This paper seeks to examine the failures of the current retirement plan structure, focusing on the structure’s reliance on unpredictable future market returns and the unwillingness of the parties involved to negotiate in order to further enhance their own self-centered interests. Currently, both defined contribution and defined benefit plans encounter a funding crisis in both the public and the private sectors. This paper will discuss how retirement plans, by nature, rely on assumptions of market returns, which naturally depend on the volatility of the market and increase the risk and uncertainty in retirement plans. In addition, since defined benefit plans mostly exist in the public sector today, this paper will examine defined benefit plans in relation to the public sector’s funding crisis and hope to shed light on the politics and tensions between the parties involved in public retirement plans that are preventing effectiveness and efficiency. Finally, this paper will also present alternative retirement plan strategies for which academics and scholars have advocated. However, at the end of the day, as opposed to relying on others to dictate one’s future benefits, which are based on the goodwill of others and uncertainty in the market, Americans should recognize their lack of savings and improve their personal financial literacy and develop individualized savings plans.

There is a demand for new recommendations for pulse seeding rates that will meet the needs of organic farmers. This study was conducted to determine the impact of seeding rate on N2 fixation and N accumulation in lentil and pea and to examine the impact of different seeding rates of lentil and pea on the productivity and N-uptake (i.e., N benefit) in a subsequent wheat crop.<p> The study was performed between 2005 and 2007. Two sites were selected each year of the two-year experiment on certified organic farms in central Saskatchewan. At each location, lentil (<i>Lens culinaris</i> L.) cultivar CDC Sovereign and field pea (<i>Pisum sativum</i> L.) cultivar CDC Mozart were each seeded at five different rates. Wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) cultivar AC Elsa was sown as a non-fixing reference crop at a plant population density of 250 seeds m-2. In the following year, wheat was sown to assess the effect of the pulse seeding rate treatments on the succeeding crop.<p> The pulse crop seeding rates significantly affected the quantity of N2 fixed of lentil and field pea, although %Ndfa (80 to 88% and 79 to 85% for lentil and pea, respectively) typically was unaffected by seeding rate. Yield parameters of following wheat crop were not affected by the seeding rates of the previous pulses. Typically, N contributions increased with increasing seeding rates of both lentil and pea, but there was no detectable difference in N uptake by the following wheat grown on the both pulse stubble. The different seeding rates of organically grown lentil and field pea have impacts on the amount of N2 fixed and N contribution to the soil. However, the differences in N remaining in the soil at different seeding rates of the pulse crops were not detectable in the following wheat crop and the soil N in the following year.

Abstract: Indigenous communities have worked for centuries to develop systems of knowledge pertaining to their local environments. Much of the knowledge that has been directly acquired or passed down over generations is of marketable use to corporations, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Upon gaining the necessary information to convert traditional knowledge into a marketable entity, the corporation will place a patent on the product of their research and development and reap the monetary benefits under the protection of intellectual property legislation. Without appropriate benefit sharing, indigenous communities are robbed of their cumulative innovation and development and denied access to the very medicines that they assisted in development. This study will examine the efforts made by indigenous communities to develop benefit-sharing agreements under national ‘sui generis’ legislation and the international legislation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

In a mineral development scenario, Aboriginal groups rely heavily on Environmental Assessment (EA) and Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) to address their interests and concerns. While EA and IBAs are separate processes – EA is legislated and informed by the Crown, and IBAs operate in the realm of private contract law – together, the two are ostensibly part of a parallel process that connect the Aboriginal group(s), Government and the mining proponent. Indisputably, IBAs support a more inclusive development based on consultation, partnership and participation. IBAs and EA have the potential to enhance Aboriginal involvement in mineral development and positively influence the design and planning of the mine. This thesis examines the Tahltan Nation’s involvement and participation in the Galore Creek Project in British Columbia, and demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that arose during the EA and IBA process. It uses key informant interviews to gain multiple perspectives – from the proponent, Tahltan, and Government, to understand how the Tahltan utilized the EA and IBA to participate in the mineral development.

