Socioeconomic status and learning from financial information

The majority of lower socioeconomic status (SES) households in the U.S. and Europe do not have stock investments, which is detrimental to wealth accumulation. Here, we examine one explanation for this puzzling fact, namely, that economic adversity may influence how people learn from financial information. Using experimental and survey data from the U.S. and Romania, we find that lower SES individuals form more pessimistic beliefs about the distribution of stock returns and are less likely to invest in stocks when these investments are likely to have good outcomes. SES-related differences in pessimism may help explain variation in investments across households

Laser Ablation Applied for Synthesis of Thin Films: Insights into Laser Deposition Methods

This chapter will focus on laser ablation applied for thin film deposition. The first thin films deposition method based upon laser ablation was pulsed laser deposition (PLD), that could produce thin films out of metals, ceramics and even temperature resistant organics. The need of depositing increasingly complex and delicate materials, lead to radical modifications of PLD and allowed other laser ablation methods to develop. If complex libraries are to be synthesized two or more plasmas will be mixed and the thin films will have a variable composition over surface. This technique is called Combinatorial PLD (CPLD)

Sustainability of National Cohesion

In the European Union, cohesion policy is the third country after the domestic and social policy, as this policy is a tool for economic growth and also a balancing factor. Through its solidarity funds contribute to the other sectorial policies: the Common Agricultural Policy, social policy, environmental policy. This article aims to demonstrate the importance of cohesion policy in the national economy and how to improve its implementation by ensuring sustainable development and sustainable economic growt

Effects of Cultivation Systems and Environmental Conditions on Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) Biomass Yield and Oil Content

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) is perennial plant cultivated for essential oil production. In the present study, field experiments were conducted to determine the performance of peppermint under different cultivation systems for two consecutive growing periods in 2015 and 2016. The effects of environmental conditions on peppermint biomass yield and oil content was also evaluated. The experiments were carried out according to randomized complete block design with five replications per cultivation system. The results of the present study indicate that the total aboveground dry weight and dry leaves biomass were affected by cultivation system and year. For both growing seasons, the highest values were found under the conventional farming system. In contrast, oil content was approximately 14% higher in organic system than in conventional system. Moreover, oil content differed by year, with higher values being observed in 2015 comparing to 2016. Both oil content and biomass yield were positively affected by high temperatures. The results from this study demonstrated that both environmental conditions and the cultivation systems affect the biomass and oil content in peppermint crop

Socioeconomic Status and Learning from Financial Information *

Abstract The majority of lower socioeconomic status (SES) households do not have any stock investments, which is detrimental to wealth accumulation. Here, we examine one potential driver of this puzzling fact, namely, that SES may influence the process by which people learn from information in financial markets. We find that low SES individuals, relative to medium or high SES ones, form more pessimistic beliefs about the distribution of stock investment outcomes and are less likely to invest in stocks. The pessimism bias in assessing risky assets induced by low SES is robust to several ways of measuring one's socioeconomic standing. These results, documented in controlled experimental settings in Romania and the U.S., as well as in a large non-laboratory sample of adults across all 50 states in the U.S., suggest that SES shapes in predictable ways people's beliefs about financial assets, which in turn may induce large differences across households in their propensity to participate in financial markets

Consumer behavior in the economy

This paper aims to carry out an analysis of the disparities between urban and rural economic environment in Romania, which have negative effects over time for the entire country. The key imbalances between the two areas will be identified and a chronological analysis of figures obtained from the two areas over the years will be presented. A comparative analysis of urban / rural consumption behavior of households in the period 2005-2012 is showcased. The rural population is still heavily dependent on agriculture, while consumption characteristics are specific to relatively poor populations. Reducing disparities between urban and rural incomes and improvement of the quality of household consumption are priorities in regional development policy

Molecular dynamics of halogenated graphene - hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons

The hybrid graphene - hexagonal boron nitride (G-hBN) systems offer new routes in the design of nanoscale electronic devices. Using ab initio density functional theory calculations we investigate the dynamics of zig-zag nanoribbons a few interatomic distances wide. Several structures are analyzed, namely pristine graphene, hBN and G-hBN systems. By passivating the nanoribbon edges with hydrogen and different halogen atoms, one may tune the electronic and mechanical properties, like the band gap energies and the natural frequencies of vibration.This work was supported by the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation (ANCSI) under grant PN16420202.Peer reviewe