Optimal policy and Taylor rule cross-checking under parameter uncertainty : [Version 26 September 2013]

We examine whether the robustifying nature of Taylor rule cross-checking under model uncertainty carries over to the case of parameter uncertainty. Adjusting monetary policy based on this kind of cross-checking can improve the outcome for the monetary authority. This, however, crucially depends on the relative welfare weight that is attached to the output gap and also the degree of monetary policy commitment. We find that Taylor rule cross-checking is on average able to improve losses when the monetary authority only moderately cares about output stabilization and when policy is set in a discretionary way

Trust Me! I am a European Central Banker

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the ECB has experienced an unprecedented deterioration in the level of trust. This raises the question as to what factors determine trust in central banking. We use a unique cross-country dataset which includes a rich set of socio-economic characteristics and supplement it with variables meant to reflect a country’s macroeconomic condition. We find that besides individual socio-economic characteristics, macroeconomic conditions play a crucial role in the trust-building process. Our results suggest that agents are boundedly rational in the trust-building process and that current ECB market operations may even be beneficial for trust in the ECB in the long-run

Trust in the monetary authority : [draft: july 2013]

The efficacy of monetary authority actions depends primarily on the ability of the monetary authority to affect inflation expectations, which ultimately depend on agents' trust. We propose a model embedding trust cycles, as emerging from sequential coordination games between atomistic agents and the policy maker, in a monetary model. Trust affects agents' stochastic discount factor, namely the price of future risk, and their expectation formation process: these effects in turn interact with the monetary transmission mechanism. Using data from the Eurobarometer survey we analyze the link between trust on the one side and the transmission mechanism of shocks and of the policy rate on the other: data show that the two interact significantly and in a way comparable to the obtained in our model

Flexoelectric effect in finite samples

Static flexoelectric effect in a finite sample of a solid is addressed in terms of phenomenological theory for the case of a thin plate subjected to bending. It has been shown that despite an explicit asymmetry inherent to the bulk constitutive electromechanical equations which take into account the flexoelectric coupling, the electromechanical response for a finite sample is "symmetric". "Symmetric" means that if a sensor and an actuator are made of a flexoelectric element, performance of such devices can be characterized by the same effective piezoelectric coefficient. This behavior is consistent with the thermodynamic arguments offered earlier, being in conflict with the current point of view on the matter in literature. This result was obtained using standard mechanical boundary conditions valid for the case where the polarization vanishes at the surface. It was shown that, for the case where there is the polarization is nonzero at the surface, the aforementioned symmetry of electromechanical response may be violated if standard mechanical boundary conditions are used, leading to a conflict with the thermodynamic arguments. It was argued that this conflict may be resolved when using modified mechanical boundary conditions. It was also shown that the contribution of surface piezoelectricity to the flexoelectric response of a finite sample is expected to be comparable to that of the static bulk contribution (including the material with high values of the dielectric constant) and to scale as the bulk value of the dielectric constant (similar to the bulk contribution). This finding implies that if the experimentally measured flexoelectric coefficient scales as the dielectric constant of the material, this does not imply that the measured flexoelectric response is controlled by the static bulk contribution to the flexoelectric effect

Uncovering the well-springs of migrant womens' agency: connecting with Australian public infrastructure

The study sought to uncover the constitution of migrant women's agency as they rebuild their lives in Australia, and to explore how contact with any publicly funded services might influence the capacity to be self determining subjects. The thesis used a framework of lifeworld theories (Bourdieu, Schutz, Giddens), materialist, trans-national feminist and post colonial writings, and a methodological approach based on critical hermeneutics (Ricoeur), feminist standpoint and decolonising theories. Thirty in depth interviews were carried out with 6 women migrating from each of 5 regions: Vietnam, Lebanon, the Horn of Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Philippines. Australian based immigration literature constituted the third corner of triangulation. The interviews were carried out through an exploration of themes format, eliciting data about the different ontological and epistemological assumptions of the cultures of origin. The findings revealed not only the women's remarkable tenacity and resilience as creative agents, but also the indispensability of Australia's publicly funded infrastructure or welfare state. The women were mostly privileged in terms of class, education and affirming relationships with males. Nevertheless, their self determination depended on contact with universal public policies, programs and with local community services. The welfare state seems to be modernity's means for re-establishing human connectedness that is the crux of the human condition. Connecting with fellow Australians in friendships and neighbourliness was also important in resettlement. Conclusions include a policy discussion in agreement with Australian and international scholars proposing that there is no alternative but for governments to invest in a welfare state for the civil societies and knowledge based economies of the 21st Century

Trust in government and fiscal adjustments : [Version 4 June 2013]

The paper looks at the determinants of fiscal adjustments as reflected in the primary surplus of countries. Our conjecture is that governments will usually find it more attractive to pursue fiscal adjustments in a situation of relatively high growth, but based on a simple stylized model of government behavior the expectation is that mainly high trust governments will be in a position to defer consolidation to years with higher growth. Overall, our analysis of a panel of European countries provides support for this expectation. The difference in fiscal policies depending on government trust levels may help explaining why better governed countries have been found to have less severe business cycles. It suggests that trust and credibility play an important role not only in monetary policy, but also in fiscal policy

Origin Of the enhanced flexoelectricity of relaxor ferroelectrics

We have measured the bending-induced polarization of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystals with compositions at the relaxor-ferroelectric phase boundary. The crystals display very large flexoelectricity, with flexocoupling coefficients an order of magnitude bigger than the theoretical upper limit set by the theories of Kogan and Tagantsev. This enhancement persists in the paraphrase up to a temperature T* that coincides with the start of elastic softening in the crystals. Analysis of the temperature dependence and cross-correlation between flexoelectric, dielectric and elastic properties indicates that the large bendinginduced polarization of relaxor ferroelectrics is not caused by intrinsically giant flexoelectricity, but by the reorientation of polar nanotwins that become ferroelastically active below T*

Surface polar states and pyroelectricity in ferroelastics induced by flexo-roto field

Theoretical analysis based on the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) theory is used to show that the joint action of flexoelectric effect and rotostriction leads to a large spontaneous in-plane polarization (~ 1-5 muC/cm2) and pyroelectric coefficient (~10^-3 C/m2K) in the vicinity of surfaces of otherwise non-ferroelectric ferroelastics, such as SrTiO3, with static octahedral rotations. The origin of the improper polarization and pyroelectricity is an electric field we name flexo-roto field whose strength is proportional to the convolution of the flexoelectric and rotostriction tensors with octahedral tilts and their gradients. Flexo-roto field should exist at surfaces and interfaces in all structures with static octahedral rotations, and thus it can induce surface polar states and pyroelectricity in a large class of otherwise nonpolar materials.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, supplementary material