A Detailed Analysis of the Productivity Performance of Oil and Gas Extraction in Canada

In recent years, the productivity performance of oil and gas extraction in Canada has been dismal. Based on official real GDP and labour input estimates from Statistics Canada, labour productivity in oil and gas extraction fell 8.23 per cent per year between the 2000 cyclical peak and 2007, with capital productivity down 5.97 per cent per year over the same period and total factor productivity (TFP) off 6.67 per cent per year between 2000 and 2006. Among the various hypotheses put forward to explain these trends, the most robust seems to be that higher output prices have suppressed productivity growth through two effects: increased exploitation of low-productivity marginal deposits, and business decisions based on profitability rather than productivity. Despite the rapid decline in productivity in oil and gas extraction, it is not necessarily true that Canadians are worse off. In fact, increased output prices and employment shares in the industry, as well as the high productivity level, have resulted in positive contributions to Canada‟s aggregate labour productivity growth from 2000 to 2006.productivity, mining, oil and gas, resource extraction, labour productivity, output per hour, capital intensity, total factor productivity, Canada

A Detailed Analysis of the Productivity Performance of Mining in Canada

In recent years, the productivity performance of mining in Canada has been very poor. Based on official real GDP and labour input estimates from Statistics Canada, labour productivity in mining fell by 2.21 per cent per year between the 2000 cyclical peak and 2007, with capital productivity down 0.28 per cent per year and total factor productivity (TFP) off 1.07 per cent per year between 2000 and 2006. Among the various hypotheses put forward to explain these trends, the most robust seems to be that higher output prices have suppressed productivity growth through two effects: increased exploitation of low-productivity marginal resource deposits, and business decisions based on profitability rather than productivity. Despite the decline in productivity in mining, it is not necessarily true that Canadians are worse off. In fact, increased relative output prices for mining products as well as a high productivity level in the mining sub-sector, have resulted in positive contributions to Canada‟s aggregate labour productivity growth from 2000 to 2006 and an offsetting effect on the post-2000 aggregate labour productivity slowdown.productivity, mining, labour productivity, output per hour, capital intensity, total factor productivity, Canada, resource extraction

The Measurement of Output and Productivity in the Health Care Sector in Canada: An Overview

To achieve efficient allocation of resources in the health care sector, accurate measures of health care output and productivity are essential. According to official estimates of productivity produced by Statistics Canada, labour productivity in the business sector of the health care (excluding hospitals) and social assistance industry declined 0.28 per cent per year between 1994 and 2003. Estimates of productivity produced by the CSLS, based on official Statistics Canada employment and real GDP figures, show that labour productivity in the health care and social assistance industry declined by 0.69 per cent per year between 1987 and 2006. It is widely recognized that official output and productivity figures may seriously underestimate the true contribution of the health care sector to real output, and more importantly to the economic well-being of Canadians. Alternative approaches show that price indices for health care output may be overestimated and, therefore, quality improvements may not be accurately captured by estimates of real health care output. More resources are needed to further investigate the alternative approaches discussed in this report and develop better output measures that adjust for outcomes directly related to health care spending.Health sector, Productivity, Measurement, Canada, Outcomes.

Influence of spark ignition in the determination of Markstein lengths using spherically expanding flames

Constant pressure outwardly propagating flame experiments in a spherical bomb are performed to examine the duration and radius over which spark ignition effects persist. This is motivated by the need to properly account for such effects in the measurement of laminar burning velocity and Markstein length using the spark ignited expanding flame technique. Ignition energy was varied and its effects on flame propagation in methane-air and isooctane-air mixtures were studied. The Markstein length of the mixture proved critical in the ignition energy dependency of flame propagation. For relatively high values, an underlying common variation of self-sustaining flame speed with radius can be identified by the rapid convergence of curves for different ignition energies. As the Markstein length decreases, low energy spark ignition is found to give rise to a distorted and wrinkled flame kernel. For such mixtures, due to the weak effect of stretch, the kernel subsequently develops into a non-spherically propagating flame. In these cases the spark ignition effect persists up to large radius. It is shown that using low ignition energy leads to a flame speed, during the development phase, which is higher than that of a self-sustaining spherical flame. It is further shown that if this effect is not accounted for, measurements of Markstein length using standard fitting techniques results in a large error. This problem is found to worsen as the Markstein length decreases, such that its apparent measured value becomes increasingly influenced by any distortions of the flame kernel produced by the spark

