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The maximum depth of rainfall in any 30-minute period - I 30 - has been used as an index of erosive rainfall events for more than half a century, and is a key component of the R factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its derivatives. Other indices are in common use, including I 5 , I 10 , and I 15. However, there has been little study of the ability of I 30 to capture the erosive nature of a rainfall event in regions beyond the foundation experimental work in the USA. This paper examines several apparently neglected issues: how reliance on fixed clock-periods might diminish the efficacy of the various indices of short-interval intensity; how well a single 30-minute period is able to reflect the intensity-duration properties of long enclosing rainfall events, and hence, whether the influence of event duration should be evaluated in applications of I 30 and related indices. Results from two Australian sites with high-resolution rainfall records show that within the enclosing rainfall events, actual intensities corresponding to the I 30 value (which is an equivalent intensity or 'rainfall rate', calculated from rainfall depth in 30 min) commonly occur for both less and >30 min. Often the I 30 interval within a rainfall event excludes the most intense periods of rain, and in long events the index reflects ≪1% of the event duration. The I 30 intensity can occur for total durations of 1–3 h in the events studied, or for just a few minutes. An alternative class of indices is proposed, in which fixed clock-periods are not used, and instead, the duration of rainfall within an event that exceeds a nominated intensity is recorded as an index of intensity. This has a number of advantages, including the ability to work with events shorter than 30 min, which are frequently intense but which cannot yield an I 30 index that is strictly comparable to those of longer events. Illustrative results for this new index are presented. • Rainfall events in two high-resolution rainfall records from two Australian sites are analysed for I30. • The I30 period sometimes includes intensity peaks but frequently does not. • Determining I30 for events shorter than 30 min in a consistent way is problematic. • A new intensity index, the duration of rain at and above the I30 intensity, is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to provide an efficient framework to study the relationship between happiness and eco-innovation, measured by eco-efficiency, considered as a subset of the wider question concerning the relationship between happiness and innovation. The conceptual background describes how happiness can be linked to environmental innovations, drawing potential relations among happiness, environment and innovations. An analytical model derives the relationship between happiness and eco-efficiency from a generic utility function. The empirical focus is on the effects of environmental innovation on population well-being for ten European countries over the period 1981–2011. Environmental innovation is measured by an eco-efficiency indicator (the percentage of total energy from combustible renewables and waste). Results from a panel data model show a positive correlation between eco-efficiency and happiness, linking countries' general well-being to environmental conditions, the pace at which they adopt eco-innovations, and the relative efficacy of the latter. • We analyze arguments linking happiness, innovation and environment. • An analytical model supporting a positive relationship between eco-innovations and happiness. • Test of the effects of environmental innovation on well-being for ten European countries. • Results show a positive correlation between eco-efficiency and happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We exploit the quasi-random spatial and temporal nature of ground tremors to evaluate the long-term impact of the 1988 earthquake on educational outcomes among affected children of rural Nepal. We employ difference-in-differences research design to show that infants born in districts severely affected by the earthquake are 13.8% less likely to complete middle school and 10% less likely to complete high school. Our findings demonstrate that children belonging to high caste groups mitigate the negative environmental shock in the long run. However, infants belonging to low caste groups are 17.6% less likely to complete middle school and 11.9% less likely to complete high school. We also find that male infants exposed to a severe earthquake perform significantly better than their female counterparts, suggesting prospects of gender bias in a patriarchal society. Together, these results provide strong evidence that earthquakes lead to deterioration of human capital in a developing country setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health at birth shapes an individual's well-being over her life cycle. We categorize the Indian states into high and low infant mortality regions to capture the diverse disease environment and analyze the nature of the association between parental human capital and child survival and nutrition measures at birth. We restrict our analysis only to firstborns to avoid confounding from a number of factors including sex-selective abortions in the higher birth orders. We broadly find that parental human capital, especially maternal health, is a strong and significant predictor of a child's birth outcomes under adverse disease environment. In the rural areas of the high infant mortality states, a 10-centimeter increase in maternal height is associated with 1.7% lower probability of a child dying as a neonate and 5% increase in birth weight around the mean. These estimates suggest that an investment in human capital of the mothers from this region could accompany large gains in survival and nutrition outcomes of their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study an age-old question in political economy: does government spending on welfare ensure peace? This question was at the heart of the European Welfare State model of the early 20th century, and remains relevant today in face of rising inequalities and political conflict. Yet there is limited empirical evidence about this question. We make use of a panel of 12 Latin American countries over the period 1970–2010 to show that welfare spending has led to substantial reductions in conflict across the region. This effect is more pronounced when associated with reductions in inequality and increasing social and institutional trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an