604 research outputs found
Government policy towards multi-national corporations
We analyze an environment with asymmetric information where a country tries to attract a multi-national corporation. The country can use both taxes and grants to meet its objective of maximizing net revenues. We show that when the country has private information it can often convey it via its choice of a tax-grant pair. When the tax rates are unbounded the country is able to extract the full surplus. The existence of an upper bound can in some cases reduce the payoff to a stronger country.Foreign Direct Investment
The X-ray spectrum of RX J1914.4+2456 revisited
It has been proposed that RX J1914.4+2456 is a stellar binary system with an
orbital period of 9.5 mins. As such it shares many similar properties with RX
J0806.3+1527 (5.4 mins). However, while the X-ray spectrum of RX J0806.3+1527
can be modelled using a simple absorbed blackbody, the X-ray spectrum of RX
J1914.4+2456 has proved difficult to fit using a physically plausible model. In
this paper we re-examine the available X-ray spectra of RX J1914.4+2456 taken
using XMM-Newton. We find that the X-ray spectra can be fitted using a simple
blackbody and an absorption component which has a significant enhancement of
neon compared to the solar value. We propose that the material in the
inter-binary system is significantly enhanced with neon. This makes its
intrinsic X-ray spectrum virtually identical to RX J0806.3+1527. We re-access
the X-ray luminosity of RX J1914.4+2456 and the implications of these results.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Government policy towards multi-national corporations
We analyze an environment with asymmetric information where a country tries to attract a multi-national corporation. The country can use both taxes and grants to meet its objective of maximizing net revenues. We show that when the country has private information it can often convey it via its choice of a tax-grant pair. When the tax rates are unbounded the country is able to extract the full surplus. The existence of an upper bound can in some cases reduce the payoff to a stronger country
Is a Good Student Also a Happier One? Traditional Measures of School Functioning as Predictors of Students\u27 Well-Being
Academic achievement, behavior, and school connectedness have long been considered central measures for assessing students’ optimal functioning in school. With the growing interest in positive education and its’ inclusion of well-being as a central educational goal, attention has been turned to the extent to which these traditional measures of school functioning are related to students’ well-being. Based on a sample of 314 Israeli middle school students from one school, this study focuses on the relationship between the latter measures of school functioning and students’ well-being, operationalized as life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, hope, and gratitude. Using structural equational modelling, our findings revealed that GPA, teachers’ reports of disruptive behavior, and students’ reports of school connectedness predict students’ well-being, with school connectedness as the strongest predictor of all five well-being measures. This suggests that a sense of connectedness is more crucial to students’ well-being than their academic achievements or behavior in school. Surprisingly, students’ disruptive behavior as reported by teachers was slightly, but significantly, positively associated with life satisfaction, hope and positive affect. Further inquiry into this curious finding revealed that disruptive behavior is related to higher well-being primarily for students of middle range academic attainment (GPA of 64-84) when controlling for connectedness to school. Based on this finding, we suggest that within the school context better behavior among average achievers may be a potential sign of a maladaptive response to being left outside the schools’ radar while disruptive behavior among average achievers may in fact be the more resilient response. Attention is given to this interpretation of the finding as well as to more general implications of the importance of school connectedness for students’ well-being
All-pay auctions with variable rewards
Available online from Blackwell SynergyWe study all–pay auctions with variable rewards under incomplete information. In standard models, a reward depends on a bidder’s privately known type; however, in our model it is also a function of his bid. We show that in such models there is a potential for paradoxical behavior where a reduction in the rewards or an increase in costs may increase the expected sum of bids or alternatively the expected highest bid
A Tagging Solution to Discover IoT Devices in Apartments
The number of IoT devices in smart homes is increasing. This broad adoption
facilitates users' lives, but it also brings problems. One such issue is that
some IoT devices may invade users' privacy. Some reasons for this invasion can
stem from obscure data collection practices or hidden devices. Specific IoT
devices can exist out of sight and still collect user data to send to third
parties via the Internet. Owners can easily forget the location or even the
existence of these devices, especially if the owner is a landlord who manages
several properties. The landlord-owner scenario creates multi-user problems as
designers build machines for single users. We developed tags that use wireless
protocols, buzzers, and LED lighting to lead users to solve the issue of device
discovery in shared spaces and accommodate multi-user scenarios. They are
attached to IoT devices inside a unit during their installation to be later
discovered by a tenant. These tags have similar functionalities as the popular
Tile models or Airtag, but our tags have different features based on our
privacy use case. Our tags do not require pairing; multiple users can interact
with them through our Android application. Although researchers developed
several other tools, such as thermal cameras or virtual reality (VR), for
discovering devices in environments, they have not used wireless protocols as a
solution. We measured specific performance metrics of our tags to analyze their
feasibility for this problem. We also conducted a user study to measure the
participants' comfort levels while finding objects with our tags attached. Our
results indicate that wireless tags can be viable for device tracking in
residential properties
Accurate X-ray position and multiwavelength observations of the isolated neutron star RBS 1774
We report on X-ray, optical, infrared and radio observations of the X-ray dim
isolated neutron star (XDINS) 1RXS J214303.7+065419 (also known as RBS 1774).
