Distribution and Dynamics in a Simple Tax Regime Transition

We examine transitions between excise tax and license fee regimes in the laboratory. The regimes have matched equilibrium Marshallian surplus, but license fees generate more tax revenue. The license fees are large “avoidable costs,” known to hamper competitive equilibrium convergence. With moderately experienced subjects, the prolonged transition to the license fee equilibrium has these features: (1) Prices below equilibrium levels, resulting in firm losses; (2) Marshallian surplus above equilibrium levels; and (3) transitional windfalls for the tax authority. With highly experienced subjects, license fees lead to the instability and lower seller profits and efficiency observed in past avoidable cost markets.Tax Regime Transitions, Avoidable Costs, Double Auctions, Experimental Methods.

A study of college student attitudes and behaviors related to recycling

There is an abundance of research on environmental attitudes and recycling; specifically however college students are very under represented. This population is one that is very important as these individuals will be the ones making decisions, privately and politically, with regards to recycling programs in their communities. By understanding their attitudes and behaviors in college, those designing recycling programs can develop and modify programs to suit their needs, and education programs can be prepared to better inform these individuals. The purpose of this study was to study the attitudes and behaviors of college students related to recycling. To accomplish this, students from three Midwestern United states post-secondary institutions (a two year public community college, a four year private college and a four year public university) were administered an online survey using Surveymonkey.com. The survey was made available to all students at the three institutions for a period of 4 weeks with multiple participation reminders. At the conclusion of the four weeks the data were tabulated and evaluated to address the principal question of what are the attitudes and behaviors of college students relative to recycling as well as to make comparisons between institutions and categories within the institutions. With a population of over 19,000 the 626 responses is impressive, but introduces challenges to statistical analysis. Due to the very low response rate there were not statistically significant results. However, Minitab statistical software was used in limited scope to examine the relationship between gender and questions about influence of participation or lack thereof in recycling, only one of which showed a small but significant connection. The rest of the data does give a picture of college student attitudes which overall are positive. This study is an excellent starting point for future studies of college student attitudes about recycling. It provides a framework on which more in depth examinations of factors influencing positive behaviors and attitudes can build

Implementation of a flexible frequency-invariant broadband beamformer based on fourier properties

Aperture and operating frequency of a beamformer are generally proportional to its resolution, and inversely proportional to its beamwidth. This paper addresses the design and implementation of a beamformer with a frequency-dependent limitation of its aperture such that the frequency-dependence of its resolution is eliminated. Operating across a number of octaves, firstly an octave-invariance design is achieved by means of a nested array structure. Secondly, within each octave, a frequency-dependent aperture control then removes the remaining frequency-dependency. By exploiting Fourier properties and correspondences between coefficient and beamspace, we show that this design is exact, and can accommodate the inclusion of arbitrary shading and different look directions

Influence of convection on microstructure

The influence was studied of convection during directional solidification on the resulting microstructure of eutectics, specifically lead/tin and manganese/bismuth. A theory was developed for the influence of convection on the microstructure of lamellar and fibrous eutectics, through the effect of convection on the concentration field in the melt in front of the growing eutectic. While the theory agrees with the experimental spin-up spin-down results, it predicts that the weak convection expected due to buoyancy will not produce a measurable change in eutectic microstructure. Thus, this theory does not explain the two fold decrease in MnBi fiber size and spacing observed when MnBi-Bi is solidified in space or on Earth with a magnetic field applied. Attention was turned to the morphology of the MnBi-Bi interface and to the generation of freezing rate fluctuations by convection. Decanting the melt during solidification of MnBi-Bi eutectic showed that the MnBi phase projects into the melt ahead of the Bi matrix. Temperature measurements in a Bi melt in the vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger configuration showed temperature variations of up to 25 C. Conclusions are drawn and discussed

Effects Of Coal Fly-Ash Disposal On Water Chemistry in an Intradunal Wetland at Indiana Dunes

An intradunal wetland within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on the south shore of Lake Michigan was flooded for 15 years by seepage from fly-ash settling ponds located adjacent to the park. Studies were undertaken to determine the effects of the seepage on water chemistry in the flooded wetlands. These water chemistry conditions have been correlated to ongoing studies of soil contamination and secondary succession in the wetland basin following cessation of seepage. The seepage increased the concentrations of calcium, potassium, sulfate, aluminum, boron, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, strontium, and zinc in ground water and surface water downgradient from the settling ponds. Chemical interactions with aquifer materials, particularly organic matter, significantly limit the transport of aluminum, iron, nickel, and zinc in this system. The organic soils of the dewatered wetland basin now contain elevated concentrations of aluminum, boron, manganese, and zinc that are potentially phytotoxic under the low pH (\u3c4) conditions that exist. Plant growth and secondary succession were affected by the soil chemistry of the dewatered wetlands

Minimal Frames and Transparent Frames for Risk, Time, and Uncertainty

It has been argued that behavior differs between transparent and nontransparent representations of a decision. However, the notion of a ‘transparent representation’ has not been precisely defined. We address this gap by providing formal definitions of ‘transparent frames’ for risk and time, establishing their uniqueness, presenting an approach to construct such frames, and comparing these framesto the ‘standard’ presentation format. Our typology of frames provides a logic for predicting systematic shifts in risk and time preferences as well as changes in the violation rates of rational choice theory. We conduct an experiment for choice under risk to investigate the framing effect between transparent and ‘standard’ frames and find such framing to be an important source of non-random variation in observed risk preferences. We also extend our approach to choice under uncertainty and derive the novel prediction that ambiguity aversion is frame dependent, a result supported by recent experimental evidence

Whisker Mitigation Strategies for Pb-Free Electronics

Whisker Mitigation Strategies for Pb-Free Electronic