Performance and incentives In mutual fund industry

I study various aspects of mutual funds in my thesis. These are divided over four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the thesis and sets out an executive summary of my research. The second to fourth chapters each deal with a new concept. The second chapter shows that the sensitivity of an investor's reaction to a mutual fund's recent performance increases with the fund's historical performance. Put differently, bad (good) performance combined with a good-history for a fund results in a greater fraction of capital outflows (inflows) relative to a fund with a poor past history. The evidence is puzzling as we would expect investors to stick with a fund having a good-history, even after a single bad performance. I solve this problem using a model with investors of differing attentiveness. In equilibrium, fund owner's attentiveness increases the historical record of a fund. With this mechanism, the model can explain the higher sensitivity of outflows for higher reputation funds. The chapter is important in that it shows that return-chasing behavior is not ubiquitous. It also provides a clear evidence where the market is slow to incorporate the new information into decision making. The third chapter studies the managerial side of the mutual funds industry regarding the risk-taking behavior of the mutual funds. Mutual fund managers are compared against a benchmark or with the peers. The employment, as well as investor's capital flows, depends on how the manager fares in the competition. I present new evidence in the chapter that the exposure of a manager to these risks is heterogeneous, and manager's historical performance governs it. The evidence implies that the risk-appetite and behavior of a manager depends on his historical performance. I find strong support in the data for this hypothesis. I show that funds with poor historical performance do not boost the portfolio risk to catch up with the peers if they are lagging at the interim date. In general, the risk appetite of the poor-history manager is less driven by their interim performance. But the good-history managers respond to their midyear position and more so during the bull years. The evidence on risk-shifting is consistent with the evidence on how each incentive behaves for good and poor history managers over bull and bear phases. The fourth chapter shows that capital movement in and out of a mutual fund is more sensitive to fund performance during periods of high market volatility. I explain this result using a model where the manager has picking as well as timing skill. A volatile market presents an opportunity to generate timing value and to that extent produces speedy learning about managerial timing ability. Persistence in volatility boosts the sensitivity of flows to performance during such times. Given the counter-cyclical nature of market volatility, the model predicts that the flow sensitivity is higher during the recessions. Data supports the model prediction. The chapter provides a clear example when the trade volume (here capital flows) is linked positively with the volatility. Usually, literature has shown how the volatile periods slows the learning and hence trade volumes too. But my model indicates that there could be substantial learning going on during volatile times about critical economics parameters, mainly because those parameters are revealed only during volatile times

The seen and unseen:the unintended impact of a conditional cash transfer program on prenatal sex selection

This study examines the unintended consequences of the Janani Suraksha Yojana, a conditional cash transfer program in India, on prenatal sex-selective behaviour within a son-preference culture. This program unintentionally altered existing trends in prenatal sex selection through its simultaneous provision of cash incentives to households and community health workers as well as access to prenatal sex detec- tion technology such as ultrasound scans. Using difference-in-differences and triple difference estimators we find that the program causes an increase in the likelihood of female births. Furthermore, we observe a rise in under-5 mortality for girls born at higher birth orders, suggesting a shift in discrimination against girls from prenatal to postnatal. Our calculations suggest that the net impact was approximately 300,000 girls surviving in treated states between 2006 and 2015. Finally, we find sugges- tive evidence that the involvement of community health workers in facilitating the program is a key driver of this trend. Overall, this study sheds light on the com- plex interplay between policy interventions, cultural norms, and gender disparities in shaping demographic outcomes

Linear quotients of connected ideals of graphs

As a higher analogue of the edge ideal of a graph, we study the $t$-connected ideal $\operatorname{J}_{t}$. This is the monomial ideal generated by the connected subsets of size $t$. For trees, we show that $\operatorname{J}_{t}$ has a linear resolution iff the tree is $t$-gap-free, and that this is equivalent to having linear quotients. We then show that if $G$ is any gap-free and $t$-claw-free graph, then $\operatorname{J}_{t}(G)$ has linear quotients and hence, linear resolution.Comment: Comments welcome

Betti cones over fibre products

Let $R$ be a fibre product of standard graded algebras over a field. We study the structure of syzygies of finitely generated graded $R$-modules. As an application of this, we show that the existence of an $R$-module of finite regularity and infinite projective dimension forces $R$ to be Koszul. We also look at the extremal rays of the Betti cone of finitely generated graded $R$-modules, and show that when $\operatorname{depth}(R)=1$, they are spanned by the Betti tables of pure $R$-modules if and only if $R$ is Cohen-Macaulay with minimal multiplicity.Comment: Comments welcome

A role for non-B DNA forming sequences in mediating microlesions causing human inherited disease

Missense/nonsense mutations and micro-deletions/micro-insertions of <21bp together represent ~76% of all mutations causing human inherited disease. Previous studies have shown that their occurrence is influenced by sequences capable of non-B DNA formation (direct, inverted and mirror repeats; G-quartets). We found that a greater than expected proportion (~21%) of both micro-deletions and micro-insertions occur within direct repeats and are explicable by slipped misalignment. A novel mutational mechanism, non-B DNA triplex formation followed by DNA repair, is proposed to explain ~5 % of micro-deletions and micro-insertions at mirror repeats. Further, G-quadruplex-forming sequences, direct and inverted repeats appear to play a prominent role in mediating missense mutations, whereas only direct and inverted repeats mediate nonsense mutations. We suggest a mutational mechanism involving slipped strand mispairing, slipped structure formation and DNA repair, to explain ~15% of missense and ~12% of nonsense mutations leading to the formation of perfect direct repeat s from imperfect repeats, or to the extension of existing direct repeats. Similar proportions of missense and nonsense mutations were explicable by the mechanism of hairpin loop formation and DNA repair leading to the formation of perfect inverted repeats from imperfect repeats. The proposed mechanisms provide new insights into mutagenesis underlying pathogenic micro-lesions

