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AbstractThis study examines the mean and variance spillovers between patents filed and total factor productivity in Pakistan during the period lasting from 1964 to 2015. Using the multivariate generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic–Baba, Engle, Kraft and Kroner (GARCH–BEKK) model, we find no evidence of mean spillover effects between patents filed and productivity growth. However, the results support the existence of the variance spillover effect, which illustrates that the innovations may affect productivity in the long‐run. Moreover, bidirectional causality in the mean and variance between innovation and productivity growth is non‐existent. We find that R&D/GDP, skilled labour force and economic freedom are the significant factors affecting technological advancements in the country. We also determine that R&D/GDP and economic freedom are the important factors affecting patent activities in Pakistan. Our findings suggest that the government needs to emphasize the regulations of the patent system to safeguard the interests of investors, which ultimately promotes economic growth.

Affirmative action was originally meant to remove by law, as required by the Equal Pay Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, "artificial barriers" that often prevented women and minority groups from entering the workforce. By the late 1960's and early 1970's affirmative action had been altered to become the governmental attempt to provide compensatory opportunities for groups who experience discrimination when seeking employment. More recently the legal essence of affirmative action refers to specific guidelines and rules to recruit, hire, and promote disadvantaged groups for the purpose of eliminating the existing effects of past discriminatory practices. Despite a plethora of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, affirmative action has yet to be clearly defined as a cohesive public policy. The Court's failure to define affirmative action as a coherent constitutional and legal concept has led to widespread misinterpretation of affirmative action goals among public administrators. This notion is substantiated by examining the results of a survey of local government officials at the county and municipal level which measures their understanding and perception of federal law pertaining to affirmative action's meaning and purpose.

Cabinet officers and other political executives in the United States are chosen from a pool of potential candidates from various sectors of society: business, the professions, and government, as well as others. At the cabinet level those selected are clearly the president's choice but other political executives may be the product of cabinet officer and White House recruitment efforts. There are distinct patterns of recruitment from department to department with differing emphases on economic sectors, geography, and prior political experience. The process and the pool of candidates are distinctive during the middle of an administration, with greater emphasis on persons already in government. This selection system reflects basic American values, political experience, and institutional capabilities. The system has significant implications, both for governance and for the legitimacy of government.

"This new edition offers a comprehensive and current survey of major western policy and environmental issues. Contributors address the policy process as it affects the states in the region, and how bureaucracy and politics shape environmental dialogues in the West."--

In this paper, we develop strictly proper scoring rules that may be used to evaluate the accuracy of a sequence of probabilistic forecasts. In practice, when forecasts are submitted for multiple uncertainties, competing forecasts are ranked by their cumulative or average score. Alternatively, one could score the implied joint distributions. We demonstrate that these measures of forecast accuracy disagree under some commonly used rules. Furthermore, and most importantly, we show that forecast rankings can depend on the selected scoring procedure. In other words, under some scoring rules, the relative ranking of probabilistic forecasts does not depend solely on the information content of those forecasts and the observed outcome. Instead, the relative ranking of forecasts is a function of the process by which those forecasts are evaluated. As an alternative, we describe additive and strongly additive strictly proper scoring rules, which have the property that the score for the joint distribution is equal to a sum of scores for the associated marginal and conditional distributions. We give methods for constructing additive rules and demonstrate that the logarithmic score is the only strongly additive rule. Finally, we connect the additive properties of scoring rules with analogous properties for a general class of entropy measures.

"Now in its eighth edition, The Environmental Policy Paradox continues the book's tradition of offering an accessible introduction to the social, economic, legal, and political matters pertaining to environmental policy while also developing the student's own unique views. The text explains why some environmental ideas shape policy while others do not and illustrates that even when the best short- and long-term solutions to environmental problems are identified, the task of implementing these solutions is often left undone or is completed too late. New to the 8th Edition: New topics including environmental social movements and the anti-environmental countermovements, environmental justice, corporate influence in regulatory affairs. Analyses the growing policy divide between the two parties, and the efforts of both Republicans and Democratic presidents to undo the policies of their predecessor. Updated discussions of environmental justice issues. Includes a range of visual aids in figures and tables to demonstrate trends in the topics covered. A new co-author, Peter Jacques, recognized for his teaching and scholarship in global environmental politics and sustainability. A must buy for courses in Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, and Public Policy; and as a supplement for courses in American Government and Public Administration"--

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) attempts to address climate change from one angle - by paying developing countries to slow or stop deforestation and forest degradation. Trumpeted as a way to both mitigate climate change and assist countries with development, REDD was presented as a win-win solution. However, there have been few attempts to understand and analyse the overall framework. Why REDD Will Fail argues that the important goals will not be met under the existing REDD regime unless the actual drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are diminished. The book delves into the problematic details of the regime, ranging from; national capacity to monitor results, the funding mechanism, the definition of a forest, leakage, and the impetus behind the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. As the international community rallies around REDD and developed countries and companies are willing to commit substantial amounts to implement the scheme, this books seeks to address whether REDD has the potential to achieve its purported goals. This is an important resource for academics and students interested in the policy and management aspects of mitigating climate change, environmental policy, international relations and development studies as well as policy makers involved in the REDD process.