Esta tesis se estructura bajo la forma de dos ensayos independientes, aunque en esencia ambos tratan de evaluar lo mismo: la eficiencia económica en estructuras productivas. El primer ensayo titulado 'Análisis Coste-Beneficio para el proyecto de construcción de una terminal de contenedores' trata de determinar la rentabilidad económica global de un proyecto de inversión pública, en concreto, la construcción de una terminal de contenedores dentro de unas instalaciones portuarias en las que existe un problema de congestión. El segundo de los ensayos se titula 'Determinantes de la Eficiencia Técnica e Impacto de la Competencia en las Empresas Manufactureras Españolas' y trata, en primer lugar, de estudiar los determinantes que afectan a la variabilidad de la eficiencia técnica de las empresas manufactureras españolas durante la década de los años 90, a partir de un modelo de fronteras estocásticas. En una segunda parte del trabajo se estudia la relación entre los niveles de eficiencia técnica de las empresas y sus cuotas del mercado, demostrando que en aquellos mercados tradicionalmente concentrados y con comportamientos más cooperativos, el efecto de la eficiencia técnica sobre las cuotas de mercado de las empresas es más débil que en aquellos sectores más atomizados y con comportamientos más competitivos.

The aim of the thesis is to study some of the essential consequences of the location of Algots Ltd in three municipalities (Lycksele, Norsjö and Skellefteå) in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. The factories were established with huge subsidies from the Swedish Government which considered the location as a major effort to stimulate regional development in Västerbotten County.The study shows that the yearly working time has increased, on average, by 80 per cent for the women who received employment in one of the factories. Both the incomemult i pi i er and the employmentmult i piier effects in Västerbotten County are rather small since the intermediate goods used by the firm are produced outside the region. The study also contain cost-benefit analysis as applied to the whole economy. Primarily due to very poor private profitability, the investment has yielded negative profitability to the whole economy except in the case of the Norsjö factory. / digitalisering@umu

Inuit exercise a significant degree of self-determination in Nunavut through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, particularly in the area of non-renewable resource development. Self-determination is linked to both Inuit and Canadian identity and conceptualized in its democratic form as relationships of autonomy and interdependence mediated by resource management institutions. This thesis argues that democratic self-determination depends on local experiences of reciprocity and legitimate institutional representation. Nunavut’s institutional actors have the potential to establish locally acceptable norms of reciprocity and representation through (quasi-) constitutionally mandated Inuit Associations, an Inuit public government at the municipal and territorial levels, and resource co-management boards. Using a qualitative research methodology involving document analysis, semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this thesis explores how residents of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, are experiencing democratic self-determination from the perspectives of representation and reciprocity. Results indicate that conflict between municipalities and Inuit Associations over the distribution of resource benefits can overshadow attitudes of reciprocity between public and Inuit spheres. Although both Inuit Associations and public governments are seen as legitimately representing local interests in resource development, each have distinct roles: Inuit Associations negotiate Impact and Benefit Agreements with industry as a matter of right, while public government’s role is the responsible delivery of social services. The legitimacy of Inuit Associations as representatives of Inuit interests was challenged by a minority of research participants who expressed concerns about elitism and unaccountability of Inuit officials, and educational barriers to non-elite participation in decision-making. Meanwhile the criticisms registered against the public governments illustrated contemporary attitudes of resentment based on a history of colonialism and distance from centre to periphery. The Nunavut Impact Review Board was found to be a valuable mechanism for managing Inuit-state relations in its ability to foster trust, though its ability to determine the just distribution of resource benefits is circumscribed. Ultimately, this research suggests that from the perspective of reciprocity and legitimate representation, the birth of Nunavut should not be considered an end to the struggle for greater local democratic control over economic and political destinies.

