Leaf by Leaf: An improved method of describing apple scab infections in field trials using MS Excel

An improved method for the evaluation of Venturia inaequalis infections of apple trees in field trials is proposed. The method takes into account the position of infected leaves on long shoots. A MS Excel worksheet was developed to facilitate the processing of these data. This can be downloaded at http://www.oeon.de/downloads/venturia.zip. We use this worksheet in our field trials and also for our consultancy service to compare different onfarm control strategies

CYCLES, SHOCKS, AND SENTIMENT: REUNIFICATION, REALIGNMENT OF PUBLIC SPENDING AND THE CYCLICAL GROWTH-NATIONAL SPORTING SUCCES NEXUS

This study analyzes the relationship between cyclical growth and national sporting success. The literature attributes this nexus to two channels: pro-cyclical public spending for national sports or a sort of q-driven investment activity induced by national sporting success. To analyze whether such a relationship can be established using German data, we adhere to a primarily descriptive methodology. We examine daily stock market data and macroeconomic time series in annual and quarterly frequency for a relationship between these data and the results of roughly 500 matches played by the German national soccer squad in the period from 1959 to 2004. Our methods of choice are techniques from time series analysis and event study analysis. We are able to establish a nexus in the decades prior to German reunification. This relationship fades in the period after reunification. As a result the nexus for the total period is obscured and asymmetric. For the stock market, it is predominantly a pessimistic market that coincides with losses of the national team. As it is virtually impossible to disentangle the spending channel from q-driven investment effects, we attribute this finding to both disproportionate expectations and a realignment of public spending in the aftermath of reunification.MACROECONOMIC COMOVEMENT, NATIONAL SPORTS, REUNIFICATION

Minimal Supersolutions of BSDEs with Lower Semicontinuous Generators

We study the existence and uniqueness of minimal supersolutions of backward stochastic differential equations with generators that are jointly lower semicontinuous, bounded below by an affine function of the control variable and satisfy a specific normalization property

Minimal supersolutions of convex BSDEs

We study the nonlinear operator of mapping the terminal value $\xi$ to the corresponding minimal supersolution of a backward stochastic differential equation with the generator being monotone in $y$, convex in $z$, jointly lower semicontinuous and bounded below by an affine function of the control variable $z$. We show existence, uniqueness, monotone convergence, Fatou's lemma and lower semicontinuity of this operator. We provide a comparison principle for minimal supersolutions of BSDEs.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOP834 the Annals of Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aop/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Monge extensions of cooperation and communication structures

Cooperation structures without any {\it a priori} assumptions on the combinatorial structure of feasible coalitions are studied and a general theory for mar\-ginal values, cores and convexity is established. The theory is based on the notion of a Monge extension of a general characteristic function, which is equivalent to the Lovász extension in the special situation of a classical cooperative game. It is shown that convexity of a cooperation structure is tantamount to the equality of the associated core and Weber set. Extending Myerson's graph model for game theoretic communication, general communication structures are introduced and it is shown that a notion of supermodularity exists for this class that characterizes convexity and properly extends Shapley's convexity model for classical cooperative games.

Mega-sporting Events as Experience Goods

This paper tests the hypothesis that a nation’s hosting of a mega-sporting event is an experience good for its residents. Applying data from an ex-ante and ex-post query based on contingent valuation methods, we use the Soccer World Cup 2006 as a natural experiment. The significant ex-post increase in valuation is shown to be due to adventitious citizens requiring an involving experience, rather than to an updating of a-prior assessment.Experience goods, contingent valuation method, World Cup

Minimal Supersolutions of Convex BSDEs under Constraints

We study supersolutions of a backward stochastic differential equation, the control processes of which are constrained to be continuous semimartingales of the form $dZ = {\Delta}dt + {\Gamma}dW$. The generator may depend on the decomposition $({\Delta},{\Gamma})$ and is assumed to be positive, jointly convex and lower semicontinuous, and to satisfy a superquadratic growth condition in ${\Delta}$ and ${\Gamma}$. We prove the existence of a supersolution that is minimal at time zero and derive stability properties of the non-linear operator that maps terminal conditions to the time zero value of this minimal supersolution such as monotone convergence, Fatou's lemma and $L^1$-lower semicontinuity. Furthermore, we provide duality results within the present framework and thereby give conditions for the existence of solutions under constraints.Comment: 23 page

Induced Civic Pride and Integration

This paper investigates whether a nation’s contingent value of hosting a mega-event depends on past experience with implied public goods benefits for its residents. Applying data from an ex-ante and ex-post query based on contingent valuation methods, we use the FIFA World Cup 2006 as a natural experiment. The significant ex-post increase in valuation is shown to be due to adventitious citizens requiring an involving experience, rather than to an updating of a prior assessment. The World Cup finals were the first mega-event hosted by reunified Germany. We use this landmark event in German contemporary history to investigate how the integration of the two parts of Germany progressed after 18 years of reunification. We still find a profound difference in clear-sighted civic awareness of East and West German individuals. However, civic pride induced by collective experience can considerably accelerate the convergence of East Germans’ preferences towards those of West Germans, which Alesina and Fuchs-Schündeln (2007) recently calculated to take 20 to 40 years or one and a half generation.experience goods, contingent valuation, civic awareness, German reunification