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Showing 1 - 9 of
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Cloudlanders
Christopher Mackie
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R261
R216
Discovery Miles 2 160
Save R45 (17%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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An island of magic and mayhem floating above the flooded Earth,
Bastion has long been the last country left in the world. Then one
day best friends Kurt (an eight-foot mushroom with a fear of
heights) and Flicker (a tiny, tough-talking gemstone faerie) stand
on the edge of the land and see the impossible: a plane from
nowhere is heading straight for them. Kurt and Flicker join forces
with a brave gang of misfits -- including wood-nymph twins (one
bounty hunter, one bookworm) and a gruff, shapeshifting wolf -- to
rescue the pilot and face a dangerous enemy. Can the Cloudlanders
save their floating island from crashing into the Endless Sea and
the terrifying tentacles of a massive monster? Cloudlanders is a
fast-paced, laugh-out-loud fantasy adventure with a unique cast of
characters, tonnes of heart, and gasp-inducing moments. Fans of Ben
Miller, Tom Fletcher and Terry Pratchett will love this quirky and
sharply written debut novel from Kelpies Prize winner, Christopher
Mackie.
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An Updated Measure of Poverty - (Re)Drawing the Line
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on National Statistics, Panel on Evaluation and Improvements to the Supplemental Poverty Measure; Edited by Constance F Citro, …
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R719
Discovery Miles 7 190
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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An accurate measure of poverty is necessary to fully understand how
the economy is performing across all segments of the population and
to assess the effects of government policies on communities and
families. In addition, poverty statistics are essential in
determining the size and composition of the population whose basic
needs are going unmet and to help society target resources to
address those needs. An Updated Measure of Poverty: (Re)Drawing the
Line recommends updating the methodology used by the Census Bureau
to calculate the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) to reflect
household basic needs. This report recommends that the more
comprehensive SPM replace the current Official Poverty Measure as
the primary statistical measure of poverty the Census Bureau uses.
The report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the SPM and
provides recommendations for updating its methodology and expanding
its use in recognition of the needs of most American families such
as medical care, childcare, and housing costs. Table of Contents
Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Conceptual Basis of the
Supplemental Poverty Measure Appendix 2A: Algebraic Representations
of the Supplemental Poverty Measure and the Principal Poverty
Measure 3 Treatment of Medical Care in the Proposed Principal
Poverty Measure Appendix 3A: Alternative Approaches to Accounting
for Medical Care in a Poverty Measure Appendix 3B: Examples of PPM
versus SPM treatment of health insurance and medical care 4
Challenging Categories: Childcare 5 Challenging Categories:
Housing/Shelter 6 Data and Statistical Issues Appendix 6A: SPM/PPM
Threshold Components - Availability in the CE Interview
Survey/Taken from Other Sources APPENDIX 6B: SPM/PPM RESOURCE
COMPONENTS - Availability in the CPS-ASEC and ACS References
Appendix A: Background and Specification of the OPM and the SPM
Appendix B: Summary of Public Comments Appendix C: Biographical
Sketches of Panel Members
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Improving Data Collection and Measurement of Complex Farms (Paperback)
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on National Statistics, Panel on Improving Data Collection and Reporting about Agriculture with Increasingly Complex Farm Structures; Edited by Christopher Mackie, …
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R1,432
Discovery Miles 14 320
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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America's farms and farmers are integral to the U.S. economy and,
more broadly, to the nation's social and cultural fabric. A healthy
agricultural sector helps ensure a safe and reliable food supply,
improves energy security, and contributes to employment and
economic development, traditionally in small towns and rural areas
where farming serves as a nexus for related sectors from farm
machinery manufacturing to food processing. The agricultural sector
also plays a role in the nation's overall economic growth by
providing crucial raw inputs for the production of a wide range of
goods and services, including many that generate substantial export
value. If the agricultural sector is to be accurately understood
and the policies that affect its functioning are to remain well
informed, the statistical system's data collection programs must be
periodically revisited to ensure they are keeping up with current
realities. This report reviews current information and makes
recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's)
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Economic
Research Service (ERS) to help identify effective methods for
collecting data and reporting information about American
agriculture, given increased complexity and other changes in farm
business structure in recent decades. Table of Contents Front
Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Background: USDA's National
Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service 3
Dimensions of Farm Complexity 4 Conceptual Issues: Defining
Farming, Farms, Farmers, and Agriculture 5 The Growing Complexity
of Farm Business Structure: Implications for Data Collection 6 A
Broader Data Infrastructure: Administrative and Other Nonsurvey
Data Sources Bibliography Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Panel
Members Committee on National Statistics
Because of the role of innovation as a driver of economic
productivity and growth and as a mechanism for improving people's
well-being in other ways, understanding the nature,determinants,
and impacts of innovation has become increasingly important to
policy makers. To be effective, investment in innovation requires
this understanding, which, in turn, requires measurement of the
underlying inputs and subsequent outcomes of innovation processes.
