Showing papers on "Damages published in 1974"

Economic Damages From Residential Use of Mineralized Water Supply

Abstract: Household appliances and personal items in contact with water supplied municipally or from private sources are subject to physical damages from chemical and other constituents of the water. This study translates these damages into economic losses for a typical household. Then it aggregates these losses at the national and individual state levels. To do so required several stages of analysis. First, the types of physical damages expected and the associated water quality determinants were identified, and the physical effects were then translated into economic losses. Second, damage functions were formulated to predict likely impacts of water quality changes on each household unit affected. Third, a computer program based on these functions was designed to estimate total damages per typical household and to aggregate them over selected regions. Finally, the program was applied to state-by-state data describing water supply sources and socioeconomic parameters. Total annual damages to U.S. residents in 1970 were estimated to be in the range $0.65–$3.45 billion, the mean being $1.75 billion. The mean translates to $8.60 per person annually. States having the highest total damages were California ($230 million) and Illinois ($164 million). On a per capita basis, Arizona ($22.53) and New Mexico ($18.58) ranked highest, whereas South Carolina ($1.15) and Oregon ($1.73) were at the other end of the spectrum. When per capita damages were compared by source of water supply, private wells were highest at an average of $12.34, treated groundwater was next at $11.20, and treated surface water was last at only $5.83.

Is the Glass Half Empty, is the Glass Half Full? Compensable Damages and the Contingent Valuation Method

Abstract: Should CVM values be utilized to determine an award of monetary damages for injuries to a public natural resource? Cummings and Harrison's general theme is that the values obtained from CVM and indirect method studies (such as HPM) are sufficiently inaccurate as to be deemed unacceptable in determining compensable damages. Our theme is one of tempered optimism not pessimism. More is understood about the process of assigning monetary values than when Robert Davis conducted his pioneering research and we have a better comprehension of the accuracy and the limits of this information. We argue that CVM values provide meaningful results and should be used to determine compensable damages. The courts frequently employ value estimates that have considerable variance and have developed the means of dealing with this; the courts will do the same with CVM values.

Accountability through the Courts.

Abstract: In the past year the possibility that nonlearners might sue the public schools for money damages has become a reality. A well-publicized suit has been filed by a high school graduate, Peter Doe,' who asserts that his functional illiteracy is his schools' fault. His claim for $1 million from the San Francisco Unified School District has already led to a national conference on suits by individuals against schools,2 reports of the case in educational journals and in the press,3 and a discussion of the suit at the annual convention of the National Education Association.4 As far back as 1970, Stuart A. Sandow foresaw suits by nonlearners against schools for fraud as an emerging problem in education law.5 In October 1972, Gary Saretsky and James Mecklenburger published the provocative article, "See You in Court," in which they sketched some of the legal arguments a class of sixth graders, most of whom had not yet learned to read, might advance in a suit against their school.6

BLAKE v. RICHARDS & WALLINGTON INDUSTRIES LTD. and ANOTHER and FRAM SIEGWART LTD.

Abstract: January 25, 1974 Contract — Construction — Indemnity clause — Trader contracting to indemnify owner of hired crane against “all claims, demands, proceedings, damages, costs and expenses…” — Driver of crane remaining owner's servant — Collision with lorry through negligence of owner's servant — Driver of lorry awarded damages against owner of crane — Third party proceedings by owner of crane against trader — Whether indemnity clause covering owner for negligence of his own servant.

The State and Prospects of the Bangladesh Economy

Abstract: Bangladesh is an old land but a new nation. On the one hand, it is beset with problems inherited from years of underdevelopment and neglect in the past; on the other hand, the tragic circumstances under which Bangladesh was born as an independent nation have created a new set of problems. The ravages of the war of liberation in 1971 followed closely on the heels of an unprecedented cyclone in 1970, which devastated the coastal areas of Bangladesh. The state of the economy of Bangladesh as it emerges after one year bears the marks of both years of neglect as well as of the damages and destruction caused by the recent war.

