Essays on Nonparametric Benchmarking of Energy Firms and Natural Gas Market Integration

My dissertation focuses on issues related to the technical efficiency of energy firms as well as the integration of U.S. natural gas markets during the era of shale gas expansion of the early 2000s. In the first chapter, I use nonparametric methods to estimate changes in efficiency and productivity of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. during the period of shale gas expansion during 2007--2018. This period, known as the Shale Revolution, saw an increase in shale gas production from less that 5 billion cubic feet per day (BCF/d) in 2007 to over 60 BCF/d in 2018. This increase in production coincides with increases in capacity and infrastructure improvements to the transportation network of natural gas pipelines. Previous research in energy economics has not examined changes in efficiency and productivity of natural gas pipelines during the Shale Revolution using modern nonparametric techniques. To guide my estimation procedure I use new nonparametric tests to make inference on the properties of the production set of pipelines. These nonparametric tests indicate that the production set for pipelines changes with production year, is convex, and does not exhibit constant returns to scale. Moreover, I find strong evidence of increases in the technical efficiency and productivity of pipelines during the period of shale gas expansion from 2007 through 2018. In the second chapter, I use nonparametric methods to estimate changes in productivity and efficiency of major electric utilities in the U.S. during 2001--2019. Starting in 2007, an increased supply of natural gas resulted in large-scale adoption of natural gas fueled energy production as well as an overall increase in installed generating capacity. Data on major electric utilities, collected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), indicate that the overall installed generating capacity of utilities increased by 13 percent during 2001--2013, with an increasing share of capacity coming from plants fueled by natural gas. However, this increase in capacity coincides with a decrease in the growth of utility-scale electricity consumption and a 12 percent decrease in utility energy generation. The evidence suggests a decline in the productivity of energy generation from electric utilities during the sample period. In addition, using modern nonparametric techniques reveals a decrease in mean technical efficiency of utilities during the period of decline in energy generation. Finally, other modern nonparametric tests show that the production frontier of electric utilities changes depending on the production year and share of natural gas fueled generating capacity a utility has out of their total capacity. This indicates that nonparametric efficiency estimates should be conditional on time and the share of natural gas fueled generating capacity. In the third chapter, I use unit root tests to measure the degree to which geographically dispersed natural gas markets in the U.S. became integrated into the same market from 1996 through 2019. Previous papers examining natural gas market integration in earlier periods suggest that some regional natural gas markets in the U.S. became integrated into the same market during the early 1990s. This was likely the result of regulatory reform instituted by FERC in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Nonetheless, previous studies also indicate that some regions remained distinct markets, particularly the eastern and western U.S. Unit root tests of the price-gaps between geographically dispersed price hubs fail to reject that the eastern and western gas markets were distinct markets prior to the early 2000s. After 2001 a higher proportion of the east and west price-gaps became stationary, suggesting that more price hubs in each region responded to similar market shocks. This provides some evidence that the eastern and western U.S. natural gas markets may have been integrated into the same market starting in the early 2000s. Moreover, the qualitative results of this paper hold under four different unit root tests

Dwelling

This report outlines the conceptual and formal development of a singular body of work produced during my final year of graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Dwelling, the series from which this report takes its name, is a collection of largescale photographs that reimagines the domestic space through the re-working of preexisting imagery. Throughout the pages that follow, I highlight key elements that make up the conceptual framework that support the visual language of the picturesStudio Ar

Conflict, learning, and frustration: a dynamic model of conflict over time

A continuing question in the study of conflict and conflict management is, When is conflict helpful, and when is it harmful? Though many have offered explanations for this (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1999), data in support of these notions have been less forthcoming, especially in relation to the helpfulness of conflict (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). In this paper we 2 present a dynamic model of conflict that we hope will both explain and clarify the confusion by conceptualizing conflict as simultaneously containing helpful (learning related) and harmful (negative sentiment related) components. We argue how both learning and negative emotion can inhibit or promote future conflict, constituting feedback loops. We then examine what this implies for conflict over time in terms of the efficacy of collaboration between parties who experience conflict

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping: Contrast Mechanisms and Clinical Applications.

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a recently developed MRI technique for quantifying the spatial distribution of magnetic susceptibility within biological tissues. It first uses the frequency shift in the MRI signal to map the magnetic field profile within the tissue. The resulting field map is then used to determine the spatial distribution of the underlying magnetic susceptibility by solving an inverse problem. The solution is achieved by deconvolving the field map with a dipole field, under the assumption that the magnetic field is a result of the superposition of the dipole fields generated by all voxels and that each voxel has its unique magnetic susceptibility. QSM provides improved contrast to noise ratio for certain tissues and structures compared to its magnitude counterpart. More importantly, magnetic susceptibility is a direct reflection of the molecular composition and cellular architecture of the tissue. Consequently, by quantifying magnetic susceptibility, QSM is becoming a quantitative imaging approach for characterizing normal and pathological tissue properties. This article reviews the mechanism generating susceptibility contrast within tissues and some associated applications

