Who Says Research Can't Be Rocking?

On the Efficiency of AC/DC: Bon Scott versus Brian Johnson (PDF; 186 KB) Source: Munich Personal RePEc Archive Among musicologists, researcher of popular culture, and rock and roll lovers of all ages there exists a common debate. That is, with respect to the rock band AC/DC, who is the better vocalist: Bon Scott or Brian Johnson? The band’s original vocalist, Scott, performed on seven of the band’s albums (excluding live albums and compilations), passing away in 1980. Brian Johnson joined the band in 1980, serving as vocalist on nine albums (excluding live albums and compilations). Since 1980, there has been near constant contention regarding who was the better singer. In this paper, we explore this issue. Since it is difficult to ascertain which vocalist was better given the heterogenity of musical tastes, our analysis does not focus on the aural or sonic quality of the vocalists’ performances. Rather, using tools from the field of experimental economics, and we consider which vocalist results in individuals arriving at more efficient outcomes in a simple bargaining game. Our results suggest that having participants listen to songs by AC/DC is which Brian Johnson served as vocalist results in participants realizing more efficient outcomes. This, in terms of a singer’s ability to implmenent efficient behavioral outcomes among listeners, our results suggest that Brian Johnson was a better vocalist than Bon Scott.

Spring Cleaning!

You may (or may not) have noticed that the UE Library Blog's archives have shrunk. Do not be alarmed! I made an executive decision to delete nearly two years of "New Titles in JSTOR/MUSE" postings.

BookFinder

Book Finder is a neat site/tool that allows you to compare prices on more than 125 million books for sale from 4,000 sellers. So there’s no need to go to Amazon, Half.com and all the other book sites when Book Finder can search them for you.

When searching for titles, make sure you select the appropriate edition! A test search for a Women's Studies text found entries for all three recent editions, though mostly for the first two.

OttoBib

OttoBib is a website that will create bibliographies from ISBN numbers (ISBN-13 works too). MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian are the major style choices. Check it out!

Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies debuts in Project Muse

Since 1997, the Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies has been publishing insightful essays on the relationships between economics and politics as they come to bear on the cultures of Spain, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Chicano and Latino United States. Past special issues have included titles such as Market Matters: Literary Culture and the Publishing Industry in Spain and Latin America; The Hispanic Atlantic; Equatorial Guinea and Spanish Letters; Barcelona and the Projection of Catalonia; On the Border.

Partial Answers debuts in Project Muse

Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas is an international, peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that focuses on the study of literature and the history of ideas. This interdisciplinary component is responsible for combining analysis of literary works with discussions of historical and theoretical issues. The journal publishes articles on various national literatures including Anglophone, Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Russian, and, predominately, English literature. Partial Answers would appeal to literature scholars, teachers, and students in addition to scholars in philosophy, cultural studies, and intellectual history.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/pan/