The Real World Software Process

The industry-wide demand for rapid development in concert with greater process maturity has seen many software development firms adopt tightly structured iterative processes. While a number of commercial vendors offer suitable process infrastructure and tool support, the cost of licensing, configuration and staff training may be prohibitive for the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) which dominate the Asia-Pacific software industry. This work addresses these problems through the introduction of the Real World Software Process (RWSP), a freely available, Web-based iterative scheme designed specifically for small teams and organisations. RWSP provides a detailed process description, high quality document templates - including code review and inspection guidelines - and the integrated tutorial support necessary for successful usage by inexperienced developers and teams. In particular it is intended that the process be readily usable by software houses which at present do not follow a formal process, and that the free RWSP process infrastructure should be a vehicle for improving industry standards

Wealth inequality in the United States and Great Britain

In this paper we describe the household wealth distribution in the US and UK, and compare both wealth inequality and the form in which wealth is held. Unconditionally, there are large differences in financial wealth between the two countries at the top fifth of the wealth distribution. And even after controlling for age and income differences between the two countries, we show that the median US household accumulates more financial wealth than their UK counterpart. We explore a number of alternative reasons for these differences and reject some explanations as implausible. These include differential receipt of financial inheritances or desired bequests, and differential average rates of return to corporate equity or housing. While less certain, we also argue that the differences that are concentrated among the older well-to-do are not likely due to differences in income or employment risks, savings for college expenses, or changes in permanent income. Some of the observed differences are due to what we refer to as "initial conditions", in particular previously high rates of corporate equity ownership in the US and housing ownership among young British households. But since these differences existed even in the early 1980s, initial conditions only provide a partial explanation. One further possibility may be that due to forced and voluntary annuitization of retirement incomes, older British households face considerably less longevity risk. Looking more widely, however, we find wealth held in different forms across the two countries, in particular in housing, which to some extent offsets the differences we observe in financial wealth patterns. We therefore point out that it is important that comparative studies compare genuine economic phenomena (such as the ability to smooth consumption) rather than particular economic measurements (such as the level of wealth in any one particular form). We also argue that it is crucial that comparative exercises of this form acknowledge the importance of institutional differences across countries, and in this particular comparison the role of housing markets, annuity markets and stock markets appear crucial and all merit further more detailed research. On balance, we are encouraged by the degree to which a detailed investigation can point to potential explanations of observed wealth differences between the two countries, and such an investigation will also lead to a deeper understanding of the household wealth accumulation process more generally.

Housing Price Volatility and Downsizing in Later Life

In this paper, we modeled several types of housing transitions of the elderly in two countries -- Britain and the United States. One important form of these transitions involves downsizing of housing consumption, the importance of which among older households is still debated. This downsizing takes multiple forms, including reductions in the number of rooms per dwelling and the value of the home. There is also evidence that this downsizing is greater when house price volatility is greater and that American households try to escape housing price volatility by moving to places that are experience significantly less housing price volatility. Our comparative evidence in suggests that there is less evidence of downsizing in Britain. Our results indicate that housing consumption appears to decline with age in the US, even after controlling for the other demographic and work transitions associated with age that would normally produce such a decline. No such fall in housing consumption is found in Britain, largely because British households are much more likely to stay in their original residence.

Housing Mobility and Downsizing at Older Ages in Britain and the United States

This paper investigates the effects of housing price risk on housing choices over the life-cycle. Housing price risk can be substantial but, unlike other risky assets which people can avoid, the fact that most people will eventually own their home creates an insurance demand for housing assets early in life. Our contribution is to focus on the importance of home ownership and housing wealth as a hedge against future house price risk for individuals moving up the ladder – people living in places with higher housing price risk should own their first home at a younger age, should live in larger homes, and should be less likely to refinance. These predictions are tested and shown to hold using panel data from the United States and Great Britain.downsizing, migration

House Price Volatility and the Housing Ladder

This paper investigates the effects of housing price risk on housing choices over the life-cycle. Housing price risk can be substantial but, unlike other risky assets which people can avoid, the fact that most people will eventually own their home creates an insurance demand for housing assets early in life. Our contribution is to focus on the importance of home ownership and housing wealth as a hedge against future house price risk for individuals moving up the ladder – people living in places with higher housing price risk should own their first home at a younger age, should live in larger homes, and should be less likely to refinance. These predictions are tested and shown to hold using panel data from the United States and Great Britain.downsizing, migration

Theoretical Analyses and Practical Applications to the Rehearsal and Performance of Selected Wind-Band Compositions by W. Francis McBeth. (Volumes I-Iv).

