9,213 research outputs found
Auditing and property rights
This is the official published version. Copyright @ 2004 RANDThird-party audit provides incentives to an agent whose actions affect the value of an asset. When audit intensity and outcome are unverifiable, we show that with interim-participation constraints the optimal mechanism may use only the auditor's report, disregarding the agent's information.
Furthermore, the auditor obtains the asset and the agent a monetary compensation, when a
high asset value is reported. This suggests regulating renewable resources or utility networks by giving entrants the option to buy the right to use the asset at a predetermined price, and financially
rewarding incumbents for good performance.The second author used financial support of the Communaute francaise de Belgique (projet ARC 98/03-221) and EU TMR Network contract no. FMRX-CT98-0203
Stationary analysis of a single queue with remaining service time dependent arrivals
We study a generalization of the system (denoted by ) with
independent and identically distributed (iid) service times and with an arrival
process whose arrival rate depends on the remaining service
time of the current customer being served. We derive a natural stability
condition and provide a stationary analysis under it both at service completion
times (of the queue length process) and in continuous time (of the queue length
and the residual service time). In particular, we show that the stationary
measure of queue length at service completion times is equal to that of a
corresponding system. For we show that the continuous time
stationary measure of the system is linked to the system via a
time change. As opposed to the queue, the stationary measure of queue
length of the system at service completions differs from its marginal
distribution under the continuous time stationary measure. Thus, in general,
arrivals of the system do not see time averages. We derive formulas
for the average queue length, probability of an empty system and average
waiting time under the continuous time stationary measure. We provide examples
showing the effect of changing the reshaping function on the average waiting
time.Comment: 31 pages, 3 Figure
Intergenerational and economic impacts of a pension reserve fund : the French case.
Retirement; Public Policy; pension reform;
Mergers in Emerging Markets with Network Externalities: The Case of Telecoms
This paper develops a unifying framework to understand competition issues in networkindustries. It focuses on the telecom(munication) industry and takes two specific effectsof this industry into account. First, the telecom industry is in continuous evolution andalliances affect not only the current market power of the firms but also the evolution ofthe industry. Second, the production of services in the industry is evolving towards theprovision of integrated services in a "system" that benefits from strong "networkexternalities". The analysis suggests that the antitrust authorities should capture as wellsuch effects as the magnitude of the installed bases, the compatibility of the allianceâssystem with other systems, the switching costs for customers and application writers,and the "credibility" of the alliance to offer the service. The developed frameworkbuilds on the existing models of networks and combines the different network effects. The relevance of the framework is shown for two important merger cases (WorldCom-MCI and MSG cases), involving respectively an existing market and an emerging one. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - (UnternehmenszusammenschlĂŒsse in entstehenden MĂ€rkten mit NetzexternalitĂ€ten: Das Beispiel der Telekommunikationsindustrie) In diesem Beitrag wird ein einheitlicher Bezugsrahmen zur Analyse des Wettbewerbs in Netzwerkindustrien entwickelt. Er zielt auf die Analyse der Telekommunikationsindustrie ab und berĂŒcksichtigt dabei spezielle Effekte dieser Industrie. Erstens ist die Telekommunikationsindustrie durch eine stetige Evolution gekennzeichnet und Allianzen zwischen den Unternehmen beeinflussen nicht nur die aktuelle Marktmacht der Unternehmen, sondern auch die Entwicklung der Industrie. Zweitens entwickelt sich die Produktion der Dienste in dieser Industrie immer stĂ€rker in Richtung auf das Angebot integrierter Dienste (Systemangebote), die Vorteile aus NetzexternalitĂ€ten nutzen. Die Analyse zeigt auch, daĂ die Wettbewerbsbehörden ebenfalls Merkmale wie die Anzahl der verfĂŒgbaren AnschlĂŒsse, die KompatibilitĂ€t des Systems der Allianz mit anderen Systemen, die Wechselkosten der Kunden sowie die GlaubwĂŒrdigkeit der DienstleistungsqualitĂ€t der Allianz berĂŒcksichtigen sollten. Der entwickelte Bezugsrahmen stĂŒtzt sich auf die vorhandenen Netzmodelle und kombiniert die unterschiedlichen Netzeffekte und -merkmale. Die Bedeutung des Ansatzes wird am Beispiel von zwei wichtigen FusionsfĂ€llen aufgezeigt (WorldCom-MCI und MSG), bei denen es sich jeweils um einen existierenden und einen entstehenden Markt handelt.
