The dynamics of entry, exit and profitability: an error correction approach for the retail industry

We develop a two equation error correction model to investigate determinants of and dynamic interaction between changes in profits and number of firms in retailing. An explicit distinction is made between the effects of actual competition among incumbants, new firms competition and potential competition from firms outside the market. Effects of cost, demand and general income changes on profitability are investigated to gain insight in the role of retailing in the cost, demand and wage inflationary processes. The relative importance of profitability, growth and unemployment as determinants of net entry are studied. The model is tested using a panel data set of 36 Dutch shoptypes covering the 1977–1988 period

The On-orbit Calibrations for the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on--board the Fermi Gamma ray Space Telescope began its on--orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft boresight alignments. Here we describe on orbit calibration results obtained using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions will be described in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch. These results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly released in August 2009.Comment: 60 pages, 34 figures, submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Breakdown of the Yr17 resistance to yellow rust of wheat in northern Europe

The gene Yr17, conferring resistance to Puccinia striiformis f.sp.tritici, was introduced into northern European wheat cultivars in the mid 1970s. Virulence for Yr17 was not detected until 1994, when it was identified in the UK and Denmark. In both countries, susceptible Yr17 cultivars were grown on an increasingly large area over the next four years and this was followed by a rise in the frequency of corresponding virulence to 100% . Elsewhere in northern Europe Yr17 cultivars were grown on a relatively small scale during this period. However, virulence for Yr17 was detected in France and Germany in 1997 and reached a frequency in excess of 70% by 1999, suggesting an influx of pathogen spores from UK or Denmark. Migration of pathogen spores around northern Europe clearly plays an important role in determining the virulence composition of local populations of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici. It is vital that this should be reflected in cooperation between national virulence monitoring projects.Contournement du gène de résistance Yr17 à la rouille jaune du blé en Europe du Nord. Le gène de résistance Yr17 vis-à-vis de Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, agent de la rouille jaune du blé, a été introduit dans les cultivars Nord-Européens à partir de 1975. La virulence correspondante n'a été détectée qu'en 1994 en Angleterre et au Danemark. Dans ces deux pays, la superficie des terres emblavées par des cultivars portant Yr17 et sensibles à la rouille jaune a augmenté de 1994 à 1997 et est restée très importante jusqu'en 1998. La virulence vis-à-vis de Yr17 a atteint 100 % . Dans les autres pays du Nord de l'Europe, les cultivars Yr17 sensibles à la rouille jaune ont été cultivés sur de petites surfaces. Toutefois la virulence vis-à-vis de Yr17 a été détectée en France et en Allemagne en 1997 avec une fréquence de plus de 70 % en 1999, suggérant une migration des spores du parasite à partir de l'Angleterre ou du Danemark. La migration des spores joue un rôle déterminant dans la composition des populations locales de P. striiformis f. sp. tritici. Il est impératif que des projets de coopération de suivi des virulences soient coordonnés à l'échelle européenne

The Power Trading Agent Competition

This is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2012 (Power TAC 2012). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized†retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers†offer energy services to customers through tariff contracts, and must then serve those customers by trading in a wholesale market. Brokers are challenged to maximize their profits by buying and selling energy in the wholesale and retail markets, subject to fixed costs and constraints. Costs include fees for publication and withdrawal of tariffs, and distribution fees for transporting energy to their contracted customers. Costs are also incurred whenever there is an imbalance between a broker’s total contracted energy supply and demand within a given timeslot. The simulation environment models a wholesale market, a regulated distribution utility, and a population of energy customers, situated in a real location on Earth during a specific period for which weather data is available. The wholesale market is a relatively simple call market, similar to many existing wholesale electric power markets, such as Nord Pool in Scandinavia or FERC markets in North America, but unlike the FERC markets we are modelling a single region, and therefore we do not model location-marginal pricing. Customer models include households and a variety of commercial and industrial entities, many of which have production capacity (such as solar panels or wind turbines) as well as electric vehicles. All have “real-time†metering to support allocation of their hourly supply and demand to their subscribed brokers, and all are approximate utility maximizers with respect to tariff selection, although the factors making up their utility functions may include aversion to change and complexity that can retard uptake of marginally better tariff offers. The distribution utility models the regulated natural monopoly that owns the regional distribution network, and is responsible for maintenance of its infrastructure and for real-time balancing of supply and demand. The balancing process is a market-based mechanism that uses economic incentives to encourage brokers to achieve balance within their portfolios of tariff subscribers and wholesale market positions, in the face of stochastic customer behaviors and weather-dependent renewable energy sources. The broker with the highest bank balance at the end of the simulation wins.power;portfolio management;sustainability;preferences;energy;trading agent competition;electronic commerce;autonomous agents;policy guidance

The Power Trading Agent Competition

This is the specification for the Power Trading Agent Competition for 2012 (Power TAC 2012). Power TAC is a competitive simulation that models a “liberalized” retail electrical energy market, where competing business entities or “brokers” offer energy services to customers through tariff contracts, and must then serve those customers by trading in a wholesale market. Brokers are challenged to maximize their profits by buying and selling energy in the wholesale and retail markets, subject to fixed costs and constraints. Costs include fees for publication and withdrawal of tariffs, and distribution fees for transporting energy to their contracted customers. Costs are also incurred whenever there is an imbalance between a broker’s total contracted energy supply and demand within a given timeslot. The simulation environment models a wholesale market, a regulated distribution utility, and a population of energy customers, situated in a real location on Earth during a specific period for which weather data is available. The wholesale market is a relatively simple call market, similar to many existing wholesale electric power markets, such as Nord Pool in Scandinavia or FERC markets in North America, but unlike the FERC markets we are modelling a single region, and therefore we do not model location-marginal pricing. Customer models include households and a variety of commercial and industrial entities, many of which have production capacity (such as solar panels or wind turbines) as well as electric vehicles. All have “real-time” metering to support allocation of their hourly supply and demand to their subscribed brokers, and all are approximate utility maximizers with respect to tariff selection, although the factors making up their utility functions may include aversion to change and complexity that can retard uptake of marginally better tariff offers. The distribution utility models the regulated natural monopoly that owns the regional distribution network, and is responsible for maintenance of its infrastructure and for real-time balancing of supply and demand. The balancing process is a market-based mechanism that uses economic incentives to encourage brokers to achieve balance within their portfolios of tariff subscribers and wholesale market positions, in the face of stochastic customer behaviors and weather-dependent renewable energy sources. The broker with the highest bank balance at the end of the simulation wins.Software Computer TechnologyElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc