A comparison of a stroke handwashing technic with ordinary handwashing methods for the removal of Escherichia Coli

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Market Integration and Market Concentration in Horizontally Differentiated Industries

This paper derives the impact of market integration on equilibrium firm size and market concentration in horizontally differentiated industries. We show that market concentration (measured by the number of firms) can rise as a consequence of market integration if firms engage in R&D competition. We also demonstrate that whether concentration occurs or not depends on the R&D production function and on consumer preferences. This result implies that the welfare effects of market integration are not unambiguously positive.International Trade

International trade and retailing

The New Trade Theory predicts that international trade lowers prices for consumers and expands the choices available to them. This study shows that both predictions may no longer hold once adjustments in the retail sector are taken into account. I present a new model of retailing in general equilibrium and explore its implications for a number of different shocks. The results demonstrate that retail assortments may remain constant if consumers have a low preference for diversity, and that consumer prices can even rise if the retail density is sufficiently low. --International Trade,Retailing,Diversity,Market Structure,Welfare,Monopolistic Competition

International Trade and Retailing

The New Trade Theory predicts that international trade lowers prices for consumers and expands the choices available to them. This study shows that both predictions may no longer hold once adjustments in the retail sector are taken into account. I present a new model of retailing in general equilibrium and explore its implications for a number of different shocks. The results demonstrate that retail assortments may remain constant if consumers have a low preference for diversity, and that consumer prices can even rise if the retail density is sufficiently low.international trade, retailing, diversity, market structure, welfare, monopolistic competition

Winners and losers from an international investment agreement

Recent attempts at reaching an international investment agreement have been met with considerable opposition and failed. An important reason for this failure is the diverging interests between the parties involved. The present paper focuses on the interests of host countries, with difference in market size as the source of conflict. We analyse the welfare effects of an international investment agreement as a function of the intensity of technological spillovers, the technology gap between the investor and host country firms, intra-regional trade costs, and the difference in market size.

Quantum coherent biomolecular energy transfer with spatially correlated fluctuations

We show that the quantum coherent transfer of excitations between biomolecular chromophores is strongly influenced by spatial correlations of the environmental fluctuations. The latter are due either to propagating environmental modes or to local fluctuations with a finite localization length. A simple toy model of a single donor-acceptor pair with spatially separated chromophore sites allows to investigate the influence of these spatial correlations on the quantum coherent excitation transfer. The sound velocity of the solvent determines the wave lengths of the environmental modes, which, in turn, has to be compared to the spatial distance of the chromophore sites. When the wave length exceeds the distance between donor and acceptor site, we find strong suppression of decoherence. In addition, we consider two spatially separated donor-acceptor pairs under the influence of propagating environmental modes. Depending on their wave lengths fixed by the sound velocity of the solvent material, the spatial range of correlations may extend over typical interpair distances, which can lead to an increase of the decohering influence of the solvent. Surprisingly, this effect is counteracted by increasing temperature

Tax Competition for Heterogeneous Firms with Endogenous Entry: The Case of Heterogeneous Fixed Costs

This paper models tax competition for mobile firms that are differentiated by the amount of labor needed to cover fixed costs. Because tax competition affects the distribution of firms, it affects both relative equilibrium wages across countries and equilibrium prices. These in turn influence the equilibrium number of firms. From the social planner's perspective, optimal tax rates are harmonized, providing the optimal number of firms, and set such that income is efficiently distributed between private and public consumption. As is common in tax competition models, in the Nash equilibrium tax rates are inefficiently low, yielding underprovision of public goods. Furthermore, there exist a variety of situations in which equilibrium tax rates differ. As a result, too many firms enter the market as governments compete to be the low-tax, high-wage country. This illustrates a new distortion from tax competition and provides an additional benefit from tax harmonization.Tax Competition, Foreign Direct Investment, Tax Harmonization

Face Value

There is growing evidence of systematic heterogeneity in behavior by observable characteristics, such as what one would see in a face. We ask, is there informational value in knowing these characteristics in a strategic interaction? Subjects are given the opportunity to purchase a photograph of their partner in the play of a trust game. Not everyone purchases the photo, even at prices as low as $0.20. Senders (first movers in the game) have a more inelastic demand for pictures than responders (second movers). White senders have a substantially higher demand than nonwhite senders or responders. For responders, there is no difference in demand for pictures across ethnicity or sex. White senders who pay to see the picture of their partner use the information to discriminate, sending significantly less to black responders than to white responders. Overall, responders return a higher percentage of the amount received as offers go up, but they do differentiate that percentage when they see the picture of the sender, returning more to a member of the same ethnicity. A face, it appears, has strategic value, especially for those who will use the information to differentiate their decisions.

Tax Competition for Heterogeneous Firms with Endogenous Entry:The Case of Heterogeneous Fixed Costs

This paper models tax competition for mobile firms that are differentiated by the amount of labor needed to cover fixed costs. Because tax competition affects the distribution of firms, it affects both relative equilibrium wages across countries and equilibrium prices. These in turn influence the equilibrium number of firms. From the social planner's perspective, optimal tax rates are harmonized, providing the optimal number of firms, and set such that income is efficiently distributed between private and public consumption. As is common in tax competition models, in the Nash equilibrium tax rates are inefficiently low, yielding underprovision of public goods. Furthermore, there exist a variety of situations in which equilibrium tax rates differ. As a result, too many firms enter the market as governments compete to be the low-tax, high-wage country. This illustrates a new distortion from tax competition and provides an additional benefit from tax harmonization.Tax Competition, Foreign Direct Investment, Tax Harmonization