The bound state Aharonov-Bohm effect around a cosmic string revisited

In this article we observe that the self-adjoint extension of the Hamiltonian of a particle moving around a shielded cosmic string gives rise to a gravitational analogue of the bound state Aharonov-Bohm effect.Comment: 2 pages, no figure

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LIQUIDITY CONSTRAINTS IN DEPRIVED AREAS: EVIDENCE FROM THE SLUMS OF RIO DE JANEIRO

Several economic models have described the theoretical causes and onsequences of 'credit rationing' and 'under-investment'; one string of this literature shows the long-run effects of initial wealth distribution and entrepreneurial ability on the process of occupational choice and performance, and its consequences on inequality. Surprisingly, there is very little micro-level evidence on the existence and effects of 'credit rationing' in the context of developing countries. This is the contribution of the current paper. Using a survey of 4,553 entrepreneurs in 51 slums in Rio de Janeiro, this paper uses mean and quantile regression estimates to shows the effects of the type of initial capital, credit constraints, and human capital factors on entrepreneurs' performance. The main findings of the the paper are that entrepreneurs that were able to self-finance their business start-up presented earnings 16% greater than entrepreneurs that had to borrow their initial capital. In addition, entrepreneurs that explicitly claimed to be credit constrained performed substantially worse than their observationally identical counterparts, even if they were credit worthy. Both, initial source of funding and liquidity constraint presented greater effects on the highest quantiles. In terms of human capital, the current study shows positive and statistically significant returns for both years of schooling and experience, with higher returns on the lowest quantiles, indicating the potential role of these factors on inequality reduction.

On Deterministic Linearizable Set Agreement Objects

A recent work showed that, for all n and k, there is a linearizable (n,k)-set agreement object O_L that is equivalent to the (n,k)-set agreement task [David Yu Cheng Chan et al., 2017]: given O_L, it is possible to solve the (n,k)-set agreement task, and given any algorithm that solves the (n,k)-set agreement task (and registers), it is possible to implement O_L. This linearizable object O_L, however, is not deterministic. It turns out that there is also a deterministic (n,k)-set agreement object O_D that is equivalent to the (n,k)-set agreement task, but this deterministic object O_D is not linearizable. This raises the question whether there exists a deterministic and linearizable (n,k)-set agreement object that is equivalent to the (n,k)-set agreement task. Here we show that in general the answer is no: specifically, we prove that for all n ? 4, every deterministic linearizable (n,2)-set agreement object is strictly stronger than the (n,2)-set agreement task. We prove this by showing that, for all n ? 4, every deterministic and linearizable (n,2)-set agreement object (together with registers) can be used to solve 2-consensus, whereas it is known that the (n,2)-set agreement task cannot do so. For a natural subset of (n,2)-set agreement objects, we prove that this result holds even for n = 3

Demographic sensitivity inside the local authorities

The knowledge of the administrated population it is not wll appreciated at local level by the Administrators (Majors, Councillors, Public Servants). The attention is more devoted to political items and the sensitivity for the numbers of the population is very feeble. The paper presents the main results a research made in may Municiplities in some Italian Regions (Toscana, Lazio, Molise, Campania, Puglie, Calabria) during 1996. Different topics were put to the attention of the Administrators and they were asked to quantify different demographic and social phenomena in their own institution. The questions were the relevance they assigned to the different matters, how many times they have discussed of said topics in the council, the general (at national level) importance of each aspect. Only recently some main changes appear: The Regions have experienced important demographic changes deeply affecting the local populations and consequently the Local Powers. This is the case of the experience of a so fst decrease in fertility, or the case of the rapid change of several regions from egigration into immigration areas. Unemployment, the elder survival, the family planning, the education, the youth problems, the immigrated population are some of the questions posed to the interviewees. Quite frequently an incoherent process between the perception and the consequent requested action is standing.

The Incidence of Reserve Requirements in Brazil: Do Bank Stockholders Share the Burden?

There is consensus in the economic literature that the reserve requirements are a tax levied upon financial intermediation, yet the incidence of the tax remains controversial. In this paper, we test whether changes in reserve requirements in Brazil impact the stock returns of the financial system distinctly from the rest of the economy. We find evidence that Brazilian bank stock returns were affected by changes in reserve requirements on both time deposits and transaction accounts, which implies that the tax burden of required reserves was not fully passed through to banks' borrowers or clients. Stock returns of non-financial firms were also affected by these changes, suggesting that in some cases, reserve requirements on time deposits and transaction accounts served as a non-neutral instrument of monetary or fiscal policy in Brazil.

Cartel deterrence and settlements: the brazilian experience

Settlements are an important part of a program of cartel deterrence, particularly when the likelihood ofconviction and the litigation costs are higher. This type of negotiated procedure to reach finality is inessence complementary to the fully adversarial procedures associated to the trial by the administrative orjudicial courts, and to other investigative instruments, such as the leniency agreement. The Brazilianexperience provides some insights about the different models of direct settlement in cartel cases and thecomplex interaction among settlements, leniency agreements, and trial outcome. First, there is leeway forthe complementary models of settlements, the first oriented mainly to increasing the likelihood ofdetection, and the second oriented to saving social costs of litigation. Second, the concern with thepreservation of the demand for leniency agreements led the competition authority to restrict the use ofsettlements, which are effectively designed for the defendants that are likely guilty and give higher valueto finality. The recent experience illustrates that the current settlement policy has not caused any adverseeffect on leniency agreements, while reducing litigation costs and granting finality in some cases.

The incidence of reserve requirements in Brazil: Do bank stockholders share the burden?

There is consensus in the economic literature that reserve requirements are a tax levied upon financial intermediation, yet the incidence of the tax remains controversial. In this paper, we test whether changes in reserve requirements in Brazil impact the stock returns of the Brazilian financial system distinctly from the rest of the economy. We show that Brazilian bank stock returns may have been affected by changes in reserve requirements on both time deposits and transaction accounts, which implies that the tax burden of required reserves has not been fully passed through to banks’ borrowers or clients. Stock returns of non-financial firms may also have been affected by changes in reserve requirements, suggesting that in some cases, reserve requirements on time deposits and transaction accounts served as a non-neutral instrument of monetary or fiscal policy in Brazil.tax incidence, reserve requirements, event studies