Do soccer players play the mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium?

Mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium (MSNE) is a commonly-used solution concept in game-theoretic models in various fields in economics, management, and other disciplines, but the experimental results whether the MSNE predicts well actual play in games is mixed. Consequently, evidence for naturally-occurring games in which the MSNE predicts the outcome well is of great importance, as it can justify the vast use of MSNE in models. The game between the kicker and goalkeeper in soccer penalty kicks is a real-world game that can be used to examine the application of the MSNE concept or its accuracy because payoffs are a common knowledge, the players have huge incentives to play correctly, the game is simple enough to analyze, its Nash equilibrium is in mixed strategies, and players' actions can be observed. We collected and analyzed data on the direction of kicks and jumps in penalty kicks in various top leagues and tournaments. Our analysis suggests that the MSNE predictions are the closest to the actual sample data, even though some other prediction methods use information on the marginal distribution of kicks or jumps whereas the MSNE does not.Soccer; Football; MSNE; Mixed-strategies; Mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium; Sports; Penalty kicks

Accounting for Changes in Labor Force Participation of Married Women: The Case of the U.S. since 1959

Using a model of family decision-making with home production and individual heterogeneity, we quantitatively investigate the role of changes in several aspects of the joint earnings distribution of husbands and wives (gender earnings gap, gender-specific inequality and assortativeness of matching) and the decline in prices of home appliances in accounting for the dramatic rise in labor force participation of married women since 1959. The implications of the factors examined are tested against changes in participation for disaggregated groups of couples and leisure trends of married individuals, documented from the U.S. population census and time-use survey data.labor force participation, married couples, family time allocation, gender earnings gap, home production

Supplemental Notes to "Demographic transition and industrial revolution: A macroeconomic investigation"

These notes cover: Derivation of the objective function of the Dynastic Problem, Characterization of the competitive equilibrium, Sequential Problem (SP) whose solution corresponds to the competitive equilibrium allocation, Limiting behavior of the equilibrium time paths, Calibration as a solution to the system of linear equations, Solution method, Solving our model with the Barro and Becker parental utility, Effects of TFP and Labor Supply Changes on Structural Change.

Exciton Liquid in Coupled Quantum Wells

Excitons in semiconductors may form correlated phases at low temperatures. We report the observation of an exciton liquid in GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum wells. Above a critical density and below a critical temperature the photogenerated electrons and holes separate into two phases, an electron-hole plasma and an exciton liquid, with a clear sharp boundary between them. The two phases are characterized by distinct photoluminescence spectra and by different electrical conductance. The liquid phase is formed by the repulsive interaction between the dipolar excitons, and exhibits a short range order, which is manifested in the photoluminescence lineshape

A nomogram to determine required seed air kerma strength in planar 131 Cesium permanent seed implant brachytherapy

Purpose: Intraoperatively implanted Cesium-131 ( 131 Cs) permanent seed brachytherapy is used to deliver highly localized re-irradiation in recurrent head and neck cancers. A single planar implant of uniform air kerma strength (AKS) seeds and 10 mm seed-to-seed spacing is used to deliver the prescribed dose to a point 5 mm or 10 mm perpendicular to the center of the implant plane. Nomogram tables to quickly determine the required AKS for rectangular and irregularly shaped implants were created and dosimetrically verified. By eliminating the need for a full treatment planning system plan, nomogram tables allow for fast dose calculation for intraoperative re-planning and for a second check method. Material and methods: TG-43U1 recommended parameters were used to create a point-source model in MATLAB. The dose delivered to the prescription point from a single 1 U seed at each possible location in the implant plane was calculated. Implant tables were verified using an independent seed model in MIM Symphony LDR™. Implant tables were used to retrospectively determine seed AKS for previous cases: three rectangular and three irregular. Results: For rectangular implants, the percent difference between required seed AKS calculated using MATLAB and MIM was at most 0.6%. For irregular implants, the percent difference between MATLAB and MIM calculations for individual seed locations was within 1.5% with outliers of less than 3.1% at two distal locations (10.6 cm and 8.8 cm), which have minimal dose contribution to the prescription point. The retrospectively determined AKS for patient implants using nomogram tables agreed with previous calculations within 5% for all six cases. Conclusions: Nomogram tables were created to determine required AKS per seed for planar uniform AKS 131 Cs implants. Comparison with the treatment planning system confirms dosimetric accuracy that is acceptable for use as a second check or for dose calculation in cases of intraoperative re-planning