595 research outputs found
Using privileged information to manipulate markets: insiders, gurus, and credibility
Access to private information is shown to generate both the incentives and the ability to manipulate asset markets through strategically distorted announcements. The fact that privileged information is noisy interferes with the public's attempts to learn whether such announcements are honest; it allows opportunistic individuals to manipulate prices repeatedly, without ever being fully found out. This leads us to extend Sobel's [1985] model of strategic communication to the case of noisy private signals. Our results show that when truthfulness is not easily verifiable, restrictions on trading by insiders may be needed to preserve the integrity of information embodied in prices
Higher Algebraic Structures and Quantization
We derive (quasi-)quantum groups in 2+1 dimensional topological field theory
directly from the classical action and the path integral. Detailed computations
are carried out for the Chern-Simons theory with finite gauge group. The
principles behind our computations are presumably more general. We extend the
classical action in a d+1 dimensional topological theory to manifolds of
dimension less than d+1. We then ``construct'' a generalized path integral
which in d+1 dimensions reduces to the standard one and in d dimensions
reproduces the quantum Hilbert space. In a 2+1 dimensional topological theory
the path integral over the circle is the category of representations of a
quasi-quantum group. In this paper we only consider finite theories, in which
the generalized path integral reduces to a finite sum. New ideas are needed to
extend beyond the finite theories treated here.Comment: 62 pages + 16 figures (revised version). In this revision we make
some small corrections and clarification
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY FOR A NOISY DISORDERED HARMONIC CHAIN
We consider a -dimensional disordered harmonic chain (DHC) perturbed by an energy conservative noise. We obtain uniform in the volume upper and lower bounds for the thermal conductivity defined through the Green-Kubo formula. These bounds indicate a positive finite conductivity. We prove also that the infinite volume homogenized Green-Kubo formula converges
Cultural Differences, Assimilation and Behavior: Player Nationality and Penalties in Football
Heat Conduction and Entropy Production in Anharmonic Crystals with Self-Consistent Stochastic Reservoirs
We investigate a class of anharmonic crystals in dimensions, ,
coupled to both external and internal heat baths of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck
type. The external heat baths, applied at the boundaries in the 1-direction,
are at specified, unequal, temperatures \tlb and \trb. The temperatures of
the internal baths are determined in a self-consistent way by the requirement
that there be no net energy exchange with the system in the non-equilibrium
stationary state (NESS). We prove the existence of such a stationary
self-consistent profile of temperatures for a finite system and show it
minimizes the entropy production to leading order in (\tlb -\trb). In the
NESS the heat conductivity is defined as the heat flux per unit area
divided by the length of the system and (\tlb -\trb). In the limit when the
temperatures of the external reservoirs goes to the same temperature ,
is given by the Green-Kubo formula, evaluated in an equilibrium
system coupled to reservoirs all having the temperature . This
remains bounded as the size of the system goes to infinity. We also show that
the corresponding infinite system Green-Kubo formula yields a finite result.
Stronger results are obtained under the assumption that the self-consistent
profile remains bounded.Comment: to appear in J. Stat. Phy
Entanglement between Demand and Supply in Markets with Bandwagon Goods
Whenever customers' choices (e.g. to buy or not a given good) depend on
others choices (cases coined 'positive externalities' or 'bandwagon effect' in
the economic literature), the demand may be multiply valued: for a same posted
price, there is either a small number of buyers, or a large one -- in which
case one says that the customers coordinate. This leads to a dilemma for the
seller: should he sell at a high price, targeting a small number of buyers, or
at low price targeting a large number of buyers? In this paper we show that the
interaction between demand and supply is even more complex than expected,
leading to what we call the curse of coordination: the pricing strategy for the
seller which aimed at maximizing his profit corresponds to posting a price
which, not only assumes that the customers will coordinate, but also lies very
near the critical price value at which such high demand no more exists. This is
obtained by the detailed mathematical analysis of a particular model formally
related to the Random Field Ising Model and to a model introduced in social
sciences by T C Schelling in the 70's.Comment: Updated version, accepted for publication, Journal of Statistical
Physics, online Dec 201
Can Tailored Communications Motivate Volunteers? A Field Experiment
Over 25% of the US population volunteers. Clary et al. (1998) devised a survey that identifies a volunteer’s primary motive for volunteering. We investigate the effect of tailoring the communications that volunteers receive from their organizations (e.g., printed newsletters, update emails) to each volunteer’s stated motive for volunteering affects volunteer performance. We find that in general, such tailoring has no effect, but that for volunteers who are motivated primarily by the pursuit of career-related benefits, such tailoring can have a substantial, positive effect on hours volunteered. We also find that the (in)effectiveness of this tailoring does not depend upon the volunteers’ knowledge of the tailoring.
The tailoring of communications does not involve the explicit manipulation of material incentives. This renders it particularly attractive given the emergence of evidence on how extrinsic incentives can crowd out intrinsic incentives, especially in the domain of charitable contributions
Entwicklung und Ungleichheit von Fähigkeiten : Anmerkungen aus ökonomischer Sicht
Nirgends sonst im ökonomischen Handeln fallen Kosten und Nutzen im Zeitablauf und aufgeteilt nach Investoren und Nutznießern so eklatant auseinander wie bei Bildungsinvestitionen. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird argumentiert, dass in der sozialen Realität die Bildungsungleichheit im Vorschulalter eine der wichtigsten Ursachen für die Ungleichheit von Fähigkeiten und Kompetenzen auch im Schulalter und im Erwerbsleben ist. Für benachteiligte Kinder scheint somit die Bildungsungleichheit vor dem Schulalter bei uns, ebenso wie in anderen Ländern mit hohen Bildungsausgaben und hoher Wirtschaftskraft ihren schicksalhaften Charakter noch keineswegs verloren zu haben. Um dies zu ändern, bleibt es eine vordringliche Aufgabe auch der Bildungspolitik, den Zugang zu einer angemessenen emotionalen Fürsorge von Anfang an weiter zu verbessern. Darüber hinaus ist es notwendig, den betroffenen Kindern bis ins Jugendalter altersgemäß und individuell zur Seite zu stehen
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