In most western countries, there is a strong incentive for defence department budget-holders to expend all of the funds they are authorized to spend in a fiscal year. In this paper, we question whether this emphasis makes sense. We develop a model of a defence department's operating expenditure...

Recently I competed in a club golf competition where there was organized parimutuel betting on the outcome. I made an across-the-board (ATB) bet of $20 on our team to win, place, and show. Subsequently I wondered whether this was the best thing to do. Hence, this paper examines the theory of an...

In some organized minor sports programs where there is early competitive streaming, players born early in the year are more likely to reach elite levels than those born late in the year. This is generally attributed to the calendar year system most minor sports programs use to group players for...

Approximately 1700 Pg of soil carbon (C) are stored in the northern circumpolar permafrost zone, more than twice as much C than in the atmosphere. The overall amount, rate, and form of C released to the atmosphere in a warmer world will influence the strength of the permafrost C feedback to...

This is the first of two papers on issues of federal-state finance and intergovernmental transfers in Malaysia. In this paper we outline what we see as the major issues, discuss the theory of the assignment of tax and expenditure powers and the resulting need for intergovernmental transfers, and...

The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement was signed byt the six members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) in 1992. The purpose of this paper is to provide some quantitiative assessment of the importance of this economic agreement for one of its signatories, Thailand.