empirical test of the rational addiction model, used in economics to model individuals’ consumption of addictive substances, versus the utility misprediction model, used in psychology to explain the discrepancy between people’s decision and their subsequent experiences. By exploiting a unique data set of disadvantaged Australians, we provide longitudinal evidence that a drop in life satisfaction tends to precede the use of illegal/street drugs. We also find that the abuse of alcohol, the daily use of cannabis and the weekly use of illegal/street drugs in the past 6 months relate to lower current levels of life satisfaction. This provides empirical support for the utility misprediction model. Further, we find that the decrease in life satisfaction following the consumption of illegal/street drugs persists 6 months to a year after use. In contrast, the consumption of cigarettes is unrelated to life satisfaction in the close past or the near future. Our results, though only illustrative, suggest that measures of individual’s subjective wellbeing should be examined together with data on revealed preferences when testing models of rational decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether and how changes in economic circumstances or household income affect individuals’ diet and nutritional intakes is of substantial interest for policy purposes. This paper exploits a period of substantial income volatility in Russia to examine the extent to which , as well as how individuals protect their energy intakes in the face of unanticipated shocks to household income. Using rich data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, our results suggest that households use substitution, disproportionally cutting back spending on non-foods to protect spending on foods, change the composition of the consumption basket, and increase the consumption of ‘cheaper’ calories. Taken together, however, we find that total energy intakes as well as the nutritional composition of the diet are almost fully protected against income shocks. Specifically, we find that 12–16% of the effect of permanent income shocks on food expenditures is transmitted to energy intakes, with 84–88% protected through insurance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the feasibility of changes in cropland-use as an adaptation strategy to minimise the economy-wide costs of climate change on agriculture. Nepal makes an interesting case study as it is one of the most vulnerable agricultural economies within South Asia. We develop a comparative static multi-household computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Nepal, with a nested set of constant elasticity of transformation (CET) functional forms, to model the allocation of land within different agricultural sectors. Land transformation elasticities in these CET functions are allowed to reflect the ease of switching from one crop to another based on their agronomic characteristics. The results suggest that, in the long run, farmers in Nepal tend to allocate land to crops that are comparatively less impacted by climate change, such as paddy, thereby minimising the economy-wide impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the results reveal that land-use change tends to reduce the income disparity between different household groups by significantly moderating the income losses of marginal farmers. Therefore, it is suggested that policy makers in Nepal should prioritise schemes such as providing climate-smart paddy varieties (i.e., those that are resistant to heat, drought and floods) to farmers, subsidising fertilizers, improving agronomic practices, and educating farmers to switch from crops that are highly impacted by climate change to those that are not, such as paddy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the effects of alcohol consumption on household income in Ireland using the Slán National Health and Lifestyle Survey 2007 dataset, accounting for endogeneity and selection bias. Drinkers are categorised into one of four categories based on the recommended weekly drinking levels by the Irish Health Promotion Unit; those who never drank, non-drinkers, moderate and heavy drinkers. A multinomial logit OLS Two Step Estimate is used to explain individual's choice of drinking status and to correct for selection bias which would result in the selection into a particular category of drinking being endogenous. Endogeneity which may arise through the simultaneity of drinking status and income either due to the reverse causation between the two variables, income affecting alcohol consumption or alcohol consumption affecting income, or due to unobserved heterogeneity, is addressed. This paper finds that the household income of drinkers is higher than that of non-drinkers and of those who never drank. There is very little difference between the household income of moderate and heavy drinkers, with heavy drinkers earning slightly more. Weekly household income for those who never drank is €454.20, non-drinkers is €506.26, compared with €683.36 per week for moderate drinkers and €694.18 for heavy drinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a general decomposition method applicable to all forms of bivariate rank dependent indices of socioeconomic inequality in health, including the concentration index. The technique is based on recentered influence function regression and requires only the application of OLS to a transformed variable with similar interpretation. Our method requires few identifying assumptions to yield valid estimates in most common empirical applications, unlike current methods favoured in the literature. Using the Swedish Twin Registry and a within twin pair fixed effects identification strategy, our new method finds no evidence of a causal effect of education on income-related health inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging economic literature has found evidence that wellbeing follows a U-shape over age. Some theories have assumed that the U-shape is caused by unmet expectations that are felt painfully in midlife but beneficially abandoned and experienced with less regret during old age. This paper is the first to analyze age patterns in unmet expectations. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel, a unique data set that contains life satisfaction expectations as well as the same individuals’ subsequent life satisfaction realizations, I match 132,609 life satisfaction expectations to subsequent realizations. I find people to err systematically in predicting their life satisfaction over the life cycle. They expect – incorrectly – increases in young adulthood and decreases during old age. These errors are large, ranging from 9.8% at age 21 to −4.5% at age 68. They are stable over time and observed within cohorts and individuals as well as across socio-economic groups. These findings support theories that unmet expectations drive the age U-shape in wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the association between wage satisfaction and other people's pay, based on a matched employer–employee dataset. Three notions of reference wage appear to be being of particular importance: (i) the median wage level in one's firm, (ii) the level of wage of similar workers in the region, and (iii) the top 1% wage in one's firm. The first one triggers a signal effect, whereby all employees – especially young ones – whatever their relative position in the firm, are happier the higher the median wage in their firm, holding their own wage constant. The second and the third ones are sources of relative deprivation, i.e. workers’ satisfaction decreases with the gap between their own salary and these reference categories. These findings are based on objective measures of earnings as well as subjective declarations about wage satisfaction, awareness of other people's pay and reported income comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We estimate the impact of New York City's shift to universal free school breakfast. [•] Breakfast participation increased modestly for all school meal eligibility groups. [•] Increases for those previously free-meal-eligible suggest a non-price mechanism. [•] A concurrent lunch price increase did not affect full price students’ participation. [•] We find limited impact of the policy change on educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent research distinguishes an individual's decision utility, inferred from her observed choices, from her experienced utility, which more closely matches the notion of happiness. Using various estimation techniques, we test whether post-choice satisfaction (experienced utility), like decision utility in an experimental data set, is S-shaped with loss aversion around a given reference point. We also present a model which estimates the satisfaction function and reference point simultaneously. When pooling the data across individuals, we find an S-shaped satisfaction function in which the reference point depends on past payments, social comparisons, and subjective expectations. There is mixed evidence of loss aversion. At the individual level, there is substantial variation in satisfaction function shapes, although the S-shape is common. Though the two notions of utility are distinct, our findings imply that the two are related at a fundamental level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In several economic fields, such as those related to health or education, the individuals’ characteristics are measured by bounded variables. Accordingly, these characteristics may be indistinctly represented by achievements or shortfalls. A difficulty arises when inequality needs to be assessed. One may focus either on achievements or on shortfalls but the respective inequality rankings may lead to contradictory results. In this note we propose a procedure to define indicators that measure equally the achievement and shortfall inequality. Specifically, we derive measures which are invariant under ratio-scale or translation transformations, and a decomposable measure is also obtained. As the indicators proposed depend on the distribution bounds, families of indices that guarantee the same inequality rankings regardless of the distribution maximal levels are identified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using an Italian survey, we investigate the effect of height on individual happiness. We find that a large part of the effect of height on well-being is driven by a positive correlation between height and economic and health conditions. However, for young men the effect of height on happiness persists even after controlling for these variables, implying that height is associated with some psycho-social direct effects on well-being. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that men care not only about their own height but also about the height of others in their reference group. Well-being is greater for individuals who are taller than other men in their reference group. Results are robust to different definitions of reference group and controlling for a number of other reference group characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We analyze the first representative series of individual measurements of the height of Swiss conscripts for the years 1875–1950. We find that average height followed a general upward time trend, but the economic downturn in the 1880s slowed down the increase in rural average-heights while the economic crisis subsequent to World War I had only a minor effect. Moreover, social-class affiliation was the most important determinant of differences in the biological standard of living, with class and regional disparities remaining constant, for the most part, during the observation period. Lower-class individuals’ ability to overcome economic stress was limited, with the result that their biological standard of living, as reflected in the cyclicality of deviations from average height, was likely to be affected by cycles in economic activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The concentration index is widely used to measure income-related inequality in health. No insight exists, however, whether the concentration index connects with people''s preferences about distributions of income and health and whether a reduction in the concentration index reflects an increase in social welfare. We explored this question by testing the central assumption underlying the concentration index and found that it was systematically violated. We also tested the validity of alternative health inequality measures that have been proposed in the literature. Our data showed that decreases in the spread of income and health were considered socially desirable, but decreases in the correlation between income and health not necessarily. Support for a condition implying that the inequality in the distribution of income and in the distribution of health can be considered separately was mixed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy is essential to attain the quality of life and economic prosperity in a society. In the rural areas of India, cooking dominates the