Darwinian Adverse Selection

We develop a model to study the role of rationality in economics and biology. The model's agents differ continuously in their ability to make rational choices. The agents' objective is to ensure their individual survival over time or, equivalently, to maximize profits. In equilibrium, however, rational agents who maximize their objective survival probability are, individually and collectively, eliminated by the forces of competition. Instead of rationality, there emerges a unique distribution of irrational players who are individually not fit for the struggle of survival. The selection of irrational players over rational ones relies on the fact that all rational players coordinate on the same optimal action, which leaves them collectively undiversified and thus vulnerable to aggregate risks.Comment: Maximization, Rationality, Economics, Biology, Group Selectio

The Optimum Growth Rate for Population Reconsidered

This article gives exact general conditions for the existence of an interior optimum growth rate for population in the neoclassical two-generations-overlapping model. In an economy where high (low) growth rates of population lead to a growth path which is efficient (inefficient) there always exists an interior optimum growth rate for population. In all other cases there exists no interior optimum. The Serendipity Theorem, however, does in general not hold in an economy with government debt. Moreover, the growth rate for population which leads an economy with debt to a golden rule allocation can never be optimal.

Interfacial tension in water at solid surfaces

A model for the formation of cavitation nuclei in liquids has recently been presented with basis in interfacial liquid tension at non-planar solid surfaces of concave form. In the present paper investigations of water-solid interfaces by atomic force microscopy are reported to illuminate experimentally effects of interfacial liquid tension. The results support that such tension occurs and that voids develop at solid-liquid interfaces.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages including 8 figure

Past glacier (Würmian) ice thicknesses in the Karakoram and on the Deosai Plateau in the catchment area of the Indus river

Es werden geomorphologische und quartärgeologische Gelände- und Labordaten und deren Auswertung zur maximalen würmzeitlichen (ca. 60-18 ka) Vergletscherung von Zentral- und Süd-Karakorum sowie auf dem Deosai Plateau vorgelegt. Sie zeigen, dass der Zentral-Karakorum und seine Südabdachung im Zeitraum zwischen etwa 60 und 20 ka von einem zusammenhängenden, ca. 125 000 km² großen Eisstromnetz mit einer Mächtigkeit von 2400-2900 m bedeckt gewesen sind. Dieses Eisstromnetz ist zum Indus-Gletscher zusammengeflossen. Das Zungenende des Indus- Gletschers reichte bis auf 850-800 m ü. M. hinab. Die Oberfläche des Indus-Eistromnetzes lag in seinem Zentrum bei gut 6000 m ü. M.researc

Manager Tenure - Real Estate Mutual Fund (REMF) Versus Equity Mutual Fund Performance

Historically, mixed evidence has been reported suggesting that mutual fund managers exhibit superior returns based on the length of their tenure. Further, the result of tenure performance for real estate mutual fund managers has been reported with mixed results. Therefore, it is the purpose of this research to consider the effect of management tenure on the overall performance of various classes of equity mutual funds, including those funds that invest exclusively in real estate assets. These results are studied over periods of three, five, and ten-year manager tenure to determine if there is significantly better performance among various tenure groups