The Expansion of Fishery Jurisdiction: Fishery Interests and Congressional Voting

The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 greatly broadened the scope of U.S. fishery regulation. While the act contained a variety of features, its primary and certainly most controversial provision expanded the regulated fishing zone from 12 to 200 miles. This paper identifies the primary gainers and losers from the act and assesses their roles in influencing the legislative outcome. The voting behavior of congressional representatives is analyzed by multivariate probit analysis in order to quantify the influences of the major lobbying groups.Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

"Financial-Sector Shocks in a Credit-View Model"

A variation of the Bernanke-Blinder credit-view model reveals that holding constant the money supply following various financial-sector shocks, including an autonomous drop in the money multiplier, is insufficient to prevent aggregate demand from decreasing.credit-view model, monetary policy, money-supply model

Noncariogenic Sweeteners: Sugar Substitutes for Caries Control

The evidence is clear that the incidence of dental caries is related to the frequency of eating sugar. The use of sugar substitutes is a suggested way of reducing sugar intake. A variety of noncariogenic sweeteners exists, but most have no practical value for caries control because of their technical or safety problems, taste, or cost. Urinary bladder tumorigenic effects have been reported in experimental animals treated with saccharin and cyclamates. Because of concerns for human safety, cyclamates were banned in the U.S., and saccharin use was permitted only by special legislation. The polyalcohols sorbitol and xylitol are important sugar substitutes since they are not efficient substrates for plaque bacteria and therefore produce only minimal plaque pH drop. Aspartame, with its sugar-like taste, is an excellent low-calorie sweetener now used in over 100 products under the name NutraSweet. Consumption of aspartame by normal humans is safe and does not promote tooth decay. Individuals with a need to control their phenylalanine intake should handle aspartame like any other source of phenylalanine

"The Effect of Government Size on the Steady-State Unemployment Rate: A Dynamic Perspective"

The relationship between government size and the unemployment rate is investigated using a panel error-correction model that describes both the short-run dynamics and long-run determination of the unemployment rate. Using data from twenty OECD countries from 1970 to 1999 and after correcting for simultaneity bias, we find that government size, measured as total government outlays as a percentage of GDP, plays a significant role in affecting the steady-state unemployment rate. Importantly, when government outlays are disaggregated, transfers and subsidies are found to significantly affect the steady-state unemployment rate while government purchases of goods and services play no significant role.Steady-State Unemployment Rate, Government Size, Error Correction Model, Dynamic Panel Data Model, Arellano-Bond Estimator

"Government Outlays, Economic Growth and Unemployment: A VAR Model"

This paper examines the dynamic effects of government outlays on economic growth and the unemployment rate. Using vector autoregression and data from twenty OECD countries over three recent decades, we found: (1) positive shocks to government outlays slow down economic growth and raise the unemployment rate; (2) different types of government outlays have different effects on growth and unemployment, with transfers and subsidies having a larger effect than government purchases; (3) causality runs one-way from government outlays to economic growth and the unemployment rate; (4) the above results are not sensitive to how government outlays are financed.government outlays, economic growth, unemployment rate, vector autoregression, Granger causality

Snow parameters from Nimbus-6 electrically scanned microwave radiometer

Two sites in Canada were selected for detailed analysis of the ESMR-6/ snow relationships. Data were analyzed for February 1976 for site 1 and January, February and March 1976 for site 2. Snowpack water equivalents were less than 4.5 inches for site 1 and, depending on the month, were between 2.9 and 14.5 inches for site 2. A statistically significant relationship was found between ESMR-6 measurements and snowpack water equivalents for the Site 2 February and March data. Associated analysis findings presented are the effects of random measurement errors, snow site physiolography, and weather conditions on the ESMR-6/snow relationship