11,472 research outputs found
Efficient Delegation by an Informed Principal
Consider the case of a firm with private valuation information bargaining with a supplier over the price and quantity of a good. If the firm and the supplier bargain directly, the bargaining outcome may not yield a first-best outcome due to the presence of information rents. The question we examine in this paper is whether these direct bargaining inefficiencies can be eliminated if the firm delegates the authority to negotiate with the supplier to an agent. We model the agent as an independent profit center that contracts with the parent firm as well as the supplier. The delegation of decision-making to the agent can influence the interaction between the firm and the supplier by altering the information rents the agent can claim from the supplier. To identify the role of delegation, we focus instead on two games. Both games have a continuum of equilibria, which we compare to the set of incentive efficient equilibria of the initial no-delegation bargaining game. The first game involves partial delegation as the firm controls the release of its private information through a public transfer price charged to the agent. Because the relationship between the agent and the uninformed supplier is one of full information, the unique equilibrium quantity is first-best yet we show that the informed firm still earns an information rent. The second game involves full delegation as the agent controls both the quantity choice and the release of the firm's private information. We show that the full delegation game has a large set of equilibria that includes all of the incentive efficient equilibria of the bargaining game as well as inefficient equilibria. We believe our notion of partial delegation can be reflected in firms organized as profit centers and the management practice of category managementDelegation, common agency
Probing the Primordial Power Spectrum with Cluster Number Counts
We investigate how well galaxy cluster number counts can constrain the
primordial power spectrum. Measurements of the primary anisotropies in the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) may be limited, by the presence of
foregrounds from secondary sources, to probing the primordial power spectrum at
wave numbers less than about 0.30 h Mpc^{-1}. We break up the primordial power
spectrum into a number of nodes and interpolate linearly between each node.
This allows us to show that cluster number counts could then extend the
constraints on the form of the primordial power spectrum up to wave numbers of
about 0.45 h Mpc^{-1}. We estimate combinations of constraints from PLANCK and
SPT primary CMB and their respective SZ surveys. We find that their
constraining ability is limited by uncertainties in the mass scaling relations.
We also estimate the constraint from clusters detected from a SNAP like
gravitational lensing survey. As there is an unambiguous and simple
relationship between the filtered shear of the lensing survey and the cluster
mass, it may be possible to obtain much tighter constraints on the primordial
power spectrum in this case.Comment: Clarifications added and a few minor corrections made. Matches
version to appear in PR
Model-Independent Constraints on Dark Energy Density from Flux-averaging Analysis of Type Ia Supernova Data
We reconstruct the dark energy density as a free function from
current type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data (Tonry et al. 2003; Barris et al. 2003;
Knop et al. 2003), together with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift
parameter from CMB data (WMAP, CBI, and ACBAR), and the large scale structure
(LSS) growth factor from 2dF galaxy survey data. We parametrize as
a continuous function, given by interpolating its amplitudes at equally spaced
values in the redshift range covered by SN Ia data, and a constant at
larger (where is only weakly constrained by CMB data). We
assume a flat universe, and use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique
in our analysis. We find that the dark energy density is constant
for 0 \la z \la 0.5 and increases with redshift for 0.5 \la z \la 1 at
68.3% confidence level, but is consistent with a constant at 95% confidence
level. For comparison, we also give constraints on a constant equation of state
for the dark energy.
Flux-averaging of SN Ia data is required to yield cosmological parameter
constraints that are free of the bias induced by weak gravitational lensing
\citep{Wang00b}. We set up a consistent framework for flux-averaging analysis
of SN Ia data, based on \cite{Wang00b}. We find that flux-averaging of SN Ia
data leads to slightly lower and smaller time-variation in
. This suggests that a significant increase in the number of SNe Ia
from deep SN surveys on a dedicated telescope \citep{Wang00a} is needed to
place a robust constraint on the time-dependence of the dark energy density.Comment: Slightly revised in presentation, ApJ accepted. One color figure
shows rho_X(z) reconstructed from dat
Observation of the dielectric-waveguide mode of light propagation in p-n junctions
Theoretical considerations of the propagation of electromagnetic energy near a p-n junction (1) show that the “sandwich” formed by having a depletion layer bounded by the p and n regions can act as a dielectric waveguide. (1,2
Private Forest Management In The Lower South
The forester who studies the lower South is impressed by the marvelous productivity of much of its wide-spreading forest lands, by the abundance of logging and wood-using activities on every side, and by the contrasts from one locality to the next in forest conditions and the evidences of forest management. He may well have the urge, as many hundred foresters before him have had, to go to work in this land of pine and hardwood where forestry opportunity is so attractive, problems so varied, and progress so rapid
Secondary CMB anisotropies in a universe reionized in patches
In a universe reionized in patches, the Doppler effect from Thomson
scattering off free electrons generates secondary cosmic microwave background
(CMB) anisotropies. For a simple model with small patches and late
reionization, we analytically calculate the anisotropy power spectrum. Patchy
reionization can, in principle, be the main source of anisotropies on arcminute
scales. On larger angular scales, its contribution to the CMB power spectrum is
a small fraction of the primary signal and is only barely detectable in the
power spectrum with even an ideal, i.e. cosmic variance limited, experiment and
an extreme model of reionization. Consequently patchy reionization is unlikely
to affect cosmological parameter estimation from the acoustic peaks in the CMB.
Its detection on small angles would help determine the ionization history of
the universe, in particular the typical size of the ionized region and the
duration of the reionization process.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Ap
Age problem in holographic dark energy
We study the age problem of the universe with the holographic DE model
introduced in [21], and test the model with some known old high redshift
objects (OHRO). The parameters of the model have been constrained using the
SNIa, CMB and BAO data set. We found that the age of the old quasar APM 08
279+5255 at z = 3.91 can be described by the model.Comment: 13 page
An Executive Appraisal of Courses Which Best Prepare One for General Management
This ongoing study summarizes 1980-81 data from 1158 newly promoted executives in the United States who answered this question: "Assuming the study of business administration best prepares a young person for a career in general management, how important are the following courses as a part of that preparation?" Business Communication-oral and written- was the course selected as Very Important more often than any of thirteen courses.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68655/2/10.1177_002194368201900102.pd
Using the acoustic peak to measure cosmological parameters
Recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation by the
Boomerang experiment indicate that the universe is spatially flat. Here some
simple back-of-the-envelope calculations are used to explain their result. The
main result is a simple formula for the angular scale of the acoustic peak in
terms of the standard cosmological parameters:
l=193*[1+3(1-Omega_0)/5+(1-h)/5+Omega_Lambda/35].Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Explanations have been clarifie
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