Predation through Regulation: The Wage and Profit Impacts of OSHA and EPA

This paper documents the importance of studying the indirect effects of OSHA and EPA regulations -- the competitive advantages which arise from the asymmetrical distributions of regulatory impact among different types of firms. We argue that if the competitive advantage gained through indirect effects is sufficiently large, it can more than offset any direct costs producing a net benefit for the regulated firm and its workers. The indirect effects of OSHA and EPA regulations arise in two ways. The first source is compliance asymmetries, whereby one firm suffers a greater cost burden even when regulations are evenly enforced across firms. The second source is enforcement asymmetry, whereby regulations are more vigorously enforced against certain firms. Earlier research shows that these asymmetries do exist and are based on firm size, unionization, and regional location. In this paper we empirically document that the indirect effects produced by these asymmetries mitigate the direct costs of regulations for manyfirms. Large, unionized firms in the Frostbelt are clearly gaining wealth at the expense of small, nonunionized firms in the Sunbelt.

OSHA Enforcement, Industrial Compliance and Workplace Injuries

This paper develops and tests a three-equation simultaneous model of OSHA enforcement behavior, industrial compliance and workplace injuries. The enforcement equation is based on the assumption that OSHA acts as a political institution that gains support through the transfer of wealth from firms to employees; the empirical results are largely consistent with this notion. Contrary to previous work, we find that OSHA enforcement efforts have, indeed, had a statistically significant impact on industrial compliance and, further, that this compliance has led to a statistically significant decrease in worker injuries. The point estimate of the elasticity of the lost workday rate with respect to the OSHA inspection rate is -.04.

Konventionalisierung oder Vielfalt: Wohin entwickelt sich der Biolandbau?

Dem – österreichischen wie europäischen – Biolandbau stellt sich in jüngster Zeit verstärkt die Frage nach dem Wohin. Die Biologische Landwirtschaft steht an einer Weggabelung, die strategisch wichtige Entscheidungen für ihre weiteren Entwicklungspfade verlangt. Zum Einen schrieb der Biolandbau in den letzten Jahren Erfolgsgeschichte: - starker Zuwachs an umgestellten Betrieben und umgestellter Fläche, - sinkende Verarbeitungs- und Vermarktungskosten aufgrund steigender Mengen, - Umsatzzuwächse am Lebensmittelmarkt, - steigende Exporte, - erweiterte Vielfalt des Bio-Angebots, - verbesserte Verfügbarkeit von Bio-Produkten („Bio in jeder Lebenslage und für jede Geldbörse“), - Professionalisierung auf vielen Ebenen (Erzeugung, Verarbeitung, Vermarktung, Kontroll- und Zertifizierungswesen, Beratung etc.), - zunehmende Verankerung in politischen Programmen und institutionelle Etablierung. Der Biolandbau hat sich damit aus der Nische herausbewegt, und wird in landwirtschaftlicher Produktion, Ernährungswirtschaft, Konsum und Agrarpolitik breit wahrgenommen

Droht dem Biolandbau die Konventionalisierung?

Wenn Biobauern bei auftretenden Problemen vermehrt auf konventionelle Lösungsansätze zurückgreifen, könnte der Biolandbau seine eigenständige Identität und so die Unterstützung der Konsumenten und der Politik verlieren..

Coupled vortex oscillations in spatially separated permalloy squares

We experimentally study the magnetization dynamics of pairs of micron-sized permalloy squares coupled via their stray fields. The trajectories of the vortex cores in the Landau-domain patterns of the squares are mapped in real space using time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy. After excitation of one of the vortex cores with a short magnetic-field pulse, the system behaves like coupled harmonic oscillators. The coupling strength depends on the separation between the squares and the configuration of the vortex-core polarizations. Considering the excitation via a rotating in-plane magnetic field, it can be understood that only a weak response of the second vortex core is observed for equal core polarizations

