Folly to the Greeks: Good Reasons to Give up Reason

A discussion of why a strong doctrine of 'reason' may not be worth sustaining in the face of modern scientific speculation, and the difficulties this poses for scientific rationality, together with comments on the social understanding of religion, and why we might wish to transcend common sense

Investors and skewness preference in option portfolios / BEBR No. 816

Bibliography: p. 21-22

Model-Invariant Hybrid RANS-LES Computations on Unstructured Meshes

Hybrid RANS-LES computations combine the bene ts of RANS and LES so that LES is used in regions where the accuracy of RANS deteriorates. The numerous hybrid approaches are limited by the speci cation of the LES-RANS interface, which can cause nonphysical results such as log-layer mismatch and low shear stress. The hybrid RANS-LES approach based on the concept of model invariance, mitigates these problems, enabling seamless blending of the RANS and LES regions while forming the basis for interpreting the results in the interface region. This hybrid formulation was implemented in the NASA FUN3D unstructured code and computations for ow in a channel at Reynolds number of 3300 (based on the channel half width h and the bulk in ow velocity u(infinity) were carried out. An isotropic stochastic turbulence generator was implemented to generate in ow turbulence. The present approach was able to eliminate the log-layer mismatch and predict the shear stress fairly well. Thus, the model-invariant hybrid formulation coupled with the isotropic turbulence in ow generation serves as a physically meaningful way of performing hybrid RANS-LES computations

Persistence of UK Real Estate returns: a Markov chain analysis

The persistence of investment performance is a topic of perennial interest to investors. Efficient Markets theory tells us that past performance can not be used to predict future performance yet investors appear to be influenced by the historical performance in making their investment allocation decisions. The problem has been of particular interest to investors in real estate; not least because reported returns from investment in real estate are serially correlated thus implying some persistence in investment performance. This paper applies the established approach of Markov Chain analysis to investigate the relationship between past and present performance of UK real estate over the period 1981 to 1996. The data are analysed by sector, region and size. Furthermore some variations in investment performance classification are reported and the results are shown to be robust

Biological fieldwork provision in higher education

Fieldwork is regarded as an important component of many bioscience degree programmes. QAA benchmarks statements refer explicitly to the importance of fieldwork, although give no indication of amounts of field provision expected. Previous research has highlighted the importance of fieldwork to the learning of both subject-specific and transferable skills. However, it is unclear how the amount and type of fieldwork currently offered is being affected by the recent expansion in student numbers and current funding constraints. Here we review contemporary literature and report on the results of a questionnaire completed by bioscience tutors across 33 UK institutions. The results suggest, perhaps contrary to anecdotal evidence, that the amount of fieldwork being undertaken by students is not in decline and that on the whole, programmes contain reasonable amounts of fieldwork. The majority of programmes involved UK-based fieldwork, but a number of programmes also offered ‘exotic’ overseas fieldwork which was considered important in terms of student recruitment as well as exposing students to a diversity of field learning environments. Tutors were very clear about the benefits of fieldwork and the need to be proactive to maintain its provision

LAND MARKET LIBERALIZATION AND WEALTH DIFFERENTIATED LAND ACCESS: PANEL EVIDENCE FROM HONDURAS AND PERU

We evaluate the impact of agricultural land market liberalization policies in Latin America by empirically examining the degree to which the reforms have broken down the dependence of operational area on owned area. We use panel data sets from Honduras and Peru to estimate the relationship between operational and owned land holdings for pre and post reform periods.Land Economics/Use,