In May 2016, at the request of the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics of the National Science Foundation, the
Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop - bringing
together academic researchers, private and public sector experts,
and representatives from public policy agencies - to develop
strategies for broadening and modernizing innovation information
systems.This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion
of the event. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction 2
Assessing Innovation Measurement 3 Innovation Beyond R&D and
Conventional Input Measures 4 The Role of Individuals (and Networks
of Individuals) in Innovation 5 Measuring Public-Sector Innovation
and Social Progress 6 Regional Innovation Models and Data Needs 7
Innovation Measurement Agendas of the Future 8 Key Themes and
Possible Next Steps References Appendix A: Workshop Agenda Appendix
B: Workshop Participants Committee on National Statistics
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Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education (Paperback)
National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Testing and Assessment, Committee on National Statistics, Panel on Measuring Higher Education Productivity: Conceptual Framework and Data Needs; Edited by …
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R1,257
Discovery Miles 12 570
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Higher education is a linchpin of the American economy and society:
teaching and research at colleges and universities contribute
significantly to the nation's economic activity, both directly and
through their impact on future growth; federal and state
governments support teaching and research with billions of
taxpayers' dollars; and individuals, communities, and the nation
gain from the learning and innovation that occur in higher
education. In the current environment of increasing tuition and
shrinking public funds, a sense of urgency has emerged to better
track the performance of colleges and universities in the hope that
their costs can be contained without compromising quality or
accessibility. Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher
Education presents an analytically well-defined concept of
productivity in higher education and recommends empirically valid
and operationally practical guidelines for measuring it. In
addition to its obvious policy and research value, improved
measures of productivity may generate insights that potentially
lead to enhanced departmental, institutional, or system educational
processes. Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher
Education constructs valid productivity measures to supplement the
body of information used to guide resource allocation decisions at
the system, state, and national levels and to assist policymakers
who must assess investments in higher education against other
compelling demands on scarce resources. By portraying the
productive process in detail, this report will allow stakeholders
to better understand the complexities of-and potential approaches
to-measuring institution, system and national-level performance in
higher education. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 The
Importance of Measuring Productivity in Higher Education 2 Defining
Productivity for Higher Education 3 Why Measurement of Higher
Education Productivity Is Difficult 4 Advancing the Conceptual
Framework 5 Recommendations for Creating and Extending the
Measurement Framework 6 Implementation and Data Recommendations
References and Bibliography Appendix A: Commonly Used Performance
Metrics for Higher Education Appendix B: Methods for Measuring
Comparative Quality and Cost Developed by the National Center for
Academic Transformation Appendix C: Overview of Data Sources
Appendix D: Estimating Project-Related Departmental Research
Appendix E: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members Committee on
National Statistics Board on Testing and Assessment
The national income and product accounts that underlie gross
domestic product (GDP), together with other key economic data?price
and employment statistics? are widely used as indicators of how
well the nation is doing. GDP, however, is focused on the
production of goods and services sold in markets and reveals
relatively little about important production in the home and other
areas outside of markets. A set of satellite accounts?in areas such
as health, education, volunteer and home production, and
environmental improvement or pollution?would contribute to a better
understanding of major issues related to economic growth and
societal well-being. Beyond the Market: Designing Nonmarket
Accounts for the United States hopes to encourage social scientists
to make further efforts and contributions in the analysis of
nonmarket activities and in corresponding data collection and
accounting systems. The book illustrates new data sources and new
