Plummeting Pillars : Waning support of pole parties in Norden

Political landscapes or the political scene in the Nordic countries is often regarded of being very similar, whether it is the party system, voters’ behaviour, or political discourse. Since the formation of the political party system in Norden, three party types have been the ballast of the Nordic party landscape. These are in each country a social democratic party, a conservative party, and a centre-agrarian party. Those parties were identified by Jan Sundberg as the Nordic “pole parties”. In the last few years these parties’ support has been waning and these parties do not have as much combined electoral support as they once did. In this thesis three different variables will be analysed to determine if they have affected the support towards these pole parties. The variables in question are party identification, trust towards politicians, and voter turnout. National election studies and formal turnout figures will be used to determine whether these variables affect the support of towards Nordic pole parties. The methods used are quantitative binary logistic regression analysis and coefficient correlation analysis. The key findings in this thesis are that all three variables play a certain role in the waning support of pole parties in Norden, however, all in a different way

Efficient pricing of tourist sites

Foreign tourism has expanded very fast in Iceland in recent years. Much of this tourism targets relatively few places of particular natural beauty. This has resulted in two notable external effects; deterioration of some of the natural features of these sites and significant crowding in the more popular ones. These manifestations of scarcity suggest the social desirability of limiting access to these sites. Basic economic theory holds that optimal use of scarce resources may be accomplished by means of prices. On that basis this paper considers prices for access to natural tourist sites. Optimal pricing rules are derived, their content explained and their practical applicability considered. Comparison of these optimal pricing rules to those that might be set by individual owners is briefly examined. While motivated by the Icelandic problem, the findings of the paper have general applicability.Peer Reviewe

The dairy farming support system: Do the direct payments cause economic inefficiency?

Economic distortions created by the dairy farming support system in Iceland are examined in this paper. Specifically, the impact of the direct payments component of this system is analyzed. The analysis lead to the conclusion that the form of direct payments that has been used is in many ways well-suited to improve dairy farmers' living standards without creating additional social costs in terms of resource misallocation. It follows that it would be socially wasteful, as well as economically detrimental to dairy farmers, to replace this system with an economically less efficient way of providing them with the same amount of financial support.Peer Reviewe

Conformational properties of 1-cyano-1-silacyclohexane, C5H10SiHCN: Gas electron diffraction, low-temperature NMR and quantum chemical calculations

The conformational preference of the cyano group of the 1-cyano-1-silacyclohexane was studied experimentally by means of gas electron diffraction (GED) and dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance (DNMR) as well as by quantum chemical (QC) calculations applying high-level coupled cluster methods as well as DFT methods. According to the GED experiment, the compound exists in the gas-phase as a mixture of two conformers possessing the chair conformation of the six-membered ring and Cs symmetry while differing in the axial or equatorial position of the substituent (axial = 84(12) mol %/equatorial = 16(12) mol %) at T = 279(3) K, corresponding to an A value (Gax – Geq) of −1.0(4) kcal mol−1. Gas-phase CCSD(T) calculations predict an A value of −0.72 kcal mol−1 at 279 K. In contrast, the low-temperature 13C NMR experiments resulted in an axial/equatorial ratio of 35/65 mol % at 120 K corresponding to an A value of 0.14 kcal mol−1. An average value for ΔG#e→a = 5.6 ± 0.1 kcal mol−1 was obtained for the temperature range 110–145 K. The dramatically different conformational behaviour in the gas-phase (GED) compared to the liquid phase (DNMR) suggests a strong solvation effect. According to natural bond orbital analysis the axial conformer of the title compound is an example of stabilization of a form, which is not favored by electrostatic effects and is favored predominantly by steric and conjugation effects.A.V.B. and Yu.F.S. are grateful to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia (State Contracts N 14.B25.31.0013) for financial support. S.A.Sh. thanks the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 14-03-0023-a). I.A., S.O.W., and N.R.J. thank the Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS) for financial support, Grants No 080038021 and 100040022. R.B. acknowledges support from the Icelandic Research Fund, grant no. 141218051

Um orsakir efnahagshrunsins. Þáttur peningastefnu Seðlabankans

Enginn útdráttu

Hagkvæm og sjálfbær erlend skuldstaða

Erlend skuldstaða þjóðarinnar er sem kunnugt er erfið. Skuldirnar eru sennilega langt umfram það sem hagkvæmast er fyrir þjóðarbúið. Á hinn bóginn er ekki unnt að lækka þær nema draga samsvarandi úr ráðstöfun þjóðarframleiðslunnar til neyslu og fjárfestinga. Minni neysla þýðir lakari lífskjör. Minni fjárfestingar rýra getur þjóðarbúsins til að framleiða gæði og þar með halda uppi lífskjörum í framtíðinni. Lakari lífskjör ýta á hinn bóginn undir brottflutning fólks frá landinu og þá fyrst og fremst þess hluta vinnuaflsins sem framleiðnast er og hefur hæsta markaðsvirði. Þar með minnkar mannauður þjóðarinnar sem aftur rýrir getu þjóðarbúskaparins til að halda áfram að greiða niður lánin og halda uppi lífskjörum í framtíðinni. Það er því augljóslega mikilvægt að átta sig á hversu mikil erlend skuldstaða getur verið sjálfbær í þeim skilningi að hún sligi ekki viðkomandi samfélag. Í þessari grein er reynt að grafast fyrir um þetta. Beitt er hagfræðilegum greiningaraðferðum til þess að draga fram aðalatriði málsins og lýsa því hvernig þau tengjast saman. Fundin er líking fyrir bæði hagkvæmustu erlendu skuldstöðu og sjálfbæra erlenda skuldstöðu. Skýrgreindur er sá afborgunarferill lána sem hagkvæmastur er og lagður mælikvarði á þá lækkun erlendra skulda sem nauðsynleg er til að tiltekin ósjálfbær skuldstaða verði sjálfbær

Er Vesturbæjaríhaldið útdautt?

Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn var stofnaður árið 1929. Meginþorra 20. aldarinnar hafði flokkurinn tangarhald á borgarstjórn Reykjavíkur. Flokkurinn hlaut meirihluta borgarfulltrúa í öllum borgarstjórnarkosningum frá 1930-1990 að kosningunum 1978 undanskildum. Eftir sigur flokksins í kosningunum 1990, þegar flokkurinn hlaut rúmlega 60% atkvæða og 10 borgarfulltrúa, hefur flokkurinn ekki hlotið meirihluta borgarfulltrúa í borgarstjórnarkosningum. Á sama tíma þróuðust Reykjavík og höfuðborgarsvæðið úr því að vera lítill bær yfir í það að verða hálfgerð stórborg. Viðfangsefni þessarar ritgerðar er að skoða hverjar orsakir fylgistaps Sjálfstæðisflokksins í Reykjavík gætu verið og þá sérstaklega í samhengi við þróun höfuðborgarsvæðisins og búferlaflutninga. Þá er viðfangsefnið skoðað út frá kenningum um stórborgarvæðingu og þær kenningar og rannsóknir um stórborgarvæðingu nýttar til þess að skýra fylgistap Sjálfstæðisflokksins í Reykjavík. Í rannsóknum um stórborgarvæðingu er sýnt fram á að fólk í þéttbýli er líklegra til þess að kjósa mið- og vinstri flokka en fólk í dreifðari byggð líklegra til þess að kjósa hægri flokka. Þrátt fyrir að þónokkuð margar kenningar hafi verið settar fram um hvers vegna Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn hefur misst sitt helsta vígi, borgarstjórn Reykjavíkur, og að orsök fylgistapsins sé líklegast margþætt, þá hefur stórborgarvæðingin um margt breytt pólitísku landslagi í borginni, rétt eins og kenningar um stórborgarvæðingu hafa sýnt fram á annars staðar. Helsta niðurstaða þessarar ritgerðar er að stórborgarvæðing og mögulega þétting byggðar séu veigamestu ástæðurnar fyrir fylgistapi Sjálfstæðisflokksins í Reykjavík

Miðhús 50

Verkefnið byggist á því að hanna og teikna staðsteypt einbýlishús með nýtilegri rishæð ásamt stakstæðum bílskúr úr timbri með flötu þaki. Miðhús 50 í Rvk. var haft til hliðsjónar varðandi staðsetningu og stærð. Teiknisett verkefnis samanstendur af aðal-, byggingar-, burðarvirkis-, deili- og lagnauppdráttum, ásamt uppdráttaskrá og skráningartöflu húss og bílskúrs. Skýrsla verkefnis greinir frá verklýsingum á þeim liðum sem framkvæma þarf við reisingu mannvirkisins ásamt kostnaðar- og framkvæmdaáætlun, burðarþols-, varmataps-, lagna-, þakrennu- og þakloftunarútreikningum. Umsókn um byggingarleyfi var fyllt út ásamt gátlista frá byggingarfulltrúanum í Reykjavík. Verkefnið er unnið í samræmi við Byggingarreglugerð 112/2012 og lög nr. 160/2010, Lög um mannvirki

The Icelandic version of the dimensional obsessive compulsive scale (DOCS) and its relationship with obsessive beliefs

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the pageThe Dimensional Obsessive Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a self-report instrument to assess severity of OC symptoms along four thematically distinct symptom dimensions. This may carry benefits; both in assessment and for studying the link between OC related beliefs and symptoms. The validity and factor structure of the Icelandic version of the DOCS was investigated in a sample of 547 university students and the congruence between OC related beliefs and symptoms was also compared across different symptom measures (DOCS and OCI-R). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed four-factor structure and a model with a higher-order general severity factor accounting for the inter-relations between the factors. Convergent validity of the scale was supported with moderate to strong correlations with the OCI-R and the Y-BOCS-Self Report version and its symptom checklist. Divergent validity was supported with low to moderate correlations with measures of general anxiety, depression and worry. Regression analyses partly replicated previous results regarding congruence between beliefs and DOCS symptom dimensions. Results did not depend on the symptom measure used. The DOCS has good psychometric properties and may be a useful assessment instrument in both research and clinical settings, although its advantages compared to other self-report measures are not clear

BASECOD - Stable and safe production of high quality cod larvae and juveniles

Stable supplies of high quality cod larvae and juveniles are urgently needed for the development of successful cod farming industries in countries around the North Atlantic. The project is a collaboration between key actors from the cod farming industry and the research sector in Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands, with involvement of additional key actors and stakeholders within the Nordic countries and Canad