Aerosol administration via small-volume nebulizers are still being used by selected patient-population. In the economic market, several nebulizer designs have become available, with each incorporating unique features that will potentially establish it as the preferred choice in aerosol delivery. With the continuous rising cost of health care services, clinicians are faced with the task of identifying opportunities for cost reduction in respiratory care. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of dosimetric nebulization using the Circulaire system and the traditional VixOne nebulizer. The desired outcome was to elevate awareness of the potential impact of the Circulaire, and how its adoption might reduce costs and enhance productivity in respiratory care. METHODS: A retrospective study using existing data collected from an urban tertiary adult hospital with a Level II Trauma Center was completed. DATA ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were run for each variable. The total cost of a full-time Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) with benefits per hour was calculated. The average number of RRTs per 12-hour shift, average number of nebulizer treatments by an RRT per 12-hour shift, average costs of traditional VixOne nebulizer and the Circulaire system were also calculated. RESULTS: Descriptive statistics indicated the annual cost of delivering aerosol therapy using the traditional VixOne nebulizer at 9-minutes treatment time to be $114,263.25 per year. The Circulaire was compared at two different treatment times of 5-minutes and 3-minutes, and the annual costs were $137,422.50 per year and $116,982.50 respectively. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted, and the treatment load was increased by 30%, with a reduction to 5 RRTs per shift. Data indicated an annual savings of 8% with the Circulaire at 5-minutes treatment time, and 21% with the Circulaire at 3-minutes treatment time. CONCLUSION: The use of the Circulaire system at 5-minutes or 3-minutes treatment time can reduce department expenditure by reducing labor costs.

This study examined the determinants of public pension fund performance through the lens of agency theory. The study sought to answer the following questions: (1) How much of the fluctuation in the performance of pension plans is due to political interference - either directly from decisions made by legislatures or through the governance structure of the pension boards, after controlling for asset allocation, plan size, and other external factors? (2) Do pension board expertise, education and training, and information disclosure requirements improve the performance of pension plans? (3) Do pension trustees strategically determine the actuarial rate of return (discount rate) in order to reduce contributions in times of fiscal stress for the pension sponsor? Using longitudinal data of pension fund performance over the period 2000 to 2009 and instrumental variables methods to address endogeneity issues, the study found partial support for the agency theory hypotheses. The results indicate that political interference through reduced contributions was the main factor explaining pension performance. There was no direct evidence about the negative impact of politically appointed trustees on pension performance. The impact of these findings for current policy and future research are discussed.

This thesis in an invistigation into the concept of "harm" and its moral relevance. A common view is that an analysis of harm should include a counterfactual condition: an act harms a person iff it makes that person worse off. A common objection to the moral relevance of harm, thus understood, is the non-identity problem. This thesis criticises the counterfactual condition, argues for an alternative analysis and that harm plays two important normative roles. The main ground for rejecting the counterfactual condition is that it has unacceptable consequences in cases of overdetermination and pre-emption. Several modifications to the condition are considered but all fail to solve this problem. According to the alternative analysis to do harm is to perform an act which (1) is responsible for the obtaining of a state of affairs which (2) makes a person’s life go worse. It is argued that (1) should be understood in terms of counterfactual dependence. This claim is defended against counterexamples based on redundant causation. An analysis of (2) is also provided using the notion of a well-being function. It is argued that by introducing this notion it is possible to analyse contributive value without making use of counterfactual comparisons and to solve the non-identity problem. Regarding the normative importance of harm, a popular intuition is that there is an asymmetry in our obligations to future people: that a person would have a life worth living were she to exist is not a reason in favour of creating that person while that a person would have a life not worth living is a reason against creating that person. It is argued that the asymmetry can be classified as a moral option grounded in autonomy. Central to this defence is the suggestion that harm is relevant to understanding autonomy. Autonomy involves partly the freedom to pursue one’s own aims as long as one does no harm.