When the relatively poor prosper: the Underdog Effect on charitable donations

In fundraising, it is common for the donor to see how much a charity has received so far. What is the impact of this information on a) how much people choose to donate and b) which charity they choose to donate to? Conditional cooperation suggests that people will donate to the charity that has received the most prior support, while the Underdog Effect suggests increased donations to the charity with the least support. Across 2 laboratory experiments, an online study (combined N = 494) and a qualitative survey (N = 60), a consistent preference to donate to the charity with the least prior support was observed. Thus, the Underdog Effect was supported. We suggest people will show a preference for the underdog if there are two or more charities to donate to, one of the charities is at a disadvantage and people have little pre-existing loyalty to either charity

Immigration and the Common Profit: Native Cloth Workers, Flemish Exiles, and Royal Policy in Fourteenth-Century London

Drawing on a wide variety of published and unpublished sources, this article reconstructs a crucial episode in the relationship between the English Crown, its native subjects and the kingdom’s immigrant population during the later Middle Ages. Determined that their presence would boost the development of the local textile industries, Edward III encouraged high numbers of skilled Flemish cloth workers who had been exiled from their home county at the start of the 1350s to settle in the realm. Most of them took up residence in London, where they produced higher-quality cloth for the domestic market and, probably, for export. Soon, however, the immigrants’ activities conflicted with the privileges that had structured the capital’s economic life for centuries. Their work was contested by London’s native weavers who, since the middle of the twelfth century, had enjoyed the sole right to produce cloth in the city. Hoping that the control over the immigrants’ activities would help them to overcome the crisis in the market for lower-quality textiles they were struggling with, the natives petitioned the king to obtain the incorporation of the Flemish weavers into their guild for over twenty-five years. Yet, arguing that the Flemings’ contribution benefited the common profit of the whole kingdom in a way that transcended the interests of any particular group, the Crown rejected all their requests and avoided every attempt at discussion. Each time political communication broke down, the native weavers took out their frustrations by physically attacking their Flemish counterparts. These incidents became increasingly violent during the years leading up to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 and came to a dramatic conclusion during the rebellion itself

Features of successful academic hospitalist programs: Insights from the SCHOLAR (SuCcessful HOspitaLists in academics and research) project

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/1/jhm2603.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/2/jhm2603-sup-0004-suppinfo4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/3/jhm2603-sup-0001-suppinfo1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/4/jhm2603-sup-0010-suppinfo10.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/5/jhm2603-sup-0006-suppinfo6.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/6/jhm2603-sup-0005-suppinfo5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/7/jhm2603-sup-0009-suppinfo9.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/8/jhm2603-sup-0012-suppinfo12.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/9/jhm2603-sup-0003-suppinfo3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/10/jhm2603-sup-0002-suppinfo2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/11/jhm2603_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/12/jhm2603-sup-0008-suppinfo8.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/13/jhm2603-sup-0011-suppinfo11.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134172/14/jhm2603-sup-0007-suppinfo7.pd

Survey of overnight academic hospitalist supervision of trainees

In 2003, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced the first in a series of guidelines related to the residency training. The most recent recommendations include explicit recommendations regarding the provision of on‐site clinical supervision for trainees of internal medicine. To meet these standards, many internal medicine residency programs turned to hospitalist programs to fill that need. However, much is unknown about the current relationships between hospitalist and residency programs, specifically with regard to supervisory roles and supervision policies. We aimed to describe how academic hospitalists currently supervise housestaff during the on‐call, or overnight, period and hospitalist program leader their perceptions of how these new policies would impact trainee‐hospitalist interactions. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012; © 2012 Society of Hospital MedicinePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93713/1/1961_ftp.pd