6,215 research outputs found
Optimal equilibria of the best shot game
We consider any network environment in which the "best shot game" is played.
This is the case where the possible actions are only two for every node (0 and
1), and the best response for a node is 1 if and only if all her neighbors play
0. A natural application of the model is one in which the action 1 is the
purchase of a good, which is locally a public good, in the sense that it will
be available also to neighbors. This game typically exhibits a great
multiplicity of equilibria. Imagine a social planner whose scope is to find an
optimal equilibrium, i.e. one in which the number of nodes playing 1 is
minimal. To find such an equilibrium is a very hard task for any non-trivial
network architecture. We propose an implementable mechanism that, in the limit
of infinite time, reaches an optimal equilibrium, even if this equilibrium and
even the network structure is unknown to the social planner.Comment: submitted to JPE
Paying Positive to Go Negative: Advertisers' Competition and Media Reports
This paper analyzes a two-sided market for news where advertisers may pay a media outlet to conceal negative information about the quality of their own product (paying positive to avoid negative) and/or to disclose negative information about the quality of their competitors' products (paying positive to go negative). We show that whether advertisers have negative consequences on the accuracy of news reports or not ultimately depends on the extent of correlation among advertisers' products. Specifically, the lower the correlation among the qualities of the advertisers' products, the (weakly) higher the accuracy of the media outlet' reports. Moreover, when advertisers' products are correlated, a higher degree of competition in the market of the advertisers' products may decrease the accuracy of the media outlet's reports.
World on Fire? Democracy, Globalization and Ethnic Violence
Recent studies suggest that democracy and globalization lead to ethnic hatred and violence in countries with a rich ethnic minority. We examine the thesis by Chua (2003) that democratization and globalization lead to ethnic violence in the presence of a market-dominant minority. We use different data sets to measure market dominant minorities and employ panel fixed effects regressions for a sample of 107 countries over the period 1984-2003. Our model contains two-way and three-way interactions to examine under which conditions democracy and globalization increase violence. We find no evidence for a worldwide Chua effect, but we do find support for Chua’s thesis for Sub-Saharan Africa.Globalization, Democracy, Ethnic Violence, Market-dominant minorities
Political Regime Change, Economic Reform and Growth Accelerations
Using an improved definition and indicator of growth accelerations, we examine whether political regimes, regime changes, and economic reform are related to growth accelerations. Our results show that economic growth accelerations are preceded by economic reforms. Furthermore, we find that growth accelerations are more likely to happen after the start of a new political regime.economic growth, growth accelerations, regime changes, economic reform
Spatially separated polar samples of the cis and trans conformers of 3-fluorophenol
We demonstrate the spatial separation of the cis- and trans-conformers of
3-fluorophenol in the gas phase based on their distinct electric dipole
moments. For both conformers we create very polar samples of their
lowest-energy rotational quantum states. A >95 % pure beam of
trans-3-fluorophenol and a >90 % pure beam of the lowest-energy rotational
states of the less polar cis-3-fluorophenol were obtained for helium and neon
supersonic expansions, respectively. This is the first demonstration of the
spatial separation of the lowest-energy rotational states of the least polar
conformer, which is necessary for strong alignment and orientation of all
individual conformers.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Spatially-controlled complex molecules and their applications
The understanding of molecular structure and function is at the very heart of
the chemical and molecular sciences. Experiments that allow for the creation of
structurally pure samples and the investigation of their molecular dynamics and
chemical function have developed tremendously over the last few decades,
although "there's plenty of room at the bottom" for better control as well as
further applications.
Here, we describe the use of inhomogeneous electric fields for the
manipulation of neutral molecules in the gas-phase, \ie, for the separation of
complex molecules according to size, structural isomer, and quantum state. For
these complex molecules, all quantum states are strong-field seeking, requiring
dynamic fields for their confinement. Current applications of these controlled
samples are summarised and interesting future applications discussed.Comment: Accepted by Int. Rev. Phys. Che
Trade and Business Cycle Synchronization in OECD Countries - a Re-examination
This paper re-examines the relationship between trade intensity and business cycle synchronization for 21 OECD countries during 1970-2003. Instead of using instrumental variables, we estimate a multivariate model including variables capturing specialisation, financial integration, and similarity of economic policies. We confirm that trade intensity affects business cycle synchronization, but the effect is much smaller than previously reported. Other factors in our model have a similar impact on business cycle synchronization as trade intensity. Finally, we find that the effect of trade on business cycle synchronisation is not driven by outliers and does not suffer from parameter heterogeneity.business cycles, trade, synchronization of business cycles
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