Contract Costs and the Liability Structure for Stranger-Tenant Damages in Sierra Leone's Customary Land Law: An Economic Analysis

Abstract: In the Sierra Leone Provinces, customary land law dictates that if an individual from another chiefdom or country wishes to rent land in a certain locality, he visits a landholder or head of an extended family and expresses a desire to be the landlord's stranger. If the landlord accepts the individual as his stranger, he becomes liable for any damages caused by the stranger to other natives' properties. This study applies some recent advances in welfare economics (see, for example, Coase, 1960; Demsetz, 1964, 1968) to pursue some interesting aspects of the landlord-stranger relationship. In particular, it is argued that within traditional society putting the liability for strangers' damages on the landlords' shoulders was efficient in a value-theoretic sense because landlords were more efficient than the government or the damaged parties in collecting damages from strangers and, therefore, that the magnitude of the collection cost would have been greater if the liability had been placed directly on the strangers. The paper also shows rigorously how and why it was that the higher the cost of collecting damages from tenants, the lower was the real income produced by the land. Therefore, if the government of the damaged parties should become lower-cost collectors, putting the liability directly on the strangers for any damage they cause would become the pareto-optimal arrangement.

[Epidemiologic studies of inhalation damages (author's transl)].

Abstract: The microcensus of 1970 revealed that 2.22 million people out of a population of 60.4 Million suffered from respiratory complaints. In 552,000 persons respiratory symptoms had persisted for more than one year. It is difficult to estimate the percentage of patients suffering from sequelae of inhalation damage.Certainly accidental influences of irritative gases are of minor importance; this can be concluded from the accident statistics of a large chemical industrial company and of the Austrian “Allgemeine Unfallversicherungsanstalt” (“General Institute for Accident Insurance”).With the exception of pneumoconioses, inhalation damages are also rare in occupational diseases liable for compensation. In work accidents and occupational diseases a strict causal judgment is made in each individual case.In epidemiologic studies about the frequency of inhalation damages in risk groups or in the total population, a number of methodological problems must be considered: 1. Effect of different “admission rates” (Berkson's fallacy, 1946). 2. Decrease in efficiency of serial examinations by false-positive results. 3 Difficulties in applying the technique of multivariate-linear regression in setting up relations between parameters of pulmonary function and concentrations of harmful substances in the air.Applying new interpretatory techniques the analysis of more complex problems will be possible. The following methods are described as examples of new biometric models: 1. Computer simulation of industrial hazards (Knox). The annual disease rate of exposed employees is estimated considering age structure, fluctuation in the companies, the dosage-effect relation between substance and body, and retiring age. 2. “Polychotome linear logistic model (Rasch)”.ZusammenfassungDer Mikrozensus 1970 ergab, daß von 60,4 Millionen der damaligen Wohnbevölkerung 2,22 Millionen Personen an Beschwerden im Bereiche der Atmungsorgane litten. Bei 552 000 Personen bestanden die Krankheitserscheinungen seit länger als einem Jahr.Welcher Prozentsatz der Erkrankten an Folgen von Inhalationsschäden litt, ist schwierig abzuschätzen. Sicherlich spielen unfallsartige Einwirkungen von Reizgasen eine geringe Rolle. Dies ergibt sich aus den Unfallstatistiken eines chemischen Großbetriebes und der österreichischen Unfallversicherungsanstalt. Mit Ausnahme der Staublungenerkrankung kommen Inhalationsschäden auch bei den entschädigungspflichtigen Berufskrankheiten selten vor.Bei Arbeitsunfällen und Berufskrankheiten erfolgt in jedem Einzelfall eine strenge kausale Beurteilung. Bei epidemiologischen Untersuchungen über die Verbreitung von Inhalationsschäden in Risikogruppen oder in der Gesamtbevölkerung ist auf eine Reihe von methodologischen Problemen zu achten. 1. Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Zuweisungsraten zu Stichproben (Berkson's fallacy); 2. die Herabsetzung der Effizienz von Reihenuntersuchungen durch „falsch-positive“ Untersuchungsergebnisse; 3. Schwierigkeiten bei der Anwendung der multivariaten linearen Regressionstechnik beim Aufstellen von Beziehungen zwischen Lungenfunktionsparameter und Konzentrationen von Schadstoffen in der Atemluft.Durch Einbeziehung neuer Auswertungstechniken wird die Analyse komplexerer Fragestellungen möglich sein. Als Beispiele für moderne biometrische Modelle werden angeführt:1. „Computer simulation of industrial hazards“ nach Knox. Die jährlichen Erkrankungsraten gefährdeter Dienstnehmer werden unter Berücksichtigung des Altersaufbaues, der Fluktuation in den Betrieben, der Dosis-Wirkungsbeziehung zwischen Noxe und Organismus und des Pensionsalters abgeschätzt; 2. das polychotome linear logistische Modell nach Rasch. Dieses Modell zeichnet sich vor allem durch „Stichprobenunabhängigkeit“ aus.