How to Determine the Pion Cloud of the Constituent Quark

We calculate the differential cross section for semi-inclusive pion production in electron proton reactions using a model where the physical quark fluctuates with some probability to quark plus pion. The kinematic regions for a determination of this `pion cloud' are evaluated.Comment: 28 pages, including 10 figures; gzipped, uuencoded postscrip

The Economic Insurance Value of Ecosystem Resilience

Ecosystem resilience, i.e. an ecosystem's ability to maintain its basic functions and controls under disturbances, is often interpreted as insurance: by decreasing the probability of future drops in the provision of ecosystem services, resilience insures risk-averse ecosystem users against potential welfare losses. Using a general and stringent definition of insurance and a simple ecological-economic model, we derive the economic insurance value of ecosystem resilience and study how it depends on ecosystem properties, economic context, and the ecosystem user's risk preferences. We show that (i) the insurance value of resilience is negative (positive) for low (high) levels of resilience, (ii) it increases with the level of resilience, and (iii) it is one additive component of the total economic value of resilience

Bush Encroachment Control and Risk Management in Semi-Arid Rangelands

We study the role of bush encroachment control for a farmer's income and income risk in a stochastic ecological-economic model of grazing management in semiarid rangelands. In particular, we study debushing as an instrument of risk management that complements the choice of an adaptive grazing management strategy for that sake. We show that debushing, while being a good practice for increasing the mean pasture productivity and thus expected income, also increases the farmer's income risk. The optimal extent of debushing for a risk-averse farmer is thus determined from balancing the positive and negative consequences of debushing on intertemporal and stochastic farm income

Voting Islamist or Voting Secular? An Empirical Analysis of Voting Outcomes in 'Arab Spring' Egypt

This paper empirically studies the voting outcomes of Egypt's first parliamentary elections after the Arab Spring. In light of the strong Islamist success in the polls, we explore the main determinants of Islamist vs. secular voting. We identify three dimensions that affect voting outcomes at the constituency level: the socio-economic profile, the economic structure and the electoral institutional framework. Our results show that education is negatively associated with Islamist voting. Interestingly, we find significant evidence which suggests that higher poverty levels are associated with a lower vote share for Islamist parties. Later voting stages in the sequential voting setup do not exhibit a bandwagon effect

Market Dynamics, Dynamic Resource Management and Environmental Policy in the Context of (Strong) Sustainability

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between market dynamics, dynamic resource management and environmental policy. In contrast to static market entry games, this paper draws attention to the effects of market dynamics on resource dynamics et vice versa, because (1) we show that feedback processes are necessary for obtaining a better understanding of what drives the \textit{dynamics} between the evolution of common-pool resources and the number of harvesters and more importantly, (2) this analysis provides an environment discussing sustainability in an appropriate inasmuch dynamic way. The paper makes following major points: (1) Interpreting the monopoly-scenario as a non-cooperative solution and the firm coexistence solution as a cooperative solution, it is shown that the coexistence solution of this model implies a degenerate saddle-node equilibrium. (2) An increasing number of harvesters does not necessarily imply a lower stock of the common-pool resource in the long run. (3) The paper introduces a way establishing an output-sharing solution by implementing an output tax, which turns out to be a pure effort tax in the long run. (4) Strong resource sustainability is not possible, given cost reducing technological progress is relevant and policy interventions ceased. With respect to environmental policy, we can conclude that a tax scheme is not a substitute to a partnership solution dealing with the common-pool problem, but is treated as an instrument establishing such a solution in the sense of a policy mix approach

Transgenic Crops, Production Risk, and Agrobiodiversity

Do transgenic crops cause agrobiodiversity erosion? We hypothesize that they increase productivity and reduce production risk and may therefore reduce farmer demand for onfarm varietal diversity, especially when only a few transgenic varieties are available. We also hypothesize that varietal diversity can be preserved when more transgenic varieties are supplied. These hypotheses are tested and confirmed with panel data for the case of transgenic cotton in India. Cotton varietal diversity in India, with of over 90% adoption of transgenic technology, is now at the same level than it was before the introduction of this technology. Some policy implications are discussed

Has the Financial Crisis Eroded Citizens’ Trust in the European Central Bank? Panel Data Evidence for the Euro Area 1999-2011

In the aftermath of the financial crisis trust, in the European Central Bank (ECB) has reached an historical low. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimation for a 12–country sample over the time period 1999 to 2011 with a total of 312 observations, this paper detects a structural break in citizens’ trust in the ECB. The paper confirms that during the pre-crisis period, citizens’ trust in the ECB was driven by economic growth. In crisis time, however, trust in the ECB is both driven by inflation and unemployment

Food and Nutrition Security Indicators: A Review

In this paper, we review existing food and nutrition security indicators, discuss some of their advantages and disadvantages, and finally classify them and describe their relationships and overlaps. In order to achieve this, the paper makes reference to the existing definitions of food and nutrition security (FNS), in particular as they have been agreed upon and implemented in the FoodSecure project (www.foodsecure.eu). The main existing conceptual frameworks of FNS predating the present paper are also used as guidelines and briefly discussed. Finally, we make recommendations in terms of the most appropriate FNS indicators to quantify the impacts of various shocks and interventions on food and nutrition security outcomes