Decade of dissent: explaining the dissent voting behavior of Bank of England MPC members

We examine the dissent voting record of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in its first decade. Probit estimates indicate the impact of career experience on dissent voting is negligible, whereas the impact of forecast inflation is pronounced. In addition to finding a role for dynamics, we also find a role for unobserved heterogeneity in the form of member-specific fixed-effects, suggesting previous literature characterizing voting behavior as largely determined by whether members are appointed from within or outside the ranks of Bank of England staff (internal and external members respectively) is overly simplistic.Bank of England, Monetary Policy Committee, career background effects, dissent voting, unobserved heterogeneity

An Inflated Ordered Probit Model of Monetary Policy: Evidence from MPC Voting Data

Even in the face of a continuously changing economic environment, interest rates often remain unadjusted for long periods. When rates are moved, the norm is for a series of small unidirectional discrete basis-point changes. To explain these phenomena we suggest a two-equation system combining a “long-run” equation explaining a binary decision to change or not change the interest-rate, and a “shortrun” one based on a simple monetary policy rule. We account for unobserved heterogeneity in both equations, applying the model to unique unit-record level data on the voting preferences of Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members.Interest rates; voting; discrete data; ordered models; inflated outcomes; monetary policy committee

Discovery and characterization of bile acid and steroid metabolism pathways in gut-associated microbes

The human gut microbiome is a complex microbial ecosystem residing in the lumen of our gastrointestinal tract. The type and amounts of microbes present in this ecosystem varies based on numerous factors, including host genetics, diet, and environmental factors. The human gut microbiome plays an important role in normal host physiological functions, including providing energy to colonocytes in the form of short-chain fatty acids. However, gut microbial metabolites have also been associated with numerous disease states. Current tools for analyzing the gut microbiome, such as high-throughput sequencing techniques, are limited in their predictive ability. Additionally, “-omic” approaches of studying the complex array of molecules, such as transcriptomics (RNA), proteomics (proteins), and metabolomics (previously identified physiologically active molecules), give important insight as to the levels of these molecules but do not provide adequate explanations for their production in a complex environment. With a better physiological understanding of why specific metabolites are produced by the gut microbiome, more directed therapies could be developed to target their production. Therefore, it is immensely important to study the specific bacteria that reside within the gut microbiome to gain a better understanding of how their metabolic actions might impact the host. Within this framework, this study aimed to better understand the production of secondary bile acid metabolites by bacterial in the gut microbiome. High levels of secondary bile acids are associated with numerous pathophysiological disorders including colon cancer, liver cancer, and cholesterol gallstone disease. In the current study, three bile acid metabolizing strains of bacteria that are known members of the gut microbiome were studied. A novel strain of Eggerthella lenta was identified and characterized, along with the type strain, for its ability to modulate bile acid and steroid metabolism based on the atmospheric gas composition. Additionally, it was shown that the oxidation of hydroxyl groups on primary bile acids by E. lenta C592 inhibited subsequent 7α-dehydroxylation by Clostridium scindens. The gene involved in the production of a Δ4,6-reductase enzyme, responsible for catalyzing two of the final reductive steps in the 7α-dehydroxylation pathway, was putatively identified and characterized in Clostridium scindens ATCC 35704. Lastly, the transcriptomic profile of Clostridium scindens VPI 12708 in the presence of numerous bile acids and steroid molecules was studied. These studies contribute significantly to the understanding of why specific bile acid metabolites are made by members of the gut microbiome and suggest ways of modulating their production

Managing rapport in intercultural business interactions: a comparison of two Chinese-British welcome meetings

This paper explores the management of rapport in intercultural business interactions. It compares two Chinese-British business welcome meetings that were held by the same British company. Despite many similarities between the two meetings, both the British and the Chinese were very satisfied with the first meeting, while the Chinese were very annoyed by the second. This paper describes the similarities and differences between the two meetings, and explores why they were evaluated so differently. It argues that research into the management of relations in intercultural communication needs to use a broader analytic framework than is typical of intercultural discourse research, and that it needs to gather a wider range of data types

An analysis of the significance of sub-regional partnerships in the community sport policy process

Community sport policy is characterised as complex and multi-faceted partly due to the number of agencies involved. This thesis explores the community sport policy process in England, specifically the significance of the relationship between CSPs and NGBs in the community sport policy process. The four key objectives of this study are (i) to analyse the significance of the relationship between CSPs and NGBs with regard to the national community sport policy process; (ii) to analyse the significance of the relationship between CSPs and NGBs in local-level policy making and policy implementation; (iii) to identify CSP and NGB attitudes and perceptions toward the community sport policy process; and as the study focuses on the meso-level of analysis, (iv) to evaluate the explanatory value of selected meso-level theories of the policy process in developing a better understanding of the community sport policy process. This study uses a mixed method comprising a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Initially, a quantitative questionnaire was used to gather information regarding CSPs and NGBs and support the selection of CSP cases. From this CSP-based case studies were developed involving semi-structured interviews with CSP, NGB and local authority representatives. The study draws attention to the hierarchical nature of the community sport policy process, the implications for collaboration, the mediating role of CSPs in national and local policy settings, and the associated challenges that agents face in implementing community sport policy. The study emphasises the value of theoretical pluralism in analysing the community sport field, particularly the combined used of meso-level frameworks such as the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the Policy Networks Approach with micro-level considerations from implementation theory and the partnership literature. It concludes that empirically, it is only by giving policy agents a voice that we can develop a more accurate understanding of the policy process and that practically only by harnessing the commitment and energy of the grassroots can we step toward a more effective policy community

