Offering a unifying theoretical perspective not readily available in any other text, this innovative guide to econometrics uses simple geometrical arguments to develop students' intuitive understanding of basic and advanced topics, emphasizing throughout the practical applications of modern theory and nonlinear techniques of estimation. One theme of the text is the use of artificial regressions for estimation, reference, and specification testing of nonlinear models, including diagnostic tests for parameter constancy, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and other types of mis-specification. Explaining how estimates can be obtained and tests can be carried out, the authors go beyond a mere algebraic description to one that can be easily translated into the commands of a standard econometric software package. Covering an unprecedented range of problems with a consistent emphasis on those that arise in applied work, this accessible and coherent guide to the most vital topics in econometrics today is indispensable for advanced students of econometrics and students of statistics interested in regression and related topics. It will also suit practising econometricians who want to update their skills. Flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of course levels, it offers both complete coverage of the basic material and separate chapters on areas of specialized interest.

Estimation and Inference in Econometrics

Thirty years of North American research on public acceptance of wind energy has produced important insights, yet knowledge gaps remain. This review synthesizes the literature, revealing the following lessons learned. (1) North American support for wind has been consistently high. (2) The NIMBY explanation for resistance to wind development is invalid. (3) Socioeconomic impacts of wind development are strongly tied to acceptance. (4) Sound and visual impacts of wind facilities are strongly tied to annoyance and opposition, and ignoring these concerns can exacerbate conflict. (5) Environmental concerns matter, though less than other factors, and these concerns can both help and hinder wind development. (6) Issues of fairness, participation, and trust during the development process influence acceptance. (7) Distance from turbines affects other explanatory variables, but alone its influence is unclear. (8) Viewing opposition as something to be overcome prevents meaningful understandings and implementation of best practices. (9) Implementation of research findings into practice has been limited. The paper also identifies areas for future research on wind acceptance. With continued research efforts and a commitment toward implementing research findings into developer and policymaker practice, conflict and perceived injustices around proposed and existing wind energy facilities might be significantly lessened.

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Thirty years of North American wind energy acceptance research: What have we learned?

The siting of wind facilities is extremely controversial. This paper uses data on 11,331 property transactions over nine years in northern New York State to explore the effects of new wind facilities on property values. We use a fixed-effects framework to control for omitted variables and endogeneity biases. We find that nearby wind facilities significantly reduce property values in two of the three counties studied. These results indicate that existing compensation to local homeowners/communities may not be sufficient to prevent a loss of property values. (JEL Q51, Q53)

http://www.iiccusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Values-in-the-Wind.pdf

Values in the Wind: A Hedonic Analysis of Wind Power Facilities

Many physiologic effects of l-glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, are mediated via signaling by ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). These ligand-gated ion channels are critical to brain function and are centrally implicated in numerous psychiatric and neurologic disorders. There are different classes of iGluRs with a variety of receptor subtypes in each class that play distinct roles in neuronal functions. The diversity in iGluR subtypes, with their unique functional properties and physiologic roles, has motivated a large number of studies. Our understanding of receptor subtypes has advanced considerably since the first iGluR subunit gene was cloned in 1989, and the research focus has expanded to encompass facets of biology that have been recently discovered and to exploit experimental paradigms made possible by technological advances. Here, we review insights from more than 3 decades of iGluR studies with an emphasis on the progress that has occurred in the past decade. We cover structure, function, pharmacology, roles in neurophysiology, and therapeutic implications for all classes of receptors assembled from the subunits encoded by the 18 ionotropic glutamate receptor genes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Glutamate receptors play important roles in virtually all aspects of brain function and are either involved in mediating some clinical features of neurological disease or represent a therapeutic target for treatment. Therefore, understanding the structure, function, and pharmacology of this class of receptors will advance our understanding of many aspects of brain function at molecular, cellular, and system levels and provide new opportunities to treat patients.

Structure, Function, and Pharmacology of Glutamate Receptor Ion Channels.

http://content.stockpr.com/genspera/db/Publications/674/pdf/2014_Steroids.pdf

Targeting thapsigargin towards tumors.

In this article we quantify the marginal external effects of nearby land-based wind turbines on property prices. We succeed in separating the effect of noise and visual pollution from wind turbines. This is achieved by using a dataset consisting of 12,640 traded residential properties located within 2,500 meters of a turbine sold in the period 2000–2011. Our results show that wind turbines have a significant negative impact on the price schedule of neighboring residential properties. Visual pollution reduces the residential sales price by up to about 3%, while noise pollution reduces the price between 3% and 7%.

The Vindication of Don Quixote: The Impact of Noise and Visual Pollution from Wind Turbines

The impact of on-shore and off-shore wind turbine farms on property prices

Eliciting preferences for urban parks

Elucidation of the topography of the thapsigargin binding site in the sarco-endoplasmic calcium ATPase.

Distance decay is a well-known phenomenon affecting welfare measures of localized improvements in environmental quality. We focus on an often overlooked issue in the distance decay literature, namely the modeling of jump discontinuities, i.e. when the willingness to pay distance decay function makes a vertical jump up or down. In an empirical stated choice experiment concerning localized water quality improvements where a toll bridge presents a barrier in the landscape that causes a sudden jump in travel costs, we first estimate individual-specific willingness to pay. We then investigate distance decay in these obtained estimates. We find that the degree of distance decay depends on which type of ecosystem services respondents are primarily motivated by. Besides modelling distance decay with a range of commonly used parametric functional forms, we also test a nonparametric generalized additive model specification. We find only minor differences between the different distance decay specifications, with no generally superior model specification. The nonparametric approach tends to capture distance decay in WTP just as well as any of the parametric specifications, but without requiring the analyst to make assumptions concerning the functional form of the distance decay relationship.

Cathrine Ulla Jensen

Papers

The Vindication of Don Quixote: The Impact of Noise and Visual Pollution from Wind Turbines

The impact of on-shore and off-shore wind turbine farms on property prices

Eliciting preferences for urban parks

Elucidation of the topography of the thapsigargin binding site in the sarco-endoplasmic calcium ATPase.

Modelling Strategies for Discontinuous Distance Decay in Willingness to Pay for Ecosystem Services