ideas that have improved the prospects for progress. Table of
Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Accounting
and Data Foundations 3 Home Production 4 The Role of the Family in
the Production of Human Capital 5 Education 6 Health 7 The
Government and Private Nonprofit Sectors 8 The Environment
References Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and
Staff Index
In March 2008, the Committee on National Statistics of the National
Academies held a workshop to assist the Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) with next steps as it develops plans to produce a satellite
health care account. This account, designed to improve its
measurement of economic activity in the medical care sector, will
benefit health care policy. The purpose of the workshop, summarized
in this volume, was to elicit expert guidance on strategies to
implement the objectives of the BEA program. The ultimate
objectives of the program are to:
compile medical care spending information by type of disease-a
system more directly useful for measuring health care inputs,
outputs, and productivity than current estimates of spending by
type of provider; produce a comprehensive set of accounts for
health care-sector income, expenditure, and product; develop
medical care price and real output measures that will help analysts
to break out changes in the delivery of health care from changes in
the prices of that care; and coordinate BEA and Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) health expenditure statistics.
How well does the consumer price index (CPI) reflect the changes
that people actually face in living costs?from apples to computers
to health care? Given how it is used, is it desirable to construct
the CPI as a cost-of-living index (COLI)? With what level of
accuracy is it possible to construct a single index that represents
changes in the living costs of the nation's diverse population? At
What Price? examines the foundations for consumer price indexes,
comparing the conceptual and practical strengths, weaknesses, and
limitations of traditional "fixed basket" and COLI approaches. The
book delves into a range of complex issues, from how to deal with
the changing quality of goods and services, including
difficult-to-define medical services, to how to weight the
expenditure patterns of different consumers. It sorts through the
key attributes and underlying assumptions that define each index
type in order to answer the question: Should a COLI framework be
used in constructing the U.S. CPI? In answering this question, the
book makes recommendations as to how the Bureau of Labor Statistics
can continue to improve the accuracy and relevance of the CPI. With
conclusions that could affect the amount of your next pay raise, At
What Price? is important to everyone, and a must-read for policy
makers, researchers, and employers. Table of Contents Front Matter
Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Conceptual Foundations for Price
and Cost-of-Living Indexes 3 Index Domain 4 Evolving Market
Baskets: Adjusting Indexes to Account for Quality Change 5 New
Goods and New Outlets 6 The Special Case of Medical Services 7
Index Design and Index Purpose 8 Whose Index? Aggregating Across
Households 9 Data Collection for CPI Construction Appendix:
Statistical Definition and Estimation of Price Indexes References
Glossary Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff Index
Intangible assets-which include computer software, research and
development (R&D), intellectual property, workforce training,
and spending to raise the efficiency and brand identification of
firms-comprise a subset of services, which, in turn, accounts for
three-quarters of all economic activity. Increasingly, intangibles
are a principal driver of the competitiveness of U.S.-based firms,
economic growth, and opportunities for U.S. workers. Yet, despite
these developments, many intangible assets are not reported by
companies, and, in the national economic accounts, they are treated
as expenses rather than investments. On June 23, 2008, a workshop
was held to examine measurement of intangibles and their role in
the U.S. and global economies. The workshop, summarized in the
present volume, included discussions of a range of policy-relevant
topics, including: what intangibles are and how they work; the
variety and scale of emerging markets in intangibles; and what the
government's role should be in supporting markets and promoting
investment in intangibles. Table of Contents Front Matter 1
Overview 2 Intangible Assets in a Knowledge Economy 3 Macroeconomic
Implications of Intangible Assets 4 Intangibles in the Firm and in
Financial Markets 5 Intangibles and Government Measurement 6
Intangibles and Government Policy References Appendix: Workshop
Agenda Committee on National Statistics Science, Technology, and
Economic Policy Board
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