Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization: How Elections and Parties Shape the Provision of Local Public Goods

Decentralization is among the most important global trends of the new century, yet there is still no consensus on how to design political institutions to realize its benefits. In this paper, we investigate the political conditions under which decentralization will improve the delivery of public goods. We begin by incorporating insights from political science and economics into a rigorous and formal extension of the “decentralization theorem”. Our extension assumes inter-jurisdictional spillovers and suggests that the interaction of democratic decentralization (popularly elected sub-national governments) and party centralization (the power of national party leaders over subnational office-seekers) will produce the best outcomes for public service delivery. To test this argument empirically, we make use of a new dataset of sub-national political institutions created for this project. Our analyses, which allow us to examine educational outcomes in more than 125 countries across more than 25 years, provide support for our theoretical expectations

The Politics of Fiscal Federalism: Building a Stronger Decentralization Theorem

We explore how party structures can condition the benefits of decentralization in modern democracies. In particular, we study the interaction of two political institutions: democratic (de)centralization (whether a country has fiscally autonomous and elected local governments) and party (non)integration (whether power over local party leaders flows upwards through party institutions, which we model using control over candidate selection). We incorporate these institutions into our strong decentralization theorem, which expands on Oates (1972) to examine when the decentralized provision of public services will dominate centralized provision even in the presence of inter-jurisdictional spillovers. Our findings suggest that, when externalities are present, democratic decentralization will be beneficial only when parties are integrated. In countries with non-integrated parties, we find that the participation rules of primaries have implications for the expected gains from democratic decentralization. Under blanket primaries, Oates’ conventional decentralization theorem holds but our strong decentralization theorem does not. By contrast, when primaries are closed, not even Oates’ conventional decentralization theorem holds

Study of supra-thermal electrons and K-{alpha} x-rays from high intensity 500 fs laser-produced plasmas

We describe recent laser-solid interaction experiments using the 500 fs Janus Nd:glass (1053 nm) laser presently at 1.5 TW power level. The laser beam path is enclosed in vacuum from the compressor to the target and is focused using an off-axis paraboloid. Optical diagnostics monitor the near field pattern, focal spot, spectrum, temporal shape and pre-pulse level. A 12 {mu}m diameter (FWHM) focal spot is achieved (2.5 {times} diffraction limit) corresponding to a peak irradiance of 8 {times} 1017 W cm{sup {minus}2} on target. A suite of x-ray diagnostics characterize the x-ray emission from the plasma. We present results for normal incidence irradiation of high-Z (Zn, Ge, Mo, Sn) solid targets. The supra-thermal electrons produced in the short scale length plasma have temperature T{sub H} > 100 keV and can efficiently fluoresce the cold K-{alpha} lines in the 8--30 keV energy range

An infusion of new blood using the Toptica laser with GeMS: Results of the commissioning and science performance

Adaptive Optics (AO) systems aim at detecting and correcting for optical distortions induced by atmospheric turbulences. The Gemini Multi Conjugated AO System GeMS is operational and regularly used for science observations since 2013 delivering close to diffraction limit resolution over a large field of view. GeMS entered this year into a new era. The laser system has been upgraded from the old 50W Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies (LMCT) pulsed laser to the Toptica 20/2W CW SodiumStar laser. The laser has been successfully commissioned and is now used regularly in operation. In this paper we first review the performance obtained with the instrument. I will go then into the details of the commissioning of the Toptica laser and show the improvements obtained in term of acquisition, stability, reliability and performanc

Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas

High-harmonic generation is a universal response of matter to strong femtosecond laser fields, coherently upconverting light to much shorter wavelengths. Optimizing the conversion of laser light into soft x-rays typically demands a trade-off between two competing factors. Because of reduced quantum diffusion of the radiating electron wave function, the emission from each species is highest when a short-wavelength ultraviolet driving laser is used. However, phase matching—the constructive addition of x-ray waves from a large number of atoms—favors longer-wavelength mid-infrared lasers.We identified a regime of high-harmonic generation driven by 40-cycle ultraviolet lasers in waveguides that can generate bright beams in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum, up to photon energies of 280 electron volts. Surprisingly, the high ultraviolet refractive indices of both neutral atoms and ions enabled effective phase matching, even in a multiply ionized plasma.We observed harmonics with very narrow linewidths, while calculations show that the x-rays emerge as nearly time-bandwidth–limited pulse trains of ~100 attoseconds.The experimental work was done at JILA, supported by Army Research Office grant WN11NF-13-1-0259, an NSF PFI AIR award, and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant DE-SC0008803 (M.M.M., T.P., and H.C.K.). Theory was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2007–2013) under REA grant agreement 328334 (C.H.-G.); Junta de Castilla y León (SA116U13, UIC016) and MINECO (FIS2013-44174-P) (C.H.-G. and L.P.); NSF grants PHY-1125844 and PHY-1068706 and AFOSR MURI “Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Validation of Ultrafast Light-Matter Coupling associated with Filamentation in Transparent Media” grant FA9550-10-1-0561 (A.J.-B., R.J.L., X.G., A.L.G., M.M.M., and H.C.K.); Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, grant 102-2112-M-007-025-MY3 (M.-C.C.); U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Chemical Sciences, Atomic, Molecular and Optical Sciences Program (A.B.); and DOE Office of Fusion Energy, HED Laboratory Plasmas program, grant AT5015033 (S.B.L., M.F., and J.A.G.). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC for DOE, National Nuclear Security Administration, under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344, LLNL-JRNL-676693. T.P., D.P., M.M.M., and H.C.K. have filed a patent on “Generation of VUV, EUV, X-ray Light Using VUV-UV-VIS Lasers,” U.S. patent application 61873794 (2013)/US 20150063385 (2015)

