Testing for Infinite Order Stochastic Dominance with Applications to Finance, Risk and Income Inequality

The authors develop a test of infinite degree stochastic dominance based on the use of the empirical moment generating function. Two applications are considered. One uses the income data of Anderson (Econometrica, 1996) and derives results consistent with his. In the other application, the dominance between the US and UK stockmarkets is examined. Using data on the SP 500 and the FTALL-Share, it is shown that the US displays infinite degree stochastic dominance over the UK

The properties of double-blind Dutch auctions in a clearing house; some new results for the Mendelson Model

In this paper, we re-examine Mendelson’s model for the equilibrium price of a double-blind Dutch auction with Poisson-distributed stochastic demand and supply. We present a number of new results. We focus on the various ways that demand and supply cross. We identify four different categories of crossing, extending Mendelson’s results which are based on a single category of crossing. Secondly, conditioning on quantity, we derive the joint distribution of the relevant demand and supply prices associated with such two-sided markets originally described by Bohm-Bawerk (1891). The distributional result is extended to the case where the limit orders on different sides of the market arrive at different rates. Finally, we derive the distributional properties of the price elasticities

An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Model of Rhino Horn Devaluation

Rhino populations are at a critical level due to the demand for rhino horn and the subsequent poaching. Wildlife managers attempt to secure rhinos with approaches to devalue the horn, the most common of which is dehorning. Game theory has been used to examine the interaction of poachers and wildlife managers where a manager can either `dehorn' their rhinos or leave the horn attached and poachers may behave `selectively' or `indiscriminately'. The approach described in this paper builds on this previous work and investigates the interactions between the poachers. We build an evolutionary game theoretic model and determine which strategy is preferred by a poacher in various different populations of poachers. The purpose of this work is to discover whether conditions which encourage the poachers to behave selectively exist, that is, they only kill those rhinos with full horns. The analytical results show that full devaluation of all rhinos will likely lead to indiscriminate poaching. In turn it shows that devaluing of rhinos can only be effective when implemented along with a strong disincentive framework. This paper aims to contribute to the necessary research required for informed discussion about the lively debate on legalising rhino horn trade

Higher Spin Alternating Sign Matrices

We define a higher spin alternating sign matrix to be an integer-entry square matrix in which, for a nonnegative integer r, all complete row and column sums are r, and all partial row and column sums extending from each end of the row or column are nonnegative. Such matrices correspond to configurations of spin r/2 statistical mechanical vertex models with domain-wall boundary conditions. The case r=1 gives standard alternating sign matrices, while the case in which all matrix entries are nonnegative gives semimagic squares. We show that the higher spin alternating sign matrices of size n are the integer points of the r-th dilate of an integral convex polytope of dimension (n-1)^2 whose vertices are the standard alternating sign matrices of size n. It then follows that, for fixed n, these matrices are enumerated by an Ehrhart polynomial in r.Comment: 41 pages; v2: minor change

An experimental evaluation of error seeding as a program validation technique

A previously reported experiment in error seeding as a program validation technique is summarized. The experiment was designed to test the validity of three assumptions on which the alleged effectiveness of error seeding is based. Errors were seeded into 17 functionally identical but independently programmed Pascal programs in such a way as to produce 408 programs, each with one seeded error. Using mean time to failure as a metric, results indicated that it is possible to generate seeded errors that are arbitrarily but not equally difficult to locate. Examination of indigenous errors demonstrated that these are also arbitrarily difficult to locate. These two results support the assumption that seeded and indigenous errors are approximately equally difficult to locate. However, the assumption that, for each type of error, all errors are equally difficult to locate was not borne out. Finally, since a seeded error occasionally corrected an indigenous error, the assumption that errors do not interfere with each other was proven wrong. Error seeding can be made useful by taking these results into account in modifying the underlying model