Dynamic valve to supply constant total thrust to two orifice jets

Valve, maintaining constant total flow, is driven mechanically in periodic alterations to yield correspondingly periodic outputs of constant sum. Design is applicable to development of jet flaps for helicopter use and may be useful in a multinozzle system

Are cross-country studies of the Environmental Kuznets Curve misleading? New evidence from time series data for Germany

In recent years, extensive literature on the Environmental Kuznets Curve leading to optimistic policy conclusions has attracted great attention. However, the underlying cross-section estimations are not very reliable. Accordingly, this contribution uses time series data for a single country with good data quality: Germany. With a specification that includes all theoretical variations and different appropriate estimation procedures, it is found that only for few pollutants can the typical EKC pattern be confirmed. For the major part, however, it is concluded that the doubts about the suitability of the EKC approach are well-founded. --Environmental Kuznets Curve,Time Series Data,Error Correction Model

Hotelling's Beach with Linear and Quadratic Transportation Costs: Existence of Pure Strategy Equilibria

In Hotelling type models consumers have the same transportation cost function. We deviate from this assumption and introduce two consumer types. Some consumers have linear transportation costs, while the others have quadratic transportation costs. If at most half the consumers have linear transportation costs, a subgame perfect equilibrium in pure strategies exists for all symmetric locations. Furthermore, no general principle of differentiation holds. With two consumer types, the equilibrium pattern ranges from maximum to intermediate differentiation. The degree of product differentiation depends on the fraction of consumer typesHotelling; Horizontal Product Differentiation; Equilibrium

The environmental Kuznets curve : evidence from time series data for Germany

In recent years, extensive literature on the Environmental Kuznets Curve lead- ing to optimistic policy conclusions has attracted great attention. However, the underlying cross-section estimations are not very reliable. Accordingly, this contribution uses time series data for a single country with dependable data quality : Germany. The results of the traditional reduced-form specification do not support the EKC hypothesis. However, with a specification in the tradi- tion of error correction models, which are more appropriate in the presence of non-stationary time series, it is found that the typical EKC pattern can be confirmed.Environmental Kuznets Curve, Error Correction Model, Time Series Data

A new approach to pollution modelling in models of the environmental Kuznets curve

Models of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, particularly those with an ex- plicit abatement technology, often involve that pollution becomes negative in the long run. This, of course, is a highly implausible prediction. The paper at hand examines the problem of negative pollution by, ¯rst, critically discussing two approaches adopted in existing EKC models and, second, by proposing a new approach. Motivated by the debatable assumption of perpetually increas- ing returns to scale in abatement, the idea of fading increasing returns to scale is introduced. This procedure does not only constitute a solution to the theo- retical problem of negative pollution, but also does well regarding the empirical plausibility of the abatement technology.environmental Kuznets curve, negative pollution, abatement technology, increasing returns to scale

On Holders, Blades and Other Tie-In Sales

Tie-in sales have a bad image because of anti-competitive effects. Notably, tying contracts allow monopolists to carry over monopoly power into markets where they meet competition. Most of the literature assumes a firm being monopolist in one market and facing competition in another. In contrast, we analyze two firms which both are monopolists in one market and competitors in the other. Under such a symmetric structure tying has competitive effects. Tie-in sales may increase the consumers' expected utility. By tying their products, the firms insure consumers against uncertain future demandTie-in sales; leverage theory of tying; competition; expected utility

On Stability in Competition: Tying and Horizontal Product Differentiation

We combine Hotelling's model of product differentiation with tie-in sales. Tie-in sales condition the sale of one good upon the purchase of another good. In equilibrium firms choose zero product differentiation. Due to the tying structure no firm can gain the whole market by a small price reduction. Then we address the following questions: Can a firm with monopoly power in one market leverage this power into another market where it faces competition. What is the effect from tying on the profits of the monopolist's rival. In our model this effect is ambiguousHorizontal product differentiation; tie-in sales; leverage theory of tying; foreclosure

Discovery Prospects for a Supernova Signature of Biogenic Origin

Approximately 2.8 Myr before the present our planet was subjected to the debris of a supernova explosion. The terrestrial proxy for this event was the discovery of live atoms of 60Fe in a deep-sea ferromanganese crust. The signature for this supernova event should also reside in magnetite Fe3O4 microfossils produced by magnetotactic bacteria extant at the time of the Earth-supernova interaction, provided the bacteria preferentially uptake iron from fine-grained iron oxides and ferric hydroxides. Using estimates for the terrestrial supernova 60Fe flux, combined with our empirically derived microfossil concentrations in a deep-sea drill core, we deduce a conservative estimate of the ^{60}{Fe} fraction as 60Fe/Fe ~ 3.6 x 10^{-15}. This value sits comfortably within the sensitivity limit of present accelerator mass spectrometry capabilities. The implication is that a biogenic signature of this cosmic event is detectable in the Earth's fossil record.Comment: As it appears in Icaru

The Role of Civil Society in Decentralisa-tion and Alleviating Poverty: An Exploratory Case Study from Tanzania

This research report gauges Tanzanian civil society's influence in setting the decentralisation agenda, in providing crucial basic services (e.g. health) or to which extent CSOs advocate the rural poor about their rights and obligations

The UBS-SBC Merger and Competition in the Swiss Retail Banking Sector

We address two questions about the impact of the UBS-SBC merger: (i) How will the concentration in the Swiss retail banking market change, and (ii) what are the expected consequences for the consumers. The answer to the first question is based on a comparison of Herfindahl and C3-indices in 1997 as they actually have been to as they could have been if the banks already had been merged. For both types of indices, and for the two product groups considered (loans and mortgages, savings deposits) the impact of the merger is huge. To answer the second question, we have examined how concentration interfered with savings deposits and mortgages interest rates in the previous decade, between the cantons and over time. The results obtained for savings deposits indicate that the structure performance hypothesis dominates for large cantons, while the efficiency hypothesis and the contestable market hypotheses cannot be rejected for small cantons. For mortgages, the contestable market hypotheses clearly dominates for large cantons, while for small cantons evidence is split between the efficiency hypothesis and the contestable market hypothesis.