the relative price of human sexual relations. The illegitimate birth rate is used as an instrument for the price of sexual relations. The reduction in the number of available sex partners for women during World War II decreased the price that remaining men had to pay for sex. One result of this lower price is an increase in the number of illegitimate children born during the war. The male scarcity also resulted in females marrying less suitable males who are different from their wives in terms of age, educational attainment, and real income

Television, code law, and integrated markets

Political economy, Regulation, Scope of government, Legislature, D72, H11, L51,

Is Public Expenditure Productive? Evidence from the Manufacturing Sector in U.S. Cities, 1880-1920

This article provides the first examination of the relationship between public expenditures and labor productivity that focuses on municipalities, rather than states or nations. We use data for 1880-1920, a period of rapid industrialization in which there were both high levels of public infrastructure spending and rapid growth of productivity. We use a simple Cobb-Douglas production function to model labor productivity in the manufacturing sector, letting total factor productivity depend on “productive” public expenditure by city governments. Using a data set of 45 of the largest cities in the United States, we find no statistically significant relationship between “productive” public expenditure and labor productivity in the manufacturing sector during this period. These findings are robust to three different econometric approaches. We do however find a strongly positive and statistically significant relationship between private capital and labor productivity. Our results are consistent with those of much of the literature examining this same relationship in states and nations and they have important implications for contemporary public policy issues

Language, ideology and identity : education implications for Afghanistan

War and conflict have been widespread in Afghanistan for more than three decades, with insurmountable atrocities, human suffering and population displacement. Over one and half million Afghans have died and eight million have become refugees or internally displaced people because of conflict. Afghans continue to be the world's largest refugee population, the majority being women, children and the elderly. The political and sociocultural background to the conflict and how it has influenced population displacement throughout the region will be outlined in detail. The psychosocial and psychological effects of trauma will be discussed, including how these situations impact both male and female Afghanis. The examination will discuss young male refugees, a vulnerable population who are recruited and trained as resistance fighters to further expand Jihad and maintain control of Afghanistan. The examination will also identify an increase in post war antagonism, domestic violence and domination of women within Afghan communities. Overall, the chapter will discuss how lingering and new world ideologies are impacted by education, language and identity. The discussion will conclude with recommendations for policy, practice and interventions to effectively respond to the educational needs of those who remain physically and psychologically displaced by conflict and those who now live in post war Afghanistan. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Vocabulary teaching, learning and as a social practice

Vocabulary is an essential item in language teaching and learning, although sometimes it is neglected. In order to produce an effective vocabulary teaching and learning, instructors and learners must understand the background of vocabulary including breath, depth and word knowledge. Some effective strategies are introduced to make vocabulary learning more attractive and interesting for learners. Inevitably, vocabulary teaching and learning is not only a method and instrument, but also interpreted as social practice from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) perspective, which involves the discourse of social control, trust and meaning making. These three discourses should be taken into consideration as they may influence the vocabulary teaching and learning outcome. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Simplifying the language of fetal monitoring

Health professionals in Australia and New Zealand have used various intrapartum fetal surveillance (IFS) guidelines, with clear differences in how these guidelines present information. Based on clinician feedback, the 2015 Queensland Clinical Guideline on IFS structured the prose-based Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) IFS Guidelines as a traffic-light matrix and represented the categorical terms of unlikely, maybe, possible and likely fetal compromise, as the colours GREEN, BLUE, AMBER, and RED, respectively.To determine whether the interpretation of the RANZCOG IFS Guidelines in Table Format is more accurate and quicker compared to the current presentation of the RANZCOG Guideline in prose format.Twenty-nine clinicians, naïve to the use of the RANZCOG IFS Guidelines, interpreted ten cardiotocographs (CTGs) using one format and then the alternative format (totalling 580 CTG interpretations). Accuracy and time to decision were recorded as well as a participant questionnaire. A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare differences.Compared to prose format, clinicians interpreted CTGs quicker using the table format (P\ua