Instability in Exchange Rates of the World Leading Currencies: Implications of a Spatial Competition Model among Central Banks

We use a spatial competition based model in a two-stage game setup to assess whether equilibrium in exchange rates among the leading currencies is attainable. We show that a stable equilibrium can be reached in the case of two leading currencies, but not in the case of three. In our model, central banks of leading currencies attract, through the workings of their objective and policy, small currencies that tie with leading currencies via exchange rate regimes. This can be thought of as a competition to link smaller currencies to a leading currency that is motivated by the fact that such a tie greatly reduces volatility within such an informal “currency area”. Our theoretical findings are supported by empirical evidence. Since firms, traders, and countries currently recognize three leading currencies and their economic behavior reflects this, we may expect disagreement on overvaluation or undervaluation of certain currencies to continue.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40072/3/wp686.pd

Instability in Exchange Rates of the World Leading Currencies: Implications of a Spatial Competition Model among Central Banks (Currencies, Competition, and Clans)

We use a spatial competition based model in a two-stage game setup to assess whether equilibrium in exchange rates among the leading currencies is attainable. We show that a stable equilibrium can be reached in the case of two leading currencies, but not in the case of three. In our model, central banks of leading currencies attract, through the workings of their objective and policy, small currencies that tie with leading currencies via exchange rate regimes. This can be thought of as a competition to link smaller currencies to a leading currency that is motivated by the fact that such a tie greatly reduces volatility within such an informal “currency areaâ€. Our theoretical findings are supported by empirical evidence. Since firms, traders, and countries currently recognize three leading currencies and their economic behavior reflects this, we may expect disagreement on overvaluation or undervaluation of certain currencies to continue.exchange rates, exchange rate regimes, central bank policy, monetary union, spatial competition

Instability in Exchange Rates of the World Leading Currencies: Implications of a Spatial Competition Model among Central Banks

We use a spatial competition based model in a two-stage game setup to assess whether equilibrium in exchange rates among the leading currencies is attainable. We show that a stable equilibrium can be reached in the case of two leading currencies, but not in the case of three. In our model, central banks of leading currencies attract, through the workings of their objective and policy, small currencies that tie with leading currencies via exchange rate regimes. This can be thought of as a competition to link smaller currencies to a leading currency that is motivated by the fact that such a tie greatly reduces volatility within such an informal “currency area”. Our theoretical findings are supported by empirical evidence. Since firms, traders, and countries currently recognize three leading currencies and their economic behavior reflects this, we may expect disagreement on overvaluation or undervaluation of certain currencies to continue.exchange rates, exchange rate regimes, central bank policy, monetary union, spatial competition

The slippery slope of dishonesty

Recent experiments suggest that dishonesty can escalate from small levels to ever-larger ones along a 'slippery slope'. Activity in bilateral amygdala tracks this gradual adaptation to repeated acts of self-serving dishonesty

Cultural Differences in Affect Intensity Perception in the Context of Advertising

Cultural differences in the perception of positive affect intensity within an advertising context were investigated among American, Japanese, and Russian participants. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of facial expressions of positive emotions, which displayed either subtle, low intensity, or salient, high intensity expressions of positive affect. In agreement with previous findings from cross-cultural psychological research, current results demonstrate both cross-cultural agreement and differences in the perception of positive affect intensity across the three cultures. Specifically, American participants perceived high arousal (HA) images as significantly less calm than participants from the other two cultures, while the Japanese participants perceived low arousal (LA) images as significantly more excited than participants from the other cultures. The underlying mechanisms of these cultural differences were further investigated through difference scores that probed for cultural differences in perception and categorization of positive emotions. Findings indicate that rating differences are due to (1) perceptual differences in the extent to which HA images were discriminated from LA images, and (2) categorization differences in the extent to which facial expressions were grouped into affect intensity categories. Specifically, American participants revealed significantly higher perceptual differentiation between arousal levels of facial expressions in high and intermediate intensity categories. Japanese participants, on the other hand, did not discriminate between high and low arousal affect categories to the same extent as did the American and Russian participants. These findings indicate the presence of cultural differences in underlying decoding mechanisms of facial expressions of positive affect intensity. Implications of these results for global advertising are discussed

Embedding Reward Signals into Perception and Cognition

Despite considerable interest in the neural basis of valuation, the question of how valuation affects cognitive processing has received relatively less attention. Here, we review evidence from recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies supporting the notion that motivation can enhance perceptual and executive control processes to achieve more efficient goal-directed behavior. Specifically, in the context of cognitive tasks offering monetary gains, improved behavioral performance has been repeatedly observed in conjunction with elevated neural activations in task-relevant perceptual, cognitive and reward-related regions. We address the neural basis of motivation-cognition interactions by suggesting various modes of communication between relevant neural networks: (1) global hub regions may integrate information from multiple inputs providing a communicative link between specialized networks; (2) point-to-point interactions allow for more specific cross-network communication; and (3) diffuse neuromodulatory systems can relay motivational signals to cortex and enhance signal processing. Together, these modes of communication allow information regarding motivational significance to reach relevant brain regions and shape behavior

