Bureaucrats or Politicians? Political Parties and Antidumping in the US

Antidumping (AD) is the most widely used contingent protection measure. In the United States, key decisions on AD are delegated to the International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent agency composed of six non-elected commissioners. Using a newly collected dataset, I study the determinants of all final ITC votes on AD during the 1980-2010 period. Contrary to the view that ITC commissioners are bureaucrats who simply follow technical rules, I find that their decisions crucially depend on which party has appointed them (the selection effect) and on the trade policy interests of key senators in that party (the pressure effect): whether (Democratic) Republican-appointed commissioners vote in favor of AD depends crucially on whether the petitioning industry is key (in terms of employment) in the states represented by leading (Democratic) Republican senators. JEL: D72, F10, F13, F14, P1

Converging many-body correlation energies by means of sequence extrapolation

We present an extrapolation scheme for the correlation energy in many-body theory that requires only a relatively small fraction of the orbitals spanning the virtual space but recovers nearly the whole dynamic correlation energy, independently of the single-or multi-reference nature of the problem. Applications to both ground-state chemistry and photochemistry are discussed that clearly show how such an extrapolation scheme can be used to overcome the scaling walls in ab initio quantum chemistry arising from the sheer number of molecular orbitals needed for very accurate calculations

Modern quantum chemistry with [Open]Molcas

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, sólo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, los autores pertenecientes a la UAM y el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si lo hubiereThe following article appeared in The Journal of Chemical Physics 152.21 (2020): 214117 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0004835MOLCAS/OpenMolcas is an ab initio electronic structure program providing a large set of computational methods from Hartree–Fock and density functional theory to various implementations of multiconfigurational theory. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the main features of the code, specifically reviewing the use of the code in previously reported chemical applications as well as more recent applications including the calculation of magnetic properties from optimized density matrix renormalization group wave functionsF.A. acknowledges financial support from the EU-H2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 654360 within the framework of the NFFA-Europe Transnational Access Activity. Part of this work was performed, thanks to computer resources provided by CINECA, under Project No. HPC-EUROPA3 (Grant No. INFRAIA-2016-1-730897), with the support of the EC Research Innovation Action of the H2020 Programme. D.-C.S. and J.A. acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Heavy Element Chemistry program, under Grant No. DE-SC0001136. S.B. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. P2SKP2_184034). A.B. is grateful for support from ETH Zurich (ETH Fellowship No. FEL-49 18-1). M.R. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Project No. 200021_182400). L.D.V., L.P.-G., and M.Ol. acknowledge a MIUR (Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca) grant “Dipartimento di Eccellenza 2018-2022.” M.Ol. acknowledges NSF Grant No. CHE-CLP-1710191. M.D. and M.L. acknowledges support from the Olle Engkvist Foundation. E.D.L. and V.V. acknowledge computational resources provided by SNIC through LUNARC and NSC. T.B.P. acknowledges support from the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence scheme, Project No. 262695, and through Research Grant No. 240698. K.P. acknowledges financial support from KU Leuven through Grant No. C14/15/052. L.S. acknowledges financial support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (Dirección General de Investigación y Gestión del Plan Nacional de I+D+i, Grant No. MAT2017-83553- P). J.S.-M. acknowledges support from the EU-H2020 Marie Curie Actions (AttoDNA, FP8-MSCA-IF, Grant No. 747662). I.S. gratefully acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant No. 678169 PhotoMutant). L.U. and X.G. gratefully acknowledge scientific Grant Nos. R-143-000-A80- 114 and R-143-000-A65-133 from the National University of Singapore. Computational resources of the NSCC (ASPIRE-1, Grant No. 11001278) were used for this study

Accurate electronic properties and intercalation voltages of olivine-type Li-ion cathode materials from extended Hubbard functionals

The design of novel cathode materials for Li-ion batteries would greatly benefit from accurate first-principles predictions of structural, electronic, and magnetic properties as well as intercalation voltages in compounds containing transition-metal elements. For such systems, density-functional theory (DFT) with standard (semi-)local exchange-correlation functionals is of limited use as it often fails due to strong self-interaction errors that are especially relevant in the partially filled $d$ shells. Here, we perform a detailed comparative study of the phospho-olivine cathode materials Li$_x$MnPO$_4$, Li$_x$FePO$_4$, and the mixed transition metal Li$_x$Mn$_{1/2}$Fe$_{1/2}$PO$_4$ ($x=0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1$) using four electronic-structure methods: DFT, DFT+$U$, DFT+$U$+$V$, and HSE06. We show that DFT+$U$+$V$, with onsite $U$ and intersite $V$ Hubbard parameters determined from first principles and self-consistently with respect to the structural parameters by means of density-functional perturbation theory (linear response), provides the most accurate description of the electronic structure of these challenging compounds. In particular, we demonstrate that DFT+$U$+$V$ displays very clearly "digital" changes in oxidation states of the transition-metal ions in all compounds, including the mixed-valence phases occurring at intermediate Li concentrations, leading to voltages in remarkable agreement with experiments. We show that the inclusion of intersite Hubbard interactions is essential for the accurate prediction of thermodynamic quantities, balancing the drive for localization induced by the onsite $U$ with intersite $V$ orbital hybridizations

Services in European manufacturing: servinomics explained

Retrieved from: http://bruegel.org/2016/03/services-in-european-manufacturing-servinomics-explained/Making the manufacturing sector more competitive is vital to restore economic growth in Europe. Changing business models to sell services as well as products can provide useful revenue to manufacturers.We thank Andrea Ariu (University of Geneva), IvankaVisjnic (ESADE Business School) and Guntram Wolff for providing comments on early versions of this post. Oscar F. Bustinza and FerranVendrell-Herrero form part of the Horizon 2020- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project called MAKERS: Smart Manufacturing for EU Growth and Prosperity

