On weighted local fitting and its relation to the Horvitz-Thompson estimator

Weighting is a largely used concept in many fields of statistics and has frequently caused controversies on its justification and profit. In this paper, we analyze a weighted version of the well-known local polynomial regression estimators, derive their asymptotic bias and variance, and find that the conflict between the asymptotically optimal weighting scheme and the practical requirements has a surprising counterpart in sampling theory, leading us back to the discussion on Basu's (1971) elephants

Casimir operators of centrally extended l-conformal Galilei algebra

The full set of Casimir elements of the centrally extended l-conformal Galilei algebra is found in simple and tractable form.Comment: 5 page

Macroeconomic Imbalances in EMU and the Eurosystem

Schulden; Finanzmarktkrise; Euro; Schuldenkrise; Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion

Stuttgart – a Livable City: The global Agenda 2030 at a local level Baseline study depicting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The United Nations adopted the Agenda 2030 in 2015. This was a basis for the transition to a world in which economic efficiency, ecological compatibility and social justice can be in accord with one another. The Agenda 2030 addresses all states (“every country is a developing country”) at an international, national and, just as much, at a regional and local level. An essential component of Agenda 2030 are the 17 goals for a sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs). To achieve the goals of Agenda 2030 the focus is on partnerships between various actors from administration, politics, business and civil society. In the further development of the Sustainable Development Strategy for Germany in 2017 the Federal Government oriented itself systematically towards the Agenda 2030 with the 17 SDGs. Many other German states also developed strategies geared towards the SDGs. In Baden-Württemberg the Advisory Council of the State Government prepared a proposal as to how the SDGs could be integrated into the state-specific guidelines for sustainable development. The municipalities, having a close relationship with the residents, play a particular role when it comes to implementing Agenda 2030. To map out the status of sustainable development on a quantitative basis of SDGs and at a local level, seven organisations started a nationwide project in 2017 “SDG indicators for municipalities” – proposals for SDGs at a local level: Association of German Cities, German County Association, German Association of Towns and Municipalities, German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu), Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Research, Service Agency Communities in One World of Engagement Global and the Bertelsmann Foundation. As one of the first municipalities in Germany the State Capital Stuttgart took on the challenging task of pilot-testing the “SDG indicators for municipalities” from June to October 2018. A second phase between July and September 2019 saw the update of the data. The baseline study was carried out in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation and Difu. The SDG baseline study for the State Capital Stuttgart has two main objectives: first, to analyse the current status of the city on the basis of data in place as regards social, ecological and economic sustainability and to improve the possibilities of a target-oriented, strategic development of the city’s measures; second, with this SDG baseline study to make a methodological contribution to a target-oriented strategic, further development of SDG indicators for an appropriate and effective design for the SDG baseline-studies in municipalities. The different starting conditions make a comparison of cities neither possible nor envisaged – however, the municipalities will receive a toolbox so they can gauge their own development. A qualitative depiction of selected programmes and measures of the State Capital Stuttgart complements the quantitative baseline study. These descriptions give an impression of the spectrum of the measures which can be taken with a view to sustainability. This should also address the issue in other cities and communities. Stuttgart sees itself here as an impulse-giver, but also as a learner, in a national and international network of local actors. The SDGs offer a comprehensive target system for sustainability and, at the same time, they point out possible conflicts of interests. The implementation of strategic objectives requires continuous monitoring. The participative, cross-divisional process of the baseline study shows that the tried and tested SDG indicators for municipalities are a suitable instrument to be quantitatively supportive in realising the existing objectives and approaches of the State Capital Stuttgart for social, ecological and economic sustainability. It was constructive to discuss the SDG indicators methodologically on a cross-sectoral basis, and to select and expand on issues to do justice to the distinctiveness of a municipality. This way, the cross-divisional knowledge management and the understanding of the correlations between the individual sustainability measures could be strengthened. All divisions and departments of the City of Stuttgart worked with enormous commitment on this report. Based on SDG indicators, this baseline study has for the first time developed a cross-sectoral instrument for a regular, all-embracing monitoring of correlations of social, economic and ecological sustainability. This forms an important basis for future recommendations and an effective action on the part of politics, administration and urban society which will help to serve the further development of municipal objectives and measures of implementing the SDGs in the State Capital Stuttgart. The present executive summary provides an overview of the methodological approach, a compilation of the selected indicators as well as the main results with regards to the process and further development of SDG- indicators

The Impact of Euro Introduction on the Vertical Price Transmission in the German Food Market - Does Money Illusion Matter?

In this paper the impact of the introduction of the Euro on the vertical price transmission in German food markets is analyzed. It is hypothesized that following the introduction of the Euro the presence of money illusion might have lead to higher real prices, and if so it is likely accompanied by higher margins between respective wholesale and retail prices. While other studies have mainly focused on the behavior of average prices, here reactions at the individual store level are investigated. For cucumber and carrots the vertical price relationships between retail and wholesale prices are estimated by employing an error correction approach, which is enhanced to test for structural breaks with a flexible time frame using a F-max approach. The results indicate significant changes in the vertical price relationships for one forth of the retailers under study. Though significant the directions of changes do not uniquely fit the theoretical predictions for money illusion. Thus, the majority of German food retailers has not used the introduction of the Euro to increase their mark ups.Financial Economics, Industrial Organization,

DOES MONEY ILLUSION MATTER? THE IMPACT OF EURO ON THE VERTICAL TRANSMISSION OF FOOD PRICE IN GERMANY

In this paper the impact of the introduction of the Euro on the vertical price transmission in German food markets is analyzed. It is hypothesized that the presence of money illusion might have lead to higher real prices as a result of the Euro, and if so it must be accompanied with a higher margin between the respective wholesale and retail price. While generally studies focus on the behavior of average prices, in this study the reactions of individual retailers are investigated. For lettuce and chicken the vertical price relationships between retail and wholesale prices are estimated by an error correction approach, which is extended to test for structural breaks with a flexible time frame. The results indicate no impact of the Euro for most of the retail stores. However, about every fifth grocery store did react to the new currency by generally increasing its mark up significantly. This leads to the conclusion that money illusion might have a significant impact on the real adjustment of prices.Marketing,