Lessons from the Bakken Oil Patch

This is a preprint of an article that appeared in the Journal Contemporary Archaeology. The article summarizes the recent work of the North Dakota Man Camp Project to understand the largely undocumented migrants arriving in the Bakken Oil Patch for work. It argues that efforts to document short-term labor in the Bakken exposes particular challenges facing the archaeology of the modern world ranging from the ephemerality of short-term settlements to the hyper-abundance of modern objects. The use of photography, video, interviews, and descriptions produced an abundant archive of archaeological ephemera that in some ways parallels the modern character of temporary workforce housing. The final section of this article offers some perspectives on how work in the Bakken oil patch can inform policy, our understanding of material culture in the modern world, and the role of the discipline in forming a shared narrative

Theory and Observation of Displacement Phenomena in Coadsorbed Films

Displacement refers to a surprising phenomenon observed in a number of adsorption systems. At low temperatures, some relatively inert gases, such as krypton (Kr) or methane ( CH4), are found to displace molecules from preadsorbed monolayer films of a more condensable species, such as carbon tetrachloride ( CCl4), from a graphite substrate. We present a simple thermodynamic model to explain displacement and make a prediction applicable to both first-order and continuous displacement processes. We also present measurements on CH4/CCl4 and Kr/CCl4 coadsorbed films from 77–112 K that verify our prediction and yield the CCl4 film spreading pressure

Coadsorption phase diagram for Kr/CCl4 on graphite

We present the results of an extensive calorimetric study of krypton coadsorbed on graphite precoated with a saturated monolayer of carbon tetrachloride. Combining the heat capacity data with film equation of state measurements from a previous study [W. J. Weber and D. L. Goodstein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3888 (1999)] permits construction of the Kr/CCl4 coadsorption phase diagram between 77 and 130 K. Kr succeeds in displacing the CCl4 from the surface, by a continuous process which results, at lower temperatures, in a film indistinguishable from that of pure Kr adsorbed on graphite. At higher temperatures, a new first-order phase transition, unique to the coadsorption system, is observed and likely indicates a transition to a mixed Kr/CCl4 film. Finally, measurements at higher Kr coverages reveal evidence for a high temperature extension of the reentrant layering phenomena previously observed for Kr on graphite

Profit inefficiency of Japanese securities firm

We develop a new indicator of profit inefficiency, which is based on decision-makers choosing the amount to spend on each input and the amount to earn on each output, rather than choosing physical quantities of inputs and outputs. The method is suitable for situations when prices and quantities are not directly observable, when markets are non-competitive, or when qualitative differences exist for inputs and outputs between firms. The indicator of profit inefficiency equals normalized lost profits arising from technical inefficiency and allocative inefficiency. We offer an empirical example of our method using firms in the Japanese securities industry during the period 1989-2005. We find profit inefficiency rises from 1989 to 1993, declines during the 1994-2001 period, and then increases during the years 2002-2005. Allocative inefficiency tends to be a greater source of profit inefficiency than technical inefficiency. Lost profits as a percent of assets range from 0% to 15% and are highest in 2002-2005.

Productivity Growth and Biased Technological Change in UK Airports

In this paper we estimate the total factor productivity of UK airports using a Malmquist index. Productivity change is factored into an index of efficiency change and an index of technological change. Technological change is further decomposed into indexes that measure the bias in the production of outputs, the bias in the employment of inputs, and the magnitude of the shift in the production frontier. Airports are ranked according to their productivity change for the period 2000-2005. The majority of UK airports did not improve their efficiency during the period. Economic implications are derived.UK airports; productivity growth; biased technological change; policy implications