Construction and Impact of a Buffer Fund within the French PAYG Pension Scheme in a Demo-Economic Model
This paper provides some results from a model built in order to study the linked impacts of demography and economy on theFrench pension scheme. The demo-economic model which is used is a neo-cambridgian model with two types of agents in aclosed economy. Since it includes a very thin description of the French pension scheme, one of its main advantage is its lightness while its main originality is to permit a macroeconomic linkage whether with a endogenous growth function or with a exogenous one.
Low-dimensional modelling of flame dynamics in heated microchannels
This paper presents simulations of stoichiometric methane/air premixed flames
into a microchannel at atmospheric pressure. These simulations result from
numerical resolutions of reduced-order models. Indeed, combustion control into
microchannels would be allowed by fast simulations that in turn enable
real-time adjustments of the device's parameters. Former experimental studies
reported the occurrence of a Flame Repetitive Extinction/Ignition (FREI)
phenomenon provided that a temperature gradient is sustained at the channel's
walls. Conducting unsteady one-dimensional simulations including complex
chemistry, a late numerical study tried to explain the occurrence of this
phenomenon. The present study therefore explores low-dimensional models that
potentially reproduce the FREI phenomenon. Provided a calibration of some
empirical constants, an unsteady two-dimensional model including one-step
chemical reaction is shown to decently reproduce the FREI regime all along the
range of mixture flow rates investigated by the experimental studies.
Complementing the aforementioned numerical study, furthermore, when the
channel's diameter is varied, the two-dimensional model unveils an unstable
regime that a one-dimensional model cannot capture. As two-dimensional
hydrodynamics appears to play a key role into the flame's dynamics, therefore
the heat rate released by the microcombustor, one-dimensional models are not
believed to deliver an adequate strategy of combustion control into such
microchannels.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figure
INTERREGIONAL R&D SPILLOVERS IN EUROPE
Our paper identifies and estimates the effects of R&D spillovers on total factor productivity with consideration of spatial effects. We first run our estimations on the Coe and Helpman (1995) model introducing spatial correlation. The results show positive R&D spillover effects on TFP and high spatial dependency among countries. We then run the same estimations on regional data. Due to a lack of information about trade between regions, we construct our trade matrix using regional transport information. We obtain a trade matrix for 57 European regions. Estimation results confirm spatial dependency and positive spillovers effects.PRODUCTIVITY, PANEL, COINTEGRATION, SPATIAL MODEL, EUROPEAN REGIONS
Competing for Ownership
We develop a tractable model of the allocation of ownership and control in firms in competitive markets that permits study of how the scarcity of assets in the market translates into control allocations inside the organization. The model identifies a price-like mechanism whereby local liquidity or productivity shocks propagate and lead to widespread organizational restructuring. Firms will be more integrated when the terms of trade are more favorable to the short side of the market, when liquidity is unequally distributed among existing firms and following a uniform increase in productivity. Shocks to the first two moments of the liquidity distribution have multiplier effects on the corresponding moments of the distribution of ownership.
Neighborhood Effects in Spatial Housing Value Models The Case of the Metropolitan Area of Paris (1999).
In hedonic housing models, the spatial dimension of housing values are traditionally processed by the impact of neighborhood variables and accessibility variables. In this paper we show that spatial effects might remain once neighborhood effects and accessibility have been controlled for. We notably stress on three sides of neighborhood effects: social capital, social status and social externalities and consider the accessibility to the primary economic center as describing the urban spatial trend. Using spatial econometrics specifications of the hedonic equation, we estimate whether spatial effects impact the housing values. Our empirical case concerns the Metropolitan Area (MA) of Paris in France which is divided in 2 636 neighborhood areas. We estimate the housing price distribution from a sample of 21,000 apartments sold in 1999. Our empirical results highlight the lumpy distribution of unit price along the general decreasing spatial trend from the Central Business District once neighborhood effects have been introduced. More precisely, a spatial error model is estimated revealing a positive and significance spatial effects across housing values which extend beyond their neighborhood area. Social capital, social status and social externalities play local role and may positively or negatively impact the housing prices. We showed a positive impact of diversified building patterns but a negative impact of social mixity which is somewhat conflictual but which is in fact in line with many current questions about social segregation and spatial segregation in urban areas.Hedonic model, housing value, neighborhood effects, spatial econometrics
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