As a theoretical paradigm, the use of economics has dominated legal analysis both in academia and the courts in the United States for the last three decades. This popularity, though, does not extend to most other jurisdictions. Judge Richard Posner, one of the pioneers of the law and economics movement, developed a model comparing the structures of the legal profession in the United States, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe to explain the lack of the use of law and economics in the latter two regions compared with the United States.

This paper compares the use of economic analysis in judicial decisions in the United States with the extent of such use in two other common law jurisdictions: Australia and New Zealand. Judge Posner's model is used to examine the structure of the legal professions in Australia and New Zealand to predict the extent to which law and economics is used by each jurisdiction's respective judiciary. It is observed that Australian courts do not use economic analysis to any great extent, with senior members of the judiciary adopting an explicitly negative view of the value of economic reasoning in resolving legal disputes. Even those judges who attempt to apply economic tools to justify their decisions tend to do so in a simplistic fashion that does not draw on the full advantages such an approach offers and does nothing to counteract the claims of the paradigm's critics. New Zealand's judiciary has demonstrated a more receptive attitude, with little if any hostility expressed openly (unlike Australia), with notable senior members of the judiciary openly advocating for the courts to make greater use of economic reasoning in resolving legal disputes. These findings are in line with the expectations formed under Judge Posner's model.

Further observations are made regarding the legal education systems in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, finding that law and economics is taught to a greater extent in line with the    use of economic reasoning in the respective court system. While it is difficult to draw conclusions as to any causal relationship, an explanation is suggested that judicial attitudes, especially in Australia and New Zealand, have a strong influence on the extent to which law and economics is taught in law schools. Australia's and New Zealand's systems of legal education are much more focused, by necessity, on fundamental legal knowledge useful for a career in law, a restriction that does not exist to the same extent in the United States. The popularity of law and economics courses in Australia and New Zealand reflects the judicial attitudes observed in this paper's main analysis.

In contrast to the single species models that were extensively studied in the 1970s and 1980s, predator–prey models give rise to long-period oscillations, and even systems with stable equilibria can display oscillatory transients with a regular frequency. Many fluctuating populations appear to be governed by such interactions. However, predator–prey models have been poorly studied with respect to the interaction of nonlinear dynamics, noise, and system identification. I use simulated data from a simple host–parasitoid model to investigate these issues. The addition of even a modest amount of noise to a stable equilibrium produces enough structured variation to allow reasonably accurate parameter estimation. Despite the fact that more-or-less regular cycles are generated by adding noise to any of the classes of deterministic attractor (stable equilibrium, periodic and quasiperiodic orbits, and chaos), the underlying dynamics can usually be distinguished, especially with the aid of the mechanistic model. However, many of the time series can also be fit quite well by a wrong model, and the fitted wrong model usually misidentifies the underlying attractor. Only the chaotic time series convincingly rejected the wrong model in favor of the true one. Thus chaotic population dynamics offer the best chance for successfully identifying underlying regulatory mechanisms and attractors.

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Recently, bio-mediated and bio-inspired solutions in the field of geotechnical engineering havebeen proposed as sustainable alternatives to traditional, cement-intensive business-as-usual technologies for infrastructure resiliency through geologic hazard mitigation. As these biogeotechnologies develop, it is imperative that quantitative sustainability assessment, such as life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), is employed to assess and guide their sustainable development. This can ensure that they produce both technological and sustainability advantages compared to traditional technologies considering social, environmental, and economic impacts. This dissertation addresses these needs for improved environmental assessment across biogeotechnologies by presenting a framework to evaluate the environmental impacts and cost across the whole life cycle of a geologic hazard mitigation project.

Chapter 1 introduces bio-mediated and bio-inspired geologic hazard mitigation techniques aspotentially sustainable alternatives to existing technologies and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) as a method to evaluate them. Chapter 2 then presents a systematic literature review of emerging bio-mediated and bio-inspired ground improvement LCSA studies, including those focused on enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) and microbially induced desaturation and precipitation (MIDP). The review demonstrates that environmental impacts such as global warming and eutrophication are the most assessed and that inconsistencies in methodology limit the application of the reviewed assessments.

Chapter 3 of this dissertation presents a framework for the evaluation of the environmentalimpacts and costs incurred across the whole life cycle of geotechnical earthquake mitigation projects. This chapter also provides clear guidance for completion of a whole life cycle assessment following the ISO 14040 and 14044 life cycle assessment standards. Permeation grouting is evaluated as a liquefaction mitigation technique to provide an example implementation of the proposed framework and guidance. This case study shows that the construction stage of the permeation grouting project, specifically raw material supply for the microfine cement grout, contributes greatly to the whole life cycle impacts. Site investigation activities account for less than 1% of whole life cycle impacts suggesting that an increased scope site investigation program could provide a better understanding of the subsurface, reducing design uncertainties, without significantly impacting project sustainability.

Finally, a life cycle assessment of EICP columns for ground improvement is completed inChapter 4 to determine the environmental sustainability of EICP columns as compared to permeation grouting. The study finds that EICP columns impacts are primarily due to calcium chloride and urea production and transportation, with EICP biogeochemical process emissions (i.e., ammonium production) accounting for the high eutrophication potential of EICP columns. Other than when considering eutrophication potential, EICP columns present as a more environmentally sustainable alternative to cement-based ground improvement.

California’s freight transportation system is a vital part of the state’s economy but is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and generates an even higher portion of regional and local air pollution. The state’s primary strategy for reducing emissions from the on-road freight sector relies on deploying new vehicle and fuel technologies, such as electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The market for electric truck technologies is developing rapidly.

The goal of this research is to quantify the life cycle environmental impacts and life cycle costs for on-road goods movement in California to estimate the abatement potential and economic costs and benefits of electrifying California’s freight truck sector. The study compares the emissions and costs of urban conventional gasoline and diesel Class 3–8 vehicles with electric heavy-duty vehicles (i.e., electric trucks) for a range of freight and commercial vocations. A model of freight vehicle operations is developed based on representative vehicle location data, and linked with life cycle emissions inventory, technology cost, and pollution health damage cost data. The model is then used to assess energy and capacity requirements for electric trucks and battery systems and explore the impacts of a range of charging strategies and vehicle duty cycles (i.e., vocations) on energy, costs, and emissions between 2020 and 2040.

Where emissions occur, and how emissions of different pollutants are affected by factors including vocation, duty cycle, powertrain configuration, and fuel pathway, will influence the effectiveness and economic costs of emissions reduction strategies. On a per mile basis, replacing a conventional gasoline or diesel truck can reduce CO₂-equivalent (CO₂e) emissions by 50%–75% compared to conventional gas and diesel vehicles. Statewide, 100% electrification of in-state Class 8 vehicles by 2040 could reduce annual CO₂e emissions by nearly than 30% (50 million metric tonnes per year), and electrification of Class 3 trucks statewide would likely half current PM2.5 emissions from transportation. The costs of emissions abatement from truck electrification ranged from $0.25 to $182 per metric tonne of CO₂e for trucks deployed in 2020, but these costs are likely to fall dramatically by 2040. Full electrification of the in-state registered Class 3–8 vehicle fleet by 2040 would significantly reduce criteria pollutants and aerosols emissions; this in turn could reduce pollution related damages in the state by $507 million per year by 2025, and by some $1.6 billion by 2040.

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