Sincere Voting with Cardinal Preferences: Approval Voting

We discuss sincere voting when voters have cardinal preferences over alter- natives. We interpret sincerity as opposed to strategic voting, and thus define sincerity as the optimal behaviour when conditions to vote strategically vanish. When voting mechanisms allow for only one message type we show that this op- timal behaviour coincides with an intuitive and common definition of sincerity. For voting mechanisms allowing for multiple message types, such as approval vot- ing (AV), there exists no conclusive definition of sincerity in the literature. We show that for AV, voters' optimal strategy tends to one of the existent definitions of sincerity, consisting in voting for those alternatives that yield more than the average of cardinal utilities.sincere and strategic voting, approval voting

Optimal education and pensions in an endogenous growth model

It is well known that, in OLG economies with life-cycle saving and exogenous growth, competitive equilibria will in general fail to achieve optimality and may even be dynamically inefficient. This is a consequence of individuals accumulating amounts of physical capital that differ from the level which would maximize welfare along a balanced growth path (the Golden Rule). With human capital, a second potential source of departure from optimality arises, to wit: individuals may not choose the correct amount of education investment. However, the Golden Rule concept, widely used in exogenous growth frameworks, has not found its way into endogenous growth models. In this paper, we propose to recover the Golden Rule of physical and also human capital accumulation. The optimal policy to decentralize the Golden Rule balanced growth path when there are no constraints for individuals to finance their education investments is also characterized. It is shown that it involves positive pensions and negative education subsidies (i.e., taxes)endogenous growth, human capital, intergenerational transfers, education policy

On welfare criteria and optimality in an endogenous growth model

In this paper we explore the consequences for optimality of a social planner adopting two different welfare criteria. The framework of analysis is an OLG model with physical and human capital. We first show that, when the SWF is a discounted sum of individual utilities defined over consumption per unit of natural labour, the precise cardinalization of the individual utility function becomes crucial for the characterization of the social optimum. Also, decentralizing the social optimum requires an education subsidy. In contrast, when the SWF is a discounted sum of individual utilities defined over consumption per unit of efficient labour, the precise cardinalization of preferences becomes irrelevant. More strikingly, along the optimal growth path, education should be taxed.endogenous growth, human capital, intergenerational transfers, education policy

Sincerity in Simple and Complex Voting Mechanisms

We discuss sincere voting when voters have cardinal preferences over alternatives. We interpret sincerity as opposed to strategic voting, and thus define sincerity as the optimal behavior when conditions to vote strategically diminish. When voting mechanisms allow for only one message type (simple voting mechanisms) we show that eliminating some conditions for strategic voting, individuals' optimal behavior coincides with an intuitive and common definition of sincerity. In order to obtain a precise definition of sincerity in voting mechanisms allowing for multiple message types (complex voting mechanisms) further restrictions on strategic voting are required. We illustrate our methodological approach using approval voting (AV) as a prime example of complex voting mechanisms for which no conclusive definition of sincerity exists in the literature.sincere and strategic voting, cardinal utility, approval voting

First-principles study of lithium-doped carbon clathrates under pressure

We present a theoretical study on the behavior under pressure of the two hypothetical C$_{46}$ and Li$_8$C$_{46}$ type-I carbon clathrates in order to bring new informations concerning their synthesis. Using \textit{ab initio} calculations, we have explored the energetic and structural properties under pressure of these two carbon based cage-like materials. These low-density meta-stable phases show large negative pressure transitions compared to diamond which represent a serious obstacle for their synthesis. However, we evidence that a minimum energy barrier can be reached close to 40 GPa, suggesting that the synthesis of the Li-clathrate under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature may be possible. Electronic band structure with related density of states behavior under pressure as well as the dependence of the active Raman modes with pressure are also examined

Non-monotonic entanglement of physical EM field states in non-inertial frames

We develop a general technique to analyse the quantum effects of acceleration on realistic spatially-localised electromagnetic field states entangled in the polarization degree of freedom. We show that for this setting, quantum entanglement may build up as the acceleration increases, providing a clear signature of the quantum effects of relativistic acceleration.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Energy demand prediction for the implementation of an energy tariff emulator to trigger demand response in buildings

Buildings are key actors of the electrical gird. As such they have an important role to play in grid stabilization, especially in a context where renewable energies are mandated to become an increasingly important part of the energy mix. Demand response provides a mechanism to reduce or displace electrical demand to better match electrical production. Buildings can be a pool of flexibility for the grid to operate more efficiently. One of the ways to obtain flexibility from building managers and building users is the introduction of variable energy prices which evolve depending on the expected load and energy generation. In the proposed scenario, the wholesale energy price of electricity, a load prediction, and the elasticity of consumers are used by an energy tariff emulator to predict prices to trigger end user flexibility. In this paper, a cluster analysis to classify users is performed and an aggregated energy prediction is realised using Random Forest machine learning algorithm.This paper is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 768614. This paper reflects only the author´s views and neither the Agency nor the Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein

INNDAGA: an environmental data acquisition innovation platform

INNDAGA is a multipurpose platform for conducting oceanographic surveys in coastal areas developed on an 8.5 m long inflatable boat. This concept allows the vessel to operate safely and with great manoeuvring flexibility in areas where larger research vessels cannot access (rocky areas, port ...) at low operational cost. Is fully integrated in an information management system to providing efficiency and effectiveness of strategic decision making.Peer Reviewe

Electromotive force and internal resistance of an electron pump

We present a scattering theory of the electromotive force and internal resistance of an electron pump. The characterization of the device performance in terms of only two parameters requires the assumption of incoherent multiple scattering within the circuit and complete thermalization among electrons moving in a given direction. The electromotive force is shown to be of the order of the driving frequency in natural units. In an open setup, the electromotive force adds to the voltage difference between reservoirs to drive the current, both facing a contact resistance which is absent in the case of a closed circuit of uniform width