The Eavesdropper\u27s Dilemma

This paper examines the problem of surreptitious Internet interception from the eavesdropper\u27s point of view. We introduce the notion of fidelity in digital eavesdropping. In particular, we formalize several kinds of network noise that might degrade fidelity, most notably confusion, and show that reliable network interception may not be as simple as previously thought or even always possible. Finally, we suggest requirements for high fidelity network interception, and show how systems that do not meet these requirements can be vulnerable to countermeasures, which in some cases can be performed entirely by a third party without the cooperation or even knowledge of the communicating parties

On the Reliability of Current Generation Network Eavesdropping Tools

This paper analyzes the problem of interception of Internet traffic from the eavesdropper\u27s point of view. We examine the reliability and accuracy of transcripts, and show that obtaining high fidelity transcripts is harder than previously assumed. Even in highly favorable situations, such as capturing unencrypted traffic using standard protocols, simple -- and entirely unilateral -- countermeasures are shown to be sufficient to prevent accurate traffic analysis in many Internet interception configurations. In particular, these countermeasures were successful against every available eavesdropping system we tested. Central to our approach is a new class of techniques that we call confusion, which, unlike cryptography or steganography, does not require cooperation by the communicating parties and, in some case, can be employed entirely by a third party not involved in the communication at all

Epithelial and Stromal Cells of Bovine Endometrium Have Roles in Innate Immunity and Initiate Inflammatory Responses to Bacterial Lipopeptides In Vitro via Toll-Like Receptors TLR2, TLR1, and TLR6

Bacteria often infect the endometrium of cattle to cause endometritis, uterine disease, and infertility. Lipopeptides are commonly found among bacteria and are detected by the Toll-like receptor (TLR) cell surface receptor TLR2 on immune cells. Heterodimers of TLR2 with TLR1 or TLR6 activate MAPK and nuclear factor-κB intracellular signaling pathways to stimulate inflammatory responses. In the endometrium, epithelial and stromal cells are the first to encounter invading bacteria, so the present study explored whether endometrial cells can also mount inflammatory responses to bacterial lipopeptides via TLRs. The supernatants of pure populations of primary bovine endometrial epithelial and stromal cells accumulated the cytokine IL-6 and the chemokine IL-8 in response to triacylated or diacylated bacterial lipopeptides. The accumulation of IL-6 and IL-8 in response to triacylated lipopeptides was reduced by small interfering RNA targeting TLR2 or TLR1 but not TLR6, whereas cellular responses to diacylated lipopeptide were reduced by small interfering RNA targeting TLR2, TLR1, or TLR6. Both lipopeptides induced rapid phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, and nuclear factor-κB in endometrial cells, and inhibitors of ERK1/2 or p38 limited the accumulation of IL-6. The ovarian steroids estradiol and progesterone had little impact on inflammatory responses to lipopeptides. The endometrial epithelial and stromal cell responses to lipopeptides via TLR2, TLR1, and TLR6 provide a mechanism linking a wide range of bacterial infections to inflammation of the endometrium

Assessment of Effects of an Oil Pipeline on Caribou, Rangifer tarandus granti, Use of Riparian Habitats in Arctic Alaska, 2001-2003

Elevated oil field pipelines may alter Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) movements and delay or prevent access to insect relief habitat. In an attempt to determine if the 40-km elevated Badami pipeline in northern Alaska changed Caribou use of riparian habitats at the three river crossings where the pipeline is buried, we quantified Caribou habitat use at all three crossings using time-lapse video cameras and aerial distribution surveys over three summers. We compared habitat use, behavior and duration of observations among pipeline and non-pipeline sites. We used a block experimental design with cameras at four sites at the three river crossings to evaluate differences in numbers of Caribou per day at pipeline and non-pipeline sites. At each crossing, four cameras were positioned, with one pair of cameras next to the pipeline (pipeline sites) and one pair of cameras 1.8-3.2 km upstream from the pipeline (non-pipeline sites); where cameras monitored the river bank and channel (river habitat) and the tundra within about 200 m of the river (tundra habitat). Peak numbers of Caribou per day occurred during early July 2003 and mid-July 2001 and 2002. Large numbers of Caribou recorded north of the pipeline during aerial surveys did not usually correspond with increased number per day recorded by cameras suggesting Caribou probably also crossed the pipeline outside of the riparian areas. We assessed local changes in riparian habitat use by comparing the numbers of Caribou per day in river and tundra habitats at pipeline and non-pipeline sites and found no difference. We assessed regional changes in riparian habitat use by comparing numbers of Caribou per day at pipeline sites and at non-pipeline sites and found no difference. Caribou groups spent an average of 1 minute longer at tundra pipeline sites and groups spent 30 seconds longer feeding and trotting at pipeline sites, but these differences were not significant