1,353 research outputs found
Innovation in Business Groups
Using novel data on European firms, this paper examines the effect of business group affiliation on innovation. We find that business groups foster the scale and novelty of corporate innovation. Group affiliation is particularly important in industries that rely more on external finance and have a higher degree of information asymmetry. We also find that the innovation of affiliates is less sensitive to operating cash flows. We interpret our results as supporting the 'bright side' of business group internal capital markets and explain how legal boundaries between group affiliates mitigate the inefficiencies found in internal capital markets of US conglomerates.business groups, innovation, internal capital markets
Passing on Success? Productivity Outcomes for Quarterbacks Chosen in the 1999-2004 National Football League Player Entry Drafts
Seventy quarterbacks were selected during six NFL drafts held 1999-2004. This paper analyzes information available prior to the draft (college, college passing statistics, NFL Combine data) and draft outcomes (overall number picked and signing bonus). Also analyzed for these players are measures of NFL playing opportunity (games played, games started, pass attempts) and measures of productivity (Pro Bowls made, passer rating, DVOA, and DPAR) for up to the first seven years of each drafted playerâs NFL career. We find that more highly-drafted QBs get significantly more opportunity to play in the NFL. However, we find no evidence that more highly-drafted QBs become more productive passers than lower-drafted QBs that see substantial playing time. Furthermore, QBs with more pass attempts in their final year of more highly-ranked college programs exhibit lower NFL passing productivity.Sports, NFL, Draft, Quarterback, Productivity
Non-Locality and Theories of Causation
The aim of the paper is to investigate the characterization of an unambiguous
notion of causation linking single space-llike separated events in EPR-Bell
frameworks. This issue is investigated in ordinary quantum mechanics, with some
hints to no collapse formulations of the theory such as Bohmian mechanics.Comment: Presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Modality,
Probability and Bell's Theorems, Cracow, Poland, August 19-23, 200
Superstars and Journeymen: An Analysis of National Football Teamâs Allocation of the Salary Cap across Rosters, 2000-2005
The National Football League constrains teamsâ payrolls via a âsalary cap.â We analyze how teams allocate cap spending across rosters using a data set of over 10,000 player-season observations during 2000-2005. We find that a few players account for relatively high portions of teamsâ caps, and that the playersâ âcap valuesâ are consistent with both âsuperstarâ and Yule-Simon income distributions. A theoretical model based on a utility function convex with respect to winning is used to explain this result. We also find that the cap has been substantially effective in reducing teamsâ ability to âspend their way to championships.âSports, NFL, Draft, Quarterback, Productivity
On time, causation and explanation in the causally symmetric Bohmian model of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics portrays the universe as involving non-local influences that are difficult to reconcile with relativity theory. By postulating backward causation, retro-causal interpretations of quantum mechanics could circumvent these influences and accordingly reconcile quantum mechanics with relativity. The postulation of backward causation poses various challenges for the retro-causal interpretations of quantum mechanics and for the existing conceptual frameworks for analyzing counterfactual dependence, causation and causal explanation. In this chapter, we analyze the nature of time, causation and explanation in a local, deterministic retro-causal interpretation of quantum mechanics that is inspired by Bohmian mechanics. This interpretation of quantum mechanics offers a deterministic, local âhidden-variablesâ model of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment that poses a new challenge for Reichenbachâs principle of the common cause. In this model, the common cause â the state of particles at the emission from the source â screens off the correlation between its effects â the distant measurement outcomes â but nevertheless fails to explain the correlation between the effects
On the Mathematical Constitution and Explanation of Physical Facts
The mathematical nature of modern physics suggests that mathematics is bound to play some role in explaining physical reality. Yet, there is an ongoing controversy about the prospects of mathematical explanations of physical facts and their nature. A common view has it that mathematics provides a rich and indispensable language for representing physical reality but that, ontologically, physical facts are not mathematical and, accordingly, mathematical facts cannot really explain physical facts. In what follows, I challenge this common view. I argue that, in addition to its representational role, in modern physics mathematics is constitutive of the physical. Granted the mathematical constitution of the physical, I propose an account of explanation in which mathematical frameworks, structures, and facts explain physical facts. In this account, mathematical explanations of physical facts are either species of physical explanations of physical facts in which the mathematical constitution of some physical facts in the explanans are highlighted, or simply explanations in which the mathematical constitution of physical facts are highlighted. In highlighting the mathematical constitution of physical facts, mathematical explanations of physical facts deepen and increase the scope of the understanding of the explained physical facts. I argue that, unlike other accounts of mathematical explanations of physical facts, the proposed account is not subject to the objection that mathematics only represents the physical facts that actually do the explanation. I conclude by briefly considering the implications that the mathematical constitution of the physical has for the question of the unreasonable effectiveness of the use of mathematics in physics
On Supernatural Miracles and Laws of Nature
Robert Larmer and Alvin Plantinga have argued that modern physics is compatible with the idea that the physical universe is open to Godâs supernatural action and that such action would not involve any violation of laws of nature. Thus, they have concluded that supernatural miracles are compatible with modern science. I argue that their line of reasoning is based on an incorrect interpretation of conservation laws and that supernatural miracles would involve violations of laws of nature
Toy Models for Retrocausality
A number of writers have been attracted to the idea that some of the
peculiarities of quantum theory might be manifestations of 'backward' or
'retro' causality, underlying the quantum description. This idea has been
explored in the literature in two main ways: firstly in a variety of explicit
models of quantum systems, and secondly at a conceptual level. This note
introduces a third approach, intended to complement the other two. It describes
a simple toy model, which, under a natural interpretation, shows how
retrocausality can emerge from simple global constraints. The model is also
useful in permitting a clear distinction between the kind of retrocausality
likely to be of interest in QM, and a different kind of reverse causality, with
which it is liable to be confused. The model is proposed in the hope that
future elaborations might throw light on the potential of retrocausality to
account for quantum phenomena.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure
Contrast threshold for a spot on a photographic print
A psychophysical investigation was carried out to determine the contrast threshold (represented by a density difference) for a spot on a photographic print with a uniform background density. Problems associated with determining a single value which is represenative of the existing density difference between the spot and surround, resulted from the inherent density variation of photographic print material. A series of eighty density difference measurements of the spot and immediatly adjacent surround are presented for prints which had 0, 50, and 100% frequencies of spot detection. A discussion concerning how the eye may be responding in this type of a situation is included
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