The complete mitochondrial genome of the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart): a novel gene arrangement among arthropods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The apparent scarcity of available sequence data has greatly impeded evolutionary studies in Acari (mites and ticks). This subclass encompasses over 48,000 species and forms the largest group within the Arachnida. Although mitochondrial genomes are widely utilised for phylogenetic and population genetic studies, only 20 mitochondrial genomes of Acari have been determined, of which only one belongs to the diverse order of the Sarcoptiformes. In this study, we describe the mitochondrial genome of the European house dust mite <it>Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus</it>, the most important member of this largely neglected group.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mitochondrial genome of <it>D. pteronyssinus </it>is a circular DNA molecule of 14,203 bp. It contains the complete set of 37 genes (13 protein coding genes, 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes), usually present in metazoan mitochondrial genomes. The mitochondrial gene order differs considerably from that of other Acari mitochondrial genomes. Compared to the mitochondrial genome of <it>Limulus polyphemus</it>, considered as the ancestral arthropod pattern, only 11 of the 38 gene boundaries are conserved. The majority strand has a 72.6% AT-content but a GC-skew of 0.194. This skew is the reverse of that normally observed for typical animal mitochondrial genomes. A microsatellite was detected in a large non-coding region (286 bp), which probably functions as the control region. Almost all tRNA genes lack a T-arm, provoking the formation of canonical cloverleaf tRNA-structures, and both rRNA genes are considerably reduced in size. Finally, the genomic sequence was used to perform a phylogenetic study. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis clustered <it>D. pteronyssinus </it>with <it>Steganacarus magnus</it>, forming a sistergroup of the Trombidiformes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although the mitochondrial genome of <it>D. pteronyssinus </it>shares different features with previously characterised Acari mitochondrial genomes, it is unique in many ways. Gene order is extremely rearranged and represents a new pattern within the Acari. Both tRNAs and rRNAs are truncated, corroborating the theory of the functional co-evolution of these molecules. Furthermore, the strong and reversed GC- and AT-skews suggest the inversion of the control region as an evolutionary event. Finally, phylogenetic analysis using concatenated mt gene sequences succeeded in recovering Acari relationships concordant with traditional views of phylogeny of Acari.</p

Magnetic antivortex-core reversal by circular-rotational spin currents

Topological singularities occur as antivortices in ferromagnetic thin-film microstructures. Antivortices behave as two-dimensional oscillators with a gyrotropic eigenmode which can be excited resonantly by spin currents and magnetic fields. We show that the two excitation types couple in an opposing sense of rotation in the case of resonant antivortex excitation with circular-rotational currents. If the sense of rotation of the current coincides with the intrinsic sense of gyration of the antivortex, the coupling to the Oersted fields is suppressed and only the spin-torque contribution locks into the gyrotropic eigenmode. We report on the experimental observation of purely spin-torque induced antivortex-core reversal. The dynamic response of an isolated antivortex is imaged by time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy on its genuine time and length scale

A unique genetic code change in the mitochondrial genome of the parasitic nematode Radopholus similis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mitochondria (mt) contain their own autonomously replicating DNA, constituted as a small circular genome encoding essential subunits of the respiratory chain. Mt DNA is characterized by a genetic code which differs from the standard one. Interestingly, the mt genome of nematodes share some peculiar features, such as small transfer RNAs, truncated ribosomal RNAs and - in the class of Chromadorean nematodes - unidirectional transcription.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We present the complete mt genomic sequence (16,791 bp) of the plant-parasitic nematode <it>Radopholus similis </it>(class Chromadorea). Although it has a gene content similar to most other nematodes, many idiosyncrasies characterize the extremely AT-rich mt genome of <it>R. similis </it>(85.4% AT). The secondary structure of the large (16S) rRNA is further reduced, the gene order is unique, the large non-coding region contains two large repeats, and most interestingly, the UAA codon is reassigned from translation termination to tyrosine. In addition, 7 out of 12 protein-coding genes lack a canonical stop codon and analysis of transcriptional data showed the absence of polyadenylation. Northern blot analysis confirmed that only one strand is transcribed and processed. Furthermore, using nucleotide content bias methods, regions for the origin of replication are suggested.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The extraordinary mt genome of <it>R. similis </it>with its unique genetic code appears to contain exceptional features correlated to DNA decoding. Therefore the genome may provide an incentive to further elucidate these barely understood processes in nematodes. This comprehension may eventually lead to parasitic nematode-specific control targets as healthy mitochondria are imperative for organism survival. In addition, the presented genome is an interesting exceptional event in genetic code evolution.</p