Lorenz meets rating but misses valuation

Using an experiment with material incentives, this paper investigates the violation of Lorenz relations in the case of dominant and single?crossing Lorenz curves. Our experimental design consists of two treatments: an income distribution treatment and a lottery treatment. Both treatments were conducted in Italy and Spain. In each treatment, subjects were asked to judge ten multiple?outcome lotteries or ten n?dimensional income distributions in terms of both ratings and valuations. This 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design, allows us to investigate the response?mode (rating versus valuation) and framing (lotteries versus income distributions) effects in subjects? perceptions concerning the two types of Lorenz relations. We found the existence of a marked response?mode effect, as only the ratings of the lotteries and income distributions confirm both Lorenz relations, whereas the valuations violate them. The framing effect is significant only for the Spanish data. For this data the sign of the framing effect depends on the type of the Lorenz relation considered. For crossing Lorenz curves, a higher conformity corresponds to the lottery frame, for Lorenz dominance a higher conformity corresponds to the income distribution frame. --Income Distributions,Lotteries,Lorenz Curves,Inequality and Risk Aversion,Response?Mode Effects

Collective and Random Fining versus Tax/Subsidy - Schemes to Regulate Non-Point Pollution : An Experimental Study

In this paper we present results of an experimental study on the performance of three mechanisms which are designed to deal with non-point source pollution : collective fining, random fining, and a tax-subsidy scheme. Our results show that collective and random fining schemes do not induce the subjects to play the efficient equilibrium. Experience from participation in similar treatments further enforces the tendency to under-abate. The taxsubsidy mechanism, by contrast, induces the efficient equilibrium action to be played more frequently than the fining mechanisms, with a slight tendency to over-abate. Experience enforces this tendency. Controlling for the subjects? risk attitude, we find that for risk averse subjects the random fining mechanism outperforms the collective fine. --Non-point source pollution,environmental policy,collective fining,random fining,tax-subsidy scheme,experiments

Estimation of a simple genetic algorithm applied to a laboratory experiment

The aim of our contribution relies on studying the possibility of implementing a genetic algorithm in order to reproduce some characteristics of a simple laboratory experiment with human subjects. The novelty of our paper regards the estimation of the key-parameters of the algorithm, and the analysis of the characteristics of the estimator.Estimation, genetic algoritms, experimenst

Regulation of conjugal transfer by Lrp and Dam methylation in plasmid R100

Conjugal transfer of the F-like plasmid R100 occurs at higher frequencies in the absence of DNA adenine methylation. Lower levels of R100-encoded FinP RNA were found in a Dam– host, suggesting that Dam methylation regulates FinP RNA synthesis. Lack of the leucine-responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) causes a decrease in R100 plasmid transfer, indicating that Lrp is an activator of R100- mediated conjugation. Hence, host-encoded regulators previously described for the Salmonella virulence plasmid (pSLT) seem to play analogous roles in R100. Repression of conjugal transfer in rich medium is an additional trait shared by R100 and pSLT. DNA sequence comparisons in regulatory loci support the view that R100 and pSLT are closely related. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(4):279-285

Environmental Policy Instruments: Technology Adoption Incentives with Imperfect Compliance

In this paper, we study the incentives to adopt advanced abatement technologies in the presence of imperfect compliance. Surprisingly, incentives to adopt advanced abatement technologies remain intact under emission taxes and pollution abatement subsidies when compared to the perfect compliance scenario. However, under emission standards imperfect compliance increases firms’ incentives to invest under certain assumptions, whereas under an emission permit mechanism investment incentives decrease only if widespread non-compliance induces a (sufficient) reduction in the permit price. Our results are valid for fairly general characteristics of the monitoring and enforcement strategies commonly found in both, theoretical and empirical applications.environmental policy; technology adoption; monitoring; non-compliance

Income Distributions versus Lotteries Happiness, Response-Mode Effects, and Preference

