Does Increased Access Increase Equality? Gender and Child Health Investments in India

Policymakers often argue that increasing access to health care is one crucial avenue for decreasing gender inequality in the developing world. Although this is generally true in the cross section, time series evidence does not always point to the same conclusion. This paper analyzes the relationship between access to child health investments and gender inequality in those health investments in India. A simple theory of gender-biased parental investment suggests that gender inequality may actually be non-monotonically related to access to health investments. At low levels of availability, investment in girls and boys is low but equal; as availability increases, boys get investments first, creating inequality. As availability increases further, girls also receive investments and equality is restored. I test this theory using data on the relationship between gender balance in vaccinations and the availability of "Health Camps" in India. I find support for a non-monotonic relationship. This result may shed light on the contrast between the cross-sectional and time-series evidence on gender and development, and may provide guidance for health policy in developing countries.

Listening to Luddites: Innovation Antibodies and Corporate Success

Protracted innovation is an essential activity of every organization in the modern global marketplace and is fueled by a continuous stream of fresh ideas. Contemporary business literature decries the innovation antibody, employees who intentionally thwart the acquisition and dissemination of crucial new ideas. The business press posits but one uniform type of innovation antibody often unwittingly encouraged by corporate actions, and should be quickly and effectively neutralized. This paper asserts that, like biological antibodies in the human body, the work of innovation antibodies in the corporate body can be either positive or negative. It is true that recalcitrant negative innovation antibodies determined to slow or eliminate innovation must be excised from the organization. Positive innovation antibodies are important to organizational sensemaking and innovation activities, and should not be suppressed or overcome. A revised innovation sequencing model is put forth to guide the activities of positive innovation antibodies, as are specific actions recommended for organizations to encourage the appropriate growth and use of positive innovation antibodies to effect corporate innovation success.innovation; innovation antibodies; sensemaking; strategy; sustainability; values.

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

Cable and satellite television have grown rapidly throughout the developing world. The availability of cable and satellite television exposes viewers to new information about the outside world, which may affect individual attitudes and behaviors. This paper explores the effect of the introduction of cable television on gender attitudes in rural India. Using a three-year individual-level panel dataset, we find that the introduction of cable television is associated with improvements in women's status. We find significant increases in reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of beating and decreases in reported son preference. We also find increases in female school enrollment and decreases in fertility (primarily via increased birth spacing). The effects are large, equivalent in some cases to about five years of education in the cross section, and move gender attitudes of individuals in rural areas much closer to those in urban areas. We argue that the results are not driven by pre-existing differential trends. These results have important policy implications, as India and other countries attempt to decrease bias against women.

The Practice of Telecommuting: A Fresh Perspective

Telecommuting has been a popular practice for an increasing number of firms and governmental bodies over the past decade or more. This research paper reviews antecedents, implementation considerations, known consequences, barriers, and recommendations that need to be determined prior to the adoption of telecommuting practices. The paper demonstrates that the phenomenon of telecommuting is the result of historical, sociological, and technological shifts and advancements. While firms have successfully implemented various elements of telecommuting practices, challenges along the way have yielded insights and lessons that merit further examination and discussion. This paper asserts that with selected individuals, proper structure, and sufficient feedback mechanisms in place, the adoption of telecommuting has the capacity to strengthen a firm’s bottom line and provide tangible benefit for its employees. As a case in point, online learning, developed in parallel with the growth of telecommuting, yields substantial benefits for employees and the companies in which they serve. For employees, online learning is convenient, accommodates multiple learning styles, and is an engaging learning mechanism. For corporations, online learning encourages cost-effectiveness, uniformity in quality and flexibility, and enhanced cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary communications, all necessary to meet the challenges of the ever-changing global marketplace.telecommuting; technology; online learning; social media; innovation; institutional learning; cross-cultural communications.

Exploding Wire as a Light Source in Flash Photolysis

The exploding wire technique has been developed for use as a light source in flash photolysis. The method consists of discharging a bank of condensers, via a mechanical switch through a thin Nichrome wire. The wire explodes, emitting light rich in the ultraviolet region in less than a millisecond. The luminous efficiency in the 200 to 330 mµ region is of the order of 10% of the input. The minimum electrical energy input necessary to produce an explosion is equal to the energy required to vaporize the wire. The light output of the exploding wire as measured by uranyl oxalate actinometry and acetone photolysis is proportional to the electrical energy input. It was found to be highly reproducible. It was further observed that the exploding wire behaves as a line source. Because of the absence of a quartz or Pyrex tube in this source, it may find application in the far as well as in the near ultraviolet and in the visible spectral regions

Photochemical Studies in Flash Photolysis. I. Photolysis of Acetone

The high-intensity flash photolysis of acetone was investigated using an exploding wire as a light source. Experiments were conducted with the unfiltered light of the flash, containing light in the near as well as in the far ultraviolet region of the spectrum. The results show that the C2H6/CO ratio in the reaction products is about 1.25 and is fairly insensitive to variation in acetone pressure. Addition of small amounts of biacetyl lowers the ratio still further. This is attributed to the deactivation of a long-lived excited acetone molecule formed in the ultraviolet region below 210 mµ. Addition of butane lowers the ratio far below unity. The CH4/CO ratio has the constant value of 0.1 for various light intensities, acetone pressures, pressures of added butane or of carbon dioxide. A convenient way of separating small amounts of ethane from very large amounts of carbon dioxide is described

Investigations of the interaction of solar flare particle with the coronal plasma Final report

Bibliography from research on interaction of solar flare particles with coronal plasm