International Governance of the Internet: An Economic Analysis.

ICANN currently determines which top level domains are available on the A-root server and so restricts the choices facing Internet users. Thus ICANN redistributes wealth and has become the focus of rent-seeking activities. Yet, despite my belief that the Internet will become substantially more regulated in the future, I am convinced that technology will trump the best efforts of regulators to “promote the public interest”.

Environmental Policy Formation and the Tax Treatment of Citizen Interest Groups

With increasing technological advancements more sophisticated mobile devices are being used by end-users. Third generation (3G) mobile communication systems such as Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) are not able to satisfy the rising demand for higher throughputs and low latencies. New standards based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), have been proposed and are currently being integrated into existing mobile networks all over the world. LTE specifications are being finalized within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) with the ambitious goals of increased spectral efficiency and end user throughput. Despite the introduction of several high data rate services, voice communication is still an essential part of the overall wireless wide area cellular communication market. In LTE, the core network is purely packet switched, thus voice is transmitted entirely using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Like its predecessor standards it is desired that a large number of simultaneous VoIP calls be supported in LTE, while satisfying the desired Quality of Service (QoS) demands. This thesis examines issues related to VoIP capacity for LTE. One of the key challenges is the limited number of schedulable voice packets per sub frame. The main goal of this thesis is to quantify the impact of this limitation. After describing basic LTE concepts, a detailed description of the control channel resource limitations for the scheduling of voice packets is presented. Consequences of these limitations are explained systematically by presenting the problem in a wider context. Simulation results were obtained using the openWNS Simulator, an event driven system level simulation platform developed at the Communication Networks Research Group (ComNets), RWTH Aachen University Germany. Results are presented showing the impact of different scheduling strategies on VoIP capacity. These results illustrate how the limited control channel resources, specifically the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) resources, affect the total number of schedulable VoIP user audio media streams.Med ökande tekniska framsteg mer avancerade mobila enheter som används av slutanv ändarna. Tredje generationens (3G) mobila kommunikationssystem såsom Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) inte kan tillgodose den ökande efterfrågan på högre genomströmning och låga latenser. Nya standarder som bygger på Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), såsom Long Term Evolution (LTE) och Worldwide Interoperability för Microwave Access (WiMAX), har föreslagits och håller på att integreras I befintliga mobilnät över hela världen. LTE specifikationer håller på att färdigställas inom 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) med de ambitiösa målen om ökad spektral effektivitet och slutanvändare genomstr ömning. Trots införandet av flera tjänster av hög datahastighet, är röstkommunikation fortfarande en väsentlig del av den totala Wireless Wide Area cellulär kommunikation marknaden. I LTE är kärnnätet rent paketförmedlande därmed röst överförs helt och hållet med hjälp av en Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Precis som sina föregångare standarder är det önskvärt att ett stort antal samtidiga VoIP samtal få stöd i LTE, samtidigt som det uppfyller önskade Quality of Service (QoS) krav. Denna avhandling undersöker frågor relaterade till VoIP kapacitet för LTE. En av de viktigaste utmaningarna är det begränsade antalet schemaläggningsbart röst paket per sub ram. Det huvudsakliga målet med denna avhandling är att kvantifiera effekterna av denna begränsning. Efter att ha beskrivit de grundläggande LTE begrepp, är en detaljerad beskrivning av de resurser kontroll kanal begränsningar för schemaläggning av röst paket presenteras. Konsekvenser av dessa begränsningar förklaras systematiskt genom att presentera problemet i ett större sammanhang. Simulering resultat erhölls med hjälp av openWNS Simulator, en händelse driven systemnivå simulering som utvecklats vid Communication Networks Research Group (ComNets), RWTH Aachen University Tyskland. Resultat presenteras som visar effekterna av olika schemaläggning strategier för VoIP kapacitet. Dessa resultat illustrerar hur de begränsade kontroll kanalresurser, särskilt fysiskt Downlink (PDCCH) resurser, påverkar det totala antalet schemaläggningsbart VoIP användare ljud mediaströmmar

Sustainability of Italian budgetary policies: a time series analysis (1862-2013)

In this paper, we analyze the sustainability of Italian public finances using a unique database covering the period 1862-2013. This paper focuses on empirical tests for the sustainability and solvency of fiscal policies. A necessary but not sufficient condition implies that the growth rate of public debt should in the limit be smaller than the asymptotic rate of interest. In addition, the debt-to-GDP ratio must eventually stabilize at a steady-state level. The results of unit root and stationarity tests show that the variables are non-stationary at levels, but stationary in first-differences form, or I(1). However, some breaks in the series emerge, given internal and external crises (wars, oil shocks, regime changes, institutional reforms). Therefore, the empirical analysis is conducted for the entire period, as well as two subâ€periods (1862â€1913 and 1947â€2013). Moreover, anecdotal evidence and visual inspection of the series confirm our results. Furthermore, we conduct tests on cointegration, which evidence that a long-run relationship between public expenditure and revenues is found only for the first sub-period (1862-1913). In essence, the paper’s results reveal that Italy have sustainability problems in the Republican age

Markets, the Environment and Liberty: The Case of Elephants and Air Quality

No Abstrac

Comparing Social Media and Postal Mailings in Forestry Extension Program Marketing

This report describes a project that tested social media versus traditional postal mailing advertising for a series of forestry Extension educational programs. Forestry Extension clientele have diverse backgrounds and include landowners, urban tree owners, communities, agencies, and others, and vary widely by sociodemographic and ownership characteristics. Such diversity creates challenges for technology transfer, including initial client contact, participation in educational programming, and realization of learning objectives. The Mississippi State University Forestry Extension program has attempted to address these challenges through social media marketing and in-person impact evaluation. An online marketing strategy resulted in 39% of clients becoming aware of and registering for programs through social media and email compared with 45% from postal mailings. Still, social media marketing resulted in more clients registering earlier, and in registration of clients who had not previously attended Extension programming, compared with postal marketing. Given the many diverse communication methods used by Extension clientele, social media, and traditional forms of marketing should be integrated into successful marketing campaigns. Implications for future educational efforts are discussed