A Bayesian Spatial Individual Effects Probit Model of the 2010 U.K. General Election

The Conservative Party emerged from the 2010 United Kingdom General Election as the largest single party, but their support was not geographically uniform. In this paper, we estimate a hierarchical Bayesian spatial probit model that tests for the presence of regional voting effects. This model allows for the estimation of individual region-specific effects on the probability of Conservative Party success, incorporating information on the spatial relationships between the regions of the mainland United Kingdom. After controlling for a range of important covariates, we find that these spatial relationships are significant and that our individual region-specific effects estimates provide additional evidence of North-South variations in Conservative Party support.United Kingdom General Election, Bayesian hierarchical modelling, spatial econometrics

Who Generates Hazardous Wastes? Attribution of Producer and Consumer Responsibility within the US

Amid changing attitudes about the environment and increasing sustainability concerns, many countries around the world aim to curb waste generation, especially the generation of hazardous wastes. Beginning in the late 1970’s and occurring increasingly since, governments and international bodies are passing legislation and treaties dealing with the reduction of hazardous waste generation and waste minimization in general. For future waste minimization policies to have an impact on hazardous waste generation, methods for determining where the ultimate responsibility for hazardous waste generation lies need to be explored. This paper examines hazardous waste generation in the United States at the industry level and uses two different specifications of the commodity by industry input-output framework to conduct attribution analyses. These analyses allow for the determination of direct and indirect responsibility of both industries and final consumers for hazardous waste generation. An industry level analysis shows that only a few industries are responsible for a majority of hazardous waste generated in the US. Both attribution analyses suggest that in general, household consumption is largely responsible for direct and indirect hazardous waste generation. Looking more closely, there are noticeable differences in final demand attribution across industries. These results can be used by policymakers to inform and fashion rational and effective laws according to more specific objectives aimed at minimizing hazardous waste generation in the United States

Responsibility for regional waste generation: A single region extended input-output analysis with uni-directional trade flows

The paper uses a regional input-output (IO) framework and data derived on waste generation by industry to examine regional accountability for waste generation. In addition to estimating a series of industry output-waste coefficients, the paper considers two methods for waste attribution but focuses first on one (trade endogenised linear attribution system (TELAS)) that permits a greater focus on private and public final consumption as the main exogenous driver of waste generation. Second, the paper uses a domestic technology assumption (DTA) to consider a regional ‘waste footprint’ where local consumption requirements are assumed to be met through domestic production.waste attribution; regional economy; input-output analysis; Wales

Reconsidering the calculation and role of environmental footprints

Following the recent Copenhagen Climate Change conference, there has been discussion of the methods and underlying principles that inform climate change targets. Climate change targets following the Kyoto Protocol are broadly based on a production accounting principle (PAP). This approach focuses on emissions produced within given geographical boundaries. An alternative approach is a consumption accounting principle (CAP), where the focus is on emissions produced globally to meet consumption demand within the national (or regional) economy1. Increasingly popular environmental footprint measures, including ecological and carbon footprints, attempt to measure environmental impacts based on CAP methods. The perception that human consumption decisions lie at the heart of the climate change problem is the impetus driving pressure on policymakers for a more widespread use of CAP measures. At a global level of course, emissions accounted for under the production and consumption accounting principles would be equal. It is international trade that leads to differences in emissions under the two principles. This paper, the second in this special issue of the Fraser Commentary, examines how input-output accounting techniques may be applied to examine pollution generation under both of these accounting principles, focussing on waste and carbon generation in the Welsh economy as a case study. However, we take a different focus, arguing that the ‘domestic technology assumption’, taken as something of a mid-point in moving between production and consumption accounting in the first paper, may actually constitute a more useful focus for regional policymakers than full footprint analyses

What Causes Waste Flows? An Interregional Analysis of Welsh Waste Shipments

Much of the waste flow literature focuses on international waste trade and oftentimes solely on trade in hazardous wastes. However, data is often available for waste flows within national borders and these flows could yield just as much information on the relationships that exist between origins and destinations. In a world where waste creation, transport, and disposal is becoming a global problem, understanding and modeling these flows is becoming increasingly important. This paper uses a gravity model approach and data on commercial waste shipments between local authorities within Wales to examine the characteristics that are responsible for origin-destination waste flow relationships. We focus on economic characteristics, as well as socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that may play a role in interregional Welsh waste trade

A Note on Partitioning Effects Estimates Over Space

In this paper we provide an applied example for calculating the so-called effects estimates of LeSage and Pace (2009) for partitions of the impacts over space. While the partitioning of the impacts by orders of neighbors over space for the spatial autoregressive (SAR) model is a relatively straightforward procedure, care must be taken in the case of the spatial Durbin model (SDM). We provide an illustration of these calculations for both models using a widely available data set on voter turnout for the 1980 United States presidential election

