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 $\rho_X(z)$ 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 $\rho_X(z)$ as a continuous function, given by interpolating its amplitudes at equally spaced $z$ values in the redshift range covered by SN Ia data, and a constant at larger $z$ (where $\rho_X(z)$ 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 $\rho_X(z)$ is constant for 0 \la z \la 0.5 and increases with redshift $z$ 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 $\Omega_m$ and smaller time-variation in $\rho_X(z)$. 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