Energy Positivity, Non-Renormalization, and Holomorphy in Lorentz-Violating Supersymmetric Theories

This paper shows that the positive-energy and non-renormalization theorems of traditional supersymmetry survive the addition of Lorentz violating interactions. The Lorentz-violating coupling constants in theories using the construction of Berger and Kostelecky must obey certain constraints in order to preserve the positive energy theorem. Seiberg's holomorphic arguments are used to prove that the superpotential remains non-renormalized (perturbatively) in the presence of Lorentz-violating interactions of the Berger-Kostelecky type. We briefly comment on Lorentz-violating theories of the type constructed by Nibbelink and Pospelov to note that holomorphy arguments offer elegant proofs of many non-renormalization results, some known by other arguments, some new.Comment: v3: Discussion and clarification added. References added. Results on gauge-kinetic function expande

The Courier Conundrum: The High Costs of Prosecuting Low-Level Drug Couriers and What We Can Do About Them

Since the United States declared its “War on Drugs,” federal enforcement of drug-trafficking crimes has led to increased incarceration and longer prison sentences. Many low-level drug couriers and drug mules have suffered disproportionately from these policies; they face mandatory punishments that vastly exceed their culpability. Drug couriers often lack substantial ties to drug-trafficking organizations, which generally recruit vulnerable individuals to act as couriers and mules. By using either threats of violence or promises of relatively small sums of money, these organizations convince recruits to overlook the substantial risks that drug couriers face. The current policies of pursuing harsh punishments for low-level couriers generate significant societal costs. These costs include not only monetary costs but also collateral damage imposed on both the couriers and innocent third parties. Further, these harsh policies fail to generate appreciable benefits or satisfy the goals of either retributive or utilitarian theories of punishment. This Note proposes a legislative amendment to the current importation statute that would create a carveout under which low-level drug couriers could be charged under a separate misdemeanor statute. The proposal lays out a number of criteria that drafters could use to identify lowlevel participants and exempt them from the stiff mandatory minimum sentences and the long-term consequences that accompany a felony drug conviction

The Public Education Tax Credit

Public education is an end, not a means. For a democratic nation to thrive, its schools must prepare children not only for success in private life but for participation in public life. It must foster harmonious social relations among the disparate groups in our pluralistic society and ensure universal access to a quality education. Unfortunately, the American school system has long fallen short as a means of fulfilling these purposes. This paper offers a more effective way of delivering on the promise of public education, by ensuring that all families have the means to choose their children's schools from a diverse market of education providers. All education providers -- government, religious, and secular -- can contribute to public education because all can serve the public by educating children. Educational freedom can most effectively be realized through nonrefundable education tax credits -- for both parents' education costs for their own children and taxpayer donations to nonprofit scholarship funds. This paper argues that tax credits enjoy practical, legal, and political advantages over school vouchers. These advantages are even more important for choice programs that target low-income children, as tax credits mitigate some disadvantages inherent to targeted programs. It also contends that broad-based programs are superior to narrowly targeted ones, even when the goal is specifically to serve disadvantaged students. Targeted programs are fundamentally inferior -- in both practical and strategic terms -- to broad-based programs that include the voting middle class. Finally, accountability in education means accountability to parents and taxpayers. Education tax credits afford this accountability without the need for intrusive government regulations that create political and market liabilities for school choice policies. To date, school choice policy has spread and grown only slowly, in part because of inadequate legislation. Existing school choice laws fall short in terms of both market principles and political considerations. Pursuing a policy that follows more closely what works economically and politically should increase the likelihood of long-term legislative success, program success, program survival, and program expansion

Creating a Culture of Philanthropy in Nonprofit Arts Organizations

This paper explores a growing theory known as a culture of philanthropy through the lens of a nonprofit arts organization. A culture of philanthropy refers to an organization’s attitude toward philanthropy, fund development, and the effort to create a community of donor inclusion which can have a lasting effect on the organization and the community well beyond financial growth. Arts organizations are exploring radical innovative methods in order to create a culture of funders, continuous patronage, and community engagement. This paper also discusses the concept of venture philanthropy and its efforts to change the relationship between funders and grantees from dependency to partnership, and how this affects funding for arts organizations. With shifts in funding, the growing competition for grants and private donors, and the declining funds for the arts from the private sector, it is more important than ever for arts organizations to prove their positive impact on the community to the new entrepreneurial, results-oriented philanthropists. Creating a culture of philanthropy is one way to promote positive change and growth within an organization as well as the greater community

Market Demand, Technological Opportunity and Research Spillovers on R&D Intensity and Productivity Growth

This paper uses sales and patent distribution data to establish the market and technological "positions" of firms. A notion of technological proximity of firms is developed in order to quantify potential R&D spillovers. The importance of the position variables and the potential spilover pool in explaining R&D intensity, patent productivity and TFP growth is explored.I find that both technological and market positions are signifi-cant in explaining R&D intensity, and that the technological effects are significant in explaining patent productivity. I cannot distinguish between the two effects in explaining TFP growth. Spillovers are important in all three contexts. Firms in an area where there is a high level of research by other firms do more R&D themselves, they produce more patents per R&D dollar, and their productivity grows faster, even controlling for the increased R&D and patents. These effects are present controlling for both industry and technological position effects.

Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D: Evidence from Firms' Patents, Profits and Market Value

This paper presents evidence that firms' patents, profits and market value are systematically related to the"technological position" of firms' research programs. Further, firms are seen to "move" in technology space in response to the pattern of contemporaneous profits at different positions. These movements tend to erode excess returns."Spillovers" of R&D are modelled by examining whether the R&D of neighboring firms in technology space has an observable impact on the firm's R&D success. Firms whose neighbors do much R&D produce more patents per dollar of their own R&D,with a positive interaction that gives high R&D firms the largest benefit from spillovers. In terms of profit and market value, however, their are both positive and negative effects of nearby firms' R&D. The net effect is positive for high R&D firms, but firms with R&D about one standard deviation below the mean are made worse off overall by the R&D of others.