Explaining Product Price Differences Across Countries

A substantial part of international differences in prices of individual products, both goods and services, can be explained by differences in per capita income, wage compression, or low wage dispersion among low-wage workers, and short-term exchange rate fluctuations. Higher per capita income is associated with higher prices and higher wage dispersion with lower prices. The effects of higher income and wage dispersion are moderated for the more tradable products. The effects of wage dispersion, on the other hand, are magnified for the more labor-intensive products, particularly low-skill services. The differences in prices across countries are reflected in differences in the composition of consumption. Countries in which prices of labor-intensive services are very high, such as the Nordic countries, consume much less of them. For some services, the shares of GDP consumed in high-price countries are less than 20 percent of the shares in low-price countries. Since these are services of very low tradability, the low consumption levels of these services imply low employment in them.

Foreign Takeovers of Swedish Firms

The examination of foreign takeovers is a way of distinguishing between the characteristics of f inns and industries that encourage takeovers and the effects of foreignness or of takeovers per se. Foreigners have tended to take over Swedish firms that are of above average size within each industry. 'Very .few takeovers are of the smallest groups of firms: those with fewer than 20 employees or even those with fewer than 200. However, the firms taken over are not large compared to Swedish companies of 200 employees or more. In fact, they are well below average size within that group. The firms taken over are more skill-oriented or technology-oriented than Swedish-owned firms in the same industries. However, takeovers are not particularly prevalent in industries in which firms in general are large or skill-oriented or technology-oriented. Thus the select ion of firms for takeover is based on f inn characteristics, not industry characteristics. After takeover by foreigners, firms grow somewhat faster than Swedish-owned firms in the same industries. The technological characteristics of the firms, by the crude measurements we have been able to apply so far, do not seem to be affected in any consistent way by takeover.

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Monoterpenes of Jack Pine Seedlings and Weight Gain of Jack Pine Budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Nine-month old jack pine (Pinus banksiana) seedlings were grown in a greenhouse under four nitrogen fertilization regimes. Levels of total nitrogen and five monoterpenes in new foliage were measured. Fertilization resulted in four significantly different levels of foliar nitrogen; means ranged from 1.8-4.5 percent dry weight. Contrary to predictions of resource availability theory, seedlings grown under the highest fertilization regime had higher foliar monoterpene levels than seedlings in the other treatments. Newly molted, sixth-instar female jack pine budworm (Choristoneura pinus pinus [Lepidoptera: Tortricidae]) larvae were allowed to feed for four days on new foliage of the seedlings. Larvae that fed on low-nitrogen seedling gained less weight and process more vegetation than did larvae on high- nitrogen seedlings. Larval weight gain was positively related to foliar nitrogen

Performance and Photography: Theatre of Photography

The Theatre of Photography research group convened by Wiebke Leister explores staging practices that engage both the camera and its visual histories into modes of theatre production, thus stressing how photography is performative, as such, when giving and enhancing the condition of the resulting images, i.e. scenarios that only exist for the camera. Including who is staged in those frames – the fame of the proscenium arch, the view finder of the camera and the border of the photographic image – and who or what might exist beyond it, off-frame, as if it had never been staged. In particular the relationship between model and photographer, which meanders between recording, reacting to cues, acting out and re-enacting, and how these translate to audiences. Invaded participants include a range of practitioners, theorists and historians approaching the subject from different photography, theatre and performance angles. The first meeting was held on 15th May 2015, 2:00- 6:00pm at the Swedenborg Society as part of the Moose on the Loose Research festival. Successive events on 12th February 2016 and 8th July 2016 to further discuss the intersection of photography and theatre, to take their multiple encounters as an opportunity to consider and rethink the often overused or misconceived concepts of ‘performance’

Different Disease Profiles for Women and Men with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

ObjectiveThe overall aim with this study was to investigate causes of death and mortality rates for women and men treated for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in Sweden.Materials and methodAll patients treated for ruptured and non-ruptured AAA 1987–2002 in Sweden were identified in national registries (n=12917). Age, sex, diagnosis, surgical procedure and mortality were analysed on a patient specific level. Logistic regression and analysis of standardised mortality rates (SMR) were performed.ResultsPost operative mortality was similar between the sexes. Age (p<0.0001), and surgery for rupture (p=0.0005), but not gender (p=0.65) were significant risk factor for poor long term survival. SMR revealed increased risk for both sexes compared to the population with significantly higher values for women than men (2.26, CI 2.10–2.43 vs. 1.63, CI 1.57–1.68, p<0.0001). The higher risk for women could be explained by the higher risk for aneurysm related death (ie.thoracic or abdominal aorta) compared to men (Hazard ratio 1.57 vs. 1.0, p<0.0001).ConclusionWomen do not have an increased surgical risk compared to men, but treated women have an increased risk of premature death compared to men and women in the population. They also have a higher risk for aneurysm related death compared to men with AAA