A supply side story for a threshold model: Endogenous growth of the free and open source community

The study of social institutions producing and disseminating knowledge has mainly concentrated on two main concepts: Science and Technology. This paper examines a recent institutional form that seems not to resemble either of the other two; that is, knowledge-intensive communities, where individuals freely exchange knowledge through information and communication technology. Using free and open source software as an example, we develop a model where this phenomenon is confronted with Technology with respect to its ability to attract researchers.

Strategic Accessibility Competition

We analyze the effect of competition in market-accessibility enhancement among quality-differentiated firms. Firms are located in regions with different ex-ante transport costs to reach the final market. We characterize the equilibrium of the two-stage game in which firms first invest to improve market accessibility and then compete in prices. Efforts in accessibility improvement crucially depend on the interplay between the willingness to pay for the quality premium of the median consumer and the ex-ante difference in accessibility between regions. From the social standpoint, all the accessibility investment should be carried out by the high-quality firm. Finally quality choice is endogenized.

Booking in the Rain. Testing the Impact of Public Information on Prices

Weather forecasts are a rare example of public information which is, at the same time, relevant for agents' decisions and entirely exogenous for both sides of the (tourism) market. We develop a model where signals of good weather have a positive impact on accommodation prices, the effect being stronger the higher the accuracy of the forecast and the ex-ante uncertainty in weather conditions. Using data from a sea and sun destination, we estimate an augmented hedonic price model and find that results robustly support the theory. We also find that the response of prices to weather forecasts is larger for upper-scale hotels than for low-and mid-scale hotels, a result we link to the superior pricing capability of the former

Моделі термомеханіки багатокомпонентних деформівних твердих тіл

Зроблено короткий огляд і проаналізовано особливості теорій, що описують термомеханічну поведінку багатокомпонентних деформівних твердих тіл, зокрема, гомогенних твердих сумішей. Окремо виділено моделі для дослідження взаємозв’язаних механічних, теплових, дифузійних та електромагнітних процесів у тілах різної електропровідності та здатності до поляризації й намагнічення.A brief review and analysis of theories that describe the thermomechanical behavior of multicomponent deformable solids, in particular of homogeneous hard mixtures, have been presented. Also, the models for investigation of coupled electromagnetic, mechanical, thermal and diffusive processes in solids of various electric conductivity as well as abilities to polarization and magnetization are reviewed.Сделан краткий обзор и проанализированы особенности теорий, описывающих термомеханическое поведение многокомпонентных деформируемых твердых тел, в частности, гомогенных твердых смесей. Отдельно выделены модели для исследования механических, тепловых и диффузионных процессов во взаимосвязи с электромагнитными в поляризирующихся и намагничивающихся электропроводных телах

Tectonic setting of the kenya rift in the nakuru area, based on geophysical prospecting

In this paper, we present results of tectonic and geophysical investigations in the Kenya Rift valley, in the Nakuru area. We compiled a detailed geological map of the area based on published earlier works, well data and satellite imagery. The map was then integrated with original fieldwork and cross sections were constructed. In key areas, we then performed geophysical survey using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Hybrid Source AudioMagnetoTelluric (HSAMT), and single station passive seismic measurements (HVSR). In the study area, a volcano-sedimentary succession of the Neogene-Quaternary age characterized by basalts, trachytes, pyroclastic rocks, and tephra with intercalated lacustrine and fluvial deposits crops out. Faulting linked with rift development is evident and occurs throughout the area crosscutting all rock units. We show a rotation of the extension in this portion of the Kenya rift with the NE-SW extension direction of a Neogene-Middle Pleistocene age, followed by the E-Wextension direction of anUpper Pleistocene-Present age. Geophysical investigations allowed to outline main lithostratigraphic units and tectonic features at depth and were also useful to infer main cataclasites and fractured rock bodies, the primary paths for water flow in rocks. These investigations are integrated in a larger EU H2020 Programme aimed to produce a geological and hydrogeological model of the area to develop a sustainable water management system

Competition within and between tourist destinations

The aim of this chapter is to analyze theoretically two levels of competition that are relevant in tourism markets, i.e. between and within tourist destinations. In particular, the focus of this chapter lies in the relationship between the degree of (exogenous) differentiation between destinations and the (endogenous) degree of competition within the destination. Our main result is that an increase in the intensity of competition between destinations induces destination managers to increase competition within each destination. When the intensity of competition between destinations increases, the incentives to increase the intensity of competition within the destination are higher, since the subsequent increase in price leads to a larger gain in market shares. However, the strategy is followed by both destinations, with the consequence that firm profits are dispersed in a \u201cprisoner\u2019s dilemma\u201d scenario, reinforcing the negative effect of the increase in between destinations competition

Competizione di mercato e reti di Ricerca e Sviluppo

Questo lavoro sviluppa un modello di formazione delle reti di Ricerca e Sviluppo in un oligopolio a tre imprese con prodotti orizzontalmente differenziati, estendendo la precedente analisi di Goyal e Moraga-Gonz\ue0lez (2001). Le imprese sono rivali sul mercato del prodotto, dove la competizione \ue8 \ue0 la Cournot. Prima di competere, le imprese possono condividere, su base bilaterale, investimenti in R&S che riducono i costi di produzione. Questo \ue8 ci\uf2 che definisce la cooperazione nel modello. Il risultato principale \ue8 che l\u2019intensit\ue0 della competizione influenza la stabilit\ue0 e l\u2019efficienza sociale delle diverse strutture reticolari. La rete completa, nella quale esiste una relazione di cooperazione fra tutte le imprese, \ue8 stabile per un basso grado di differenziazione orizzontale del prodotto; la rete parzialmente connessa, in cui vi \ue8 un solo legame fra due imprese, \ue8 stabile per un alto grado di differenziazione del prodotto; nessuna struttura \ue8 stabile per gradi intermedi di differenziazione. Le reti stabili sono anche ottimali dal punto di vista del benessere sociale, mentre quando nessuna rete \ue8 stabile la rete che massimizza il benessere sociale dipende crucialmente dal grado di differenziazione dei prodotti