Behavioral Economics and Political Economy

The past and future impact of behavioral economics in the field of political economy is assessed. It is argued that politician leaders operate in an intensely competition environment where the framework of rational choice is compelling. In contrast, rational choice is less compelling when studying the behavior of voters in mass elections where the consequences of each individual’s choices are negligible. A discussion of the literature on why voters bother to vote and on the choices voters make when casting their ballots illustrates the limits of explanations based on rational decision-makers and the potential contribution of behavioral research to the study of political economy.

Comparing the Growth of the Prime Numbers to the Natural Numbers

We define a new method of measuring the rate of divergence for an increasing positive sequence of integers. We introduce the growth function for such a sequence and its associated growth limit. We use these tools to study the divergence rate for the natural numbers, polynomial and exponential-type sequences, and the prime numbers. We conclude with a number of open questions concerning general properties and characterizations of growth functions and the set of possible growth limits

A Galactic Bar to Beyond the Solar Circle and its Relevance for Microlensing

The Galactic kinematics of Mira variables have been studied using infrared photometry, radial velocities, and Hipparcos parallaxes and proper motions. For Miras in the period range 145 to 200 days (probably corresponding to [Fe/H] in the range -0.8 to -1.3) the major axes of the stellar orbits are concentrated in the first quadrant of Galactic longitude. This is interpreted as a continuation of the bar-like structure of the Galactic Bulge out to the solar circle and beyond.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To be published in: Microlensing 2000. ASP Conference Series, Eds. J W Menzies, P Sacket

Militarization and social development in the Third World

In this study we integrated the modernization and dependency theories of development to suggest the ways whereby militarization can affect development. We examined the effects of three components of militarization highlighted in these theories on the social development of ninety-two developing countries. Overall, our findings support the dependency theory's emphasis on the detrimental impact of international trade on disadvantaged nations. There is a significant negative correlation between arms import and social development. Arms export and indigenous spending are correlated with social development in the expected directions but their beta coefficients are not significant. The diverse ways these three aspects of militarization have been shown to affect social development help to explain some of the conflicting findings in the literature and point to the need to study these variables in their disaggregated form.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69141/2/10.1177_144078339503100105.pd

Changes in the red giant and dusty environment of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi following the 2006 eruption

We present near-infrared spectroscopy of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) obtained on several occasions after its latest outburst in 2006 February. The 1–5 μm spectra are dominated by the red giant, but the H i, He i and coronal lines present during the eruption are present in all our observations. From the fits of the computed infrared spectral energy distributions to the observed fluxes, we find Teff= 4200 ± 200 K for the red giant. The first overtone CO bands at 2.3 μm, formed in the atmosphere of the red giant, are variable. The spectra clearly exhibit an infrared excess due to dust emission longward of 5 μm; we estimate an effective temperature for the emitting dust shell of 500 K, and find that the dust emission is also variable, being beyond the limit of detection in 2007. Most likely, the secondary star in RS Oph is intrinsically variable

Period-Luminosity Relations for Type II Cepheids and their Application

JHKs magnitudes corrected to mean intensity are estimated for LMC type II Cepheids in the OGLE-III survey. Period-luminosity (PL) relations are derived in JHKs as well as in a reddening-free VI parameter. Within the uncertainties the BL Her stars (P < 4 d) and the W Vir stars (P = 4 to 20 d) are co-linear in these PL relations. The slopes of the infrared relations agree with those found previously for type II Cepheids in globular clusters within the uncertainties. Using the pulsation parallaxes of V553 Cen and SW Tau the data lead to an LMC modulus uncorrected for any metallicity effects of 18.46 +- 0.10 mag. The type II Cepheids in the second-parameter globular cluster, NGC 6441, show a PL(VI) relation of the same slope as that in the LMC and this leads to a cluster distance modulus of 15.46 +- 0.11 mag, confirming the hypothesis that the RR Lyrae variables in this cluster are overluminous for their metallicity. It is suggested that the Galactic variable kappa Pav is a member of the peculiar W Vir class found by the OGLE-III group in the LMC. Low-resolution spectra of OGLE-III type II Cepheids with P > 20 d (RV Tau stars) show that a high proportion have TiO bands; only one has been found showing C_2. The LMC RV Tau stars, as a group, are not co-linear with the shorter-period type II Cepheids in the infrared PL relations in marked contrast to such stars in globular clusters. Other differences between LMC, globular cluster and Galactic field type II Cepheids are noted in period distribution and infrared colours.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 11 pages (3 tables, 5 figures) + online material (5 pages, 1 table