A Note on War and Fiscal Capacity in Developing Countries

We examine the effect of war on state fiscal capacity in developing countries, measured by tax revenue to GDP ratios. In divided or factionalised societies, patronage may substitute for common interest public goods, with the possibility of violent contestation over a rent. Our dynamic panel empirical estimates of the determinants of fiscal capacity are applied to 79 developing countries, during 1980–2010. Results indicate that war, especially civil war, retards fiscal capacity, along with poor governance, oil dependence and macroeconomic mismanagement

Revisiting lepton flavor violation in supersymmetric type II seesaw

In view of the recent measurement of reactor mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ and updated limit on $BR(\mu \to e \gamma)$ by the MEG experiment, we re-examine the charged lepton flavor violations in a framework of supersymmetric type II seesaw mechanism. Supersymmetric type II seesaw predicts strong correlation between $BR(\mu \to e \gamma)$ and $BR(\tau \to \mu \gamma)$ mainly in terms of the neutrino mixing angles. We show that such a correlation can be determined accurately after the measurement of $\theta_{13}$. We compute different factors which can affect this correlation and show that the mSUGRA-like scenarios, in which slepton masses are taken to be universal at the high scale, predicts $3.5 \lesssim BR(\tau \to \mu \gamma)/BR(\mu \to e \gamma) \lesssim 30$ for normal hierarchical neutrino masses. Any experimental indication of deviation from this prediction would rule out the minimal models of supersymmetric type II seesaw. We show that the current MEG limit puts severe constraints on the light sparticle spectrum in mSUGRA model if the seesaw scale lies within $10^{13}$-$10^{15}$ GeV. It is shown that these constraints can be relaxed and relatively light sparticle spectrum can be obtained in a class of models in which the soft mass of triplet scalar is taken to be non-universal at the high scale.Comment: Minor changes in text; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

(WP 2013-03) War and the Fiscal Capacity of the State

We examine the role of war in retarding state fiscal capacity in developing countries, measured by tax revenue ratios to GDP. This in contrast to the European experience from the Renaissance to the 20th century, where it is believed that war and state-building were inseparable, enhancing the fiscal capacity of the state; in turn enlarging the scope and magnitude of government expenditure. We build a simple theoretical model of a factionalized state, where patronage substitutes for common interest public goods, along with the possibility of violent contestation over a rent or prize, typically in the form of natural resource revenues. Our dynamic panel empirical analysis on the determinants of fiscal capacity is applied to 79 developing countries, during 1980-2010. Results indicate that war, especially in its current dominant form of civil war, retards fiscal capacity, along with imperfect democracy, political repression, the quality of governance, dependence on oil and macroeconomic mismanagement. High intensity conflict is particularly destructive of state capacity. Countries experiencing low intensity wars, other institutional factors may matter more for fiscal capacity formation compared to war. The diminution of state capacity due to war appears less pronounced after the end of the cold war

The Equivalence of Contests

We use a Tullock-type contest model to show that intuitively and structurally different contests can be strategically and revenue equivalent to each other. We consider a two-player contest, where outcome-contingent payoffs are linear functions of prizes, own effort, and the effort of the rival. We identify strategically equivalent contests that generate the same family of best response functions and, as a result, the same revenue. However, two strategically equivalent contests may yield different equilibrium payoffs. Finally, we discuss possible contest design applications and avenues for future theoretical and empirical research.rent-seeking, contest, spillover, equivalence, revenue equivalence, contest design

Synchronization of oscillators with long range power law interactions

We present analytical calculations and numerical simulations for the synchronization of oscillators interacting via a long range power law interaction on a one dimensional lattice. We have identified the critical value of the power law exponent $\alpha_c$ across which a transition from a synchronized to an unsynchronized state takes place for a sufficiently strong but finite coupling strength in the large system limit. We find $\alpha_c=3/2$. Frequency entrainment and phase ordering are discussed as a function of $\alpha \geq 1$. The calculations are performed using an expansion about the aligned phase state (spin-wave approximation) and a coarse graining approach. We also generalize the spin-wave results to the {\it d}-dimensional problem.Comment: Final published versio

A generalized Tullock contest

We construct a generalized Tullock contest under complete information where contingent upon winning or losing, the payoff of a player is a linear function of prizes, own effort, and the effort of the rival. This structure nests a number of existing contests in the literature and can be used to analyze new types of contests. We characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium and show that small parameter modifications may lead to substantially different types of contests and hence different equilibrium effort levels.rent-seeking, contest, spillover

Land utilization and ecological aspects in the Sylhet-Mymensingh Haor Region of Bangladesh: An analysis of LANDSAT data

The use of remote sensing data from LANDSAT (ERTS) imageries in identifying, evaluating and mapping land use patterns of the Haor area in Bangladesh was investigated. Selected cloud free imageries of the area for the period 1972-75 were studied. Imageries in bands 4, 5 and 7 were mostly used. The method of analysis involved utilization of both human and computer services of information from ground, aerial photographs taken during this period and space imageries