3,941 research outputs found
Global sourcing ā a critical reconsideration of sector definitions
I introduce an alternative parameter-based definition of component- and headquarter-intensive sectors into the seminal model of global sourcing by AntrĆĀ s and Helpman (2004, JPE). This approach overcomes problems of the original sector definition like counter intuitive classifications or industries that are not classified as either component- or headquarter-intensive. The strong empirical evidence for the model`s predictions is also based on a similar sector definition. With a numerical approach I show that a richer set of sourcing modes can arise in equilibrium. Nonetheless, the main results of AntrĆĀ s and Helpman are robust.Multinational firms, outsourcing, intra-firm trade, offshoring, vertical FDI
Global Sourcing of Complex Production Processes
We develop a theory of a firm in an incomplete contracts environment which decides on its complexity, organization, and global scale. Specifically, the firm decides i) how thinly it wants to slice its production process by choosing the mass of symmetric intermediate inputs that are simultaneously combined to a final product, ii) if the supplier of each component is an external contractor or an integrated affiliate, and iii) if that component is offshored to a foreign country. We also consider the case of asymmetric inputs. Our model leads to a rich set of novel predictions about the structure of multinational firms that are consistent with stylized facts from the recent empirical literature.multinational firms, outsourcing, intra-firm trade, offshoring, vertical FDI
Global Sourcing of Complex Production Processes
We develop a theory of a firm in an environment with incomplete contracts. The firmās headquarter decides on the complexity, the organization, and the global scale of its production process. Specifically, it decides: i) on the mass of symmetric intermediate inputs that are part of the value chain, ii) if the supplier of each component is an external contractor or an integrated affiliate, and iii) if the supplier is offshored to a foreign low-wage country. Afterwards we consider a related scenario where the headquarter contracts with a given number of two asymmetric suppliers. Our model is consistent with several stylized facts from the recent literature that existing theories of multinational firms cannot account for.multinational firms, outsourcing, intra-firm trade, offshoring, vertical FDI
Differential K-theory. A survey
Generalized differential cohomology theories, in particular differential
K-theory (often called "smooth K-theory"), are becoming an important tool in
differential geometry and in mathematical physics. In this survey, we describe
the developments of the recent decades in this area. In particular, we discuss
axiomatic characterizations of differential K-theory (and that these uniquely
characterize differential K-theory). We describe several explicit
constructions, based on vector bundles, on families of differential operators,
or using homotopy theory and classifying spaces. We explain the most important
properties, in particular about the multiplicative structure and push-forward
maps and will state versions of the Riemann-Roch theorem and of Atiyah-Singer
family index theorem for differential K-theory.Comment: 50 pages, report based in particular on work done sponsored the DFG
SSP "Globale Differentialgeometrie". v2: final version (only typos
corrected), to appear in C. B\"ar et al. (eds.), Global Differential
Geometry, Springer Proceedings in Mathematics 17, Springer-Verlag Berlin
Heidelberg 201
Role of anisotropy for protein-protein encounter
Protein-protein interactions comprise both transport and reaction steps.
During the transport step, anisotropy of proteins and their complexes is
important both for hydrodynamic diffusion and accessibility of the binding
site. Using a Brownian dynamics approach and extensive computer simulations, we
quantify the effect of anisotropy on the encounter rate of ellipsoidal
particles covered with spherical encounter patches. We show that the encounter
rate depends on the aspect ratios mainly through steric effects,
while anisotropic diffusion has only a little effect. Calculating analytically
the crossover times from anisotropic to isotropic diffusion in three
dimensions, we find that they are much smaller than typical protein encounter
times, in agreement with our numerical results.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex with 3 figures, to appear as a Rapid Communication in
Physical Review
Spatial Diffuseness Features for DNN-Based Speech Recognition in Noisy and Reverberant Environments
We propose a spatial diffuseness feature for deep neural network (DNN)-based
automatic speech recognition to improve recognition accuracy in reverberant and
noisy environments. The feature is computed in real-time from multiple
microphone signals without requiring knowledge or estimation of the direction
of arrival, and represents the relative amount of diffuse noise in each time
and frequency bin. It is shown that using the diffuseness feature as an
additional input to a DNN-based acoustic model leads to a reduced word error
rate for the REVERB challenge corpus, both compared to logmelspec features
extracted from noisy signals, and features enhanced by spectral subtraction.Comment: accepted for ICASSP201
- ā¦