Reference cross section measurements with ALICE in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at LHC

Cross sections of reference trigger processes were obtained based on beam property measurements in dedicated luminosity calibration experiments (van der Meer scans). These cross-sections are essential for absolute cross section determinations of physics processes. The reference cross sections are presented for pp collisions at two center of mass energies; 2.76 TeV and 7 TeV, and for Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV together with a discussion of the systematic uncertainty originating from beam intensity and rate measurement uncertainties.Comment: An updated version of proceedings contribution for workshop "LHC Lumi Days 2012", 29 Feb. (2012) at CERN. 11 pages, 8 figure

The emergence of pan-Asian brands: regional strategies of Japanese cosmetic brands

In this article, I analyse the regional strategy of luxury Japanese cosmetics brands to investigate the claim of the Japanisation of Asia. I begin by examining the emergence of pan-Asian advertising for Japanese cosmetic brands, then make the case for an emphasis on branding, as distinct from advertising, which changes the way in which we understand this regional phenomenon. I explore the different ways in which a brand engages consumers, and argue for a sober assessment of the relative importance of advertising (and the salience of image of country of origin) in the overall branding process. I then follow the regional circulation of Japanese brands and media contents, neither of which can any longer be understood coherently in terms of a national framework such as Japanisation. I argue that the globalisation of advertising in Asia is a complex process shaped by large multinational corporations and a disjunctive flow of media contents, and that a more pronounced focus on brands will help to make sense of this process

Agglomeration under Forward-Looking Expectations: Potentials and Global Stability

This paper considers a class of migration dynamics with forward-looking agents in a multi-country solvable variant of the core-periphery model of Krugman (Journal of Political Economy 99 (1991)). We find that, under a symmetric externality assumption, our static model admits a potential function, which allows us to identify a stationary state that is uniquely absorbing and globally accessible under the perfect foresight dynamics whenever the degree of friction in relocation decisions is sufficiently small. In particular, when trade barriers are low enough, full agglomeration in the country with the highest barrier is the unique stable state for small frictions. New aspects in trade and tax policy that arise due to forward-looking behavior are discussed.economic geography; agglomeration; perfect foresight dynamics; history versus expectations; stability; potential game; equilibrium selection

Measuring Cost of Children Using Equivalence Scale on Japanese Panel Data

In this paper, the cost of child rearing is estimated in order to examine the hypothesis that the recent fertility decline in Japan has been caused by increases in the cost of child rearing. Although there are various ways to estimate the cost of children, the research uses an equivalence scale. The results of the traditional Rothbarth estimation showed that the cost of child raising in Japan is not very high. However, the results of the equivalence scale estimation using "satisfaction for the income" as the utility measure showed that the cost of child raising is much higher than calculated in the Rothbarth model. The latter subjective scale approach is now said to have more advantages. Thus, the cost of child raising in Japan is much higher than was believed to be the case, and this could be one of the reasons for the decline in the fertility rate in Japan.