Fairness, Price Stickiness, and History Dependence in Decentralized Trade

The paper investigates price formation in a decentralized market with random matching. Agents are assumed to have subdued social preferences: buyers, for example, prefer a lower price to a higher one but experience reduced utility increases below a reference price which serves as a common fairness benchmark. The strategic equilibrium reflects market fundamentals, but it is markedly less sensitive to the buyer-seller ratio near the fair price benchmark. Prices may be sticky around very dierent reference levels in markets with otherwise identical fundamentals. The implied history dependence turns out to be mitigated rather than exacerbated by friction.random matching, price stickiness, social preferences, history dependence, reference dependence

Fairness, Price Stickiness, and History Dependence in Decentralized Trade

The paper investigates price formation in a decentralized market with random matching. Agents are assumed to have subdued social preferences: buyers, for example, prefer a lower price to a higher one but experience reduced utility increases below a reference price which serves as a common fairness benchmark. The strategic equilibrium reflects market fundamentals, but it is markedly less sensitive to the buyer-seller ratio near the fair price benchmark. Prices may be sticky around very dierent reference levels in markets with otherwise identical fundamentals. The implied history dependence turns out to be mitigated rather than exacerbated by friction.random matching; price stickiness; social preferences; history dependence; reference dependence

Reciprocity - an indirect evolutionary analysis

This paper investigates strategic interaction between rational agents whose preferences evolve over time. Players face a pecuniary �game of life� comprising the ultimatum game and the dictator game. Utility may but need not be attached to the reciprocation of fair and unfair play by the opponent and equitable payoff distributions as proposed by Falk and Fischbacher (2001). Evolutionary fitness is determined solely by material success � regardless of the motives for its achievement. Agents cannot explicitly condition the social component of their preferences on whether they face the ultimatum or dictator game. Under these conditions, agents develop a strong preference for reciprocation but little interest in an equitable distribution as such. This corresponds to equitable ultimatum offers but full surplus appropriation by dictators. Adding an exogenous constraint on the possible divergence between preference for reciprocation and for an equitable distribution either makes ultimatum divisions asymmetric or dictators become generous depending on the relative frequency of ultimatum and dictator interaction.

Reciprocity : an indirect evolutionary analysis

This paper investigates strategic interaction between rational agents whose preferences evolve over time. Players face a pecuniary 'game of life' comprising the ultimatum game and the dictator game. Utility may but need not be attached to the reciprocation of fair and unfair play by the opponent and equitable payoff distributions as proposed by Falk and Fischbacher (2001). Evolutionary fitness is determined solely by material success - regardless of the motives for its achievement. Agents cannot explicitly condition the social component of their preferences on whether they face the ultimatum or dictator game. Under these conditions, agents develop a strong preference for reciprocation but little interest in an equitable distribution as such. This corresponds to equitable ultimatum offers but full surplus appropriation by dictators. Adding an exogenous constraint on the possible divergence between preference for reciprocation and for an equitable distribution either makes ultimatum divisions asymmetric or dictators become generous depending on the relative frequency of ultimatum and dictator interaction

Fairness, price stickiness, and history dependence in decentralized trade

"The paper investigates price formation in a decentralized market with random matching. Agents are assumed to have subdued social preferences: buyers, for example, prefer a lower price to a higher one but experience reduced utility increases below a reference price that serves as a common fairness benchmark. The strategic equilibrium reflects market fundamentals, but it is markedly less sensitive to the buyer-seller ratio near the fair price benchmark. Prices may be sticky around very different reference levels in markets with otherwise identical fundamentals. The implied history dependence turns out to be mitigated rather than exacerbated by friction." [auhtor's abstract

SMaRT-OnlineWDN: A Franco-German Project For The Online Security Management Of Water Distribution Networks

Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) are critical infrastructures that are exposed to deliberate or accidental chemical, biological or radioactive contamination which need to be detected in due time. However, until now, no monitoring system is capable of protecting a WDN in real time. Powerful online sensor systems are currently developed and the prototypes are able to detect a small change in water quality. In the immediate future, water service utilities will install their networks with water quantity and water quality sensors. For taking appropriate decisions and countermeasures, WDN operators will need to dispose of: 1) a fast and reliable detection of abnormal events in the WDNs; 2) reliable online models both for the hydraulics and water quality predictions; 3) methods for contaminant source identification backtracking from the data history. Actually, in general none of these issues (1) – (3) are available at the water suppliers. Consequently, the main objective of the project SMaRT-OnlineWDN is the development of an online security management toolkit for WDNs that is based on sensor measurements of water quality as well as water quantity. Its main innovations are the detection of abnormal events with a binary classifier of high accuracy and the generation of real-time, reliable (i) flow and pressure predictions, (ii) water quality indicator predictions of the whole water network. Detailed information regarding contamination sources (localization and intensity) will be explored by means of the online running model, which is automatically calibrated to the measured sensor data. Its field of application ranges from the detection of deliberate contamination including source identification and decision support for effective countermeasures to improved operation and control of a WDN under normal and abnormal conditions (dual benefit).In this project, the technical research work is completed with a sociological, economical and management analysis

Observations of the longitudinal spread of solar energetic particle events in solar cycle 24

With the twin STEREO spacecraft, significantly separated from L1-based satellites such as ACE, simultaneous multi-point measurements of solar energetic particle (SEP) events can be made for H-Fe ions from a few hundred keV/nuc to over 100 MeV/nuc and for electrons from tens to hundreds of keV. These observations allow studies of the longitudinal characteristics of SEP events to advance beyond statistical analysis of single point measurements. Although there have been few large SEP events thus far in cycle 24, there have been a number of smaller events that have been detected by more than one spacecraft. The composition of these SEP events, as indicated by the H/He and Fe/O abundance ratios, shows a dependence on longitudinal distance from the solar source in some events, at times with ratios varying by an order of magnitude. However, these variations are not organized by either the speed or width of the associated coronal mass ejections

Research of molybdenum carbide by raman spectroscopy

Molybdenum carbides crystalline phases are well-known polymorphs with useful technological applications including sensors, electronics, and catalysis. According to Mo-C known phase diagram, several polymorphs can exist under ambient conditions. One of the promising synthesis techniques is DC arc plasma. Nowadays, recent trends focus on the non-vacuum arcing procedure in ambient conditions which is possible due to carbon monoxide generation during the synthesis process. This phenomenon as a result of graphite electrodes usage can prevent the oxidation of the synthesis products. As an advantage of this method should be noted the possible cost benefits through the lower energy consumption, also the productivity can be increased by our approach. In this contribution, the arc plasma method is investigated for the crystalline molybdenum carbides synthesis. According to the X-ray diffraction results, the Mo2C and Mo1.2C0.8 crystalline phases were synthesized. Raman spectroscopy confirms the presence and high crystallinity of these MoC phases. This work shows an inexpensive and promising way to obtain molybdenum carbides with potential in optoelectronics, environmental, and energy applications

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) Overexpression and Juvenile Immune Activation Cause Sex-Specific Schizophrenia-Related Psychopathology in Rats

Synaptic pruning is a critical refinement step during neurodevelopment, and schizophrenia has been associated with overpruning of cortical dendritic spines. Both human studies and animal models implicate disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene as a strong susceptibility factor for schizophrenia. Accumulating evidence supports the involvement of DISC1 protein in the modulation of synaptic elimination during critical periods of neurodevelopment and of dopamine D2-receptor-mediated signaling during adulthood. In many species, synaptic pruning occurs during juvenile and adolescent periods and is mediated by microglia, which can be over-activated by an immune challenge, giving rise to overpruning. Therefore, we sought to investigate possible interactions between a transgenic DISC1 model (tgDISC1) and juvenile immune activation (JIA) by the bacterial cell wall endotoxin lipopolysaccharide on the induction of schizophrenia-related behavioral and neurochemical disruptions in adult female and male rats. We examined possible behavioral aberrations along three major symptom dimensions of schizophrenia including psychosis, social and emotional disruptions, and cognitive impairments. We detected significant gene–environment interactions in the amphetamine-induced locomotion in female animals and in the amphetamine-induced anxiety in male animals. Surprisingly, gene–environment interactions improved social memory in both male and female animals. JIA alone disrupted spatial memory and recognition memory, but only in male animals. DISC1 overexpression alone induced an improvement in sensorimotor gating, but only in female animals. Our neurochemical analyses detected sex- and manipulation-dependent changes in the postmortem monoamine content of animals. Taken together, we here report sex-specific effects of environment and genotype as well as their interaction on behavioral phenotypes and neurochemical profiles relevant for schizophrenia