Monopoly rents and price fixing in betting markets

Betting markets provide an ideal environment in which to examine monopoly power due to the availability of detailed information on product pricing. In this paper we argue that the pricing strategies of companies in the UK betting industry are likely to be an important source of monopoly rents, particularly in the market for forecast bets. Pricing in these markets are shown to be explicitly coordinated. Further, price information is asymmetrically biased in favor of producers. We find evidence, based on UK data, that pricing of CSF bets is characterized by a significantly higher markup than pricing of single bets. Although this differential can in part be explained by the preferences of bettors, it is reasonable to attribute a significant part of the differential as being due to monopoly power

Contextual modulation of primary visual cortex by auditory signals

Early visual cortex receives non-feedforward input from lateral and top-down connections (Muckli & Petro 2013 Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 23, 195–201. (doi:10.1016/j.conb.2013.01.020)), including long-range projections from auditory areas. Early visual cortex can code for high-level auditory information, with neural patterns representing natural sound stimulation (Vetter et al. 2014 Curr. Biol. 24, 1256–1262. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.020)). We discuss a number of questions arising from these findings. What is the adaptive function of bimodal representations in visual cortex? What type of information projects from auditory to visual cortex? What are the anatomical constraints of auditory information in V1, for example, periphery versus fovea, superficial versus deep cortical layers? Is there a putative neural mechanism we can infer from human neuroimaging data and recent theoretical accounts of cortex? We also present data showing we can read out high-level auditory information from the activation patterns of early visual cortex even when visual cortex receives simple visual stimulation, suggesting independent channels for visual and auditory signals in V1. We speculate which cellular mechanisms allow V1 to be contextually modulated by auditory input to facilitate perception, cognition and behaviour. Beyond cortical feedback that facilitates perception, we argue that there is also feedback serving counterfactual processing during imagery, dreaming and mind wandering, which is not relevant for immediate perception but for behaviour and cognition over a longer time frame. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Auditory and visual scene analysis’

A policy response to the e-commerce revolution: the case of betting taxation in the UK

Several environmental changes in the 1990s – including the introduction of a national lottery, the rise of Internet gambling, and the reduction of trade barriers within the EU – induced the UK government to initiate a large-scale review of betting duty. As a result of this review, the government recently announced a significant reduction in betting taxes. They also decided to replace the current general betting duty (GBD), levied as a proportion of betting stakes, with a gross profits tax (GPT), based on the net revenue of bookmakers. We examine the economic rationale behind these decisions and demonstrate how these tax changes have broad implications regarding optimal levels of taxation for other sources of government revenue

The abortion-crime link: evidence from England and Wales

We use panel data from 1983 to 1997 for the 42 police force areas in England and Wales to test the hypothesis that legalizing abortion contributes to lower crime rates. We provide an advance on previous work by focusing on the impact of possible endogeneity of effective abortion rates with respect to crime. Our use of U.K. data allows us to exploit regional differences in the provision of free abortions to identify abortion rates. When we use a similar model and estimation methodology, we are able to replicate the negative association between abortion rates and reported crime found by Donohue and Levitt for the U.S. However, when we allow for the potential endogeneity of effective abortion rates with respect to crime, we find no clear connection between the two.

Shear bands and cracking of metallic glass plates in bending

The thickness dependence of yielding and fracture of metallic glass plates subjected to bending is considered in terms of the shear band processes responsible for these properties. We argue that the shear band spacing (and length) scales with the thickness of the plate because of strain relaxation in the vicinity of the shear band at the surface. This is consistent with recent measurements of shear band spacing versus sample size. We also argue that the shear displacements in the shear band scale with the shear band length and plate thickness, thus causing cracks to be initiated in thicker plates at smaller bending strains. This leads to fracture bending strains that decrease markedly with increasing plate thickness, consistent with recent experiments. These results suggest that amorphous metals in the form of foams might have superior ductility and toughness

Forecasting the Outcome of Closed-Door Decisions: Evidence from 500 Years of Betting on Papal Conclaves

Closed-door decisions may be defined as decisions in which the outcome is determined by a limited number of decision-makers and where the process is shrouded in at least some secrecy. In this paper, we examine the use of betting markets to forecast on particular closed-door decision, the election of the Pope. Within the context of 500 years of papal election betting, we employ a unique dataset of betting on the 2013 papal election to investigate how new public information is incorporated into the betting odds. Our results suggest that the market was generally unable to incorporate effectively such information. We venture some possible explanations for our findings and offer suggestions for further research into the prediction and predictability of other 'closed-door' decisions

Gathering experience in trust-based interactions

As advances in mobile and embedded technologies coupled with progress in adhoc networking fuel the shift towards ubiquitous computing systems it is becoming increasingly clear that security is a major concern. While this is true of all computing paradigms, the characteristics of ubiquitous systems amplify this concern by promoting spontaneous interaction between diverse heterogeneous entities across administrative boundaries [5]. Entities cannot therefore rely on a specific control authority and will have no global view of the state of the system. To facilitate collaboration with unfamiliar counterparts therefore requires that an entity takes a proactive approach to self-protection. We conjecture that trust management is the best way to provide support for such self-protection measures

Blood lactate clearance after maximal exercise depends on active recovery intensity

AIM: High-intensity exercise is time-limited by onset of fatigue, marked by accumulation of blood lactate. This is accentuated at maximal, all-out exercise that rapidly accumulates high blood lactate. The optimal active recovery intensity for clearing lactate after such maximal, all-out exercise remains unknown. Thus, we studied the intensity-dependence of lactate clearance during active recovery after maximal exercise.<p></p> METHODS: We constructed a standardized maximal, all-out treadmill exercise protocol that predictably lead to voluntary exhaustion and blood lactate concentration >10 mM. Next, subjects ran series of all-out bouts that increased blood lactate concentration to 11.5±0.2 mM, followed by recovery exercises ranging 0% (passive)-100% of the lactate threshold.<p></p> RESULTS: Repeated measurements showed faster lactate clearance during active versus passive recovery (P<0.01), and that active recovery at 60-100% of lactate threshold was more efficient for lactate clearance than lower intensity recovery (P<0.05). Active recovery at 80% of lactate threshold had the highest rate of and shortest time constant for lactate clearance (P<0.05), whereas the response during the other intensities was graded (100%=60%>40%>passive recovery, P<0.05).<p></p> CONCLUSION: Active recovery after maximal all-out exercise clears accumulated blood lactate faster than passive recovery in an intensity-dependent manner, with maximum clearance occurring at active recovery of 80% of lactate threshold

Exploring mothers' perspectives of an intensive home visiting program in Australia: A qualitative study

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policy.Intensive nurse home visiting programs are an early childhood, population based intervention that target vulnerable families. Programs are dependent on the relationship between home visitor and mother to bring about change. Few studies have focused on investigating parents’ perspectives of these programs using qualitative methods and none in the Australian context. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore and describe mothers’ perspectives of an intensive nurse home visiting program in South Australia. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with mothers receiving the program. The findings indicated the role of a trusting relationship between nurse and participant as well as shared decision-making was central to program engagement and led to participant perceptions of increasing control over their role as parents. However, a clear distinction was made by the mothers: that they engaged in a relationship, not a program