An Abramov formula for stationary spaces of discrete groups

Let (G,mu) be a discrete group equipped with a generating probability measure, and let Gamma be a finite index subgroup of G. A mu-random walk on G, starting from the identity, returns to Gamma with probability one. Let theta be the hitting measure, or the distribution of the position in which the random walk first hits Gamma. We prove that the Furstenberg entropy of a (G,mu)-stationary space, with respect to the induced action of (Gamma,theta), is equal to the Furstenberg entropy with respect to the action of (G,mu), times the index of Gamma in G. The index is shown to be equal to the expected return time to Gamma. As a corollary, when applied to the Furstenberg-Poisson boundary of (G,mu), we prove that the random walk entropy of (Gamma,theta) is equal to the random walk entropy of (G,mu), times the index of Gamma in G.Comment: 16 page

Assessing the Competitiveness of International Financial Services in Particular Locations: A Survey of Methods and Perspectives

The International Financial Services (IFS) industry is restructuring internally and by location. This paper outlines the economic forces and analytical methods that may be applied to examine the economic drivers of these processes as ever more cities, particularly in East Asia, are vying to attract IFS providers and their clients. The ICT revolution has made those IFS that can be commoditized footloose in search of cost efficiency. High value-added financial services, however, will continue to be developed and coordinated in a few major IFS centers that have invested in, or capitalized on, regional or global advantages for themselves and their clients. The resulting pattern of functional fragmentation and geographic dispersal may facilitate analyses of the competitiveness of different lines of the financial services business in a particular location by methods such as Data Envelopment and Stochastic Frontier Analysis. These forms of comparative efficiency analysis have recently been questioned and their results reinterpreted.offshore centers, international financial services, Data Envelopment Analysis, Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Corporate Investment: Does Market Valuation Matter in the Aggregate?

macroeconomics, corporate investment, market valuation

A nilpotent IP polynomial multiple recurrence theorem

We generalize the IP-polynomial Szemer\'edi theorem due to Bergelson and McCutcheon and the nilpotent Szemer\'edi theorem due to Leibman. Important tools in our proof include a generalization of Leibman's result that polynomial mappings into a nilpotent group form a group and a multiparameter version of the nilpotent Hales-Jewett theorem due to Bergelson and Leibman.Comment: v4: switch to TeXlive 2016 and biblate

School-to-Career and Post-Secondary Education: Evidence from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study

We study a set of programs implemented in Philadelphia high schools that focus on boosting post-secondary enrollment. These programs are less career oriented than traditional school-to-work programs, but are consistent with the broadening of the goals of school-to-work to emphasize post-secondary education. The Philadelphia Longitudinal Educational Study (PELS) data set that we examine contains an unusually large amount of information on individuals prior to placement in STC programs. We use the detailed information in the PELS to study the process of selection into these programs and to examine their impact on a set of mainly schooling-related outcomes during and after high school, although we also consider their impact on non-academic outcomes. The data point to positive effects of these programs on high school graduation and on both academic and non-academic awards in high school, and similar negative effects on dropping out of high school. The results also suggest positive effects on aspirations for higher education and on college attendance. In addition, there is some evidence that these programs are more effective in increasing college attendance and aspirations among at-risk youths.

Dependence on External Finance by Manufacturing Sector: Examining the Measure and its Properties

Rajan & Zingales (1998) use U.S. Compustat firm data for the 1980s to obtain measures of manufacturing sectors’ Dependence on External Finance (DEF). They take any differences in these measures to be structural/technological and thus applicable to other countries. Their joint assumptions about how to obtain representative values of DEF by sector and about why these values differ between sectors have been used widely to show that sectors benefit unequally from a country’s level of financial development. However, the assumptions as such have not been examined. The present study, conducted with cyclically adjusted annual DEF measures, attempts to do so using U.S. industry data for 1977-1997 aggregated by sector. The key findings are that structural/ technological variables have low explanatory power for DEF and that the DEF figures calculated from micro data do not correspond closely to what is obtained from aggregate data. Hence assumptions crucial for RZ's argumentation have not been validated.Growth and finance, financial development, industry structure