Essays on Uncertainty in Public Economics and Cooperative Bargaining

This dissertation consists of two parts. The theme connecting the two parts is the role of uncertainty. The first part focuses on the role of uncertainty in cooperative bargaining and public decision making. I provide an axiomatic characterization of the normalized utilitarian solution to bargaining problems involving uncertainty. In addition to three basic axioms that are common in the bargaining literature, I propose the axiom of weak linearity to characterize the solution. In the second part I study uncertainty in non-cooperative games by designing a principal agent model of public bailouts. The first essay in this part sets up the model and shows that the moral hazard problem, namely the Samaritan\u27s dilemma, exists without an altruistic principal. The second essay in this part builds upon the previous essay and focuses on the informational elements in a bailout game. Mainly, I show the existence of a separating equilibrium, where public bailouts serve as a mechanism to reveal essential information to outsiders and in which the good-type agents can benefit from rejecting a bailout offer

Governance, business environment and foreign direct investments

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the quality of governance, the business environment and foreign direct investments. Looking at 49 countries in Africa, we present evidence supporting the claim that the quality of governance does affect the stability of policies and the quality of the business environment. However, our data analysis also reveals that neither the quality of governance nor the quality of the business environment have any impact, at least in Sub-Saharan Africa on the level of FDI

Governance, business environment and foreign direct investments

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the quality of governance, the business environment and foreign direct investments. Looking at 49 countries in Africa, we present evidence supporting the claim that the quality of governance does affect the stability of policies and the quality of the business environment. However, our data analysis also reveals that neither the quality of governance nor the quality of the business environment have any impact, at least in Sub-Saharan Africa on the level of FDI

Preserving prosumer privacy in a district level smart grid

This study presents the anonymization of consumer data in a district-level smart grid using the k-anonymity approach. The data utilized in this study covers the demographic information and associated energy consumption of consumers. The anonymization process is implemented at the prosumer level, considering their importance in sharing flexibility and distributed generation at the low voltage grid, and the fact that they need to interact with each other and the grid while keeping their data private. The proposed approach is tested under three anonymization scenarios: prosecutor, journalist, and marketer. The smart grid data are investigated mostly under the prosecutor scenario with three risk levels: lowest, medium and highest. The results of the k-anonymity approach are compared to k-map and k-map + k-anonymity. No difference has been found between the three investigated approaches for the selected data set. Since, the aim of the k-anonymity is to not transform the information about any individual record among those k-1 individuals, the recorded type and the number of attributes play a key role in the anonymization process. One of the risks is the using continuous attributes in the anonymization process which may cause the information lose in the anonymization process such as near real-time energy consumptions. Hence we have focused on to anonymization of the consumers' demographic information, rather than their energy consumption

Effects of Electrical Stimulation on Meat Quality of Lamb and Goat Meat

Effect of various voltage of electrical stimulation (ES) on meat quality of lamb and goat was investigated by using a total of 36 animals at 3–5 years old. Constant 50 Hz frequency and 50, 100, and 250 V, 90 sec of ES were administered to 1/2 carcasses and were examined according their textural, physicochemical, and sensorial characteristics. ES decreased the pH values of lamb and goat meat, and accelerated the rigor mortis (P < 0.05). Additionally, ES enhanced the water activity, water-holding capacity, and drip loss of both animals. Shear force varied between lamb and goat meat, and tenderness was improved depending on voltage range used (P < 0.001). ES caused difference in instrumental colour (CIE L∗, a∗, b∗) values of lamb and goat meat compared with the control groups (P < 0.05) during aging period at 4°C. Sensorial characteristics were also improved with various levels of ES treatments. In conclusion, ES had positive effects on meat quality of lamb and goat, in contrast to undesirable consumer preferences

Display of factor - Utilization in Central Asia

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Impact of dyslipidemia on cardiovascular risk stratification of hypertensive patients and association of lipid profile with other cardiovascular risk factors: results from the ICEBERG study

