Pension reform in small developing countries

The authors provide a framework in which small countries can assess the proper role for the state and the private sector in pension policy. Based on industrial organization theory and pension economics, this framework draws on experience in small countries. The authors identify how optimal pension policies can change in small countries (those with fewer than 1 million active contributors to pension funds), explore optimal pension reform design for small countries, and incorporate other stylized assumptions about small countries into the discussion: the relatively greater international mobility of labor and capital, the greater scarcity of human capital specialized in financial supervision and tax administration, fewer independent interests, and higher political volatility and risk over long time horizons. They conclude that: 1) For small countries the Chilean model should be modified to include greater reliance on international trade in financial services -- especially services that benefit from economies of scale and scope, such as collections, account processing, and benefit payments. Such an approach would require a greater harmonization of accounting and regulatory standards between small developing countries and the countries from which financial services are imported. 2) The unbundling of pension services is more advantageous in small than in large countries. 3) The collection of contributions and the payment of benefits (which are subject to substantial economies of scale for small countries) should be mandatorily unbundled from other pension services. 4) Those services should be provided separately to ensure competition in the selection of trustees and competitive investment management services. This type of pension system design may be preferable to having a foreign firm provide all pension services. 5) When other assumptions (such as susceptibility to large gross migration flows) are combined with the assumption of a small-country base, mandatory pension systems or fiscal incentives are found to be less effective in small than in large countries. Large countries have broader contribution bases and much smaller gross migration flows, making them demographically more stable. 6) The relatively greater international migration in small countries makes full funding of pension systems even more important in small than in large countries.Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Economics&Finance,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Public Sector Economics&Finance

Seeing, Wind and Outer Scale Effects on Image Quality at the Magellan Telescopes

We present an analysis of the science image quality obtained on the twin 6.5 metre Magellan telescopes over a 1.5 year period, using images of ~10^5 stars. We find that the telescopes generally obtain significantly better image quality than the DIMM-measured seeing. This is qualitatively consistent with expectations for large telescopes, where the wavefront outer scale of the turbulence spectrum plays a significant role. However, the dominant effect is found to be wind speed with Magellan outperforming the DIMMs most markedly when the wind is strongest. Excluding data taken during strong wind conditions (>10 m/s), we find that the Magellan telescopes still significantly outperform the DIMM seeing, and we estimate the site to have L_0 ~ 25 m on average. We also report on the first detection of a negative bias in DIMM data. This is found to occur, as predicted, when the DIMM is affected by certain optical aberrations and the turbulence profile is dominated by the upper layers of the atmosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. 10 pages, 12 figures

Outils basés simulation pour la conception d'une protection haptique sur l'axe de roulis pour hélicoptère

International audienceThe latest evolution of pilot controllers, referred to as ASSU (Active Side Sticks Units) provides static and dynamic tactile force (or haptic) feedback to the pilot at the grip. Combined with FBW (fly-by-wire), this promising technology has enhanced safety levels compared to the original mechanical linkage systems they have started to replace, while offering vast improved benefits in terms of carefree handling and pilot situational awareness. In the framework of a PhD thesis, the Information Processing and Systems Department (DTIS) of ONERA and SAFRAN Electronics & Defense have started a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the different possibilities offered by the ASSU technology to improve safety and handling qualities of rotary wing aircraft. Up to now, the design and tuning of these functions were essentially performed thanks to numerous simulator sessions or flight tests with pilots. More than just providing a set of values for the required parameters defining the cueing function (hopefully an optimal set of parameters), it is expected that the approach presented here would reduce the number of piloted simulation tests and associated difficulties of the availability of pilots, the significant amount of time and material resources. The main objective of this work is to develop a design methodology based on the simulation of the entire helicopter control loop (also including the pilot in some form) and enabling the definition and parameterization of cueing functions. Moreover, some objective criteria will be defined and used to design the force feedback laws, bringing additional means of evaluation and validation than the classical subjective rating scales

Injury assessment of common nage-waza judo techniques for amateur judokas

There are few detailed publications that allow performing associations between the technical aspects and the occurrence of injuries. The purpose of this study was to apply a methodology based in recording material to assess the injury risk factors. Common nage-waza judo techniques during regular training of amateur judokas were used as a case study. Novice students (n=193; 100 men and 93 women) from the University of Vigo during five academic years (2003 to 2008) were filmed during the ordinary training period of the technical execution of ten nage-waza techniques. The obtained data were evaluated using descriptive statistics and tpatterns analysis. Thus, it was possible to identify the presence of typical inaccuracies during execution of the technique uncovering the main temporal sequence of errors allowing us to link our findings with the injury occurrence. In order to narrow the unexpected causes of accidents regarding poor technique performance in regular training, this research provides the hidden temporal sequence of errors of common throw techniques, helping professionals to correct the key technical errors in order to prevent diverse type injuries. The methodology developed here could be easily extended to other martial sports.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design methodology of force feedback laws through helicopter control loop simulation