This paper provides a comparative experimental study of risky prospects (lotteries) and income distributions. The experimental design consisted of multi?outcome lotteries and n?dimensional income distributions arranged in the shapes of ten distributions which were judged in terms of ratings and valuations, respectively. Material incentives applied. We found heavy response?mode effects, which cause inconsistent behavior between rating and valuation of lotteries and income distributions in more than 50% of all cases. This means that ethical inequality measures lack support in peoples? perceptions. In addition to classical preference reversals between generalized P?bets and $?bets we observed three additional patterns of preference reversal, two of which apply only to income distributions. Dominating Lorenz curves and Lorenz curves cutting others from below receive decidedly higher ratings (which implies risk and inequality aversion), but lower valuations. The transfer principle is largely violated. The rating of lotteries is a decreasing function of skewness, the rating of income distributions is a decreasing function of standard deviation. The valuation of lotteries is an increasing function of standard deviation and kurtosis, and the valuation of income distributions is an increasing function of standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. --Income Distribution,Lotteries,Income Happiness,Inequality and Risk Aversion,Ethical Inequality Measures,Preference Reversal

Designing public communication and disclusure strategies for central banks and other policy bodies

[Introduction] The idea that a price system based on competitive markets is able to aggregate different pieces of information dispersed in the economy dates back to the 50\u2019s. In particular, economists have long understood that, in theory, the prices in properly designed asset markets reflect the collection of all the information possessed by traders on future events. Asymmetry of information among the traders is of course an essential ingredient for prices to have an informational role. Instead of leaving the market operating alone in aggregating private information, the release of public information might constitute an option that can facilitate the aggregation process. In addition to the information hold privately by traders, one might assume the existence of a disciplining institution that releases public information in order to enhance market efficiency. The public character of the information lies in the fact that it is known by all economic agents operating in the market and it is almost freely available. Intuitively, one might think that public information should be beneficial for market performance, if it is assumed that it simply cumulates to the information already present in the market: in this sense, more information seems to be beneficial for decision makers. If this might be true when an economic agent acts in isolation from others, it might not be the case when a certain strategic interaction among decision makers is introduced. The theoretical literature has shown that in an economic system where agents have access to private information, noisy public information might be weighted above and beyond its accuracy, driving the economic system far from fundamentals when wrong and therefore damaging social welfare. Using the words of Morris and Shin (2002) \u201cpublic and private information (might) end up being substitute rather than being cumulative". They demonstrate that public information might be considered a double edged-instrument: it conveys information on the fundamentals of a financial asset, but, at the same time, it serves as a focal point in coordinating the traders' activity in a market. As a consequence, the noisiness of public information can be enhanced in the market due to the overreaction of the traders to the disclosure of a public signal. [...

Isolation of microorganisms or genes from environmental samples of various origins, able to degrade drugs or resist antibiotics

Motivation: The occurrence of drugs in the environment, due to the massive use of these by humans, has produced that these compounds accumulate and so, their removal is complicated [1]. None of the physical and chemical methods used to treat this contamination show an absolute efficiency. We decided to identify live microorganisms or biodegradations pathways able to degrade several pharmaceuticals and potentially useful in bioremediation of drugs contamination of the environment. For the isolation of live microorganisms, we have used different samples (water of a wastewater treatment plant, soil of a countryside contaminated with pesticides and pig slurry). In these samples, we can find persistent pharmaceuticals or compounds with structures which seem to drugs [2].On the other hand, from a metagenomic library, we have tried to find antibiotic resistance genes and/or biodegradation pathways that allow microorganisms to resist antibiotics or use drugs as carbon sources respectively.Methods: For the isolation of microorganisms able to use pharmaceuticals as carbon source, samples from different origin were incubated with a set of drugs. Enrichment cultures were prepared in minimal medium with a drug. When we observe growth differences between the control flask and the sample flask, we isolate colonies from cultures by plating in petri dishes. Once we obtain colonies, we identify microorganisms responsible the degradation of the drug.For the second strategy, we conjugate a metagenomic library containing 100.000 clones, from a composting pile from an oil refinery, with a receptor Escherichia coli and selected resistance to several antibiotics or ability to grow in minimal medium using different pharmaceuticals as carbon source.Results: We have obtained differential growth in flasks with ibuprofen and carbamazepine, indicating that these cultures could contain microorganisms able to growth using drug as carbon source and even as nitrogen source.In the second strategy, we have achieved transconjugants resistant to ceftriaxone and transconjugant able to grow in naproxen.Conclusions: Up to now, we have not succeeded to isolate microorganisms able to grow in different drugs as a carbon source, though we are still in the process of isolating from flasks IBU and CBZ.In the second strategy we have detected clones that confer resistance to CFX and a clone seems to confer the ability to grow in NPX as a carbon source, though both results are pending confirmation

De la identidad corporativa a la identidad visual corporativa, un camino necesario

Novenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2003-2004