Extraordinary appeal

1 Abstrakt Diplomová práce je zaměřena na rozbor dovolání v trestním řízení. Jedná se o mimořádný opravný prostředek, který byl do českého trestního řádu zaveden s účinností od 1. 1. 2002. Samotná práce je rozdělena do 6 kapitol, přičemž stěžejní částí je podrobná analýza dovolacích důvodů a problematiky tzv. extrémního nesouladu. Problematika tzv. extrémního nesouladu není dosud v odborné literatuře podrobně zpracována, a proto ji ve své práci věnuji větší pozornost. Význam tzv. extrémního nesouladu je pro rozhodovací činnost Nejvyššího soudu České republiky značný. Jedná se o koncept vyplývající z judikatury Ústavního soudu České republiky, který rozšiřuje zákonem vypočtené dovolací důvody. Nejvyšší soud má na základě tohoto konceptu povinnost přezkoumávat nejen právní vady rozhodnutí, ale přezkoumávat také skutková zjištění v případech právě tzv. extrémního nesouladu. Ústavní soud České republiky tento přístup obhajuje nutností Nejvyššího soudu dodržovat práva na spravedlivý proces ve smyslu Úmluvy o ochraně lidských práv a základních svobod a Listiny základních práv a svobod. Ve své práci podrobuji tento argument kritickému rozboru a uvádím protiargumenty k přístupu Ústavního soudu. Ve své práci dále čtenáře seznamuji se základními charakteristikami dovolání a historickým kontextem přijetí dovolání....1 Abstract My master's thesis is focused on analysis of extraordinary appeal in criminal procedure. Extraordinary appeal is one of extraordinary remedial measures which was introduced into the Czech Criminal Procedure Code with effect from 1 January 2002. The thesis is devided into 6 chapters and the main chapter of the thesis is focused on in-depth analysis of the grounds of an extraordinary appeal and the issue of so called extreme discrepancy. So far, the issue of so called extreme discrepancy has not yet been subject to in-depth analysis in professional literature, therefore I pay more attention to this matter. The importance of so called extreme discrepancy is significant for the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic and its decisions. It is a concept arising from the case law of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, which extends the grounds of an extraordinary appeal despite the grounds laid down in the Czech Criminal Procedure Code. Based on this concept the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is obliged not only to review questions of law but also questions of fact in cases with so called extreme discrepancy. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic defends this concept saying it is neccessary to keep this approach in order to respect the fair trail within the meaning of the European...Department of Criminal LawKatedra trestního právaFaculty of LawPrávnická fakult

Correspondence : Chimpanzee helping is real, not a byproduct

In their recent study, Tennie et al.1 argue that positive instances of chimpanzees helping others can be a byproduct of testing methods1. The study includes a new task where chimpanzees can behave prosocially toward a conspecific either through an action (GO-condition) or by omission (NO-GO condition). The study further aims to test whether stimulus enhancement or carry-over effects from prior experiences explain previous results. We agree that a helping-by-omission task could in principle provide intriguing new evidence for chimpanzee helping. However, here we raise a number of crucial methodological issues that question the current interpretation of the study’s results. Furthermore, the study fails to consider the evidence from prior work addressing these concerns

Non-legislated emissions and PN of two passenger cars with gasoline-butanol blends

Increasing the sustainability of individual transportation and replacing a part of fossil energy in traffic by renewable energy carriers are worldwide important objectives. Bioalcohols are generally recognized as one of very useful alternatives. The global share of bioethanol used for transportation is continuously increasing. Butanol, a four-carbon alcohol, is considered in the last years as an interesting alternative fuel, both for diesel and for gasoline application. Its advantages for engine operation are: good miscibility with gasoline and diesel fuels, higher calorific value than ethanol, lower hygroscopicity, lower corrosivity and possibility of replacing aviation fuels. In the present work, the emissions of two gasoline vehicles – with older and with newer technology – were investigated in dynamic-, stationary and cold start operation

Combined Effects of Attention and Motivation on Visual Task Performance: Transient and Sustained Motivational Effects

We investigated how the brain integrates motivational and attentional signals by using a neuroimaging paradigm that provided separate estimates for transient cue- and target-related signals, in addition to sustained block-related responses. Participants performed a Posner-type task in which an endogenous cue predicted target location on 70% of trials, while motivation was manipulated by varying magnitude and valence of a cash incentive linked to task performance. Our findings revealed increased detection performance (d′) as a function of incentive value. In parallel, brain signals revealed that increases in absolute incentive magnitude led to cue- and target-specific response modulations that were independent of sustained state effects across visual cortex, fronto-parietal regions, and subcortical regions. Interestingly, state-like effects of incentive were observed in several of these brain regions, too, suggesting that both transient and sustained fMRI signals may contribute to task performance. For both cue and block periods, the effects of administering incentives were correlated with individual trait measures of reward sensitivity. Taken together, our findings support the notion that motivation improves behavioral performance in a demanding attention task by enhancing evoked responses across a distributed set of anatomical sites, many of which have been previously implicated in attentional processing. However, the effect of motivation was not simply additive as the impact of absolute incentive was greater during invalid than valid trials in several brain regions, possibly because motivation had a larger effect on reorienting than orienting attentional mechanisms at these sites