Sovereign Wealth Funds: Form and Function in the 21st Century

As representatives of nation-states in global financial markets, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) share a common form and many functions. Arguably their form and functions owe as much to a shared (global) moment of institutional formation as they owe their form and functions to the hegemony of Anglo-American finance over the late 20th and early 21st centuries. We distinguish between the immediate future for SWFs in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and two possible long-term scenarios; one of which sees SWFs becoming financial goliaths dominating global markets, while the other sees SWFs morphing into nation-state development institutions that intermediate between financial markets and the long-term commitments of the nation-state sponsors. If the former scenario dominates, global financial integration will accelerate with attendant costs and benefits. If the latter scenario dominates, SWFs are likely to differentiate and evolve, returning, perhaps, to their national traditions and their respective places in a world of contested power and influence. Here, we clarify the assumptions underpinning the conception and formation of sovereign wealth funds over the past twenty years or so in the face of the ‘new’ realities of global finance.Sovereign Wealth Funds, Crisis, Market Performance, Long-term Investment

Investment intermediaries in economic development: Linking public pension funds to urban revitalization

It is difficult for large investors, such as pension funds, to make investments in EDMs because they must make very large investments. The investments in communities of need, however, are usually small. The most successful strategy to overcome these two problems is for investors to work in concert with intermediaries that can aggregate the investments and community partners that understand both the need of communities and know how to tell “the story” to investors.

Advice in Defined Contribution Plans

This paper is concerned with advice-seeking by DC plan participants as they approach retirement, focusing upon the categories, correlates and timing of advice-seeking. Our empirical analysis utilizes a large Australian data base, identifies the drivers of advice-seeking behavior and, most importantly, pinpoints age-specific reference points that appear to prompt participants to seek advice about retirement planning from the plan administrator. We analyze the patterns of advice-seeking by older participants, focusing upon the topics-raised and determinants of advice-seeking discriminating between the effects of age, gender and account balances on retirement planning. An important aspect of the paper concerns whether there is evidence of an increasing focus on retirement as participants go from 45-49 years to 65 years or more. Implications are drawn for the design of pension plans as regards their engagement with older participants

Public Procurement Systems: Unpacking Stakeholder Aspirations and Expectations

Around the world, governments are increasingly becoming focused on improving their public procurement regimes. Significant developments include the establishment of internationally shared norms for public procurement systems, while, at the national level, a number of countries have adopted dramatically new public procurement regimes, and others are experimenting with new procurement vehicles, such as framework agreements and electronic reverse auctions, and new procurement schemes, including public-private partnerships. As each of these changes is contemplated, planned, implemented, and then assessed, government leaders and policy makers need a framework of analysis for decision making - a framework based on public procurement goals and understanding stakeholder interests.In this condensed working paper (being delivered at the Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Symposium), we offer such a framework, building on the ideas in Steve Schooner\u27s 2002 article, \u27Desiderata: Objectives for a System of Government Contract Law.\u27 In that article, Schooner outlined nine objectives, or desiderata, of public procurement systems: competition, integrity, transparency, efficiency, customer satisfaction, best value, wealth distribution, risk avoidance, and uniformity. From that starting point, we use stakeholder analysis to further develop the desiderata into a two-part framework to give policy makers and government leaders a tool for public procurement decision making. Just as \u27Desiderata\u27 has contributed to public procurement decision making, this analytical framework can help clarify, and perhaps inform, many of the debates raging around procurement reform

Relationship Between Opioid-Receptor Occupancy and Stimulation of Low- K m GTPase in Brain Membranes

Treatment of rat brain membranes with the irreversible opioid ligand cis -3-methylfentanylisothiocyanate (Superfit) was used to reduce gradually the number of available binding sites for the Δ-selective agonist [ 3 H][d-Ser 2 , Leu 5 lenkephalin-Thr 6 ([ 3 H]DSLET). Subsequently, the correlation between ligand binding and low- K m GTPase was investigated. Alkylation with 10 ΜM and 25 ΜM Superfit inactivated 66% and 71% of high-affinity ( K D , 1 n M ) binding sites without decreasing the affinity of the remaining sites and the stimulation of low-. K m GTPase by DSLET. Following exposure of the membranes to 50 ΜM and 75 ΜM Superfit, ligand binding was confined to the low-affinity ( K D , 20 n M ) sites. In these membranes, the Δ-agonists DSLET and [d-Pen 2 ,D-Pen 5 ]enkephalin still stimulated low- K m GTPase, and these effects were blocked by ICI 174864 ( N,N- diallyl-Tyr-AIB-AIB-Phe-Leu-OH; AIB, Α-aminoisobutyric acid), a Δ-selective antagonist. A similar relationship between low-affinity ligand binding and GTPase stimulation was observed following alkylation of the Δ-opioid receptor with the nonselective irreversible antagonist Β-chlomaltrexamine in the presence of protective concentrations of DSLET. The results reveal spare receptor sites in the coupling of the Δ-opioid receptor to low- K m GTPase in brain and identify low-affinity ligand binding as a functional component in the process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65675/1/j.1471-4159.1989.tb01862.x.pd

Variograms of the Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature Fluctuations: Confirmation of Deviations from Statistical Isotropy

The Standard Inflationary model predicts an isotropic distribution of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature fluctuations. Detection of deviations from statistical isotropy would call for a revision of the physics of the early universe. This paper introduces the variogram as a powerful tool to detect and characterize deviations from statistical isotropy in Cosmic Microwave Background maps. Application to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data clearly shows differences between the northern and the southern hemispheres. The sill and range of the northern hemisphere's variogram are lower than those of the southern hemisphere. Moreover the variogram for the northern hemisphere lies outside the 99% c.l. for scales above ten degrees. Differences between the northern and southern hemispheres in the functional dependence of the variogram with the scale can be used as a validation bench mark for proposed anisotropic cosmological models.Comment: submitted to MNRA

College Students and Yik Yak: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study

This study, employing an exploratory mixed-methods approach, explores college students’ use of Yik Yak, a pseudo-anonymous social media platform that allows users to post short messages and engage primarily with other nearby users. Study 1 qualitatively examined student uses and perceptions of the app through 12 in-depth interviews with Yik Yak users. Study 2 conducted a content analysis of yaks (N = 3,905) from 24 colleges and universities to gain a better understanding of the content that students post and engage with inside the app. The combination of qualitative and quantitative findings offers insight into the complex phenomena of Yik Yak in a university setting. Limitations and future directions of research are discussed