Are Economists Different, and If So, Why?

Why is Meaningful Collaboration Between Ecologists and Economists So Difficult?

Why are olfactory systems of different animals so similar?

As we learn more about the neurobiology of olfaction, it is becoming increasingly clear that olfactory systems of animals in disparate phyla possess many striking features in common. Why? Do these features provide clues about the ways the nervous system processes olfactory information? This might be the case if these commonalities are convergent adaptations that serve similar functions, but sim...

Why Are Trend Cycle Decompositions of Alternative Models So Different?

When a certain procedure is applied to extract two component processes from a single observed process, it is necessary to impose a set of restrictions that defines two components. One popular restriction is the assumption that the shocks to the trend and cycle are orthogonal. Another is the assumption that the trend is a pure random walk process. The unobserved components (UC) model (Harvey, 19...

Are performances of banks and firms linked ? 3 And if so , why ?

9 Employing data sets from 46 countries, this paper identifies a significant positive rela10 tionship between the performance of the financial sector and the non-financial ones in the 11 presence of a growth rate in the GDP and in inflation rates. To account for this relationship, 12 we initially put forth four hypotheses. Results show that “bank concentration” (the first hy13 pothesis) conside...

Does excess weight cause osteoarthritis and, if so, why?

Osteoarthritis is a slowly evolving degenerative disease affecting cartilage and bone. Like other chronic non-infectious diseases, its aetiology appears to be multifactorial and therefore preventable by risk factor modification. One ofthe best studied potentially modifiable risk factors is obesity. While this review will use the concepts of adiposity and weight interchangeably, it should be rec...