In a model with endogenous number of innovating firms, we show that whether patent protection increases R&D investment is ambiguous, and depends on the market demand function and the cost of R&D. If the market size increases with number of firms, patent protection reduces R&D investment if the cost of R&D is sufficiently high, and higher product differentiation increases the possibility of lowe...

This paper presents the case for and the evidence in favour of passive investment strategies and examines the major criticisms of the technique. I conclude that the evidence strongly supports passive investment management in all markets—smallcapitalisation stocks as well as large-capitalisation equities, US markets as well as international markets, and bonds as well as stocks. Recent attacks on...

One of the most labor intensive tasks of traditional slaughter pig production is the weighting of pigs for market. In an on-going project, methods for automatically assessing live weights through image analysis are being developed. Below, we present the framework of a farm level model to optimize selection of slaughter pigs for market. The optimization tool used in this study is a hierarchical ...

BACKGROUND Live-animal markets are a culturally important feature of meat distribution chains in many populations, yet they provide an opportunity for the maintenance and transmission of potentially emergent zoonotic pathogens. The ongoing human outbreak of avian H7N9 in China highlights the need for increased surveillance and control in these live-bird markets (LBMs). DISCUSSION Closure of r...

Emerging research on aquaculture governance has pointed to the conundrum of negative global environmental effects from economic incentives for production shift more highly regulated less countries. This study focused examining whether regulatory costs U.S. tilapia farms may have contributed their contraction in contrast growth that contributes volume seafood imports into A national survey (cove...