The Fixed Wage Puzzle: Why Profit Sharing Is So Hard to Implement

It is well known that profit sharing arrangements Pareto-dominate fixed wage contracts. Share agreements are (far) less than ubiquitous, however. This paper offers a solution of this "fixed wage puzzle“ by adopting a perspective of bounded rationality. We show that share arrangements that fulfill ”plausible“ constraints are not generally acceptable to both firms and unions.Profit Sharing, Share Economy, Remuneration Systems

The Fixed Wage Puzzle : Why Profit Sharing Is So Hard to Implement

It is well known that profit sharing arrangements Pareto-dominate fixed wage contracts. Share agreements are (far) less than ubiquitous, however. This paper offers a solution of this „fixed wage puzzle“ by adopting a perspective of bounded rationality. We show that share arrangements that fulfill „plausible“ constraints are not generally acceptable to both firms and unions.

Testing for Parameter Stability in DSGE Models. The Cases of France, Germany and Spain

We estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model on French, German and Spanish data. The main aim of this paper is to check for the respective sets of parameters that are stable over time, making use of the ESS procedure ( ”Estimate of Set of Stable parameters“) developed by Inoue and Rossi (2011). This new econometric technique allows to address the stability properties of each single parameter in a DSGE model separately. In the case of France and Germany our results point to structural breaks after the beginning of the second stage of EMU in the mid-nineties, while the estimates for Spain show a significant break just before the start of the third stage in 1998. Specifically, there are significant changes in monetary policy behavior for France and Spain, while monetary policy in Germany seems to be stable over time.DSGE; EMU; Monetary Policy; Structural Breaks

Testing for Parameter Stability in DSGE Models. The Cases of France, Germany and Spain

We estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model on French, German and Spanish data. The main aim of this paper is to check for the respective sets of parameters that are stable over time, making use of the ESS procedure (”Estimate of Set of Stable parameters“) developed by Inoue and Rossi (2011). This new econometric technique allows to address the stability properties of each single parameter in a DSGE model separately. In the case of France and Germany our results point to structural breaks after the beginning of the second stage of EMU in the mid-nineties, while the estimates for Spain show a significant break just before the start of the third stage in 1998. Specifically, there are significant changes in monetary policy behavior for France and Spain, while monetary policy in Germany seems to be stable over time.DSGE, monetary policy, EMU, structural breaks

3D microwave cavity with magnetic flux control and enhanced quality factor

Three-dimensional (3D) superconducting microwave cavities with large mode volumes typically have high quality factors ($>10^6$). This is due to a reduced sensitivity to surface dielectric losses, which is the limiting source of dissipation in two-dimensional transmission line resonators. In recent years, 3D microwave cavities have been extensively used for coupling and interacting with superconducting quantum bits (qubits), providing a versatile platform for quantum information processing and hybrid quantum systems. A current issue that has arisen is that 3D superconducting cavities do not permit magnetic field control of qubits embedded in these cavities. In contrast, microwave cavities made of normal metals can be transparent to magnetic fields, but experience a much lower quality factor ($\sim 10^4$), which negates many of the advantages of the 3D architecture. In an attempt to create a device that bridges a gap between these two types of cavities, having magnetic field control and high quality factor, we have created a hybrid 3D cavity. This new cavity is primarily composed of aluminium but also contains a small copper insert. We measured the internal quality factor of the hybrid cavity to be $102000$, which is an order of magnitude improvement over all previously tested copper cavities. An added benefit to that our hybrid cavity possesses is that it also provides an improved thermal link to the sample that superconducting cavities alone cannot provide. In order to demonstrate precise magnetic control within the cavity, we performed spectroscopy of three superconducting qubits placed in the cavity, where individual control of each qubit's frequency was exerted with small wire coils attached to the cavity. A large improvement in quality factor and magnetic field control makes this 3D hybrid cavity an attractive new platform for circuit quantum electrodynamics experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

In situ characterization of qubit control lines: a qubit as a vector network analyzer

We present a technique to measure the transfer function of a control line using a qubit as a vector network analyzer. Our method requires coupling the line under test to the the longitudinal component of the Hamiltonian of the qubit and the ability to induce Rabi oscillations through simultaneous driving of the transversal component. We used this technique to characterize the 'flux' control of a superconducting Transmon qubit in the range of 8 to 400\,MHz. Our method can be used for the qubit 'flux' line calibration to increase the fidelity of entangling gates for the quantum processor. The qubit can be also used as a microscopic probe of the electro-magnetic fields on a chip.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Experiments on Superconducting Qubits Coupled to Resonators = Untersuchung an Resonatoren gekoppelter supraleitender Qubits

In the present thesis, a system to simultaneously measure many superconducting quantum bits using frequency-division multiplexing is developed. The theoretical and experimental foundations are introduced and parallel measurements on up to six qubits are demonstrated

Filtration Apparatus Design for Oil-Water Separation using Membranes and Sponges

It can be difficult to separate water and oil emulsions through traditional filtration. Therefore, investigations of filtering using thermo-responsive (TR) polymers, in this case poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME), was conducted. It’s hypothesized that below its lower critical solution temperature (LCST), PVME has an affinity for water while oil substances do not. Above the LCST the opposite will be true. To verify this hypothesis, iterations of filtration designs were created to provide optimum control over the parameters to measure flow. The final optimized experimental apparatus was a Chromaflex glass column which was air tight and controlled all parameters besides fluid flow. Using membranes and sponges, primarily thin sponge and grade 1 Whatman filter paper with various modifications, it was shown that porosity has a directly proportional effect on the volumetric flow rate. It was further shown that, after PVME modification with 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APTES) as the bonding agent, room temperature water flow rate remained constant or increased while diesel flow rate decreased by at least a third. These changes in flow show that PVME has an affinity for water and not oil at room temperature. More experimentation would need to be conducted to prove the TR behavior above the LCST

Sand im (Arbeits-) Marktgetriebe: Die Analyse von Suchfriktionen

Suchfriktionen; Arbeitsmärkte; Matching-Technologie