Lobbying and the Power of Multinational Firms

Are national or multinational firms better lobbyists? This paper analyzes the extent of national environmental regulation when policy is determined in a lobbying game between a government and firm. We compare the resulting regulation levels for national and multinational firms. We identify three countervailing forces, the easier-to-shut-down effect, the easier-to-curb-exports effect and the multiple-plant effect. The interplay of these three forces determines whether national or multinational firms produce more, depending on such parameters as the potential environmental damages, transportation costs and the in uence of the firm. We also show that welfare levels are higher with multinational firms than with national firms when there is no lobbying, but that lobbying can reverse the welfare ordering.Multinational enterprises, regulation, policy formation, lobbying, interest groups, foreign direct investment

Entwicklung eines Simulationsprogrammes zur Evaluation und Optimierung der OP-Personaleinsatzplanung in einem deutschen Krankenhaus

The surgical unit typically is the biggest cost and revenue center in full-service hospitals, but also a facility with outstanding complexity. This has led to particular interest in the topic at the executive offices and in academic research. While most publications deal with the scheduling and stringing together of operating theaters, this work investigates the planning process in advance of those actions. The thesis presents a multiagent simulation tool, which describes surgical workforce planning based on a model process from a particular German hospital. It combines both key performance indicators and staff satisfaction to study the effect of parameter changes as comprehensively as possible. For evaluation of the program and to draw first conclusions on the planning process a general analysis of influence factors is performed, supplemented by a case study based on a particular model scenario. The simulations yield that effective and satisfying compensation for sickness induced staff shortages is only available by increasing the available workforce in the first place, while other influence factors do not exhibit solely positive impact. As payment for required additional staff exceeds accessible savings in planning cost by one order of magnitude, though, the applicability of direct results is limited. The simulation tool itself however represents a powerful planning environment for hospital managers, so they can tune parameters with their particular priorities in mind

Surface electronic corrugation of a one-dimensional topological metal: Bi(114)

The surface of Bi(114) is a striking example where the reduced dimensionality gives rise to structural rearrangement and new states at the surface. Here, we present a study of the surface structure and electronic corrugation of this quasi one-dimensional topological metal based on helium atom scattering (HAS) measurements. In contrast to low-index metal surfaces, upon scattering from the stepped (114) truncation of Bi, a large proportion of the incident beam is scattered into higher order diffraction channels which in combination with the large surface unit cell makes an analysis challenging. The surface electronic corrugation of Bi(114) is determined, using measurements upon scattering normal to the steps, together with quantum mechanical scattering calculations. Therefore, minimisation routines that vary the shape of the corrugation are employed, in order to minimise the deviation between the calculations and experimental scans. Furthermore, we illustrate that quantum mechanical scattering calculations can be used to determine the orientation of the in- and outgoing beam with respect to the stepped surface structure

Spin-ice physics in cadmium cyanide

Spin-ices are frustrated magnets that support a particularly rich variety of emergent physics. Typically, it is the interplay of magnetic dipole interactions, spin anisotropy, and geometric frustration on the pyrochlore lattice that drives spin-ice formation. The relevant physics occurs at temperatures commensurate with the magnetic interaction strength, which for most systems is 1–5 K. Here, we show that non-magnetic cadmium cyanide, Cd(CN)2, exhibits analogous behaviour to magnetic spin-ices, but does so on a temperature scale that is nearly two orders of magnitude greater. The electric dipole moments of cyanide ions in Cd(CN)2 assume the role of magnetic pseudospins, with the difference in energy scale reflecting the increased strength of electric vs magnetic dipolar interactions. As a result, spin-ice physics influences the structural behaviour of Cd(CN)2 even at room temperature.ISSN:2041-172

A case-only study to identify genetic modifiers of breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers

Breast cancer (BC) risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers varies by genetic and familial factors. About 50 common variants have been shown to modify BC risk for mutation carriers. All but three, were identified in general population studies. Other mutation carrier-specific susceptibility variants may exist but studies of mutation carriers have so far been underpowered. We conduct a novel case-only genome-wide association study comparing genotype frequencies between 60,212 general population BC cases and 13,007 cases with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. We identify robust novel associations for 2 variants with BC for BRCA1 and 3 for BRCA2 mutation carriers, P < 10−8, at 5 loci, which are not associated with risk in the general population. They include rs60882887 at 11p11.2 where MADD, SP11 and EIF1, genes previously implicated in BC biology, are predicted as potential targets. These findings will contribute towards customising BC polygenic risk scores for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Lobbying and the Power of Multinational Firms

Are national or multinational firms better lobbyists? This paper analyzes the extent of national environmental regulation when policy is determined in a lobbying game between a government and firm. We compare the resulting regulation levels for national and multinational firms. We identify three countervailing forces, the easier-to-shut-down effect, the easier-to-curb-exports effect and the multiple-plant effect. The interplay of these three forces determines whether national or multinational firms produce more, depending on such parameters as the potential environmental damages, transportation costs and the in uence of the firm. We also show that welfare levels are higher with multinational firms than with national firms when there is no lobbying, but that lobbying can reverse the welfare ordering

Lobbying and the power of multinational firms

Can multinational firms exert more power than national firms by influencing politics through lobbying? To answer this question, we analyze the extent of national environmental regulation when policy is determined in a lobbying game between a government and a firm. We compare the resulting equilibrium regulation levels, outputs and welfare in a game with a multinational firm with those in an otherwise identical game with a national firm. For low transportation costs, output and pollution of a national firm are always as least as high as for a multinational; this changes for high transportation costs and intermediate damage parameters. When there is no lobbying, welfare levels are always higher with multinationals than with national firms. However, the existence of lobbying may reverse this ordering