Sustainment Measures for Fighter Jet Engines

The US Air Force (USAF) has evolved a policy for the acquisition of fighter jet engines (FJE). In the 1970s and 1980s that policy placed a premium on FJE performance primarily measured by the metric: thrust/engine weight. In the 1990s, the USAF policy changed from an emphasis on performance to reduced life-cycle cost with a premium on sustainment. This paper reports the results of a study of how the USAF and Corporation Alpha (Alpha) have adapted their processes, practices, and policies to design, develop, manufacture, test, and sustain a family of FJEs. Each member of the family of FJEs is sequentially linked relative to insertion of technology designed to reduce sustainment costs. In addition to the technology linkages, the development of the family of FJEs selected for this case study is also tracked relative to US Department of Defense and USAF policy and industry design, build, and maintain processes, methods, and tools. This paper discerns the complex, highly integrated manner that characterizes the interaction between (1) technology, (2) policy, and (3) manufacturing and sustainment tools to produce a family of FJEs with improving sustainment qualities and non-degrading performance. The metric Unscheduled Engine Removals (UER) per 1000 Effective Flight Hours (UER/1000EFH) is used to compare the sustainability of each member of the selected family of FJEs. Our results are based on data obtained through a series of field interviews of USAF and civilian government personnel and Alpha personnel. The US government extensive database containing UER information is the primary source of MRO trends for the FJEs of this study. Our analysis shows that the family of FJEs sustainability, as measured by the UER metric, has not improved beyond 6 10 EFH for each succeeding generation in the selected FJE family. We conjecture that upstream policy, technology insertion, and manufacturing and sustainment tools are not the primary determinants of sustainability; the manner in which the FJE is used has the greatest influence on sustainability of FJEs.Society of Automotive Engineers Lean Sustainment Initiativ

Culture and rapport promotion in service encounters: protecting the ties that bind

The present study aimed at investigating possible cultural effects on the perceived importance of interactional concerns in service encounters. Individual values were examined to establish an explanatory framework for any effects that might emerge. Hong Kong Chinese and Filipinos participated in the present study by rating the importance of 12 interactional concerns in five hypothetical scenarios involving service provision. “Rapport promotion” was the only consistent factor of interactional concerns to emerge from the five scenarios in each of the two cultural groups. The dimensions of individual values, labeled “Conservation” and “Self-Transcendence” by Schwartz (1992), significantly predicted a respondent’s level of rapport promotion across all scenarios, with self-transcendence partially unpackaging the cultural difference that emerged in one of the service scenarios. We use these results to support a model of communication in service provision that predicts communication concerns as arising from cultural socialization for personal characteristics and situational features of the encounter, leading to the petitioner’s being more dependent on the good will of the service provider

Inflated ordered outcomes

We extend Harris and Zhao (2007) by proposing a (Panel) Inflated Ordered Probit model, and demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee voting data

When a Ban Is Not a Ban: Institutional Work and the Russian Doping Scandal

There are fewer cases of such blatant acts to defy and subsequent heroic efforts to rearrange institutional norms than the Russian doping scandal. In adopting a neo-institutional perspective, the authors theorize the scandal as a case of attempted but failed institutional disruption. More specifically, the authors draw upon the institutional change literature and the institutional work perspective to explain the key events surrounding actors’ response to the scandal. The analysis utilized Gioia’s methodological approach to examine secondary empirical data. Findings reveal how stakeholders circumvented traditional governance structures in an attempt to disrupt institutional arrangements, but despite this, much of the preexisting institutional infrastructure has remained intact. The authors explain this outcome, in part, as a consequence of the counter-institutional work of key governing agencies and other actors to maintain the status quo within international sport

Hands Up, Don\u27t Shoot : College Students, Social Media and the #BLACKLIVESMATTER Movement

This study focused on how college students are using social media in the #Blacklivesmatter movement. There have been several socially galvanizing events surrounding the #Blacklivesmatter movement that have led to many people to turn to social media to voice their opinions, share information and debate different ideas. This study specifically focused on college student’s involvement on social media surrounding these events. The data suggests that Facebook was overwhelmingly the main choice for participants to gather information about this movement. While college students are gathering information about the #Blacklivesmatter movement on social media, the data suggests that participants rarely posted or shared information about the movement on their personal social media platforms. The study addressed how the Uses and Gratifications theory helps explain why people may or may not use social media for the purpose of news/information gathering