Experiments on Climate Change Mitigation

This thesis contributes to the field of behavioral environmental economics by analyzing three different aspects that are critical for the design of effective climate change mitigation policies: the individual perception of environmental problems, motives to engage in climate change mitigation as well as the formation and performance of institutions that foster climate change mitigation

American Aid for German War Prisoners: Humanitarian Relief as Reconciliation between Heritage and Patriotism

When Europe was thrown into conflict in 1939, German Americans feared treatment reminiscent of the discriminatory practices of World War I. Recent immigrants were in an especially difficult position, as they sought to remain loyal to their adopted country, while also desiring to assist those affected by the war abroad. In answer to this dilemma, Emil Auer, a native of Munich and naturalized resident of Buffalo, New York, formed a war relief organization in 1940. Initially focusing its efforts on the British Commonwealth camps established in Canada, the American Aid for German War Prisoners grew to assist Axis soldiers and internees imprisoned worldwide. Closely scrutinized by the government before and after American entrance into the war, the group emphasized its humanitarian intentions to preempt disapproval. Nevertheless, the President’s War Relief Control Board pursued a campaign of consolidation among philanthropic organizations, and revoked Auer’s permit in 1943. However, the American Aid for German War Prisoners reflected a growing tolerance for German Americans, as the effort came to signify the reemergence and greater acceptance of a cohesive ethnic community. This thesis traces the progress of the relief organization through its rise, expansion, investigation, and dissolution. Research draws upon government documents, association newsletters, and personal correspondences housed in the New York State Library in Albany, New York City Public Library, and National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Most notably, this work reflects upon the evolution of the German American community through a humanitarian effort that concurrently supported both German heritage and American patriotism

Joint-specific and systemic autoreactivity in the development of inflammatory arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with a prevalence of approximately 1%. RA primarily affects peripheral joints, where an inflammatory synovitis may result in cartilage destruction, bone erosion, and ultimately joint deformity and loss of joint function. The aetiology of RA is unknown and the pathogenesis is only poorly understood [1]. What is known is that certain major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II genes, in particular those encoding the β-chain of the DR1 and DR4 molecules, confer inherited susceptibility to RA [2]. The MHC association strongly suggest that RA is an autoimmune T-cell dependent disorder, in which the disease-associated MHC class II molecules present autoantigenic peptides to autoreactive T cells, that in turn mediate the inflammatory process. The identity of the MHC class II bound autoantigen(s

experimental investigation of a reacting transverse jet in a high pressure oscillating vitiated crossflow

Staged combustion is one design approach in a gas turbine engine to reduce pollutant emission levels. In axially staged combustion, portions of the air and fuel are injected downstream of a lean premixed low NOx primary combustion zone. The gas residence time at elevated temperatures is decreased resulting in lower thermal NOx, and the reduced oxygen and high temperature vitiated primary zone flow further help to reduce pollutant emissions and quickly complete combustion

Association of MHC and rheumatoid arthritis: HLA-DR4 and rheumatoid arthritis - studies in mice and men

Inherited susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with the DRB1 genes encoding the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 and HLA-DR1 molecules. Transgenic mice expressing these major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules have been developed to generate humanized models for RA. The relevance of these models for understanding RA will be discussed

Procurement design with loss averse bidders

We show that it is beneficial for a buyer to conduct a multi-stage mechanism if bidders are loss averse. In a first step, we derive a revenue equivalence principle. Fixing the multi-stage structure, the revenue is independent of the chosen payment rule. Secondly, we introduce a simple two-stage mechanism which always leads to a decrease in procurement costs compared to any single-stage auction. Finally we derive the optimal efficient two-stage mechanism

Imitation perfection : a simple rule to prevent discrimination in procurement

Procurement regulation aimed at curbing discrimination requires equal treatment of sellers. However, Deb and Pai (2017) show that such regulation imposes virtually no restrictions on the ability to discriminate. We propose a simple rule - imitation perfection - that restricts discrimination significantly. It ensures that in every equilibrium bidders with the same value distribution and the same valuation earn the same expected surplus. If all bidders are homogeneous, revenue and social surplus optimal auctions which are consistent with imitation perfection exist. For heterogeneous bidders however, it is incompatible with revenue and social surplus optimization. Thus, a trade-off between non-discrimination and optimality exists

Preferences and decision support in competitive bidding

We examine bidding behavior in first-price sealed-bid and Dutch auctions, which are strategically equivalent under standard preferences. We investigate whether the empirical breakdown of this equivalence is due to (non-standard) preferences or due to the different complexity of the two formats (i.e., a different level of mathematical/individual sophistication needed to derive the optimal bidding strategy). We first elicit measures of individual preferences and then manipulate the degree of complexity by offering various levels of decision support. Our results show that the equivalence of the two auction formats only breaks down in the absence of decision support. This indicates that the empirical breakdown is caused by differing complexity between the two formats rather than non-standard preferences