Extremism within the family

This paper considers an economic analysis of intergenerational transition of ethnic and social trait. We consider the level of social traits chosen by parents and its effect on their children's choice of ethnic and social traits when reaching adulthood. We develop a theory that suggests that parents will chose extreme ethnic and social traits in order to increase the cost that their children will pay if they wish to deviate from their parent's "ideal". The extreme choice of the ethnic social traits of parents has an effect on the segregation of minorities and migrants.intergenerational transition, ethnic trait, social trait, minorities, migrants

Energy Correlations In Random Transverse Field Ising Spin Chains

The end-to-end energy - energy correlations of random transverse-field quantum Ising spin chains are computed using a generalization of an asymptotically exact real-space renormalization group introduced previously. Away from the critical point, the average energy - energy correlations decay exponentially with a correlation length that is the same as that of the spin - spin correlations. The typical correlations, however, decay exponentially with a characteristic length proportional to the square root of the primary correlation length. At the quantum critical point, the average correlations decay sub-exponentially as $\bar{C_{L}}\sim e^{-const\cdot L^{1/3}}$, whereas the typical correlations decay faster, as $\sim e^{-K\sqrt{L}}$, with $K$ a random variable with a universal distribution. The critical energy-energy correlations behave very similarly to the smallest gap, computed previously; this is explained in terms of the RG flow and the excitation structure of the chain. In order to obtain the energy correlations, an extension of the previously used methods was needed; here this was carried out via RG transformations that involve a sequence of unitary transformations.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

A Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Model of Hybrid Inflation

We propose a model of inflation based on a simple variant of the NMSSM, called $\phi$NMSSM, where the additional singlet $\phi$ plays the role of the inflaton in hybrid (or inverted hybrid) type models. As in the original NMSSM, the $\phi$NMSSM solves the $\mu$ problem of the MSSM via the VEV of a gauge singlet $N$, but unlike the NMSSM does not suffer from domain wall problems since the offending $Z_3$ symmetry is replaced by an approximate Peccei-Quinn symmetry which also solves the strong CP problem, and leads to an invisible axion with interesting cosmological consequences. The PQ symmetry may arise from a superstring model with an exact discrete $Z_3 \times Z_5$ symmetry after compactification. The model predicts a spectral index $n=1$ to one part in $10^{12}$.Comment: 17 pages, Latex; note added, accepted for Phys. Lett.

The Impact of Worker Effort on Public Sentiment Towards Temporary Migrants

Temporary and circular migration programs have been devised by many destination countries and supported by the European Commission as a policy to reduce welfare and social costs of immigration in destination countries. In this paper we present an additional reason for proposing temporary migration policies based on the characteristics of the foreign labor-effort supply. The level of effort exerted by migrants, which decreases over their duration in the host country, positively affects production, real wages and capital owners' profits. We show that the acceptance of job offers by migrants result in the displacement in employment of national workers. However it increases the workers' exertion, decreases prices and thus can counter anti-immigrant voter sentiment. Therefore, the favorable sentiment of the capital owners and the local population towards migrants may rise when temporary migration policies are adopted.migration, exertion of effort, contracted temporary migration

Multi-Generation Model of Immigrant Earnings: Theory and Application

The literature, starting with Chiswick (1977, 1978) to Gang and Zimmermann (2000), more recently, focuses on the economic achievements and performance of first- and second-generation migrants. This paper presents a three-generation migrant analysis, comparing relative economic performance of various migrant generations to one another and to the native population. We developed a theoretical model, which was then explored empirically using data from the 1995 Israeli Census. In both the theoretical and empirical analyses, the curve describing intergenerational immigrant earnings mobility is inversely U-shaped. The second generation earns relatively more than the first and third generations, while the third generation earns less than the second, but more than the first. Thus, assimilation of the third generation into the local population is far from clear.Intergenerational earnings mobility, migration, labor market performance.

Governing Interest Groups and Rent Dissipation

In a contest group - specific public goods we consider the effect that managing an interest group has on the rent dissipation and the total expected payoffs of the contest. While in the first group, there is a central planner determining its members’ expenditure in the contest, in the second group there are two different possibilities: either all the members are governed by a central planner or they aren’t. We consider both types of contests: an all pay auction and a Logit contest success function. We show that while governing an interest group decreases free-riding, it may as well decrease the rent dissipation; at the same time the expected payoffs from the groups may also decrease.

Effort and Performance in Public-Policy Contests

Government intervention often gives rise to contests in which the possible ‘prizes’ are determined by the existing status-quo and some new public- policy proposal . In this paper we study the general class of such two-player public-policy contests and examine the effect of a change in the proposed policy, a change that may affect the payoffs of the two contestants, on their effort and performance. We extend the existing comparative statics studies that focus on the effect of changes either in the value of the prize in symmetric contests or in one of the contestants’ valuation of the prize in asymmetric contests. Our results hinge on the relationship between the strategic own-stake (“income”) effect and the strategic rival’s-stake (“substitution”) effect. This relationship is determined by three types of ability and stakes asymmetry between the contestants. In particular, we specify the asymmetry condition under which a more restrained government intervention that reduces the contestants’ prizes has the perverse effect of increasing their aggregate lobbying efforts.public-policy contests, policy reforms, lobbying efforts, strategic own-stake effect, strategic rival’s-stake (“substitution”) effect.

Interactions Between Local and Migrant Workers at the Workplace

In this paper we consider the interaction between local workers and migrants in the production process of a firm. Both local workers and migrants can invest effort in assimilation activities in order to increase the assimilation of the migrants into the firm and so by increase their interaction and production activities. We consider the effect, the relative size (in the firm) of each group and the cost of activities, has on the assimilation process of the migrants.Assimilation; Contracts; Ethnicity; Market Structure; Networks; Harassment