Pooling Sovereignty and Subsidiarity Principle

This paper focuses on the choice of centralization of public policy in an economy with two government levels. It argues that centralization by subsidiarity principle stresses a conflicting interest between different jurisdictions instead of working it out. The extent of the conflict of interest is affected by spillovers and differences in public spending tastes. Spending decisions are made by negotiation in the centralized legislature of local representatives, unless they fail to reach an agreement. In the latter case, policy is provided non-cooperatively by local governments. Results show that pooling sovereignty by subsidiarity principle fails to fully internalize spillovers and may produce misallocation of public resources.Public goods; Centralization; Bargaining

The logic of party coalitions with political activism and public financing

This paper presents a model of party coalition formation between policy- motivated activists and office-seeking opportunists. In this framework, I con- sider how changes in party valence and public financing of political parties shape the equilibrium inside coalitions. Results show that, in equilibrium, op- portunists and activists have the same marginal rate of substitution between policy position and activists'contribution. An asymmetric worsening of one party's valence leads to divergence of its policy platform and a higher degree of activism. Furthermore, public financing of political parties drives activism or idealism out of politics. As a consequence, public financing is an important policy instrument to regulate the trade-o¤ between the degree of activism in politics and the independence of political parties from lobbying.activists, idealism, lobbyists, coalition formation, Nash bargaining, party valence, polarization.

Income Inequality and the Size of the Public Sector

This paper focuses on the question of how income inequality between two jurisdictions impacts upon government decision-making affecting the size of the public sector. We model policy choices as the outcome of regional representatives' negotiations in the legislature. We show that the more unequal income distribution is, the greater the degree of inefficiency in terms of under-provision of public goods. Particularly, a divergent income trend between rich and poor makes interregional redistributive conflicts more dramatic. Consequently, the larger the income disparity, the smaller the public sector. A wealthier economy as a result may lead to a relatively smaller public sector when income disparity increases.

Regional income disparity and the size of the Public Sector

This paper focuses on the question of how income inequality between two jurisdictions impacts upon government decision-making affecting the size of the public sector. We model policy choices as the outcome of regional representatives'negotiations in the legislature. We show that the more unequal inter-regional income distribution is, the greater the under-provision of public goods. Particularly, larger inter-regional income disparity leads to a smaller public sector. A wealthier economy as a result may have a relatively smaller government size when income disparity increases.

Income Inequality and the Size of the Public Sector

This paper focuses on the question of how income inequality between two jurisdictions impacts upon government decision-making affecting the size of the public sector. We model policy choices as the outcome of regional representatives' negotiations in the legislature. We show that the more unequal income distribution is, the greater the degree of inefficiency in terms of under-provision of public goods. Particularly, a divergent income trend between rich and poor makes interregional redistributive conflicts more dramatic. Consequently, the larger the income disparity, the smaller the public sector. A wealthier economy as a result may lead to a relatively smaller public sector when income disparity increases

New advanced SiC-based composite materials for use in highly oxidizing environments: Synthesis of SiC/IrSi3

Currently, MMCs with SiC as reinforcement emerge as ideal candidates for long-term stable devices withstanding high temperatures and harsh operating environments which are typical for many industrial sectors, such as energy, aerospace, electronics, catalysis, etc. However, the costly manufacture of such composites is the major restraint to make them marketable. In this paper, highly-dense, nearly-shaped SiC/IrSi3 composites effortless produced at T = 1250 °C under a vacuum by reactive melt infiltration of liquid Si-62 wt%Ir eutectic alloy into bimodal SiCp-C porous preforms, are presented. The replacement of unreacted detrimental Si by a tougher and less oxidizing intermetallic phase (IrSi3) was successfully obtained.The work performed at the University of Alicante was funded by the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (Grant MAT2017-86992-R), and action Mobility of Alicante University. The work performed at CNR-ICMATE was supported by National Science Center of Poland through POLONEZ project number UMO-2016/23/P/ST8/01916. This project is carried out under POLONEZ-3 program which has received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement. No. 665778

Further Development of Testing Procedures for High Temperature Surface Tension Measurements

A new testing procedure combining in one test two methods for surface tension measurements of liquid metals [the pendant drop (PD) and the sessile drop] and carried out in the same device is discussed. The attention is focused on methodological aspects of the PD method due to the novelty of its application for high temperature metallic systems. It has been claimed that under the conditions applied in the present study, this method can be considered as a quasi-containerless one. Surface tension measurements of pure Cu, Ni, Al, and Fe performed using the new procedure are described. To confirm the validity of this procedure, the experimental results are discussed in the framework of the available literature data, particularly those obtained by the containerless methods. © 2013 The Author(s)

Asymmetric decentralization: distortions and opportunities

none3This paper studies the interplay between central and local governments in defining the optimal degree of decentralization in terms of public goods supply. The choice between full centralization and asymmetric decentralization implies a trade-off between the possibility to provide public goods at a lower cost, wherever this is possible by decentralizing, and the possibility to fully internalize spillovers by full centralization. We find that asymmetric decentralization introduces distortions into the public decision-making process. We also demonstrate that the power to interfere in the central government’s ruling mechanisms should be reduced for the jurisdictions that have decentralized, in order to make their decentralization choice convenient even for the citizens in the less efficient jurisdictions. Finally, we find the conditions under which asymmetric decentralization can be simultaneously advantageous for both rich and poor regions through the design of appropriate equalization transfers.openFiorillo F.; Giuranno M.G.; Sacchi A.Fiorillo, F.; Giuranno, M. G.; Sacchi, A

The effective oxidation pressure of indium-oxygen system

A theoretical model on oxygen transport at the surface of liquid metals has been validated by dynamic surface tension measurements performed on liquid Indium as test metal. The oxygen contamination conditions have been obtained at different oxygen partial pressures under both low total pressure (Knudsen regime) and inert atmospheric pressure (Fick regime) conditions, confirming that an oxide removal regime occurs under an oxygen partial pressure much higher than the equilibrium one (the "Effective Oxidation Pressure"). Experimental results are reported which give a further insight on the relative importance of the various processes due to the oxygen mass transport between the liquid metal and the gas phase. The critical aspects involved in surface tension measurements of liquid metals, related to the problem of liquid metal-oxygen interactions, are also underlined

Improvements in experimental investigation of molten Mg-based materials

In this paper, the experimental performance of a new testing device designed for investigating the high temperature properties of molten Mg is presented. The newly developed device allows examining high temperature wetting behavior and thermophysical properties of molten Mg (and Mg alloys) by using various experimental procedures (e.g. classical sessile drop, pendant drop, dispensed drop and drop sucking). High temperature wettability tests at temperatures up to 1000 °C in an inert gas atmosphere or under high vacuum (up to 10−7 hPa) are now possible. It has been documented that the application of the classical sessile drop method combined with a capillary purification procedure successfully eliminates the problem of magnesium oxidation that traditionally affects obtained results. Selected examples of high temperature experiments carried out for molten Mg in contact with various refractories are presented in order to show a wide range of analytical possibilities of the new device. The results obtained by using the new device are important from both a high theoretical and practical perspective regarding liquid phase assisted fabrication and processing of Mg-based alloys and metal-matrix composites. Keywords: Equipment design, Sessile drop method, Reactivity, Mg composites, Mg alloy