Study reveals effect of aluminum on saturation moment of Fe-Ni alloys

Study of saturation magnetization, important in the investigation of the electronic structure of alloys, reveals the effect of aluminum on the saturation moments of iron-nickel alloys. The saturation magnetizations were extrapolated to the absolute zero of temperature for calculating average atomic moments

Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers?

We analyze gender differences associated with loan officer performance. Using a unique data set for a commercial bank in Albania over the period 1996 to 2006, we find that loans screened and monitored by female loan officers show statistically and economically significant lower default rates than loans handled by male loan officers. This effect comes in addition to a lower default rate of female borrowers and cannot be explained by sample selection, overconfidence of male loan officers or experience differences between female and male loan officers. Our results seem to be driven by differences in monitoring, as loan officers of different gender do not seem to screen borrowers differently based on observable borrower characteristics. This suggests that gender indeed matters in banking.Behavioral banking;loan officers;gender;loan default;monitoring;screening

Sex and Credit: Is There a Gender Bias in Microfinance?

This paper examines the effects of group identity in the credit market. Exploiting the quasirandom assignment of first-time borrowers to loan officers of a large Albanian lender, we test for own-gender bias in the loan officer-borrower match. We find that borrowers pay on average 29 basis points higher interest rates when paired with a loan officer of the other sex. The results indicate the presence of a taste-based rather than a statistical bias, as borrowers’ likelihood of going into arrears is independent of loan officer gender. Ending up with an opposite-sex loan officer also affects demand for credit, with borrowers being 11.5 percent less likely to return for a second loan. The bias is more pronounced when the social distance, as proxied by difference in age between the loan officer and the borrower, increases and when financial market competition declines. This is consistent with theories that predict a tastebased bias to be stronger when the psychological costs of being biased are lower and the discretion in setting interest rates is higher. Taken together, the findings suggest that owngender preferences can have substantial welfare effects.Identity;interest rates;gender;loan officers;microfinance

Application of A Distributed Nucleus Approximation In Grid Based Minimization of the Kohn-Sham Energy Functional

In the distributed nucleus approximation we represent the singular nucleus as smeared over a smallportion of a Cartesian grid. Delocalizing the nucleus allows us to solve the Poisson equation for theoverall electrostatic potential using a linear scaling multigrid algorithm.This work is done in the context of minimizing the Kohn-Sham energy functionaldirectly in real space with a multiscale approach. The efficacy of the approximation is illustrated bylocating the ground state density of simple one electron atoms and moleculesand more complicated multiorbital systems.Comment: Submitted to JCP (July 1, 1995 Issue), latex, 27pages, 2figure

New tools in comparative political economy: The database of political institutions.

[Dataset available: http://hdl.handle.net/10411/15987]

Red-giant stars in eccentric binaries

The unparalleled photometric data obtained by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has led to improved understanding of red-giant stars and binary stars. We discuss the characterization of known eccentric system, containing a solar-like oscillating red-giant primary component. We also report several new binary systems that are candidates for hosting an oscillating companion. A powerful approach to study binary stars is to combine asteroseimic techniques with light curve fitting. Seismology allows us to deduce the properties of red giants. In addition, by modeling the ellipsoidal modulations we can constrain the parameters of the binary system. An valuable independent source are ground-bases, high-resolution spectrographs

In good company: risk, security and choice in young people's drug decisions

This article draws on original empirical research with young people to question the degree to which 'individualisation of risk', as developed in the work of Beck and Giddens, adequately explains the risks young people bear and take. It draws on alternative understandings and critiques of 'risk' not to refute the notion of the reflexive individual upon which 'individualisation of risk' is based but to re-read that reflexivity in a more hermeneutic way. It explores specific risk-laden moments – young people's drug use decisions – in their natural social and cultural context of the friendship group. Studying these decisions in context, it suggests, reveals the meaning of 'risk' to be not given, but constructed through group discussion, disagreement and consensus and decisions taken to be rooted in emotional relations of trust, mutual accountability and common security. The article concludes that 'the individualisation of risk' fails to take adequate account of the significance of intersubjectivity in risk-decisions. It argues also that addressing the theoretical overemphasis on the individual bearer of risk requires not only further empirical testing of the theory but appropriate methodological reflection