An Image Based Feature Space and Mapping for Linking Regions and Words

We propose an image based feature space and define a mapping of both image regions and textual labels into that space. We believe the embedding of both image regions and labels into the same space in this way is novel, and makes object recognition more straightforward. Each dimension of the space corresponds to an image from the database. The coordinates of an image segment(region) are calculated based on its distance to the closest segment within each of the images, while the coordinates of a label are generated based on their association with the images. As a result, similar image segments associated with the same objects are clustered together in this feature space, and should also be close to the labels representing the object. The link between image regions and words can be discovered from their separation in the feature space. The algorithm is applied to an image collection and preliminary results are encouraging

Environmental policy competition and differential tax treatment; a case for tighter coordination?

The Kyoto Protocol binds the level of greenhouse gas emissions in participating countries. It does not, however, dictate how the countries are to achieve this level. The economic costs of reaching emission targets are generally evaluated to be low. For example, evaluations with applied general-equilibrium models estimate the costs to be in the range of 0.2% to 0.5% of GDP, when international trade in emissions rights among governments is allowed for. We argue that important costs are overlooked since governments have an incentive to choose highly distorting tax schemes. This paper shows that governments generally choose different energy tax rates for households and for internationally operating firms as the result of tax competition or pollution competition: in the first case, governments try to undercut other governments to attract firms to their country, whereas in the second, they try to push dirty industries across the border. In both cases, the incentive for firms and households to use or save energy is different at the margin. Both cases call for coordination of climate change policies that goes beyond a binding ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions and international trade in permit rights among governments alone.

Reducing the administrative burden in the European Union

The Netherlands wants to reduce the administrative burden for businesses between 2003 and 2007 with a quarter. With the aid of the so called Standard Cost Model, the burden is estimated to amount to 16.4 billion euro in 2002. This is about 3.6 % of the Dutch gross domestic product (GDP). However, a significant part of the administrative burden, over 40% of the total, is the direct result of international, mainly European legislation. This makes the reduction of the administrative burden a European issue. Besides, a reduction in one member state may affect the economies in other member states. This memorandum considers the direct and indirect effects of reducing the administrative burden on firms. Reducing the burden is expected among other things to boost investment, adding to the increase in production and labour productivity. For an individual country a unilateral reduction probably has different effects than a reduction that is part of a co-ordinated, European effort to scale down the administrative burden of government regulations. To assess the indirect effects, within the economy of the European Union and between European economies, we employ the CPBÂ’s general-equilibrium model WorldScan, which simultaneously takes account of the different product and factor markets in the world economy and which models many European economies in detail. The Netherlands is one of the very few countries, which currently has detailed information on the administrative burden of government regulations. Therefore, we assume that the key figures for the Netherlands also hold for the other member states of the European Union. This assumption implies that for the whole European Union an administrative burden exists of 340 billion euro in 2002. Better data for other member states are needed to arrive at a complete assessment of direct and indirect effects.

Pion-Nucleon Scattering at Low Energies

We study pion-nucleon scattering at tree level with a chiral lagrangian of pions, nucleons, and $\Delta$-isobars using a K-matrix unitarization procedure. Evaluating the scattering amplitude to order $Q^2$, where $Q$ is a generic small momentum scale, we obtain a good fit to the experimental phase shifts for pion center-of-mass kinetic energies up to $50$MeV. The fit can be extended to 150 MeV when we include the order-$Q^3$ contributions. Our results are independent of the off-shell $\Delta$ parameter.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, Two tables and two figures, Minor changes, To appear in PR

Four futures of Europe

Europe is at a crossroads. The enlargement with ten new members forces the European Union to reform its decision making process and to reconsider its policies. At the same time, developments such as ageing force EU member states to reform their welfare states. Read also the accompanying press release .Where will this bring the European Union and its members states ten or twenty years from now? And how should policy makers deal with this uncertainty when deciding about policies with long-lasting consequences? This study develops four scenarios on the future of Europe. They serve as tools for analysing these questions. Moreover, the study elaborates on the policy agenda of international organisations and European governments in response to the various challenges during the next two decades.