Cross Holding and Imperfect Product Markets

We consider a setting in which two firms first choose equity positions in each others stock (cross holdings) and then compete in an imperfect product market. We demonstrate that cross holdings lead to higher firm profits and higher consumer surplus when the competitors’ products are complements. We find that cross holdings lead to lower firm profits and higher consumer surplus when the products are substitutes. This finding is in contrast to the existing literature which establishes that cross holdings leads to higher firm profits and to lower consumer surplus. The contrasting results emerge because we solve for optimal cross holdings, whereas the existing literature considers exogenous cross holdings. In addition, allowing optimal cross holdings improves economic welfare. Furthermore, we demonstrate that cross holdings deter entry when the products are substitutes and facilitate entry when the products are complements

On the Formation and Structure of International Exchanges

We investigate the formation and structure of 248 financial exchanges throughout the world. First, we empirically analyze the determinants of exchange formation as well as the impact of exchange formation on the domestic country's economy. Second, conditional on formation, we use a probit model to relate the choice of trading mechanism to the characteristics of the economic environment in which the exchange exists. We find that the main determinants of exchange formation in a country are the degree of economic freedom, the growth of the economy, the availability of technology, and the legal system. In addition, we find that the impact of exchange formation on the macro economy is limited to a reduction in the growth of the monetary aggregates with no significant impact on productivity. Lastly, our results show that the choice of trading mechanism depends on the country's economic development, the degree of competition, and the extent of economic freedom

Anatomic brain asymmetry in vervet monkeys.

Asymmetry is a prominent feature of human brains with important functional consequences. Many asymmetric traits show population bias, but little is known about the genetic and environmental sources contributing to inter-individual variance. Anatomic asymmetry has been observed in Old World monkeys, but the evidence for the direction and extent of asymmetry is equivocal and only one study has estimated the genetic contributions to inter-individual variance. In this study we characterize a range of qualitative and quantitative asymmetry measures in structural brain MRIs acquired from an extended pedigree of Old World vervet monkeys (n = 357), and implement variance component methods to estimate the proportion of trait variance attributable to genetic and environmental sources. Four of six asymmetry measures show pedigree-level bias and one of the traits has a significant heritability estimate of about 30%. We also found that environmental variables more significantly influence the width of the right compared to the left prefrontal lobe

Hole doping in compositionally complex correlated oxide enables tunable exchange biasing

Magnetic interfaces and the phenomena arising from them drive both the design of modern spintronics and fundamental research. Recently, it was revealed that through designing magnetic frustration in configurationally complex entropy stabilized oxides, exchange bias can occur in structurally single crystal films. This eliminates the need for complex heterostructures and nanocomposites in the design and control of magnetic response phenomena. In this work, we demonstrate through hole doping of a high entropy perovskite oxide that tuning of magnetic responses can be achieved. With detailed magnetometry, we show magnetic coupling exhibiting a variety of magnetic responses including exchange bias and antiferromagnetic spin reversal in the entropy stabilized ABO3 perovskite oxide La1-xSrx(Cr0.2Mn0.2Fe0.2Co0.2Ni0.2)O3 family. We find that manipulation of the A-site charge state can be used to balance magnetic phase compositions and coupling responses. This allows for the creation of highly tunable exchange bias responses. In the low Sr doping regime, a spin frustrated region arising at the antiferromagnetic phase boundary is shown to directly couple to the antiferromagnetic moments of the film and emerges as the dominant mechanism, leading to a vertical shift of magnetization loops in response to field biasing. At higher concentrations, direct coupling of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic regions is observed. This tunability of magnetic coupling is discussed within the context of these three competing magnetic phases, revealing critical features in designing exchange bias through exploiting spin frustration and disorder in high entropy oxides

Vitamin D heritability and effect of pregnancy status in Vervet monkeys ( Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus ) under conditions of modest and high dietary supplementation: Vitamin D, Pregnancy, Diet Interaction in Vervets

The two objectives of the current study were to: 1) investigate the genetic contributions to variations in serum vitamin D concentrations under two dietary conditions (a standard monkey biscuit diet vs. a diet designed to model typical American consumption) and; 2) explore the interaction of vitamin D with pregnancy status using a cohort of pedigreed female vervet/African green monkeys

Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the CFRS and LDSS Redshift Surveys---III. Field elliptical galaxies at 0.2 < z < 1.0

Surface photometry has been performed on a sample of 46 field elliptical galaxies. These galaxies are described well by a deVaucouleurs R^{1/4} profile. The sample was selected from the combined Canada-France and LDSS redshift surveys and spans the range 0.20 < z < 1.00. The relationship between galaxy half-light radius and luminosity evolves such that a galaxy of a given size is more luminous by Delta M_B=-0.97 \pm 0.14 mag at z=0.92 and the mean rest-frame color shifts blueward by Delta (U-V) =-0.68 \pm 0.11 at z=0.92 relative to the local cluster relations. Approximately 1/3 of these elliptical galaxies exhibit [OII] 3727 emission lines with equivalent widths > 15 angstroms indicating ongoing star formation. Estimated star-formation rates imply that \le 5% of the stellar mass in the elliptical galaxy population has been formed since z=1. We see no evidence for a decline in the space density of early-type galaxies with look-back time. The statistics and a comparison with local luminosity functions are both consistent with the view that the population of massive early-type galaxies was largely in place by z~1. This implies that merging is not required since that time to produce the present-day space density of elliptical galaxies.Comment: 21 pages plus 8 figures plus 5 tables. Accepted by Astrophysical Journa