Asset Decommissioning Risk Metrics for Floating Structures in the Gulf of Mexico

Public companies in the United States are required to report standardized values of their proved reserves and asset retirement obligations on an annual basis. When compared, these two measures provide an aggregate indicator of corporate decommissioning risk but, because of their consolidated nature, cannot readily be decomposed at a more granular level. The purpose of this article is to introduce a decommissioning risk metric defined in terms of the ratio of the expected value of an asset's reserves to its expected cost of decommissioning. Asset decommissioning risk (ADR) is more difficult to compute than a consolidated corporate risk measure, but can be used to quantify the decommissioning risk of structures and to perform regional comparisons, and also provides market signals of future decommissioning activity. We formalize two risk metrics for decommissioning and apply the ADR metric to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) floater inventory. Deepwater oil and gas structures are expensive to construct, and at the end of their useful life, will be expensive to decommission. The value of proved reserves for the 42 floating structures in the GOM circa January 2013 is estimated to range between $37 and $80 billion for future oil prices between 60 and 120 $/bbl, which is about 10 to 20 times greater than the estimated $4.3 billion to decommission the inventory. Eni's Allegheny and MC Offshore's Jolliet tension leg platforms have ADR metrics less than one and are approaching the end of their useful life. Application of the proposed metrics in the regulatory review of supplemental bonding requirements in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is suggested to complement the current suite of financial metrics employed.     

Cognitive distortions predict future gambling involvement

Disordered gambling is best conceptualized as a continuum of severity. Previous research has demonstrated the utility of studying individuals at all points of this spectrum. The sequence of the development of gambling problems and change in gambling involvement along this continuum of severity is not well understood. The present study examined the interplay between cognitive distortions and gambling involvement in a population sample recruited in Alberta, Canada. Data from 1372 participants over 4 assessment waves (5 years) were used to generate a 2-factor latent structure using gambling fallacies and gambling involvement measurements. Structural equation modelling showed that cognitive distortions more strongly predicted future gambling involvement than the reverse relationship, using the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) to assess the models. In addition, cognitive distortions declined over time, whereas gambling involvement remained stable. The results of the study suggest that focusing primarily on cognitive mechanisms in public health initiatives for gambling disorders may be a more effective strategy than focusing on behavioural solutions.     

Why People Like Where They Live: Individual- and Community-Level Contributors to Community Satisfaction

Using multi-level modeling in 26 communities, this study examines contributors to three domains of community satisfaction—overall satisfaction, social life satisfaction, and infrastructure satisfaction. Human capital/demographic and social capital/network contributors emerge at both the individual and community levels in accounting for variation in community satisfaction. Some effects remain the same across levels and domains, but some effects differ. For example, living near family members increases satisfaction in all domains at the individual level, but at the community level, it decreases satisfaction in all domains. Residing in communities high in urbanicity reduces overall satisfaction, but has no effect on infrastructure satisfaction. Moreover, both individual and community level factors matter and impact community satisfaction.     

Reputation spillover effects from grant‐providing institutions

There is a broad academic discussion about the impact of funding grants from a foundation or a government department on individual support intentions toward the nonprofit organization receiving the grant. However, the role of the grant provider's reputation has frequently been overlooked. In this study, we experimentally tested whether there is a reputation spillover effect of a grant‐providing organization. Based on a real‐life example, we asked citizens to rate their willingness to donate to a nonprofit organization, and we experimentally manipulated the available information on funding sources. We test this for both a government department and a foundation as a grant provider. Our results suggest that not the act of receiving a grant, but the citizens' awareness about the funding organization—at least in the case of a foundation—has an impact on support intentions. In contrast, for a prominent government department as a grant provider, we did not find support for a reputation spillover effect.     

On An Intriguing Distributional Identity

For a continuous random variable X with support equal to (a, b), with c.d.f. F, and g: Ω₁ → Ω₂ a continuous, strictly increasing function, such that Ω₁∩Ω₂?(a, b), but otherwise arbitrary, we establish that the random variables F(X) ? F(g(X)) and F(g^{? 1}(X)) ? F(X) have the same distribution. Further developments, accompanied by illustrations and observations, address as well the equidistribution identity U ? ψ(U) = ^dψ^{? 1}(U) ? U for U ～ U(0, 1), where ψ is a continuous, strictly increasing and onto function, but otherwise arbitrary. Finally, we expand on applications with connections to variance reduction techniques, the discrepancy between distributions, and a risk identity in predictive density estimation.     

Learning Life Skills Through Challenging and Negative Experiences

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Youth who are socially vulnerable are disproportionately confronted with culminating risk factors that impact their everyday lives. Within positive youth...     

Social Psychological Processes that Facilitate Sexual Assault within the Fraternity Party Subculture

Rape on the college campus has gained increasing amounts of attention in higher education, mainstream news, and public policy. The prevalence rates of rape are especially high among students who frequent campus parties, such as those hosted by fraternities. Researchers have described this increased risk by focusing on individual attitudes and behaviors of fraternity members or on the organizational norms and practices within the fraternity party subculture. To incorporate these studies into a single theoretical framework, this essay uses a social psychological approach to connect individual‐level attitudes, (sub)culture, and behavior. I describe and apply identity theory and affect control theory, two structural symbolic interactionist theories, to explain why certain men are drawn to high‐risk fraternities and how membership reinforces hostility toward and abuse of women. In doing so, I suggest several avenues for future research that would increase social psychological understanding of the heightened prevalence of sexual victimization within the fraternity party subculture.