The Material Intensity of Growth: Implications from the Human Scale of Production

Contemporary empirical studies on the resource intensity of the economic process provide evidence of a gradual de-linking between natural resources use and economic growth. Resource intensity is evaluated through the Domestic Material Consumption/Gross Domestic Product (DMC/GDP) ratio, defined as the material intensity index. Trajectories of this ratio support the optimistic view that economic output is becoming progressively less dependent on resource flows, hence GDP is gradually dematerialized. The present study asserts that the DMC/GDP indicator fails to take into account the biophysical properties of the production process which define the resource requirements of the economy. The present study proposes the “resources required for producing one unit of GDP per Capita (Income)”, as an alternative indicator for evaluating the resource requirements of the economy. The resource requirement, evaluated at the level of income, approximates the human scale of production; goods should embody certain biophysical properties in order to satisfy human needs. The trajectories of DMC/Income index for global growth rejects the vision of a dematerialized growth and the de-linkage of the economy from natural resources.     

Minimum ε-equivalent Circuit Size Problem

For a Boolean function f given by its truth table (of length ) and a parameter s the problem considered is whether there is a Boolean function g -equivalent to f, i.e., , and computed by a circuit of size at most s. In this paper we investigate the complexity of this problem and show that for specific values of it is unlikely to be in P/poly. Under the same assumptions we also consider the optimization variant of the problem and prove its inapproximability.     

‘These people should not rest’: mobilities and frictions of the homeless geographies in Athens city centre

The paper relates homelessness to the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ by highlighting mobility’s constitutive character in homeless geographies, and the politics involved in the making of mobile homeless subjectivities in central Athens. Ethnographic material demonstrates that, within the city’s institutional and material context, a specific sense of mobility prevails, which may reflect broader mentalities of managing the poor in times of austerity. The case of a night shelter exemplifies how this institutional sense materialises, whereas crucial frictions are involved in the city’s homeless geographies. Yet it is the homeless subjects that embody, experience and make these mobilities and frictions meaningful and political.     

Pay‐Back‐Revenue‐Sharing Contract in Coordinating Supply Chains with Random Yield

We consider coordination issues in supply chains where supplier's production process is subject to random yield losses. For a simple supply chain with a single supplier and retailer facing deterministic demand, a pay back contract which has the retailer paying a discount price for the supplier's excess units can provide the right incentive for the supplier to increase his production size and achieve coordination. Building upon this result, we consider coordination issues for two other supply chains: one with competing retailers, the other with stochastic demand. When retailers compete for both demand and supply, they tend to over‐order. We show that a combination of a pay back and revenue sharing mechanism can coordinate the supply chain, with the pay back mechanism correcting the supplier's under‐producing problem and the revenue sharing mechanism correcting the retailers' over‐ordering problem. When demand is stochastic, we consider a modified pay‐back‐revenue‐sharing contract under which the retailer agrees to not only purchase the supplier's excess output (beyond the retailer's order), but also share with the supplier a portion of the revenue made from the sales of the excess output. We show that this contract, by giving the supplier additional incentives in the form of revenue share, can achieve coordination.     

Inventory Rationing for Multiple Class Demand under Continuous Review

We consider how a firm should ration inventory to multiple classes in a stochastic demand environment with partial, class‐dependent backlogging where the firm incurs a fixed setup cost when ordering from its supplier. We present an infinite‐horizon, average cost criterion Markov decision problem formulation for the case with zero lead times. We provide an algorithm that determines the optimal rationing policy, and show how to find the optimal base‐stock reorder policy. Numerical studies indicate that the optimal policy is similar to that given by the equivalent deterministic problem and relies on tracking both the current inventory and the rate that backorder costs are accumulating. Our study of the case of non‐zero lead time shows that a heuristic combining the optimal, zero lead time policy with an allocation policy based on a single‐period profit management problem is effective.     

Application of a Biologically-Based RFD Estimation Method to Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin (TCDD) Mediated Immune Suppression and Enzyme Induction

The current methods for a reference dose (RfD) determination can be enhanced through the use of biologically-based dose-response analysis. Methods developed here utilizes information from tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD) to focus on noncancer endpoints, specifically TCDD mediated immune system alterations and enzyme induction. Dose-response analysis, using the Sigmoid-Emax (EMAX) function, is applied to multiple studies to determine consistency of response. Through the use of multiple studies and statistical comparison of parameter estimates, it was demonstrated that the slope estimates across studies were very consistent. This adds confidence to the subsequent effect dose estimates. This study also compares traditional methods of risk assessment such as the NOAEL/safety factor to a modified benchmark dose approach which is introduced here. Confidence in the estimation of an effect dose (ED₁₀) was improved through the use of multiple datasets. This is key to adding confidence to the benchmark dose estimates. In addition, the Sigmoid-Emax function when applied to dose-response data using nonlinear regression analysis provides a significantly improved fit to data increasing confidence in parameter estimates which subsequently improve effect dose estimates.     

Preference Heterogeneity and the Rank of Demand Systems

This article examines the effect of preference heterogeneity on nonparametric and parametric tests of the rank of demand systems. Using samples of households drawn from the U.K. Family Expenditure Survey, we find that preference heterogeneity increases the rank of demand systems. When the effects of household characteristics on demand are removed by semiparametric techniques, a rank-3 demand system appears to be an adequate empirical specification for all samples.     

A family support service for homeless children and parents: user and staff perspectives

Children and their parents who become homeless constitute a group of families with a complex range of social care and health needs, including mental health difficulties. In response to this, a local authority housing department established a family support team (FST) that provides assessment and detection of a range of problems, support to parents and children, parenting interventions for child behavioural problems, liaison with other agencies, and referral to specialist services when appropriate. The aim of this study was to establish the perceptions of parents and staff on their experience of the service, and ways of improving it in the future. The study adopted a developmental evaluation approach and used multiple methods, including in‐depth interviews with families; diaries; reflective activities; participatory learning and action; and observation of the FST. The study mapped the innovative service and captured the range of skills in the team and the complexity of agencies the team interacted with. It also identified areas for further development in terms of the mental health needs of children and parents who have become homeless.     

Survey of International Field Education Placements of Accredited Social Work Education Programs

Abstract

During the last 2 decades, social work education programs have sought to incorporate cross-cultural and international content into their curriculum, including the establishment of international field placements. This study reports the results of a full survey (N=446) of all accredited social work education programs. Findings include the number of programs placing students internationally, the number of students placed, the countries into which they are placed, whether these students are graduates or undergraduates, and whether these international placements represent an ongoing commitment by the programs. Several factors are examined which are hypothesized to affect a program's willingness to place students internationally.