aggregate consumption of energy. This energy demand is mostly met by biomass fuels, which have many associated inherent disadvantages. Hence, it is important to understand the decision making process in rural households regarding the choice of cooking fuels. For this purpose, household information using the 61st round of National Sample Survey is analyzed for the rural parts of India. The logistic regression model is used to explain the determinants of clean fuel use for cooking purposes. The study shows that number of educated females between 10 and 50 years of age, average household education index, regular salary, and monthly per capita consumption expenditure have a positive and significant impact on probability of using clean cooking fuels, whereas possessing a Below Poverty Line ration card, belonging to reserved caste categories, family size and size of farm land have a significant negative linkage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers the socio-economic world context in 2009 and is aimed at achieving two goals: on one hand, to carry out an economic quantitative analysis of interdependence of the world markets; on the other hand, to investigate the relationship between economic growth and social well-being. In order to reach the first aim, we use, as a starting point, Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory (1982) presenting a hierarchical but unfixed division of the world in three levels (core, semi-periphery and periphery); then we consider a group of 124 countries and assign each of these country to one of the three areas. The assignment has been realized by looking at the total score achieved by each country, with the addition of the partial scores based on the position occupied in three different rankings which consider three distinct economic indicators each of them has been divided by the population size (real GDP, exports and debt-external). Therefore we proceed by reaching our second goal concerning the examination of the nature of the relationship existing between the level of each country’s participation in the world economy and its social well-being. We have decided to calculate the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) in order to show the level of well-being gained by each country considered. The PQLI was created by M. D. Morris (1979) to satisfy the need of constructing new indexes to overcome the limitations of economic parameters for measuring human development, which were highlighted by the social indicators movement of the 1960s and by very important works produced by Amartya Sen (1985, 1987, 1999). The construction of PQLI for each country has given us the possibility of comparing the results of the first part of our work with those coming from the second part, in order to focus on the relationship between economic growth and well-being. The results obtained have further been underlined by using a selected group of 9 countries reflecting the main trends which characterize the entire group of countries. In conclusion, the findings of this study reveal that the relationship between a high level of economic growth and an advanced degree of social well-being is not necessarily a cause/effect relationship because it may not occur in consequence of historical, cultural, social and/or political contingencies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The preponderance of subjective well-being analysis investigates the peripheral impact of objective measures such as income. By shifting the focus towards family satisfaction, this paper offers an alternative perspective. Through the incorporation of both employment and home characteristics, it provides an opportunity to integrate the analysis of work–life balance with the expansive wider literature of job satisfaction. Our estimates generate two key findings. First, as is frequently found in the employment literature, we confirm the existence of significant gender differences in family satisfaction. Second, the belief that home ownership is necessarily a significant source of well-being is rejected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Two decades after reunification substantial economic disparities between East and West Germany remain. With formal institutions being equalized, a typical explanation is that the partition of Germany created differences in economic values and attitudes that continue to feed differences in economic performance. Empirical work using values surveys to investigate the extent to which values differ between East and West has thus far produced mixed findings. We use individual-level panel data to assess East and West German value preferences by investigating how individuals from each group differentially transform situational factors into happiness. This novel method of assessing value differences shows that preferences indeed vary between East and West Germans. However, this variation is not in line with the differences associated with the gap in economic performance; if anything, Easterners appear to entertain values more conducive to economic growth. This suggests that the belief that economic differences between Eastern and Western Germany are a result of a Communist cultural legacy may be largely a myth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper argues that access to public infrastructure plays a crucial role on the presence of private schools in a community, as it could not only minimise the cost of production, but also ensure a high return to private investment. Results using community, school and child/household-level PROBE survey data from five north Indian states provide some support to this central hypothesis: even after controlling for all other factors, access to village infrastructural facilities is associated with a higher likelihood of having a private school in the community. This is also corroborated by an analysis of household demand for private schools. The paper concludes by examining the effect of private school presence on year 5 pass rates: while all-school pass rates are significantly higher in villages with a private school, private school presence fails to have significant effect on local state school pass rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The concepts of well-being and quality of life concern evaluative judgements. There is insufficient understanding in current literature that these judgements are made variously due to the use of not only differing values and differing research instruments but also differing standpoints, differing purposes, and differing theoretical views and ontological