International audienceThe latest evolution of pilot controllers, referred to as ASSU (Active Side Sticks Units) provides static and dynamic tactile force (or haptic) feedback to the pilot at the grip. Combined with FBW (fly-by-wire), this promising technology has enhanced safety levels compared to the original mechanical linkage systems they have started to replace, while offering vast improved benefits in terms of carefree handling and pilot situational awareness. In the framework of a PhD thesis, the Information Processing and Systems Department (DTIS) of ONERA and SAFRAN Electronics & Defense have started a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the different possibilities offered by the ASSU technology to improve safety and handling qualities of rotary wing aircraft. Up to now, the design and tuning of these functions were essentially performed thanks to numerous simulator sessions or flight tests with pilots. More than just providing a set of values for the required parameters defining the cueing function (hopefully an optimal set of parameters), it is expected that the approach presented here would reduce the number of piloted simulation tests and associated difficulties of the availability of pilots, the significant amount of time and material resources. This paper describes the work done during the first half of the thesis. The main objective of this work is to develop a design methodology based on the simulation of the entire helicopter control loop (also including the pilot in some form) and enabling the definition and parameterization of cueing functions. Moreover, some objective criteria will be defined and used to design the force feedback laws, bringing additional means of evaluation and validation than the classical subjective rating scales

Méthodologie de conception de lois de retour d'efforts pour un mini-manche actif

International audienceSAFRAN Electronics & Defense and the Information and Systems Processing Department (DTIS) of ONERA have begun a cooperation to evaluate the interest and the methods of use of Active Side Stick Units (ASSU) to improve the safety and flight qualities of helicopters. This paper describes the work carried out to model an environment for simulation and evaluation of haptic feedback laws. An experiment, implemented in the simulator PycsHel at ONERA Salon de Provence, has brought some insight about the influence of ASSU's parameters on the detection of specific haptic feedbacks (Softstops). The results obtained will be added to the simulation model in order to allow the specification, optimal if possible, of the haptic cues.SAFRAN Electronique & Défense et le département Traitement de l'Information et Systèmes (DTIS) de l’ONERA ont entamé une coopération pour évaluer l'intérêt et les méthodes d’utilisation des mini-manches (ASSU: Active Side Stick Units) pour améliorer la sécurité et la qualité de vol des hélicoptères. Ce papier décrit les travaux menés pour modéliser un environnement de simulation et d'évaluation des lois de retour haptique. Une expérimentation, implémentée dans le simulateur PycsHel de l’ONERA Salon de Provence, a apporté un éclairage sur l’influence de paramètres de l’ASSU pour la détection de rretours haptiques spécifiques (SoftStops). Les résultats obtenus seront intégrés au modèle de simulation afin de permettre la spécification, optimale si possible, des signaux haptique

Barriers for façade integration of solar technologies

Solar energy has been actively promoted as a clean energy source for a long time; however, solar technologies have not been widely used in the built environment, mostly limiting their operation to industrial and macroscale applications. Along with commercially available products such as building integrated PV panels (BIPV) or building integrated solar thermal collectors (BIST); novel solar cooling integrated facades are seen as interesting alternatives for the development of new active façade components for high-performing commercial buildings. Nevertheless, there are barriers to overcome to push for widespread application of architecturally integrated solar façades. This chapter identifies perceived barriers for widespread façade integration of solar technologies, to explore the current scenario and generate guidelines for future developments. To achieve this, the chapter discusses the results of the second part of the survey presented in the previous chapter, which addresses the perceived potential and specific issues for the integration of solar technologies. General results point to economic aspects as the main barrier to overcome, followed by particular issues related to current limitations of components and architectural products. In this aspect, most mentions point to performance, aesthetics and technical complexity of current systems as issues to improve in order to promote the development of solar integrated architectural products

Design and construction requirements for façade integration of building services

The integration of decentralised building services into façade components presents advantages from functional and constructional standpoints. However, this integrated approach has not been massively implemented, having only stand-alone buildings and façade concepts as examples.This chapter delves into the requirements for integration within the façade development process, aiming to identify the main perceived problems for building services integration in facades at design, production and assembly stages. The employed method was an exploratory survey addressed to professionals involved in the development of façade systems for office buildings, at different stages, in order to generate new knowledge based on practical experience. The survey was conducted from mid-September to mid-November, 2015 and was distributed both as an online form and in printed format among several professional networks. Results show that the main problems refer to the overall process, particularly regarding coordination issues among different disciplines and stakeholders, while other problems such as costs and lack of knowledge, while still relevant, have more impact on particular stages. Among relevant problems related to the products themselves, the results show physical integration issues during production and assembly stages, and barriers derived from unreliable performance and technical limitations of current products to be integrated in façade systems