The works analyzed in this report--Mosaic, Divergents, The Seventh Seal, To Be Fed By Ravens, and Kaddish--were selected by the composer, W. Francis McBeth. Each of these compositions is analyzed according to the following criteria: instrumentation and scoring, harmony, melody, rhythm, form, and rehearsal and performance problems. A short introduction to each analytical chapter includes background information on the composition under investigation. Errors in the full and condensed scores, as well as the individual parts, of each work for wind band are listed in the introduction to the final section of each analysis. The rehearsal and performance problems discussed by this investigator include problems of precision, intonation, balance, and interpretation. A biographical chapter precedes the theoretical analyses and includes major events in the life of McBeth which have influenced his professional career as a composer, conductor, teacher, and musician. This research report is divided into four volumes. Volume one includes the introductory chapter, review of related literature, biography of McBeth, and analyses of Mosaic and Divergents. Volume two, on the other hand, includes analyses of The Seventh Seal and To Be Fed By Ravens. The analysis of the final work, Kaddish, appears in the third volume along with the summary, conclusions, and recommendations. The fourth volume contains the condensed and full scores to each wind-band composition analyzed in this report. The conclusions by this investigator include techniques of composition which are characteristic of McBeth\u27s musical style in the five works analyzed in this dissertation, such as the rare use of individual solos, the use of open parallel-fifths as a sonorous scoring technique, parallel chord progressions, frequent and extreme dynamic contrasts, use of polydynamics, use of polychords, polytonality/polymodality, an economic use of compositional materials, secundal harmony, use of inverse-chord and regular-chord pyramids, use of ostinato rhythmic structures, and the use of organic growth as an aspect of form

Application of soft x-ray appearance potential spectroscopy to light lanthanides, 4d transition metals, and insulators

Evaporated films of La, Ce, Yb, Y, Ag--Mn(5 percent), KCl, MnF$sub 2$, CsCl and LaF$sub 3$ were studied using the soft x-ray appearance potential spectroscopy (SXAPS) technique. Studies were also made of bulk polycrystalline samples of Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo. The results are discussed in terms of existing SXAPS theories. Several similarities between soft x-ray absorption (SXA) data and the SXAPS results are discussed, and it is shown that the SXA data can aid in the interpretation of SXAPS spectra when using the well-known self-convolution model. In this approximation the absorption coefficient, $alpha$(E), is substituted for the density of states, N(E-E/sub c/) $Yields$ $alpha$(E). For more localized excitations, a convolution of $alpha$(E) with bremsstrahlung isochromat data, based on Wendin's two density of states formalism is used to predict SNAPS results. (auth

Efficient Aggregation of Panel Qualitative Survey Data

Qualitative business survey data are used widely to provide indicators of economic activity ahead of the publication of official data. Traditional indicators exploit only aggregate survey information, namely the proportions of respondents who report “up” and “down”. This paper examines disaggregate or firm-level survey responses. It considers how the responses of the individual firms should be quantified and combined if the aim is to produce an early indication of official output data. Having linked firms’ categorical responses to official data using ordered discrete choice models, the paper proposes a statistically efficient means of combining the disparate estimates of aggregate output growth which can be constructed from the responses of individual firms. An application to firm-level survey data from the Confederation of British Industry shows that the proposed indicator can provide early estimates of output growth more accurately than traditional indicators.Survey Data; Indicators; Quantification; Forecasting; Forecast Combination