A note on poor-institution traps in international fiscal policy games

This note explores the link between the effort level to strengthen institutional quality and the nature of the fiscal policy game among interdependent economies plagued by corruption. Every country has a lower incentive to improve public governance when the effort made abroad to remedy institutional deficiencies becomes weaker. More importantly, the model highlights a possible trade-off between fighting corruption in interrelated developing countries and promoting fiscal policy coordination among them: cooperation goes together with the acceptance of more corruption. It follows that poor-institution traps can be Pareto-improving.Corruption; Fiscal policy; International coordination

Does the fight against corruption require international cooperation?

This paper explores the role of corruption in a two-country model with fiscal spillovers. In the absence of cooperation on governance issues, countries always have a strategic incentive to appoint policymakers whose aversion to corruption is lower than average. An international agreement is a precondition for placing corruption fighters at the head of governments.Corruption; Fiscal policy; International cooperation

Le bitcoin peut-il être assimilé à une monnaie ? Un examen à partir des différentes grilles de lecture de la science économique

La multiplication sur Internet des nouveaux instruments de paiement virtuels recourant à la cryptographie interpelle aujourd’hui les économistes sur leur conception de la monnaie, en même temps qu’elle remet en question l’organisation pyramidale du système bancaire. Leur émission privée et leur circulation dans des réseaux pair-à-pair, au sein desquels n’existe plus aucun tiers de confiance désigné, contestent en effet l’ordre monétaire fondé sur le crédit et les banques centrales. Le présent papier s’intéresse au bitcoin, le plus emblématique de ces instruments virtuels, et traite la question de savoir s’il peut être réellement considéré comme une monnaie au sens où l’entendent les économistes. Il apparaît en première analyse qu’il ne remplit que très imparfaitement les trois fonctions qui lui sont habituellement dévolues et qu’il s’apparente surtout à un actif financier. Le bitcoin est ensuite étudié à partir de l’approche réaliste en privilégiant le point de vue de l’école économique autrichienne, compte tenu du soubassement intellectuel des idées défendues par ses promoteurs ; dans ce cadre, deux points sont plus particulièrement abordés : sa compatibilité avec le théorème de régression puis la comparaison des projets actuels avec la proposition hayékienne de dénationalisation des monnaies. Le cas du bitcoin est enfin examiné dans la perspective du paradigme hétérodoxe qui combine la conception institutionnaliste et la pensée post-keynésienne. En conclusion, s’il peut être vu comme une sorte de mise à l’épreuve des thèses autrichiennes, son caractère totalement exogène et son incapacité à satisfaire les différentes formes de confiance qui sont indispensables à la légitimation de la monnaie conduisent à lui refuser ce qualificatif dans la grille de lecture institutionnaliste

The 15N-enrichment in dark clouds and Solar System objects

The line intensities of the fundamental rotational transitions of H13CN and HC15N were observed towards two prestellar cores, L183 and L1544, and lead to molecular isotopic ratios 140 6 14N/15N 6 250 and 140 6 14N/15N 6 360, respectively. The range of values reflect genuine spatial variations within the cores. A comprehensive analysis of the available measurements of the nitrogen isotopic ratio in prestellar cores show that molecules carrying the nitrile functional group appear to be systematically 15N-enriched com- pared to those carrying the amine functional group. A chemical origin for the differential 15N-enhance- ment between nitrile- and amine-bearing interstellar molecules is proposed. This sheds new light on several observations of Solar System objects: (i) the similar N isotopic fractionation in Jupiter's NH3 and solar wind N+; (ii) the 15N-enrichments in cometary HCN and CN (that might represent a direct inter- stellar inheritance); and (iii) 15N-enrichments observed in organics in primitive cosmomaterials. The large variations in the isotopic composition of N-bearing molecules in Solar System objects might then simply reflect the different interstellar N reservoirs from which they are originating

Co–Mn-oxide spinel catalysts for CO and propane oxidation at mild temperature

CoxMn3−xO4 oxides (0≤x≤3) were prepared by controlled decomposition of mixed oxalates near 200 ◦C, followed by a calcination at 300 ◦C. These oxides are amorphous for x < 0.9. For higher cobalt fraction they have a cubic spinel structure and their crystallite size grows with the cobalt fraction. These materials have a large surface area; the highest values, exceeding 250 m2/g, were obtained for x≈2. The spinel oxides exhibit an outstanding catalytic activity for propane oxidation at mild temperature (20–200 ◦C). They are also active for CO oxidation at ambient temperature. This high activity was correlated both with the surface area and the cobalt concentration. The most efficient material is Co2,3Mn0,7O4, which has a better activity than cobalt oxide catalysts reported in the literature

Synthesis of highly porous alumina-based materials

γ-Alumina-based materials with high porous volume, tunable pore size, were synthesized by the addition of both PEO/PPO/PEO triblock copolymers (Pluronics® F127 and P123) and metal nitrates (Al3+, Mn2+, Cu2+) in a boehmite (AlOOH) nanoparticle hydrosol. During the subsequent thermal treatment, the surfactant was removed leaving a highly porous framework. The pore size distribution was strongly dependent on the metal nitrate added and its concentration. By this simple process it was possible to modify the porous volume in the range 0.3–2.6 cm3 g−1 and the median pore diameter in the range 5–40 nm. All these materials presented high surface areas in the range 300–500 m2 g−1. During the drying AlOOH particles aggregate to form linear objects (flat rods, laths) in order to minimize electrostatic repulsion. We think that the improvement of the textural characteristics of γ-alumina could be explained by the adsorption of copolymer on to these fiber-like objects, preventing the compact rearrangement of the boehmite nanoparticles in a compact “card-pack” microstructure during the drying. The addition of electrolytes induces a reduction of electrostatic repulsions, leading to the formation of both fiber-like objects at lower AlOOH concentration, and a 3D network by bridging these 1D objects. This bridging is reversible since the gel returns to a sol state under shearing, but polymer adsorption can prevent the full collapsing of this network during the drying step and a huge porosity can be maintained after calcination

Thermal stabilization of alumina modified by lanthanum

Transition alumina, with different La loadings, were synthesized from boehmite (AlOOH) hydrosols containing a PEO/PPO/PEO triblock copolymer (Pluronics® P123) and lanthanum nitrate. After calcination at 500 °C, the xerogels prepared from these sols have large specific surface area (≈400 m2/g) and very large porous volumes, increasing with the amount of La to reach 2.5 cm3/g for La/(La + Al) = 0.036. This material still kept a surface area close to 180 m2/g and a pore volume of 2.3 cm3/g when it was calcined at 1000 °C. However, after calcination at 1200 °C, the best textural properties (70 m2/g and 0.6 cm3/g) were observed for La/(La + Al) = 0.015. Larger La loadings led to the formation of LaAl11O18 and LaAlO3 and the detection of these mixed oxides was associated with a decrease of surface area and pore volume. The improvement of the thermal stability of these materials can be explained by the synergy of two effects: (i) the adsorption of copolymer onto fiber-like boehmite nanoparticles, preventing their compact rearrangement during the drying and maintaining a large porosity after calcination; (ii) the inhibition of the sintering process through the formation of thermally stable species between reactive surface sites (strong Lewis acid sites) and lanthanum atoms