A Detailed Derivation of the Sticky Price and Sticky Information New Keynesian DSGE Model

This paper aims at providing macroeconomists with a detailed exposition of the New Keynesian DSGE model. Both the sticky price version and the sticky information variant are derived mathematically. Moreover, we simulate the models, also including lagged terms in the sticky price version, and compare the implied impulse response functions. Finally, we present solution methods for DSGE models, and discuss three important theoretical assumptions.New Keynesian Model, Sticky Prices, Sticky Information, Solution Algorithms

Modelling the impact of different permit allocation rules on optimal power plant portfolios

The electricity generation mix of many European countries is strongly dominated by fossil fuelled power plants. Given that CO2-emissions are responsible for a major part of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, emission trading has been introduced in the EU in 2005. Under the European emissions trading scheme (ETS), the emission quantities of major industry branches, most notably the electricity industry are capped and a system of tradable CO2 emission permits is established. Although the effects of emission trading on emissions, industry structure and investment had been analysed on beforehand by a number of models, the impact of rules for primary permit allocation has so far hardly been focused on. This was mostly seen as a distributional issue not affecting the efficiency of the market mechanism itself. However a closer look at the permit allocation rules shows that the number of permits allocated to new plants often depends on their fuel and technology (e. g. in Germany). This may consequently have distorting effects on market prices and investment decisions, which so far have been hardly investigated quantitatively. In order to analyse such effects, a mixed complimentary programming (MCP) model is developed, which allows to model investment incentives in the electricity sector. It takes into account major power generation technologies, emission constraints, endogenous investment allocation rules and price elasticity of demand. In particular also the time-varying structure of electricity demand is accounted for and the corresponding distinction of base- and peak-load technologies. The model is applied to the EU-27 focusing on the year 2015, i.e. on the third trading period, where so far no decision has been made on the allocation rules to be applied. From this analysis we derive the average market prices for emission allowances and electricity and the optimal power plant capacities under different allocation schemes. In a pure environmental perspective the auctioning of permits is expected to be a first-best solution, but it could endanger the competitiveness and the security of supply of the European Union. The reason for the latter is that the generation mix becomes biased in favour of gas fuelled plants, which are associated with the least specific CO2-emissions, but have to be imported to a large extent from politically unreliable regions like Russia or the Middle East. The results of our analysis however show that allocating emissions for free, based on expected full-load hours and fuel specifics, will lead to higher CO2-prices whilst the effect of securing supply is only limited. Also electricity prices will only be slightly lower, so that the contribution of free allocation schemes to economic competitiveness is also limited.climate protection, security of supply, emission trading, allocation of emission permits, electricity markets, power plant portfolio

Prospect Theory and Inflation Perceptions - An Empirical Assessment

Building on the hypotheses of loss aversion with respect to price increases and availability of frequently bought goods, Brachinger (2006,2008) constructs an alternative index of perceived inflation (IPI), which can reproduce the jump in the measure for perceived inflation after the Euro introduction in Germany that was not observable in standard HICP inflation. We test the hypotheses of Prospect Theory with regard to households’ inflation perceptions underlying Brachinger’s IPI in a panel estimation for 12 European countries. There is evidence that perceptions react more strongly to ‘losses’ in inflation than to ‘gains’ before the Euro cash changeover, but not afterwards. Moreover, we find empirical support for the availability hypothesis, stating that frequently bought goods have a stronger influence on inflation perceptions than the overall price index.Inflation Perceptions, Prospect Theory, Dynamic Panel

Generating Smart Glasses-based Information Systems with BPMN4SGA: A BPMN Extension for Smart Glasses Applications

Although smart glasses allow hands-free interaction with information systems and can enhance business processes, they face problems with the adoption in businesses. Implementation challenges arise due to specific hardware conditions e.g. computational power, limited battery, small screen size and privacy issues caused by the camera. In addition, not many programmers are specialized for the development of smart glasses-based applications to conquer the mentioned challenges. We address this issue with a generation tool for smart glasses-based information systems. A BPMN extension for smart glasses applications allows the abstract specification. Specified processes are then integrated into a model-driven software development approach that transforms processes directly into smart glasses applications. This paper covers the design and development phase of the abstract and concrete syntax of the BPMN extension and the representation of the architecture to generate smart glasses-based information systems with the new developed BPMN extension

Canonical suppression in microscopic transport models

We demonstrate the occurrence of canonical suppression associated with the conservation of an U(1)-charge in current transport models. For this study a pion gas is simulated within two different transport approaches by incorporating inelastic and volume-limited collisions pi pi leftrightarrow K bar-K for the production of kaon pairs. Both descriptions can dynamically account for the suppression in the yields of rare strange particles in a limited box, being in full accordance with a canonical statistical description

Dynamic canonical suppression of strangeness in transport models

It is investigated whether canonical suppression associated with the exact conservation of an U(1)-charge can be reproduced correctly by current transport models. Therefore a pion-gas having a volume-limited cross section for kaon production and annihilation is simulated within two different transport prescriptions for realizing the inelastic collisions. It is found that both models can indeed dynamically account for the canonical suppression in the yields of rare strange particles

Efficient numerical techniques for perspective shape from shading

The shape-from-shading (SfS) problem is a classic problem in computer vision. The task in SfS is to compute on the basis of the shading variation in a given 2-D image the 3-D depth of the depicted scene. The corresponding mathematical model eventually leads to a boundary value problem for a Hamilton-Jacobi equation. In this paper we evaluate and compare suitable numerical methods. We begin with a brief discussion of four state-of-the-art-approaches in this field. Then we give an extensive numerical comparison, thus evaluating recent improvements in this area. In the course of doing this, we introduce efficient variations of existing schemes. By this systematic investigation, we complement and extend previous works on the numerical side. The paper is finished by a conclusion

Discovering Blockchain for Sustainable Product-Service Systems to enhance the Circular Economy

An increasing amount of use cases is discovered for blockchain technology, since it promises tamper-proof recording of product-related data. It has the potential to improve the reliability of information management for whole supply chains and thus enables new ecologically and economically service offerings. Integrating products and services into one marketable bundle is no new concept and is referred to as product-service systems (PSS). Therefore, the methodical integration of knowledge on sustainable businesses, PSS and blockchain is a promising approach to overcome current barriers to achieve an applicable circular economy. Our study contributes a structured literature review on ongoing research in the field of sustainability-focused blockchain applications. From this, we elaborate a holistic perspective by the integration of key concepts from two additional literature reviews for blockchain and PSS. Asa result, we point out potential benefits and present the effect of blockchain on sustainable PSS with a product-life cycle model

How Do We Support Technical Tasks in the Age of Augmented Reality? Some Evidence from Prototyping in Mechanical Engineering

Industrial sectors like mechanical engineering currently define themselves primarily through their product business. However, a change can currently be observed. Instead of continuing to engineer products for maximum reliability, solution systems are developed that leverage their performance from services such as maintenance. For these, information supply is an essential factor, since the underlying products are becoming more complex. Additionally, these products are integrating information and communication technology, which can supply technicians, e.g. with actual condition data. To be able to use this information, technicians need service support systems (SSS) that yet exist on mobile and simple wearable devices. This article reports from the development of an SSS-based on augmented reality glasses. The developed system was used to support a LEGO assembly task and evaluated with the Task-Technology Fit model. The result shows that AR glasses can be used for the information supply of technicians but still need further development to allow for adequate service support

Gastronomie am Bahnhof der Zukunft

Die Strategie «Bahnhof der Zukunft» von SBB Immobilien verfolgt den Zweck, die Bahnhöfe für die Zukunft fit zu machen. Mit einem attraktiven Angebotsmix soll die Qualität der Angebote und die Aufenthaltsqualität verbessert werden. Dadurch sollen die Kundenzufriedenheit und die Erträge nachhaltig gesteigert werden. Der Bahnhof der Zukunft soll sich gemäss der Strategie vom heutigen Transitraum mehr zu einer Destination entwickeln. Die Befragungen von verschiedenen Experten, Gastronomiebetreibern und Kunden haben ergeben, dass hauptsächlich eine Positionierung der Angebote innerhalb von verschiedenen Zonen im Bahnhof wichtig ist