Pulay forces in density-functional theory with extended Hubbard functionals: From nonorthogonalized to orthogonalized manifolds

We present a derivation of the exact expression for Pulay forces in density-functional theory calculations augmented with extended Hubbard functionals, and arising from the use of orthogonalized atomic orbitals as projectors for the Hubbard manifold. The derivative of the inverse square root of the orbital overlap matrix is obtained as a closed-form solution of the associated Lyapunov (Sylvester) equation. The expression for the resulting contribution to the forces is presented in the framework of ultrasoft pseudopotentials and the projector-augmented-wave method, and using a plane wave basis set. We have benchmarked the present implementation with respect to finite differences of total energies for the case of NiO, finding excellent agreement. Owing to the accuracy of Hubbard-corrected density-functional theory calculations - provided the Hubbard parameters are computed for the manifold under consideration - the present work paves the way for systematic studies of solid-state and molecular transition-metal and rare-earth compounds.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Impactos socioambientais do setor agroflorestal em Santa Catarina: estudo de caso nas encostas da Serra Geral à luz do enfoque do desenvolvimento territorial sustentável

Dissertação (Mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-graduação em Sociologia Política, Florianópolis, 2009Nesta dissertação são avaliados os principais impactos socioambientais das práticas de reflorestamento com espécies exóticas na região das Encostas da Serra Geral em Santa Catarina. O texto oferece subsídios adicionais para a compreensão das ambivalências do comportamento dos diversos atores envolvidos nessas práticas, mobilizando o potencial heurístico contido no enfoque de desenvolvimento territorial sustentável. Em outras palavras, trata-se de um exercício (exploratório) de prospectiva territorial, entendida como um instrumento ainda pouco utilizado de tomadas de decisão em sistemas de gestão integrada e participativa de recursos naturais de uso comum. Na região em pauta foram identificadas duas tendências contrastantes: por um lado, um território dinâmico, onde se destaca a cadeia produtiva do reflorestamento com espécies exóticas gerando impactos preocupantes do ponto de vista socioambiental; por outro, um território com um expressivo potencial para vir a se constituir num embrião de desenvolvimento territorial sustentável, através da criação de sistemas produtivos locais integrados com perfil agroecológico. A metodologia utilizada baseou-se no chamado modelo de Oakerson, que tem norteado as investigações contemporâneas sobre modos de apropriação e sistemas de gestão de recursos de uso comum. Por meio da pesquisa de campo foi possível comprovar a magnitude dos impactos socioambientais destrutivos gerados pelas práticas de reflorestamento nos últimos anos, bem como o peso de um conjunto de fatores no agravamento dessas dinâmicas: entre outros, (i) a persistência de uma representação essencialmente utilitarista das complexas inter-relações sociedade-natureza; (ii) a carência de espaços adequados de coordenação das ações coletivas e de mediação de conflitos de interesse envolvendo múltiplos atores sociais; e (iii) a omissão do Estado no que diz respeito ao cumprimento eficaz do seu papel de fiscalizador das condições de acesso e uso de recursos comuns e de articulador de políticas públicas voltadas para as reais necessidades dos agricultores familiares que praticam o reflorestamento em suas propriedades. As evidências sugerem que o nível de degradação socioambiental constatado nessa região, fortemente induzido pela expansão descontrolada do atual sistema de reflorestamento com espécies exóticas, poderá comprometer seriamente a viabilidade de dinâmicas territoriais de desenvolvimento nos próximos tempos. Ao mesmo tempo, a pesquisa confirma a existência de espaços de manobra favoráveis à criação de políticas, programas e projetos de gestão ecológica e socialmente sustentável de recursos florestais nos próximos tempos, no âmbito de um sistema alternativo mas ainda embrionário de governança territorial.This dissertation evaluates the main social-environmental impacts of reforestation practices with exotic species within the Encostas da Serra Geral of Santa Catarina. The text provides additional subsidies for understanding the behaviour ambivalences of the various actors involved in such practices, mobilizing the heuristic potential contained in the sustainable territorial development approach. In other words, it is about an exercise (exploratory) of a territorial prospective, understood as a decision making instrument still not commonly used in integrated and participatory management systems of natural resources of common use. Within the region in guideline, two contrasting trends were identified: in one side, a dynamic territory, where it detaches the production chain of reforestation with exotic species generating concerning impacts from a social-environmental standpoint; and in the other, a territory with a significant potential to constitute itself into a sustainable territorial development embryo, through the creation of integrated local productive systems with an agro-ecological profile. The methodology used was based upon the so called model of Oakerson, which has guided the contemporaries investigations on ways of appropriations and common use management of resources systems. Through field research it was possible to prove the magnitude of the destructive social-environmental impacts generated by the practices of reforestation in the recent years, as well as the heaviness of a set of factors in the aggravation of these dynamics: among others, (i) the persistence of an essentially utilitarian representation of the complex interrelationships between society and nature, (ii) lack of adequate environments for the coordination of collective actions and mediation of conflicts of interest involving multiple social actors; and (iii) the omission of the State in regard to the effective fulfillment of its #watchdog# role on the conditions of access and use of common resources and as articulator of public policies for the real needs of family farmers who practice forestry on their properties. The evidence suggests that the level of social-environmental degradation found within this region, strongly induced by the uncontrolled expansion of the current system of reforestation with exotic species, may jeopardize the viability of the territorial dynamics of development in the near future. At the same time, the research confirms the existence of leeways in favor to establishing policies, programs and management of environmentally and socially sustainable forest resources in the near future, as part of an alternative - but still embryonic - territorial governance