The design of fiscal rules and forms of governance in European Union countries

This paper uses a new data set on budgetary institutions in Europe to examine the impact of fiscal rules and budget procedures in EU countries on public finances. It briefly describes the main pattern of budgetary institutions and their determinants across the EU 15 member states. Empirical evidence for the time period 1985-2004 suggests that the centralisation of budgeting procedures restrains public debt. In countries with one-party governments or coalition governments where parties are closely aligned and where political competition among them is low, this is achieved by the delegation of decision-making power to the minister of finance. Fiscal contracts that require countries to set multi-year targets and that reinforce those targets increase fiscal discipline in countries with ideologically dispersed coalitions and where parties regularly compete against each other

An elliptical-pore model for late-stage planar viscous sintering

Published versio

RIGIDITY OF ELASTIC SHELL OF RUBBER-CABLE BELT DURING CABLE DISPLACEMENT

Establishment of a character of the influence of geometric parameters on shear rigidity, determination of maximum stresses in a layer of elastic shell located between the cables and the drum, and development of an algorithm for determination of shear rigidity of rubber-cable rope (belt) shell relatively to the driving drum. Determination of a lower boundary of the efficiency coefficient in a process of interaction of the rubber-cable rope (belt) with sheaves and drums, that are driving and driven, lined with elastic materials and with hard operating surfaces

The design of fiscal rules and forms of governance in European Union countries

This paper uses a new data set on budgetary institutions in Europe to examine the impact of fiscal rules and budget procedures in EU countries on public finances. It briefly describes the main pattern of budgetary institutions and their determinants across the EU 15 member states. Empirical evidence for the time period 1985-2004 suggests that the centralisation of budgeting procedures restrains public debt. In countries with one-party governments or coalition governments where parties are closely aligned and where political competition among them is low, this is achieved by the delegation of decision-making power to the minister of finance. Fiscal contracts that require countries to set multi-year targets and that reinforce those targets increase fiscal discipline in countries with ideologically dispersed coalitions and where parties regularly compete against each other.public indebtedness; budgetary procedures; fiscal rules; European public finances

50 nm GaAs mHEMTs and MMICs for ultra-low power distributed sensor network applications

We report well-scaled 50 nm GaAs metamorphic HEMTs (mHEMTs) with DC power consumption in the range 1-150 ΜW/Μ demonstrating f<sub>T</sub> of 30-400 GHz. These metrics enable the realisation of ultra-low power (<500 ΜW) radio transceivers for autonomous distributed sensor network applications

Improving long line stability by integrating renewables using static synchronous generators

Postprint (author's final draft

Active Galactic Nuclei and the Truncation of Star Formation in K+A Galaxies

We have searched for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in K+A galaxies, using multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopy in the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. The K+A galaxies, which have had their star formation rapidly truncated, are selected via their strong Balmer absorption lines and weak H-alpha emission. Our sample consists of 24 K+A galaxies selected from 6594 0.10<z<0.35 galaxies brighter than I=20 with optical spectroscopy from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey. Two thirds of the K+A galaxies are likely ongoing galaxy mergers, with nearby companion galaxies or tidal tails. Galaxy mergers may be responsible for the truncation of star formation, or we are observing the aftermath of merger triggered starbursts. As expected, the optical colors of K+A galaxies largely fall between blue galaxies with ongoing star formation and red passive galaxies. However, only 1% of the galaxies with colors between the red and blue populations are K+A galaxies, and we conclude that the truncation of star formation in K+A galaxies must have been unusually abrupt (<100 Myr). We examined the AGN content of K+A galaxies with both optical emission-line ratios (BPT diagrams) and Chandra X-ray imaging. At least half of all K+A galaxies display the optical emission-line ratios of AGNs, and a third of M_R<-22 K+A galaxies host AGNs with X-ray luminosities of 10^{42} erg/s. The faintest K+A galaxies do not show clear evidence for hosting AGNs, having emission-line ratios consistent with photoionization by massive stars and few X-ray detections. We speculate that two mechanisms may be responsible for the truncation of star formation in K+A galaxies, with AGN feedback only playing a role in M_R<-20.5 galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 13 pages, 8 figure