presuppositions. The paper elucidates these sources of differences and how they underlie the wide diversity of current conceptions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this symposium is to move beyond the established, narrow measures of well-being. It does so by bringing together insights from the happiness approach and the capability approach, both of which are at the forefront of theorizing on welfare in economics. The reason is that the connection happiness–capability is extremely stimulating and potentially able of opening up a very promising field of research. For this purpose, the symposium consists of overview papers by leading scholars and practitioners and of papers dealing with key conceptual and empirical issues on the frontier of combined happiness and capability research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: How did nutritional status develop in sub-Saharan Africa during the second half of the 20th century, and what role did economic development play in nutrition and health? Aggregating data from more than 200,000 women in 28 sub-Saharan African countries, we use mean height as an indicator of net nutritional status and find that the nutritional status of 1960 birth cohorts was relatively high. This situation, however, was not sustained. In almost all countries examined, mean heights were stagnating or decreasing after the 1970 cohorts. Using regression analysis we model human growth from birth to maturity, and find that economic growth had a significant and robust influence on final adult height at two distinct periods of the life cycle: (1) in the first years of life and (2) at puberty. We conclude that the economic difficulties of the late 1970s and 1980s contributed to the decline or stagnation in heights. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index daily poll of the US population, taller people live better lives, at least on average. They evaluate their lives more favorably, and they are more likely to report a range of positive emotions such as enjoyment and happiness. They are also less likely to report a range of negative experiences, like sadness, and physical pain, though they are more likely to experience stress and anger, and if they are women, to worry. These findings cannot be attributed to different demographic or ethnic characteristics of taller people, but are almost entirely explained by the positive association between height and both income and education, both of which are positively linked to better lives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Most studies on childhood health and human capital in developing countries examine how early childhood linear growth relates to later human productivity as reflected in schooling success. Work status is another important human capital outcome related to early child health. This study examines the relationship of linear growth restriction at 2 years of age to work status in young adults who have, for the most part completed their schooling and further explores whether this relationship differs by gender. The analysis sample of 1795 was drawn from participants in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, which followed individuals from birth to age 20–22 years. Work status in 2005 was represented by three categories: not working, working in an informal job, and working in a formal job. Formal work in the Philippines, as in most countries, is associated with regular hours, higher wages and benefits. Analyses were stratified by gender and current school enrolment, and adjusted for socioeconomic status and attained years of schooling. Among males no longer in school, higher length-for-age Z-score (LAZ) at age 2 was associated with a 40% increase in likelihood of formal work compared to not working. In females, each 1 unit increase in LAZ was associated with 0.2 higher likelihood of formal vs. informal work. No significant associations were observed in the small sample of young adults still in school. To improve job prospects of young adults, it is important to provide proper nutrition in early childhood and adequate educational opportunities during schooling years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We examine some of the most recent works on general equilibrium models that measured the impact of trade liberalisation on household welfare. We modify the standard neo-classical model and apply it to a typical South Asian village economy which is still lagging in studies of policy modelling. We conclude that the combination of import and export liberalisations generates higher growth but the distribution pattern does not become pro-poor. Liberalisation under a flexible exchange rate regime when compared to the fixed regime can work negatively since the currency may appreciate much and eliminate the comparative advantages. We also find that a piece by piece external reform gives better economic results than implementing all external reforms together. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of globalization on income inequality for a cross-section of 62 developing countries over a period of 17 years (1985–2001). The results of the study indicate that globalization explains only 15% of the variance in income inequality. More specifically, the results show that (1) strengthening intellectual property rights and openness are positively correlated with income inequality; (2) foreign direct investment is negative and significantly correlated with income inequality but this is not robust to different model specifications; (3) the institutional infrastructure is negatively correlated with income inequality. The study''s findings and the review of the literature suggest that globalization has both costs and benefits and that the opportunity for economic gains can be best realized within an environment that supports and promotes sound and credible government institutions, education and technological development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is substantial evidence in the psychology and sociology literature that social relationships promote happiness for the individual. Yet the size of their impacts remains largely unknown. This paper explores the use of shadow pricing method to estimate the monetary values of the satisfaction with life gained by an increase in the frequency of interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The first part of this paper presents Ibn Khaldun''s multidisciplinary and dynamic theory of development. This theory argues that the development or decline of an economy or society does not depend on any one