What is the meaning of behavioural economics?

This article examines the insights into how people actually behave from behavioural economics and how this affects economic explanation and prescription. It argues that implications for explanation are likely always to be contestable (because, as a new source of empirical evidence, behavioural economics encounters familiar problems with empiricism). The implications for prescription, however, are potentially significant, although not in the direction popularised by 'nudging'. Indeed, the behavioural insights suggest that public policy should be less concerned with forms of preference satisfaction and more concerned with individual autonomy. On many accounts of the philosophy of social science, the tension between these insights into behaviour and the dominant model of rational choice would likely consign behavioural economics to the margins of the discipline. In this context, however, this is not true, and the article concludes with a discussion of this puzzle

Rock mass properties and edifice strength data from Pinnacle Ridge, Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand

International audienceVolcanic edifices exhibit spatially variable physical and mechanical properties. Magmatic intrusions are common at shallow depths within the volcanic edifice and are a poorly-understood contributor to this spatial variability. Intrusion-related alteration has been found to weaken rock mass strength through the development of joints and fractures; however, there is a paucity of research investigating how intrusions affect rock mass strength specific to the geotechnical units that define the rock masses. In this study, we employ a range of field techniques—field permeametry, rock hardness assessment, rock mass classification, and discontinuity mapping—to characterise an exposed fossil geothermal system produced by a shallow intrusion at Pinnacle Ridge, Mt. Ruapehu (New Zealand). We find that intrusions detrimentally affect the rock mass characteristics of altered brecciated lava margins. The resulting change in rock mass strength may be offset by an increase in intact rock strength as a product of alteration mineral precipitation in microfractures. Consequently, the final strength of the rock mass of the altered brecciated lava margins has the potential to be lowest of any of the geotechnical units in the volcanic edifice. We also conclude that these discontinuities increase permeability of the host rock at distances from the intrusion roughly proportional to 1–2 times the thickness of the intrusion itself under near-surface conditions. The data and conclusions presented in this study help to bridge the gap between the lab- and the field-scale and have immediate relevance to engineering geology and geothermal applications worldwide, and to rock mass classification assessments in volcanic environments

Institutions and (short-run) macroeconomic performance

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Physical and mechanical property relationships of a shallow intrusion and volcanic host rock, Pinnacle Ridge, Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand

International audienceShallow magmatic intrusions are prevalent in volcanic settings worldwide. Understanding how these intrusions interact and influence their volcanic host rocks is therefore relevant to many engineering geology, geothermal, and volcanological applications. In this study, we present the most comprehensive dataset for a shallow intrusion and its host rock in a volcanic setting to date, detailing the mechanical and physical properties of volcanic rocks from Pinnacle Ridge, Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand. Based on the geomechanical properties of 194 measured samples, we identify seven geotechnical units: (1) unaltered dense coherent lava, (2) altered dense coherent lava, (3) unaltered brecciated lava margin, (4) altered brecciated lava margin, (5) unaltered intrusion, (6) altered intrusion, and (7) hydrothermal veining. We detail the mineralogy (andesite compositions ranging from primary to an advanced argillic alteration assemblage), porosity (0.7–31%), permeability (10−21–10−12 m2), elastic wave velocities (1994–5615 m/s), uniaxial compressive strength (1–332 MPa) of these geotechnical units. Our laboratory analyses indicate that primary lithology is the predominant control on the physical and mechanical properties of the geotechnical units. Additionally, the data suggest that there is a correlation between distance to the largest intrusion; this is particularly evident for the measurements on the brecciated lava margin samples. Towards the largest intrusion, this breccia shows decreasing porosity (30.92 to 5.49%) and permeability (10−12 to 10−17 m2) and increasing elastic wave velocities (1994 to 4157 m/s) and uniaxial compressive strength (3 to 61 MPa). Thin-section analysis suggests that these correlations are due to mineral precipitation within fractures and pores in the brecciated lava margins. These correlations with distance to the largest intrusion are not shared by the altered intrusions or dense coherent lavas. We suggest that the high primary permeability of the unaltered breccia facilitated efficient hydrothermal fluid circulation and mineral precipitation adjacent to the intrusion. The other geotechnical units are less affected because hydrothermal fluid flow, alteration, and mineral precipitation were limited due to low initial permeability (10−21–10−16 m2). Our study shows that the initial properties of the host rock (i.e. porosity and permeability) control the extent of hydrothermal alteration and the susceptibility to modifications of rock geomechanical properties. Modifications to porosity and permeability can influence edifice-scale behaviour; for example, a reduction in permeability can result in pore pressure augmentation, which exerts a primary control on volcanic slope stability, seismicity, and eruptive behaviour. This study provides the most comprehensive and complete geomechanical properties data suite on a shallow intrusion in volcanic host rock to date and will support monitoring and modelling of volcanic hazards associated with shallow igneous intrusions

Minimum wage legislation, investment and human capital

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