A Multi-Country Approach to Factor-Proportions Trade and Trade Costs

Classic trade questions are reconsidered by generalizing a factor-proportions model to multiple countries, multi-stage production, and country-specific trade costs. We derive patterns of production specialization and trade for a matrix of countries that differ in relative endowments (columns) and trade costs (rows). We demonstrate how the ability to fragment production and/or a proportional change in all countries' trade costs alters these patterns. Production specialization and the volume of trade are higher with fragmentation for most countries but interestingly, for a large block of countries, these variables fall following fragmentation. Countries with moderate trade costs engage in market-oriented assembly, while those with lower trade costs engage in export-platform production. These two cases correspond to the concepts of horizontal and vertical affiliate production in the literature on multinational enterprises. Increases in specialization and the volume of trade accelerate as trade costs go to zero with and without fragmentation.

Solid state studies in ceramic alloys Quarterly progress report, 1 Jun. - 31 Aug. 1969

Solid state characteristics of ceramic alloy

Multinational Production, Skilled Labor and Real Wages

Adapting our earlier model of multinationals, we address policy issues involving wages and labor skills. Multinational firms may arise endogenously, exporting their firm-specific knowledge capital to foreign production facilities, and geographically fragmenting production into skilled and unskilled-labor-intensive activities. Multinationals thus alter the nature of trade, from trade in goods (produced with both skilled and unskilled labor) to trade in skilled- labor-intensive producer services. Results shed light on several policy questions. First, multinationals increase the skilled/unskilled wage gap in the high income country and, under some circumstances, in the low income country as well. Second, there is a sense in which multinationals export low skilled jobs to the lower income country. Third, trade barriers do not protect unskilled labor in the high income countries. By inducing a regime shift to multinationals, trade barriers protect the abundant factor, at least in the high income country and possibly in both countries. Fourth, a convergence in country characteristics induces the entry of multinationals and raises the skilled-unskilled wage gap in the initially large and skilled-labor-abundant country, and possibly in the small skilled-labor-scarce country as well.

Algal culture studies related to a Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

Studies with algal cultures which relate to closed ecological life support systems (CELSS) are discussed. A description of a constant cell density apparatus for continuous culture of algae is included. Excretion of algal by-products, and nitrogen utilization and excretion are discussed

Bonding, structure and mechanical behavior of vanadium carbide single crystals

Bonding, structure, and mechanical behavior of vanadium carbide single crystal

Multiple morbidities in companion dogs: a novel model for investigating age-related disease

The proportion of men and women surviving over 65 years has been steadily increasing over the last century. In their later years, many of these individuals are afflicted with multiple chronic conditions, placing increasing pressure on healthcare systems. The accumulation of multiple health problems with advanced age is well documented, yet the causes are poorly understood. Animal models have long been employed in attempts to elucidate these complex mechanisms with limited success. Recently, the domestic dog has been proposed as a promising model of human aging for several reasons. Mean lifespan shows twofold variation across dog breeds. In addition, dogs closely share the environments of their owners, and substantial veterinary resources are dedicated to comprehensive diagnosis of conditions in dogs. However, while dogs are therefore useful for studying multimorbidity, little is known about how aging influences the accumulation of multiple concurrent disease conditions across dog breeds. The current study examines how age, body weight, and breed contribute to variation in multimorbidity in over 2,000 companion dogs visiting private veterinary clinics in England. In common with humans, we find that the number of diagnoses increases significantly with age in dogs. However, we find no significant weight or breed effects on morbidity number. This surprising result reveals that while breeds may vary in their average longevity and causes of death, their age-related trajectories of morbidities differ little, suggesting that age of onset of disease may be the source of variation in lifespan across breeds. Future studies with increased sample sizes and longitudinal monitoring may help us discern more breed-specific patterns in morbidity. Overall, the large increase in multimorbidity seen with age in dogs mirrors that seen in humans and lends even more credence to the value of companion dogs as models for human morbidity and mortality

The Assignment of Errors in Appellate Briefs

Few subjects have troubled courts more and legal writers less than faulty assignments of error. Since the subject has received little attention outside the reports themselves, there has developed a mass of hitherto unassimilated case authority which, because of its size, is an obstacle rather than an aid to courts and attorneys. This article is the product of a survey of those cases. It will add little to the general store of information on the subject, but it is designed to do two things: (1) call the attention of the Bar to some of the clearer and better written discussions of the problem in the Washington cases, and (2) to segregate, throughout the footnotes, the particular decisions dealing with specific problems posed by the requirement that all briefs contain an assignment of the errors relied upon for reversal

A Unified Treatment of Horizontal Direct Investment, Vertical Direct Investment, and the Pattern of Trade in Goods and Services

This paper contributes to research endogenizing multinational firms in general-equilibrium trade models. We attempt to integrate separate contributions on horizontal multinationals which produce the same final product in multiple locations, with work on vertical multinationals, which geographically fragment production by stages. Previously derived results now emerge as special cases of a more general model. Vertical multinationals dominate when countries are very different in relative factor endowments. Horizontal multinationals dominate when the countries are similar in size and in relative endowments, and trade costs are moderate to high. In some cases, foreign investment or trade liberalization leads to a reversal in the direction of trade. Investment liberalization can also lead to an increase in the volume of trade and produces a strong tendency toward factor-price equalization. Thus direct investment can be a complement to trade in both a volume-of-trade sense and in a welfare sense.

Trade Policy with Increasing Returns and Imperfect Competition: Contradictory Results from Competing Assumptions

A number of recent papers reach different conclusions concerning the effects of trade and industrial policy on imperfectly competitive industries; the implications for policy are therefore sensitive to assumptions concerning both firm behaviour and market structure. This paper sets out a single model within which policy can be examined under a variety of assumptions concerning market structures. The results obtained from this model can be compared to results already obtained in the literature, and the model allows further analysis of some interesting cases. We consider the four types of market structure generated by oligopoly versus free entry, and segmented markets versus integrated markets. By employing simple functional forms we are able to make direct comparisons between these cases. We conclude that the effects of trade and industrial policies are greater when markets are segmented than when they are integrated, and that, if transport costs are small, policy is more potent when the number of firms is fixed than when there is free entry

Algal culture studies related to a Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

In many respects, algae would be the ideal plant component for a biologically based controlled life support system, since they are eminently suited to the closely coupled functions of atmosphere regeneration and food production. Scenedesmus obliquus and Spirulina platensis were grown in three continuous culture apparatuses. Culture vessels their operation and relative merits are described. Both light and nitrogen utilization efficiency are examined. Long term culture issues are detailed and a discussion of a plasmid search in Spirulina is included