factor, but rather on the interaction of moral, social, economic, political and historical factors over a long period of time. One of these factors acts as the trigger mechanism and, if the others respond in the same direction, development or decline gains momentum through a chain reaction until it becomes difficult to distinguish the cause from the effect. Part II of this paper applies this theory to Muslim countries to explain their low performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using South African data, the paper poses six questions about the determinants of subjective well-being. Much of the paper is concerned with the role of relative concepts. We find that comparator income, when measured as the average income of others in the local residential cluster, enters the household''s utility function positively (close neighbors are ‘positives’, not ‘negatives’), but that the income of more distant others enters negatively. Race-based comparator groups are also important in racially divided South Africa. Relative income is more important to happiness at higher levels of absolute income. Potential explanations and implications of these results are considered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we consider statistical distributions of different types of patients on the patient lists of doctors. In our framework different types of patients have different preferences regarding their preferred choice of doctor. Assuming that the system is benefit efficient in the sense that distributions with larger total utility have higher probability, we can construct unique probability measures describing the statistical distribution of the different types of patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to identify the effects of barriers to employment and other socio-economic characteristics on welfare duration taking Spain as reference. We tray to assess to what extent these personal problems might be a limit of recent strategies based on promoting work for welfare recipients. An attempt is made to answer two fundamental questions: are these barriers more relevant explaining longer spells in the programs than other characteristics? Secondly, how does the probability of exiting the programs vary as people remain for longer periods? The main determinants of durations are analysed using parametric models. The effects of unobserved heterogeneity are also estimated. The results show that employability and ethnicity are the key variables to explain the lengthening of welfare spells. Social problems add relevant qualitative elements to previous conclusions on welfare duration but the fit of the models improve by very little. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We examine the effects of 10 welfare and employment programs on single mothers’ use of Head Start for their 3- to 4-year-old children, considering concurrent program effects on employment, income, and the use of other types of childcare settings. In general, these welfare and employment experiments increased parental employment and the use of center- and home-based childcare, but decreased families’ use of Head Start. The findings suggest that two types of policies affecting low-income families—welfare and employment on the one hand, and early childhood intervention on the other—are operating independently, and may actually conflict. Policy-induced increases in maternal employment generated an increased need for childcare; however, mothers did not appear to use Head Start to meet this need, instead increasing their use of other types of care arrangements. The part-day, part-year structure of Head Start at the time of these programs and issues of eligibility are discussed as potential barriers to the use of Head Start among low-income families under a welfare system that requires parents to work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A well-known criterion to make heterogeneous welfare comparisons is Atkinson and Bourguignon''s sequential generalized Lorenz dominance (SGLD) criterion. Recently, Fleurbaey, Hagneré and Trannoy convincingly argue that it contains unreasonable household utility profiles and suggest to put (lower and upper) bounds on the needs of the different household types. First, we generalize Atkinson and Bourguignon''s SGLD criterion, by introducing lower bounds directly into the household utility profiles. Second, we propose a new SGLD criterion by introducing upper bounds in a similar way. Third, we impose lower and upper bounds simultaneously and obtain a criterion which is intermediate between Ebert''s equivalence scale weighted approach and Atkinson and Bourguignon''s SGLD approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Explores procedures for calculating I 30 for short rainfall events. • A new procedure based on pluviograph data is introduced. • The Wischmeier & Smith (1978) "I 30 is equivalent to double the rainfall amount" is shown not to apply to Australian data. • I 30 is shown to be a function of both event duration and event intensity. Widely-used models for predicting soil loss, such as the USLE and (R)USLE, require data on I 30 , the index of the largest rainfall depth recorded in any 30-minute period of a rainfall event. The I 30 index has also found widespread application as an index of intensity in hydrology and geomorphology more generally. However, I 30 cannot be directly calculated for events shorter than 0.5 h. The current approach when using pluviograph data is to follow the suggestion of Wischmeier & Smith (1978) and simply estimate I 30 as equal to double the rainfall depth in short events. Here, the applicability of this recommendation is evaluated using Australian rainfall data having high temporal resolution. An index ξ is introduced, which is the ratio of I 30 to event depth. When regressed against event duration, and estimated for events too short to allow direct calculation of I 30 , this takes values generally in the range 1.3–1.6, and rarely reaches 2. Moreover, the value is not constant for all events of duration < 0.5 h, but increases for shorter events. These results suggest that even if the proposal that ξ = 2 was correct for the original rainfall data analysed by Wischmeier & Smith, it may not be appropriate in other geographical locations or rainfall climates. Regression equations of the kind fitted here can be generated for any location where suitable rainfall data having high temporal resolution are available, and provide a more soundly-based approach for estimating I 30 in short rainfall events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]