Giray Kabakci1, Nevres Koylan2, Baris Ilerigelen3, Omer Kozan4, Kemalettin Buyukozturk2 on behalf of the ICEBERG Investigators1Hacettepe University, Hacettepe School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Ankara, Turkey; 2Istanbul University, Istanbul School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Istanbul, Turkey; 3Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Istanbul, Turkey; 4Dokuz Eylul University, Dokuz Eylul School of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Izmir, TurkeyBackground: Hypertension, dyslipidemia, and other cardiovascular risk factors are linked epidemiologically, clinically, and metabolically. Intensive/Initial Cardiovascular Examination regarding Blood Pressure levels, Evaluation of Risk Groups (ICEBERG) study focuses on the effect of dyslipidemia on cardiovascular risk evaluation and association of lipid profile with other risk factors.Patients and methods: The ICEBERG study consisted of two sub-protocols: ICEBERG-1, conducted at 20 university hospitals (Referral Group) and ICEBERG-2, conducted at 197 primary healthcare centers (Primary Care Group). Sub-protocol had two patient profiles: patients previously diagnosed with essential hypertension and under medical treatment (Treated Group) and patients with systolic blood pressure &amp;ge;130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure &amp;ge;85 mmHg, with no antihypertensive treatment for at least 3 months before inclusion (Untreated Group). Dyslipidemia was evaluated and cardiovascular risk stratification was performed according to ESC/ESH guidelines.Results: More than half of the treated and untreated subjects were classified into high or very high cardiovascular risk groups. In a total of 1817 patients, the percentage of patients in &amp;ldquo;high&amp;rdquo; plus &amp;ldquo;very high&amp;rdquo; added risk groups increased to 55.2% in Treated Referral Group (p &amp;lt; 0.001), to 62.6% in Untreated Referral Group (p = 0.25) and to 60.7% in Untreated Primary Care Group (p &amp;lt; 0.001), by re-evaluation of patients&amp;rsquo; lipid values.Conclusions: Serum lipid levels are useful in stratifying hypertensive patients into cardiovascular risk groups more accurately, for appropriate antihypertensive treatment.Keywords: hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular diseas

New Estimates of Factor Income Shares in Central Asian Economies

This paper illustrates a simple method to derive the income accounts in the context of limited macroeconomic data. The method is relevant for several developing countries where the statements on income are clearly absent and the national accounts are confined to statements on expenditure and/or value added. Furthermore, the method is illustrated for four Central Asian economies, namely Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. A Cobb-Douglas factor utilisation function is then used to estimate factor income shares and the relative contributions of factors to economic growth. The analysis reveals limited contribution of labour to economic growth in these economies. This limitation appears to be strongest in the resource dependent economies of Kazakhstan and Mongolia

Determination of Mould and Aflatoxin Contamination in Tarhana, a Turkish Fermented Food

Tarhana is a popular traditional Turkish cereal-based fermented food product mainly produced at home or at home-scale level. Some certain mould species can grow even at low moisture and pH values and produce aflatoxins in food. This study was conducted to determine aflatoksin levels in tarhana. For this purpose, a total of 138 tarhana powder samples were collected from bazaars in Istanbul and analyzed for aflatoxins, mould contamination, and some physco-chemical parameters. As a result, 32 out of 138 tarhana samples (23.2%) were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins in the range of 0.7–16.8 μg/kg, whereas 29 samples contained Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) ranging from 0.2–13.2 μg/kg. All samples (100%) contaminated with moulds in the range of 1.4 × 101 –5.8 × 107cfu/g. The average pH, moisture and aw results were detected as 3.82, 12.71%, and 0.695, respectively

Effects of High-Oxygen Modified Atmosphere Packaging on the Microbiological Quality and Shelf Life of Tekirdag Kofte: A Turkish Type Meatball

Effects of different concentrations of O-2/CO2/N-2 in modified atmosphere packaging on the microbiological quality and shelf-life of Tekirdag kofte (a Turkish type meatball) was investigated. For this purpose, meatballs were separately packaged under aerobic and various gas mixture conditions of 80:20:0, 60:20:20, 70:30:0 and 60:40:0/O-2:CO2:N-2. Packages were stored at refrigerator temperature (4 +/- 1 degrees C) for 12 days and examined microbiologically comparing with pH and oxidative changes during storage. As a result, the quality and shelf-life of meatballs under various gas compositions were improved; microbial growth was delayed due to increasing level of CO2 usage and shelf-life was increased by up to 8 days