"Are People Insured Against Natural Disasters? Evidence from the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995"

We investigate whether people were insured against unexpected losses caused by the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake in 1995. The unique household data employed led to several empirical findings under a natural-experimental situation. The complete consumption insurance hypothesis is rejected overwhelmingly, suggesting the ineffectiveness of the formal and/or informal insurance mechanisms against the earthquake. We also investigate possible factors that inhibit full risk-sharing. Transfers may be particularly ineffective as insurance against losses for co-resident households. Households borrow extensively against housing damages, whereas dissavings are utilized for smaller asset damages, implying a hierarchy of risk-coping measures, from dissaving to borrowing.

Are People Insured Against Natural Disasters? Evidence from the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995

We investigate whether people were insured against unexpected losses caused by the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake in 1995. The unique household data employed led to several empirical findings under a natural-experimental situation. The complete consumption insurance hypothesis is rejected overwhelmingly, suggesting the ineffectiveness of the formal and/or informal insurance mechanisms against the earthquake. We also investigate possible factors that inhibit full risk-sharing. Transfers may be particularly ineffective as insurance against losses for co-resident households. Households borrow extensively against housing damages, whereas dissavings are utilized for smaller asset damages, implying a hierarchy of risk-coping measures, from dissaving to borrowing.

"Consumption Insurance and Risk-Coping Strategies under Non-Separable Utility: Evidence from the Kobe Earthquake"

Using a unique household-level dataset on the situation after the Kobe earthquake in 1995, we test the full consumption risk sharing hypothesis, relaxing the separability assumption, and examine households' simultaneous choice of risk coping measures. Using multivariate probit estimations, we find that the full consumption insurance hypothesis is strongly rejected and our results indicate that households' utility across different expenditure items is not separable. As for households' choice of risk-coping measures, households borrowed extensively against housing damage, but relied on dissaving to cope with smaller asset damage, implying a hierarchy of risk-coping measures from dissaving to borrowing.

Consumption Insurance and Risk-Coping Strategies under Non-Separable Utility: Evidence from the Kobe Earthquake

Using a unique household-level dataset on the situation after the Kobe earthquake in 1995, we test the full consumption risk sharing hypothesis, relaxing the separability assumption, and examine households' simultaneous choice of risk coping measures. Using multivariate probit estimations, we find that the full consumption insurance hypothesis is strongly rejected and our results indicate that households' utility across different expenditure items is not separable. As for households' choice of risk-coping measures, households borrowed extensively against housing damage, but relied on dissaving to cope with smaller asset damage, implying a hierarchy of risk-coping measures from dissaving to borrowing.

Chiral meta-interface: Polarity reversal of ellipticity through double layers consisting of transparent chiral and absorptive achiral media

We have studied circular dichroism (CD) in the visible region of composite and double-layer films consisting of a transparent chiral molecule, glucose, and an absorptive achiral dye, rhodamine. Composite and double-layer films show an absorption-induced CD response caused by chirality of glucose at 540 nm, where the rhodamine exhibits absorption. More importantly, in double layers, the polarity of the ellipticity in CD signals is found to be reversed when the incident direction is reversed. We discuss the origin of the polarity reversal, which is very similar to the magneto-optical effect, at the chiral meta-interface without magnetic field

Metamaterials with magnetism and chirality

This review introduces and overviews electromagnetism in structured metamaterials which undergo simultaneous time-reversal and space-inversion symmetry breaking due to magnetism and chirality. Direct experimental observation of optical magnetochiral effects in a single metamolecule with magnetism and chirality is demonstrated at microwave frequencies. Numerical simulations based on a finite element method reproduce the experimental results well, and predict the emergence of giant magnetochiral effects, by combining resonances in the metamolecule. Toward the realization of magnetochiral effects at higher frequencies than microwaves, a metamolecule is miniaturized in the presence of ferromagnetic resonance in a cavity and coplanar waveguide. This work opens the door to the realization of a one-way mirror and synthetic gauge fields for electromagnetic waves

Observation of asymmetric electromagnetic field profiles in chiral metamaterials

We experimentally observe asymmetric electromagnetic field profiles along two-dimensional chiral metamaterials. The asymmetric field profiles depending on the chirality and the operation frequency have been reproduced well by the numerical simulation. Around a chiral meta-atom, distribution of a Poynting vector is found to be shifted asymmetrically. These results are explained in terms of an analogy with the side-jump mechanism in the electronic anomalous Hall systems

In-liquid plasma using microwave power for applications

[EN] The research of in-liquid plasma that uses microwave as an energy source can be generated without depending on the electric conductivity of the solution, so it has wide application. However, it is not practical because the microwave antenna (plasma electrode) is deteriorated immediately. We were noticed that the microwave is pulsed to solve this problem. In this study, its optimum conditions was investigated. The best parameters of pulse microwave power was investigated using the generator (peak power ; 380 W, pulse width ; 13.4 msec and pulse duty cycle ; 16.7 msec). Stable in-liquid plasma could be generated in this conditions. This optimised system of in-liquid plasma tried to use applications for wastewater treatment and gel synthesis. In first application (wastewater treatment), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) was ionized and minerated by using in-liquid plasma method for only 20 min, respectivily. In second one (gel synthesis), in-liquid plasma can synthesize gel-synthesis without crosslinking agent and initiator. This new method could synthesize gel of dimethyl polysiloxane (silicone) and polyvinilypirroridone (PVP) without both crosslinking agent and initiator, it suggested that in-liquid plasma method is effective as a green chemistry process.Sawada, S.; Horikoshi, S. (2019). In-liquid plasma using microwave power for applications. En AMPERE 2019. 17th International Conference on Microwave and High Frequency Heating. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 59-66. https://doi.org/10.4995/AMPERE2019.2019.9815OCS596