A new theory for tropical instability waves

Large-scale westward propagating waves, so-called "Legeckis" or "Tropical Instabil- ity Waves", are a prominent feature of sea surface temperature images of the equatorial Pacific. Our analyses of satellite altimetry data and long-term moorings reveals that the Legeckis waves can be interpreted as a superposition of two distinct wave modes, a first equatorial Rossby wave and a Rossby-gravity wave. We present evidence that the energy sources for both waves are the mean currents. Our results imply that Legeckis waves can be explained within the framework of linear equatorial waves

Financing a portfolio of projects

This article shows that investors financing a portfolio of projects may use the depth of their financial pockets to overcome entrepreneurial incentive problems. Competition for scarce informed capital at the refinancing stage strengthens investors’ bargaining positions. And yet, entrepreneurs’ incentives may be improved, because projects funded by investors with ‘‘shallow pockets’’ must have not only a positive net present value at the refinancing stage, but one that is higher than that of competing portfolio projects. Our article may help understand provisions used in venture capital finance that limit a fund’s initial capital and make it difficult to add more capital once the initial venture capital fund is raised. (JEL G24, G31

Financing a portfolio of projects

This paper shows that investors financing a portfolio of projects may use the depth of their financial pockets to overcome entrepreneurial incentive problems. Competition for scarce informed capital at the refinancing stage strengthens investors’ bargaining positions. And yet, entrepreneurs’ incentives may be improved, because projects funded by investors with “shallow pockets” must have not only a positive net present value at the refinancing stage, but one that is higher than that of competing portfolio projects. Our paper may help to understand provisions used in venture capital finance that limit a fund’s initial capital and make it difficult to add more capital once the initial venture capital fund is raised

Performance of Particle Flow Calorimetry at CLIC

The particle flow approach to calorimetry can provide unprecedented jet energy resolution at a future high energy collider, such as the International Linear Collider (ILC). However, the use of particle flow calorimetry at the proposed multi-TeV Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) poses a number of significant new challenges. At higher jet energies, detector occupancies increase, and it becomes increasingly difficult to resolve energy deposits from individual particles. The experimental conditions at CLIC are also significantly more challenging than those at previous electron-positron colliders, with increased levels of beam-induced backgrounds combined with a bunch spacing of only 0.5 ns. This paper describes the modifications made to the PandoraPFA particle flow algorithm to improve the jet energy reconstruction for jet energies above 250 GeV. It then introduces a combination of timing and p_T cuts that can be applied to reconstructed particles in order to significantly reduce the background. A systematic study is performed to understand the dependence of the jet energy resolution on the jet energy and angle, and the physics performance is assessed via a study of the energy and mass resolution of W and Z particles in the presence of background at CLIC. Finally, the missing transverse momentum resolution is presented, and the fake missing momentum is quantified. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that high granularity particle flow calorimetry leads to a robust and high resolution reconstruction of jet energies and di-jet masses at CLIC.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Outside Powers: The Moral Economy of Anti-Financial Movements 1870-1930 and Today

This article discusses if European societies witness a "new Polanyian moment," in which a period of austerity and currency turmoil will be answered by conservative or authoritarian counter-movements, as happened in the first half of the 20th century. In order to analyze when and how critique that aims at social change is rooted in anti-liberal ideology, we analyze the moral economy of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement and compare it to anti-financial protest in the late 19th and early 20th century in Germany and the UK. We argue that public statements by OWS groups and their supporters reproduce two major elements of 19th century moral economy of financial protest: First, a description of finance as something external and hostile to the traditional socio-cultural community of production. Second, the image that financial interests are likely to capture political power. Beyond these continuities, we argue that today the dichotomy between "cosmopolitan finance" and the "productive national community" is much less clearly connected to sectoral, socio-economic, or ethnic cleavages. Instead, financial outsiders are perceived as having removed themselves voluntarily from the community in order to gain profits. Still, we conclude that because of the semantic similarities between past and recent anti-finance protest, right-wing populism in Europe may not necessarily be weakened by popular anti-austerity protests

Kunstbibliotheken in Regionalverbünden?

