We explore the determinants of inspection outcomes across 1.6 million Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) audits from 1990 through 2010. We find that discretion in enforcement differs in state and federally conducted inspections. State agencies are more sensitive to local economic conditions, finding fewer standard violations and fewer serious violations as unemployment increases. Larg...

This paper studies bank regulation in the presence of deposit insurance, where banks have private information on their own ability and their investment strategy. Banks choose the mean and variance of their portfolio return. Regulators wish to control banks’ risk choice, even though all agents are risk neutral and there are no deadweight costs of bank failure, because high risk adversely affects...

We study the use of fines and inspections to control production activities that create external damages. The model contains a continuum of firms, differing in their compliance costs, so that only high-cost firms evade the regulations. Modifying the usual Pigou rule for taxing externalities to account for costly inspections, the external damage from the marginal evader’s activities should exceed...

We study antitrust enforcement that channels price-fixing incentives through setting fines and allocating resources to detection activities. Antitrust fines obey four legal principles: punishments should fit the crime, proportionality, bankruptcy considerations, and minimum fines. Bankruptcy considerations limit maximum fines, ensure abnormal cartel profits and impose a challenge for optimal an...

In this study, the isothermal reduction of iron oxide pellets, made of Iranian Chadormalo, Gole-gohar, and Sangan iron ores, was investigated in the temperature range of 900-1100°C. Tabas, Pabdana, Babnizoo, Karmozd, and Shahrood domestic coals were used as reductants. Parametric studies were performed and the effects of such factors as temperature, average particle size of iron ore and coal fi...

In the present study, we investigate a new approach to electroencephalography (EEG) three-dimensional (3D) dipole source localization by using a non-recursive subspace algorithm called FINES. In estimating source dipole locations, the present approach employs projections onto a subspace spanned by a small set of particular vectors (FINES vector set) in the estimated noise-only subspace instead ...

An attempt has been made to beneficiate the Indian coking coal fines by a combination of Spiral, flotation and Oleo Flotation processes. Beneficiation studies were also carried out on 0.5mm coal fines using flotation and oleo flotation by splitting at size 0.063mm.Size fraction of 0.5mm-0.063mm and -0.063mm size were treated in flotation and Oleo flotation respectively. The washability studies ...