Coordination and Miss-Coordination in Market Entry Games with an Application to Congestion Externalities

Marketing,

Dialectical Humanism: An Ethic of Self-Actualization

Abstract In the history of western philosophy, few thinkers have managed to generate as much controversy and confusion as Karl Marx. One issue caught in this controversy and mired in confusion the presence of evaluative language in Marx's `later' works. Critics have seized on its presence, contending that it contradicts his theory of history, rendering his critique of political economy nothing more than proletarian ideology. These criticisms are based on an inconsistency that is only apparent. As this dissertation will demonstrate, Marx is able to consistently and objectively combine evaluation and description in his `later' works because embedded within his dialectical method is an ethic of self-actualization I call Dialectical Humanism. Since so much of the confusion surrounding this issue stems from a failure to adequately contextualize it, Chapter I places Marx's life and thought in proper perspective. With the overview of the development of Marx's life and thought complete, Chapter II examines his theory of history to understand how it explains socio-historical phenomena. Chapter III elucidates Marx's humanism, tracing its development from an explicit to an implicit aspect of his thought. In order to understand what Marx truly sought through the transcendence of alienation, Chapter IV carefully examines his solution to the problem of alienation. Chapter V then establishes the `internal' relation between alienation and exploitation. Having thus brought out the connection between Marx's theories, concepts, and methods, Chapter VI identifies his ethic

Do Natural Disasters Affect Trust/Trustworthiness? Evidence from the 2010 Chilean Earthquake

A series of trust games were conducted in Chile to analyze whether the past 2010 earthquake affected trust and trustworthiness in rural communities. Results show that trust levels are invariant between villages affected by the earthquake and villages not affected by this shock (control group). However, we find statistical evidence that trustworthiness has diminished in areas affected by the earthquake. Results are relevant for policy regarding aid and recovery of communities affected by these types of disasters.Trust games, natural disasters, trustworthiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, C93, O13,

Synchronous and Asynchronous Recursive Random Scale-Free Nets

We investigate the differences between scale-free recursive nets constructed by a synchronous, deterministic updating rule (e.g., Apollonian nets), versus an asynchronous, random sequential updating rule (e.g., random Apollonian nets). We show that the dramatic discrepancies observed recently for the degree exponent in these two cases result from a biased choice of the units to be updated sequentially in the asynchronous version

Testing for Yield Persistency: Is It Skill or is It Luck?

This study uses corn yield data from McLean County, Illinois to test whether farmer skill influences yields. This analysis is conducted by performing persistency tests on unadjusted, soil productivity adjusted (PA), and productivity and input intensity adjusted (PIA) yields. Correlation analysis and winner/loser tables indicate that unadjusted, PA, and PIA yields exhibit persistency across time. PIA yields exhibiting persistency is consistent with farmer skill influencing yield. Hence, our results support the hypothesis that farmer skill influences yields.Crop Production/Industries,

Sovereign risk, private credit, and stabilization policies

In this paper we examine the impact of bailout policies in small open economies that are subject to financial frictions. We extend standard endogenous default models in two ways. First, we augment the government’s choice set with a bailout option. In addition to the standard choice of defaulting or repaying the debt, a government can also choose to ask for third-party bailout, which comes at a cost of an imposed borrowing limit. Second, we introduce financial frictions and a financial intermediation channel, which tie conditions on the private credit market to the conditions on the sovereign credit market. This link has been very strong in European countries during the recent sovereign crisis. We find that the existence of a bailout option reduces sovereign spreads and, through the described link, private credit rates as well. The implementation of a rescue program reduces output losses and increases welfare, measured in consumption equivalent terms. Moreover, bailout benefits emerge even when a government only has the option of asking for a bailout, but does not take advantage of it

Computational Modeling of Joist-to-Ledger Connections in Cold-Formed Steel Diaphragms

Cold-formed steel framed buildings can involve a range of options for framing systems, including balloon framing, platform framing, and ledger framing. Transfer of lateral forces from the diaphragms to the wall system (and ultimately to the ground) depends on the interactions within the wall-diaphragm connection, which is dependent on choice of framing system. In ledger framing, floor joists are hung from top of wall studs via a rim track (ledger) and clip angle connection. Recent experimental efforts at Johns Hopkins University studied the wall-diaphragm connection with the goal of quantifying its contribution to overall diaphragm response. Results from these experiments showed the contribution to the rotational stiffness based on the location relative of floor joist and wall stud, location of clip angle, presence of top/bottom screws at ledger/joist flanges and presence of oriented strand board (OSB). In addition, it was observed that ledger flange buckling, and wall stud web crippling were the primary limit states. In current design codes there is not check for these limit states. The objective of this paper is to provide a robust computational model for a joist-to-ledger connection in CFS floor diaphragm with the ultimate goal of expanding the experimental test variables via a parametric study the computational model is compared and validated with experimental results. This detailed work at the connection level will motivate and inform future efforts for complete diaphragm system modeling. Furthermore, the work herein will lead to more robust modeling and prediction capabilities for CFS diaphragms

Computational Modeling of Joist-to-Ledger Connections in Cold-Formed Steel Diaphragms

Cold-formed steel framed buildings can involve a range of options for framing systems, including balloon framing, platform framing, and ledger framing. Transfer of lateral forces from the diaphragms to the wall system (and ultimately to the ground) depends on the interactions within the wall-diaphragm connection, which is dependent on choice of framing system. In ledger framing, floor joists are hung from top of wall studs via a rim track (ledger) and clip angle connection. Recent experimental efforts at Johns Hopkins University studied the wall-diaphragm connection with the goal of quantifying its contribution to overall diaphragm response. Results from these experiments showed the contribution to the rotational stiffness based on the location relative of floor joist and wall stud, location of clip angle, presence of top/bottom screws at ledger/joist flanges and presence of oriented strand board (OSB). In addition, it was observed that ledger flange buckling, and wall stud web crippling were the primary limit states. In current design codes there is not check for these limit states. The objective of this paper is to provide a robust computational model for a joist-to-ledger connection in CFS floor diaphragm with the ultimate goal of expanding the experimental test variables via a parametric study the computational model is compared and validated with experimental results. This detailed work at the connection level will motivate and inform future efforts for complete diaphragm system modeling. Furthermore, the work herein will lead to more robust modeling and prediction capabilities for CFS diaphragms