Monika Münnich zeigt in Ihrem Beitrag an Hand von 5 Thesen die Vorteile der Mitarbeit von Kunstbibliotheken in Regionalverbünden auf. Grundtenor ist, dass die Einbindung in den technologischen Fortschritt und in internationale Entwicklungen nicht in Einzellösungen sondern nur über Verbundsysteme erreichbar ist

Interest-Seeking as Sense-Making: Ideas and Business Interests in the New Deal

This article addresses the question of how ideas and interests can be linked in policy analysis. The juxtaposition of the two concepts is criticized from a sociological point of view. Instead, ideas are a substantial element of interest formation. Cognitive and normative worldviews shape the transformation of objective socio-economic positions into subjective, situational action orientations. Interests can be traced back to the interplay between structural positions, situational problems and their idea-based interpretation. It is then shown how these conceptual arguments can bring forward a prominent debate in welfare state analysis: the role of business in the emergence of the American welfare state in the New Deal. While struggling with the question whether the supportive role of some business leaders in the Social Security Act of 1935 reveals substantial interest changes or strategical adaption, both sides of the debate suffer from an objectivist concept of interest. This one-sided concept of interest comes at the cost of leaving open the question of why business interests changed in the direction of unemployment insurance and not in the direction of other feasible institutional options such as price regulation or public works. These options would also have provided a solution to the problem American employers were facing. Analysis of social reform discourses between 1911 and 1935 shows that the partial reorientation of business people cannot be sufficiently explained without taking into account the growing legitimacy of liberal- corporatist ideas among employers in the 1920s.Comment l’analyse d’une politique peut-elle combiner la prise en compte du volet idéologique et des intérêts en jeu ? La sociologie accepte mal la juxtaposition des deux notions. Pourtant la transformation des positions socio-économiques objectives en orientations subjectives de l’action en situation résulte bien d’une combinaison des visions cognitive et normative. On peut remonter des intérêts au croisement entre positions structurelles, enjeux situés et interprétations idéologiques. On prend ici le débat américain, exemplaire pour le rôle du monde des affaires, au sujet du welfare state à l’époque du New Deal. L’examen de l’appui apporté par certains leaders du grand patronat au Social Security Act de 1935 révèle de substantiels changements dans la vision des intérêts, ou bien une adaptation stratégique. Cependant les deux camps opposés restent attachés à une définition objectiviste de l’intérêt. Or des options autres que l’assurance chômage auraient été possibles : encadrement des prix ou programme de grands travaux. L’analyse des textes produits entre 1911 et 1935 montre que la reformulation partielle opérée par le patronat exige de prendre en compte la légitimation croissante du modèle libéral-corporatiste au cours des années 1920.Dieser Artikel kritisiert aus soziologischer Sicht die häufig beobachtbare Entgegensetzung von Ideen aus Interessen. Ideen sind vielmehr ein Bestandteil der Interessenformierung. Interessen basieren auf einem Zusammenspiel von drei Faktoren: Der strukturellen sozialen Position des Handelnden, dem situativen Handlungskontext und den verfügbaren Ideen, mit deren Hilfe der Akteur seine Ziele definiert und konkretisiert. Im zweiten Teil wird gezeigt, dass ein solches erweitertes Interessenkonzept dabei helfen kann, die viel umstrittene Rolle der Arbeitgeber in der Entstehung des amerikanischen Wohlfahrtsstaates zu verstehen. In der Diskussion, ob die Unterstützung einiger Unternehmer für die Arbeitslosenversicherung im Social Security Act von 1935 substantiell oder strategisch gewesen ist, arbeiten beide Seiten mit einem objektivistisch verkürzten Interessenbegriff. Dabei gerät aus dem Blick warum die Interessen der Unternehmer sich in Richtung der Arbeitslosenversicherung bewegten und nicht in eine der anderen Policy-Optionen. Eine Analyse der sozialreformerischen Diskurse zwischen 1911 und 1935 zeigt, dass die partielle Neuorientierung der amerikanischen Unternehmer nicht hinreichend erklärt werden kann ohne die wachsende Legitimation eines liberal-korporatistischen Weltbildes einzubeziehen

Syria Past and Present

The internal situation in Syria during the first four years of conflict resembles a kaleidoscope showing a different picture every minute. Individual elements keep changing their places, some lose their meaning, others take more space, some disappear completely, and new ones take their place. Perhaps this view does not change from day to day, but it surely changes from month to month, and an inexperienced observer may soon be lost in the mass of new information and changing names. The present text aims to present a short review of the situation during the Syrian civil war. The present conflict has its roots deep in the past and in order to understand it one needs to go back in time and describe – even if superficially – the history of Syria since it gained its independence. Its earlier history is, of course, also fascinating, yet if one does not want to be forced to write a book on the five thousand years of Syrian history, it seems fitting to refer the reader to other works on the subject. Therefore, the first part of the present draft will focus on the historical background of the current conflict, and the second part will concern the course of the conflict since its outbreak in 2011 through July 2015