Near- and Extended-Edge X-Ray-Absorption Fine-Structure Spectroscopy Using Ultrafast Coherent High-Order Harmonic Supercontinua

Recent advances in high-order harmonic generation have made it possible to use a tabletop-scale setup to produce spatially and temporally coherent beams of light with bandwidth spanning 12 octaves, from the ultraviolet up to x-ray photon energies >1.6  keV. Here we demonstrate the use of this light for x-ray-absorption spectroscopy at the K- and L-absorption edges of solids at photon energies near 1 keV. We also report x-ray-absorption spectroscopy in the water window spectral region (284-543 eV) using a high flux high-order harmonic generation x-ray supercontinuum with 10^{9}  photons/s in 1% bandwidth, 3 orders of magnitude larger than has previously been possible using tabletop sources. Since this x-ray radiation emerges as a single attosecond-to-femtosecond pulse with peak brightness exceeding 10^{26}  photons/s/mrad^{2}/mm^{2}/1% bandwidth, these novel coherent x-ray sources are ideal for probing the fastest molecular and materials processes on femtosecond-to-attosecond time scales and picometer length scales.093002

Distribution and Genetic Profiles of Campylobacter in Commercial Broiler Production from Breeder to Slaughter in Thailand

Poultry and poultry products are commonly considered as the major vehicle of Campylobacter infection in humans worldwide. To reduce the number of human cases, the epidemiology of Campylobacter in poultry must be better understood. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the distribution and genetic relatedness of Campylobacter in the Thai chicken production industry. During June to October 2012, entire broiler production processes (i.e., breeder flock, hatchery, broiler farm and slaughterhouse) of five broiler production chains were investigated chronologically. Representative isolates of C. jejuni from each production stage were characterized by flaA SVR sequencing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Amongst 311 selected isolates, 29 flaA SVR alleles and 17 sequence types (STs) were identified. The common clonal complexes (CCs) found in this study were CC-45, CC-353, CC-354 and CC-574. C. jejuni isolated from breeders were distantly related to those isolated from broilers and chicken carcasses, while C. jejuni isolates from the slaughterhouse environment and meat products were similar to those isolated from broiler flocks. Genotypic identification of C. jejuni in slaughterhouses indicated that broilers were the main source of Campylobacter contamination of chicken meat during processing. To effectively reduce Campylobacter in poultry meat products, control and prevention strategies should be aimed at both farm and slaughterhouse levels

Surface-related breakdown in silicon: Imaging of current filaments in long \u3ci\u3ep\u3c/i\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e-\u3ci\u3en\u3c/i\u3e\u3csup\u3e-\u3c/sup\u3e-\u3ci\u3en\u3c/i\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e structures

We present Schlieren images which show the existence and evolution of current filaments during the very early stages of surface-related breakdown inside 1 cm silicon p+-n--n+ structures. These images confirm our previous finding that breakdown occurs in the silicon rather than in the ambient, and suggest that a streamerlike mechanism may be responsible

Inhibition of surface-related electrical breakdown of long p\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e-\u3ci\u3ei\u3c/i\u3e-n\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e silicon structures

Semiconductors such as silicon and GaAs appear attractive for use in high voltage devices because of their high bulk dielectric strength. Typically, however, such devices fail at a voltage well below that expected due to a poorly understood, surface-related breakdown process. In this letter we present empirical results which show that such breakdown of long silicon p+-i-n+ devices can be inhibited by the application of weak visible or near-infrared illumination. These results suggest a technique for avoiding surface flashover in practical high voltage devices, and provide information about the physical mechanisms responsible for initiating flashover