The X-ray observation was performed with the High Resolution Camera on board of
the Chandra X-ray Observatory, allowing us to derive the most accurate position
for this source (alpha = 21h43m3.38s, delta= +6deg54'17".53; 90% uncertainty of
0."6). Furthermore, we confirmed with a higher spatial accuracy the point-like
nature of this X-ray source. Optical and infrared observations were taken in B,
V, r', i', J, H and Ks filters using the Keck, VLT, Blanco and Magellan
telescopes, while radio observations were obtained from the ATNF Parkes single
dish at 2.9GHz and 708MHz. No plausible optical and/or infrared counterpart for
RBS 1774 was detected within the refined sub-arsecond Chandra X-ray error
circle. Present upper limits to the optical and infrared magnitudes are r'>25.7
and J>22.6 (5 sigma confidence level). Radio observations did not show evidence
for radio pulsations down to a luminosity at 1.4 GHz of L < 0.02 mJy kpc^2, the
deepest limit up to date for any XDINS, and lower than what expected for the
majority of radio pulsars. We can hence conclude that, if RBS 1774 is active as
radio pulsar, its non detection is more probably due to a geometrical bias
rather than to a luminosity bias. Furthermore, no convincing evidence for
RRAT-like radio bursts have been found. Our results on RBS 1774 are discussed
and compared with the known properties of other thermally emitting neutron
stars and of the radio pulsar population.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication on MNRA
A study of subjective well-being, resilience, and risk of PTSD among Israeli adolescents exposed to terrorism
While many studies have analyzed the role of subjective well-being components in building psychological resilience in times of stress, there is also evidence that certain aspects of well-being may be tied to increased risk of psychological distress in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Based on a sample of 368 Israeli adolescents surveyed before and after a bout of missile attacks on their city, this study investigates (a) the relationship between subjective well-being components (hope, life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect) and PTSD, thereby assessing their role as protective or risk factors, and (b) changes in the latter well-being measures from before to after the attacks, thereby assessing individuals’ ability to “bounce back” to prior levels of well-being. Using structural educational modeling, our study revealed that life satisfaction was the only subjective well-being factor before the attacks to serve as a protective factor against PTSD symptoms. Negative affect and hope before the attacks served as direct risk factors, while positive affect served as an indirect risk factor. There was a significant increase in hope from before to after the missile attacks, with no change in other well-being measures. Implications of these finding are discussed
Mid-infrared VISIR and Spitzer observations of the surroundings of the magnetar SGR 1806-20
We report mid-infrared observations of SGR 1806-20 and its environment - with
the highest spatial resolution in this domain to date - using ESO/VISIR in 2005
and 2006, and we retrieved Spitzer/IRAC-MIPS archival data of the same field.
We aimed at studying the mid-infrared emission of the stars associated with
the same cluster as SGR 1806-20, to detect variations that could be due to the
high-energy activity of the magnetar through interaction with the dust. We also
aimed at studying the morphology of the cloud close to the centre of the
cluster.
We performed broadband photometry of three stars - LBV 1806-20, a WC9 and an
O/B supergiant - on our VISIR images, as well as on the IRAC data. We then
built and fitted their broadband spectral energy distributions with a
combination of two absorbed black bodies, representing their stellar
components, as well as a possible mid-infrared excess, in order to derive their
physical parameters.
We show that LBV 1806-20 and the WC9 star exhibit a mid-infrared excess,
likely because of the presence of circumstellar dust related to their winds. We
also show that only LBV 1806-20 had a variable flux over a period of two years,
variability which is due to its LBV nature rather than to a heating of the gas
and dust cloud by the high-energy emission of SGR 1806-20. Finally, differences
in the intrinsic absorptions of the three stars show an inhomogeneous structure
of the density of the gas and dust cloud in the massive star cluster.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, accepted in A&
Orbital Evolution of Compact White Dwarf Binaries
The new-found prevalence of extremely low mass (ELM, Mhe<0.2 Msun) helium
white dwarfs (WDs) in tight binaries with more massive WDs has raised our
interest in understanding the nature of their mass transfer. Possessing small
(Menv~1e-3 Msun) but thick hydrogen envelopes, these objects have larger radii
than cold WDs and so initiate mass transfer of H-rich material at orbital
periods of 6-10 minutes. Building on the original work of D'Antona et al., we
confirm the 1e6 yr period of continued inspiral with mass transfer of H-rich
matter and highlight that the inspiraling direct-impact double WD binary HM
Cancri likely has an ELM WD donor. The ELM WDs have less of a radius expansion
under mass loss, thus enabling a larger range of donor masses that can stably
transfer matter and become a He mass transferring AM CVn binary. Even once in
the long-lived AM CVn mass transferring stage, these He WDs have larger radii
due to their higher entropy from the prolonged H burning stage.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
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