Effects of non-perturbatively improved dynamical fermions in UKQCD simulations

We present results for QCD with 2 degenerate flavours of quark using a non-perturbatively improved action on a lattice volume of $16^3\times32$ where the bare gauge coupling and bare dynamical quark mass have been chosen to maintain a fixed physical lattice spacing and volume (1.71 fm). By comparing measurements from these matched ensembles, including quenched ones, we find evidence of dynamical quark effects on the short distance static potential, the scalar glueball mass and the topological susceptibility. There is little evidence of effects on the light hadron spectrum over the range of quark masses studied ($m_{\pi}/m_{\rho}\geq 0.60$).Comment: Lattice 2000 (Spectrum and quark masses), 4 pages, 5 figure

Finite size effects and scaling in lattice CP(N-1)

We present model predictions for the spectrum of $CP^{N-1}$ in a periodic box and use them to interpret the strong finite size effects observed in lattice simulations at medium values of $N$. The asymptotic scaling behaviour of alternative lattice actions is discussed along with some aspects of multigrid algorithm efficiency.Comment: 6 pages of text plus 2 pages of figures, Liverpool Preprint LTH28

Recognition of non face objects, designed to require the same stimulus processing as that for faces, show only minimal effects of differences in contrast polarity or orientation direction

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Lawyers: Gatekeepers of the Sovereign Debt Market?

The claim that lawyers act as gatekeepers or certifiers in financial transactions is widely discussed in the legal literature. There has, however, been little empirical examination of the claim. We test the hypothesis that law firms have replaced investment banks as the gatekeepers of the market for sovereign debt. Our results suggest that hiring outside law firms sends a negative signal to the market regarding the pending issuance; a finding that is inconsistent with the thesis that outside law firms primarily play a certification role in the sovereign debt market

Economic Impacts of Planned Transportation Investments in New Jersey

This report demonstrates that New Jersey's plans to invest in transportation infrastructure over the next decade will result in nearly 27,000 full-time jobs per year. It also shows that the state's transportation investments will generate economic impacts in the form of employment, income, gross domestic product, and state and local tax revenues. The report is the result of a joint study conducted by the Heldrich Center and the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

A Sovereign’s Cost of Capital: Go Foreign or Stay Local

A critical question faced by any sovereign seeking to raise funds in the bond market is whether to issue the debt under foreign or local parameters. This choice determines other key characteristics of any bond issue such as which banks, lawyers, and investors will be involved. Most important though, this decision involves a tradeoff between the sovereign retaining discretion in managing the issue and relinquishing control of the issue to third parties to prevent the sovereign from expropriating wealth from bondholders in the future. Based on a sample of 17,349 issuances by 117 sovereigns between 1990 and 2015, we investigate this question in the context of the initial pricing of government bonds. We examine the three key factors that bear on this decision; governing law, currency, and exchange listing. We find that highly-rated sovereigns, with strong domestic institutions that protect investors, almost always issue debt under domestic parameters. In contrast, low-rated sovereigns with weak domestic institutions tend to issue debt under foreign parameters. These findings suggest that low-quality sovereigns are forced to issue debt under foreign parameters to assure investors that the sovereign will not act opportunistically to expropriate their wealth once the debt is issued. Put differently, low-quality sovereigns that issue debt under domestic parameters face a higher cost of capital