Design and development of a controller for a brushless doubly-fed automotive alternator system

The loads on the electrical systems of automobiles are projected to increase significantly in the near future. This will result in a requirement for improved efficiency over the present-day car alternators. An alternative scheme proposed at Oregon State University employs a Brushless Doubly-Fed Machine (BDFM) as an alternator. This thesis begins with a study and characterization of the existing car alternator system. The configuration of the proposed scheme is discussed. In the proposed configuration, the power winding of the machine generates the bulk of the power and the control winding provides the excitation. The power winding feeds a power rectifier, which in turn charges the battery in an automobile. The control winding is supplied through an inverter. Issues related to inverter and rectifier design are discussed. A 3-phase pulse width modulated inverter and a bridge rectifier were developed and tested for performance. A PSPICE simulation model for the rectifier was developed and results are compared with laboratory tests. A Voltage Regulator Circuit (VRC) and an Efficiency Maximizer Unit (EMU) for the system are designed and developed. A prototype alternator system is tested and the principle of efficiency maximization is verified. Finally. the comparative performance of the the existing and the proposed system is discussed and some recommendations for further improvements in the prototype system are made

Application of silver in microtubular solid oxide fuel cells

In this paper, the behaviour of silver as cathode conductive material, interconnect wire, and sealing for anode lead connection for microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (µSOFC) is reported. The changes in silver morphology are examined by scanning electron microscopy on cells that had been operated under reformed methane. It is found that using silver in an solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack can improve the cell performance. However, it is also concluded that silver may be responsible for cell degradation. This report brings together and explains all the known problems with application of silver for SOFCs. The results show that silver is unstable in interconnect and in cathode environments. It is found that the process of cell passivation/activation promotes silver migration. The difference in thermal expansion of silver and sealant results in damage to the glass. It is concluded that when silver is exposed to a dual atmosphere condition, high levels of porosity formation is seen in the dense silver interconnect. The relevance of application of silver in SOFC stacks is discussed

Physicochemical surface properties of brewing yeast influencing their immobilization onto spent grains in a continuous reactor

Immobilization of brewing yeast onto a cellulosebased carrier obtained from spent grains, a brewing byproduct, by acid/base treatment has been studied in a continuously operating bubble-column reactor. The aim of this work was to study the mechanisms of brewing yeast immobilization onto spent grain particles through the information on physicochemical surface properties of brewing yeast and spent grain particles. Three mechanisms of brewing yeast immobilization onto spent grains carrier were proposed: cell-carrier adhesion, cell-cell attachment, and cell adsorption (accumulation) inside natural shelters (carrier’s surface roughness). The possibility of stable cell-carrier adhesion regarding the free energy of interaction was proved and the relative importance of longrange forces (Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory) and interfacial free energies was discussed. As for the cell-cell attachment leading to a multilayer yeast immobilization, a physicochemical interaction through localized hydrophobic regions on cell surface was hypothesized. However, neither flocculation nor chain formation mechanism can be excluded so far. The adsorption of brewing yeast inside sufficiently large crevices (pores) was documented with photomicrographs. A positive effect of higher dilution rate and increased hydrophobicity of base-treated spent grains on the yeast immobilization rate has also been found.Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT

Energy Storage in Electrochemical Cells with Molten Sb Electrodes

An energy-storage concept is proposed using molten Sb as the fuel in a reversible solid-oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC). Because both Sb and Sb2O3 are liquids at typical SOEC operating temperatures, it is possible to flow Sb from an external tank and use it as the fuel under fuel-cell conditions and then electrolyze Sb2O3 during recharging. This concept was tested using a button cell with a Sc-stabilized zirconia electrolyte at 973 K by measuring the impedances under fuel-cell and electrolyzer conditions for a range of stirred Sb-Sb2O3 compositions. The Sb-Sb2O3 electrode impedances were found to be on the order of 0.15 Ωcm2 for both fuel-cell and electrolyzer conditions, for compositions up to 30% Sb and 70% Sb2O3. The open circuit voltages (OCV) were 0.75 V, independent of oxygen composition. Some features of using molten Sb as an energy-storage medium are discussed

Long-COVID versus adverse event following COVID vaccination among students and staff of tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Long COVID is an important public health concern requiring proper defining, quantifying and describing following SARS-CoV infection with differentiation from adverse events due to COVID vaccination. So, this study was planned to analyze adverse effect of COVID19 vaccination or drug for COVID treatment versus consequences of COVID19 infection. Methods: Self-reported data was collected through questionnaire-based survey by voluntary participation of healthcare staff. Percentage of participant developing various events was analyzed by enlisting sign, symptom, co-morbidity and medication history. Association between COVID-19 infection with number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine taken was analyzed by Chi Square Test with p value &lt;0.05. Association between presence of specific sign, symptom after COVID infection or side effect after COVID vaccination was analyzed by Chi-Square Test with p value &lt;0.05.  Results: Overall total 985 (59.58%) participants were analyzed and among them maximum number of participants (60.30%) reported as COVID-19 positive during the third wave with history of diagnosed COVID positive twice (57.87%). Participants with presence of co-morbidity were more likely to develop symptoms (p&lt;0.001). On analysis, fever, body ache, headache, sore throat and fatigue were significantly more likely to develop after COVID infection as compared to after COVID vaccination (p&lt;0.001).  Conclusions: This study by exploratory survey highlights heterogeneity of Long COVID sign or symptom that’s seen predominantly in person with co-morbidity and a few of them were mimicking adverse events after COVID vaccinations