Outsourcing and Volatility

While outsourcing of production from the U.S. to Mexico has been hailed in Mexico as a valuable engine of growth, recently there have been misgivings regarding its fickleness and volatility. This paper is among the first in the trade literature to study the second moment properties of outsourcing. We begin by documenting a new stylized fact: the maquiladora outsourcing industries in Mexico experience fluctuations in value added that are roughly twice as volatile as the corresponding industries in the U.S. A difference-in-difference method is extended to second moments to verify the statistical significance of this finding. We then develop a stochastic model of outsourcing with heterogeneous firms that can explain this volatility. The model employs two novel mechanisms: an extensive margin in outsourcing which responds endogenously to transmit shocks internationally, and translog preferences which modulate firm entry.

Deformation and Fracture of MnTe and MnSe-MnTe Solid Solutions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65773/1/j.1151-2916.1970.tb12074.x.pd

Internet Versus Mailed Questionnaires: A Randomized Comparison (2)

BACKGROUND Low response rates among surgeons can threaten the validity of surveys. Internet technologies may reduce the time, effort, and financial resources needed to conduct surveys. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether using Web-based technology could increase the response rates to an international survey. METHODS We solicited opinions from the 442 surgeon–members of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association regarding the treatment of femoral neck fractures. We developed a self-administered questionnaire after conducting a literature review, focus groups, and key informant interviews, for which we used sampling to redundancy techniques. We administered an Internet version of the questionnaire on a Web site, as well as a paper version, which looked similar to the Internet version and which had identical content. Only those in our sample could access the Web site. We alternately assigned the participants to receive the survey by mail (n=221) or an email invitation to participate on the Internet (n=221). Non-respondents in the mail arm received up to three additional copies of the survey, while non-respondents in the Internet arm received up to three additional requests, including a final mailed copy. All participants in the Internet arm had an opportunity to request an emailed Portable Document Format (PDF) version. RESULTS The Internet arm demonstrated a lower response rate (99/221, 45%) than the mail questionnaire arm (129/221, 58%) (absolute difference 13%, 95% confidence interval 4%-22%, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS. Our Internet-based survey to surgeons resulted in a significantly lower response rate than a traditional mailed survey. Researchers should not assume that the widespread availability and potential ease of Internet-based surveys will translate into higher response rates.Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canad

Note and Comment

Freedom of Press and Use of the Mails - Strangely enough, the First Amendment to the Federal Constitution, although it guarantees against federal attack highly important and fundamental rights, has received very little authoritative interpretation by our courts. It remained for the Gr&t War and conditions following in its train to bring before that tribunal almost the first really important controversies relating to freedom of press and of speech. The case of U. S. ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company, Plaintiff in Error, v. Postmaster-General Albert S. Burleson, decided March 7, 192i, is the- latest of a series of notable cases concerning this important matter. The case, however, adds little to the development bf the subject by the court in the preceding cases in this group, which have been reviewed in an article by Professor Goodrich, I9 MICHIGAN LAw REvIEw, pages 487-501

Note and Comment

The Domicile of a Wife - In 1908 Professor Dicey stated flatly, as a rule of the English law without exceptions, that the domicile of a married woman during coverture is the same as that of her husband, and changes with his. It is a rule which makes for hard cases and offers constant invitations for exceptions to meet the situations it creates. Must a deserted wife follow her husband to the ends of the earth to secure the domiciliary jurisdiction for divorce? May he, by shifting his own place of permanent residence, arbitrarily deprive her of capacity to make a will, or determine the law to govern the devolution of the property upon her dying intestate? Where can she vote

Prevalence of iron deficiency in 62,685 women of seven race/ethnicity groups: The HEIRS Study.

BackgroundFew cross-sectional studies report iron deficiency (ID) prevalence in women of different race/ethnicity and ages in US or Canada.Materials and methodsWe evaluated screening observations on women who participated between 2001-2003 in a cross-sectional, primary care-based sample of adults ages ≥25 y whose observations were complete: race/ethnicity; age; transferrin saturation; serum ferritin; and HFE p.C282Y and p.H63D alleles. We defined ID using a stringent criterion: combined transferrin saturation &lt;10% and serum ferritin &lt;33.7 pmol/L (&lt;15 μg/L). We compared ID prevalence in women of different race/ethnicity subgrouped by age and determined associations of p.C282Y and p.H63D to ID overall, and to ID in women ages 25-44 y with or without self-reported pregnancy.ResultsThese 62,685 women included 27,079 whites, 17,272 blacks, 8,566 Hispanics, 7,615 Asians, 449 Pacific Islanders, 441 Native Americans, and 1,263 participants of other race/ethnicity. Proportions of women with ID were higher in Hispanics and blacks than whites and Asians. Prevalence of ID was significantly greater in women ages 25-54 y of all race/ethnicity groups than women ages ≥55 y of corresponding race/ethnicity. In women ages ≥55 y, ID prevalence did not differ significantly across race/ethnicity. p.C282Y and p.H63D prevalence did not differ significantly in women with or without ID, regardless of race/ethnicity, age subgroup, or pregnancy.ConclusionsID prevalence was greater in Hispanic and black than white and Asian women ages 25-54 y. p.C282Y and p.H63D prevalence did not differ significantly in women with or without ID, regardless of race/ethnicity, age subgroup, or pregnancy

Enhanced Survival and Neuronal Differentiation of Adrenal Chromaffin Cells Cografted into the Striatum with NGF-producing Fibroblasts

Although adrenal medullary chromaffin cells have been used extensively for intracerebral grafting, their survival has generally been poor. Improved survival of the implanted cells has been achieved by exposing the chromaffin cells to NGF in vivo. Culture studies have shown, however, that chromaffin cells are converted into sympathetic neurons when NGF is included in the medium. The degree to which such a transdifferentiation may occur in vivo has not been determined. We assessed the effects of cografting chromaffin cells with primary fibroblasts genetically engineered to express NGF. Chromaffin cells from 10 d old rats were implanted with NGF-producing or beta- galactosidase-producing primary fibroblasts (control fibroblasts) into the striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine treated adult rats of the same strain. Eight weeks postgrafting, chromaffin cells cografted with NGF- producing fibroblasts displayed many of the features of mature sympathetic neurons such as large somata, long processes, transmitter vesicles similar to those found in neurons, and positive immunolabeling for the neuronal markers neurofilament, MAP2 and SCG10. Chromaffin- derived neuron number was also significantly enhanced in the presence of NGF-producing fibroblasts. While control fibroblasts were also found to increase chromaffin cell number above that of chromaffin cells grafted alone, the control fibroblasts did not induce neuronal transdifferentiation. These results demonstrate that chromaffin cells cografted with NGF-producing fibroblasts undergo transdifferentiation in vivo and express many characteristics of mature sympathetic neurons. The consequences of this transdifferentiation on the long term survival and function of the transplanted cells in vivo remain to be clarified