Citizens' demand for permits and Kwerel''s incentive compatible mechanism for pollution control

An interesting feature of pollution permit markets is that citizens may purchase permits to directly lower the levels of pollution. Kwerel's mechanism (Review of Economic Studies~1977) is not incentive compatible when citizens demand permits. We show that a modification of Kwerel''s mechainism, the minimum-price mechanism, is incentive compatible when citizens demand permits, even in the case where there is uncertainty about the damages from pollution.

The Creation of a Multimedia Tutorial Based on the Traditional Model of Communication

Computer mediated multimedia learning is playing an increasingly important role in education. This study seeks to create and implement an interactive multimedia tutorial on the process of communication. The tutorial will be based on the traditional basic model of communication in used entry level undergraduate speech communication courses. The study examines the evolutionary development of the basic model of communication as well as models currently in in use popular textbooks. The study also examines educational theory, visual communication and multimedia learning as they pertain to the creation of the communication tutorial

Light Diffraction Patterns for Telescope Application

Modern optical telescopes are giving us unprecedented imaging of the Universe in order to probe into the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Large optical telescopes require complex optical systems—often involving multiple lenses and mirrors. Light diffraction patterns on the focal planes influence imaging resolution, so a good understanding of diffraction is required to ensure high precision imaging. This project examines elements of diffraction—such as the Huygens-Fresnel Principle and the point spread function—to understand how they influence telescope optics. In addition, this project compares different diffraction theories, including Kirchhoff, Fraunhofer, and Fresnel diffraction, in order to determine similarities and differences between the diffraction theories

Strike Three: Umpires' Demand for Discrimination

We explore umpires' racial/ethnic preferences in the evaluation of Major League Baseball pitchers. Controlling for umpire, pitcher, batter and catcher fixed effects and many other factors, strikes are more likely to be called if the umpire and pitcher match race/ethnicity. This effect only exists where there is little scrutiny of umpires' behavior -- in ballparks without computerized systems monitoring umpires' calls, at poorly attended games, and when the called pitch cannot determine the outcome of the at-bat. If a pitcher shares the home-plate umpire's race/ethnicity, he gives up fewer runs per game and improves his team's chance of winning. The results suggest that standard measures of salary discrimination that adjust for measured productivity may generally be flawed. We derive the magnitude of the bias generally and apply it to several examples.