Bougainville, perspectives on a crisis

In June 1989, Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Rabbie Namaliu declared a National Emergency on Bougainville Island, North Solomons Province. He did so, he said, to 'bring about an early end to the killing, the violence and the destruction and disruption' caused by a group of militants who threatened 'the unity of our nation, the economic stability if the North Solomons and the country as a whole'. Late in 1988, a rebel landowners' group led by Francis Ona had begun to resort to violence in pursuit of claims for greater compensation for the impact of mining at the island's Panguna mine operated since 1972 by Bougainville Copper Limited. According to Mr Ona, the rebels also sought to break away from Papua New Guinea as the only way to 'save the lives of our people in Bougainville'. In a series of contributions, this monograph canvasses the differing perspectives on the crisis of those involved in the events as well as of outside observers. It examines key issues of concern to landowners affected by the mine, the provincial and central governments, and the operators of the mine. It also reviews aspects of Australian interest in developments. The monograph provides essential reading for an understanding of the complex issues involved and the difficulties facing those seeking to resolve the crisis

The influence of genotype information on psychiatrists’ treatment recommendations: more experienced clinicians know better what to ignore

Background This study applies attribute nonattendance to medical decision making. We aimed to demonstrate how this type of analysis can be used in medical decision making to assess whether psychiatrists were influenced in their treatment recommendations by information on the genotype of a patient, despite knowing the patient’s response to treatment as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. A patient’s genetic information may be used to predict their response to therapy; such information, however, becomes redundant, and should not influence decisions, once a clinician knows the patient’s actual response to treatment. Methods Sixty-seven psychiatrists were presented with patients’ pre- or post-treatment scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for two hypothetical treatments for schizophrenia. Psychiatrists were also informed whether the patient possessed a genotype linked to hyper-responsiveness to one of the treatments, and were asked to recommend one of these two treatments. Attribute nonattendance assessed whether the information on genotype influenced psychiatrists’ treatment recommendations. Results Years of experience predicted whether psychiatrists were influenced by the genetic information. Psychiatrists with 1 year or less of experience had a 46% probability of considering genetic information, whereas psychiatrists with at least 15 years of experience had a lower probability (7%). Conclusions Psychiatrists and other clinicians should be cautious about allowing a patient’s genetic information to carry unnecessary weight in their clinical decision making

Impure Public Goods and Technological Interdependencies

Impure public goods represent an important group of goods. Almost every public good exerts not only effects which are public to all but also effects which are private to the producer of this good. What is often omitted in the analysis of impure public goods is the fact that – regularly – these private effects can also be generated independently of the public good. In our analysis we focus on the effects alternative technologies – independently generating the private effects of the public good – may have on the provision of impure public goods. After the investigation in an analytical impure public good model, we numerically simulate the effects of alternative technologies in a parameterized model for climate policy in Germany