RAILROADS AND GROWTH IN PRUSSIA

We study the effect of railroad access on urban population growth. Using GIS techniques, we match triennial population data for roughly 1,000 cities in 19th‐century Prussia to georeferenced maps of the German railroad network. We find positive short‐ and long‐term effects of having a station on urban growth for different periods during 1840–1871. Causal effects of (potentially endogenous) railroad access on city growth are identified using propensity score matching, instrumental variables, and fixed‐effects estimation techniques. Our instrument identifies exogenous variation in railroad access by constructing straight‐line corridors between nodes. Counterfactual models using pre‐railroad growth yield no evidence to support the hypothesis that railroads appeared as a consequence of a previous growth spurt.     

Review of Radon and Lung Cancer Risk

Radon, a long-established cause of lung cancer in uranium and other underground miners, has recently emerged as a potentially important cause of lung cancer in the general population. The evidence for widespread exposure of the population to radon and the well-documented excess of lung cancer among underground miners exposed to radon decay products have raised concern that exposure to radon progeny might also be a cause of lung cancer in the general population. To date, epidemiological data on the lung cancer risk associated with environmental exposure to radon have been limited. Consequently, the lung cancer hazard posed by radon exposure in indoor air has been addressed primarily through risk estimation procedures. The quantitative risks of lung cancer have been estimated using exposure-response relations derived from the epidemiological investigations of uranium and other underground miners. We review five of the more informative studies of miners and recent risk projection models for excess lung cancer associated with radon. The principal models differ substantially in their underlying assumptions and consequently in the resulting risk projections. The resulting diversity illustrates the substantial uncertainty that remains concerning the most appropriate model of the temporal pattern of radon-related lung cancer. Animal experiments, further follow-up of the miner cohorts, and well-designed epidemiological studies of indoor exposure should reduce this uncertainty.     

Internationaler Joint Venture Erfolg: Eine Meta-Analyse

To analyze the success factors of international joint ventures (IJVs), this study meta-analytically integrates 106 studies of 32.318 firms. The results show that the success factors from the partner level (e.g., operational and strategic fit, partner experience) and IJV level (e.g., commitment, trust, control, interdependence, conflicts, conflict management, and organizational learning) determine IJV performance. Further, results reveal that IJV type, industry, and geographical distance moderate the relationships between success factors and IJV performance. Thus, this study contributes to extant knowledge by synthesizing and contextualizing quantitative empirical IJV research.     

Computerized Estimates of Potential Occupational Health Risk Due to Chemical Exposure

Estimating the potential health risk encountered by workers due to their exposure to various chemicals is enormously complex, since many chemicals be involved and each may have multiple toxic effects. As an aid to this estimation process, a computer program, or model, which computes index numbers expressing the relative health risk of occupational groups due to their potential chemical exposures was developed at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This model considers an inventory of the chemicals to which specific occupational groups are potentially exposed, the published information regarding the toxic effects of each chemical, and the conditions of occupational exposure. The system then develops indices of potential occupational group health risk by considering weighted combinations of eight distinct health effects. No direct comparison with external occupational risk indices is currently possible, but internal testing of the model reveals no obvious inconsistencies.     

Animal-human relationships in child protective services: getting a baseline

Inclusion of certain aspects of animal-human relationships (AHR), such as animal abuse and animal-assisted interventions, can enhance child welfare practice and there are resources available to promote such inclusion. However, there is little knowledge of whether this is being accomplished. This study sought to fill this gap by conducting a national survey of state public child welfare agencies to examine AHR in child protective services practice, their assessment tools, and cross-reporting policies.     

Computerized Estimates of Potential Occupational Health Risk Due to Chemical Exposure

Estimating the potential health risk encountered by workers due to their exposure to various chemicals is enormously complex, since many chemicals may be involved and each may have multiple toxic effects. As an aid to this estimation process, a computer program, or model, which computes index numbers expressing the relative health risk of occupational groups due to their potential chemical exposures was developed at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). This model considers an inventory of the chemicals to which specific occupational groups are potentially exposed, the published information regarding the toxic effects of each chemical, and the conditions of occupational exposure. The system then develops indices of potential occupational group health risk by considering weighted combinations of eight distinct health effects. No direct comparison with external occupational risk indices is currently possible, but internal testing of the model reveals no obvious inconsistencies.