A Bayesian Spatial Econometric Analysis of the 2010 UK General Election

The Conservative Party won the 2010 General Election in the United Kingdom, gaining the most votes and seats of any single party. Using Bayesian spatial econometric methods, we show that significant spatial dependence exists in Conservative voting behaviour and select the spatial Durbin model as the best model to explain this phenomenon. This paper examines these spatial effects as well as the effects of a range of economic, socio-economic, and political variables. Perhaps the most interesting result is that incumbency has effects beyond the incumbents own constituenc

A Bayesian Spatial Individual Effects Probit Model of the 2010 U.K. General Election

The Conservative Party emerged from the 2010 United Kingdom General Election as the largest single party, but their support was not geographically uniform. In this paper, we estimate a hierarchical Bayesian spatial probit model that tests for the presence of regional voting effects. This model allows for the estimation of individual region-specific effects on the probability of Conservative Party success, incorporating information on the spatial relationships between the regions of the mainland United Kingdom. After controlling for a range of important covariates, we find that these spatial relationships are significant and that our individual region-specific effects estimates provide additional evidence of NorthSouth variations in Conservative Party support

Status Quo and Farmers' Perspective

Veterinary Herd Health Management plays an important role in veterinary medicine on dairy farms and has also been mandatory at the European Union level since April 21, 2021. Despite the increasing importance of VHHM, little is known about the extent of utilization of VHHM by dairy farmers and their view on this type of collaboration. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the status quo of the currently practiced VHHM in Germany. For this purpose, an online survey was conducted among dairy farmers in November and December 2020. From 216 analyzed questionnaires, about half (n = 106) of the surveyed dairy farmers used VHHM at different scopes. However, regardless of the group, the term “veterinary herd health management” generally was given most relative importance by the participants as a veterinary service for herd fertility improvement, rather than the actual definition of a holistic approach. In contrast to this, the actual motivation of the VHHM participants, to take part in such a program was primarily based on the desire to safeguard animal health by employing preventive measures, that is, to avoid the occurrence of diseases via improved management and to improve farm performance (and profitability). Dairy farmers who opted for VHHM tended to manage larger higher yielding herds than those who did not. Additionally, the farmers in latter farms were more likely to make joint animal health decisions with their veterinarians. Using a latent class analysis, two groups of farmers among farms that were not currently using VHHM were identified, one of which expressed great interest in using VHHM while the other did not. Since the new legal basis makes the topic even more relevant than before, dairy farmers, animals, and veterinarians might benefit from the study to exploit hidden opportunities for VHHM collaboration

Regulation of cell proliferation and cell density by the inorganic phosphate transporter PiT1

<p>Abstact</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The inorganic phosphate (P_i) transporter, PiT1 (SLC20A1), is ubiquitously expressed in mammalian cells. It has previously been shown that down-regulation of PiT1 severely impaired the proliferation of two transformed human cells lines, HepG2 and HeLa, and the tumorigenicity of HeLa cells in nude mice. Moreover, PiT1 knock-out mice do not survive past E12.5 and from E10.5, the embryos were found to be growth-retarded and showed reduced proliferation of liver cells. Isolated mouse embryonic fibroblasts with knocked out as well as reduced PiT1 expression levels also exhibited impaired proliferation. Together these results suggest that a certain level of PiT1 is important for proliferation. We have here investigated the role of PiT1 in regulation of cell proliferation using two strictly density-inhibited cells lines, the murine MC3T3-E1 and NIH3T3 cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that knock-down of PiT1 in MC3T3-E1 cells led to impaired proliferation supporting that at least a certain level of PiT1 is important for wildtype level of proliferation. We, however, also observed that MC3T3-E1 and NIH3T3 cells themselves regulate their endogenous PiT1 mRNA levels with lower levels in general correlating with decreased proliferation/increased cell density. Moreover, over-expression of human PiT1 led to increased proliferation of both MC3T3-E1 and NIH3T3 cultures and resulted in higher cell densities in cultures of these two strictly density-inhibited cell lines. In addition, when we transformed NIH3T3 cells by cultivation in fetal bovine serum, cells over-expressing human PiT1 formed more colonies in soft agar than control cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that not only is a certain level of PiT1 necessary for normal cell division as suggested by previously published studies, rather the cellular PiT1 level is involved in regulating cell proliferation and cell density and an increased PiT1 expression can indeed make NIH3T3 cells more sensitive to transformation. We have thus provided the first evidence for that expression of the type III P_itransporter, PiT1, above the endogenous level can drive cell proliferation and overrule cell density constraints, and the results bridge previous observations showing that a certain PiT1 level is important for regulating normal embryonic growth/development and for tumorigenicity of HeLa cells.</p