6,488 research outputs found
Institutional Aspects of Regional Policy: The Impact of Centralized vs. Decentralized Responsibilities in the Field of Regional Policy on Economic Efficiency and Interregional Cohesion
Regional policy has â in general â the intention to supporting the efforts of regions with development problems to overcome their current problems and to stimulate an increase in regional economic growth. If the regional policy measures by a jurisdiction are successful, there will be a tendency towards more economic convergence between the various regions within that jurisdiction, with the result of a higher degree of cohesion between these regions, than in a state without regional policy. There are many studies on evaluating the impact of different instruments of regional policy on cohesion. But there are only few investigations so far into the institutional framework of these instruments. One institutional aspect has become more and more relevant in public discussions during the last few years: In federations (e. g. in the EU), there is in general not only one jurisdiction responsible for regional policy, but two, three or even more levels of government; the responsibilities (or: competences) are fragmentated between these levels. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the impact of the allocation of competences in the field of regional policy on the outcome (interregional cohesion) and on the costs (economic efficiency) of regional policy. The analysis is based on the Theory of Fiscal Federalism, including the Economic Theory of Intergovernmental Grants. All the possible more central or more decentral arrangements of regional policy are located between two polar cases: At one pole, we have an arrangement where only the central level of government (e. g. the EU level) is responsible for regional policy; neither any subcentral unit of government (e. g. at the member state level in the EU), nor the regions which are to be supported (the less developed regions) have any influence for deciding on the implementation of regional policy instruments, and only the central government has to finance regional policy with its own resources. At the other pole, we find an arrangement where only the subcentral units of government and the less developed regions themselves are deciding on regional policy and are responsible for financing. In connection with financing, different categories of grants in aid may be applied. In addition, the arrangements may differ from each other because of different institutions for controlling the activities of the lower levels. The main hypothesis is, that a more decentralized institutional arrangement is not in general more efficient and effective than a more centralized arrangement; but â as compared to the status quo in Europe â a more decentralized arrangement for some public responsibilities would lead to better results in the field of regional policy. Central questions to be answered are: Have subcentral governments (as compared to central units of government) a tendency for neglecting their subregions with development problems? What is the impact of information costs and asymmetrical information on the choice of the level of government for certain (sub-) responsibilities? To which degree is the central influence stimulating â or: paralyzing â the initiative of the regions which are to be supported?
A mean spherical model for soft potentials: The hard core revealed as a perturbation
The mean spherical approximation for fluids is extended to treat the case of dense systems interacting via soft-potentials. The extension takes the form of a generalized statement concerning the behavior of the direct correlation function c(r) and radial distribution g(r). From a detailed analysis that views the hard core portion of a potential as a perturbation on the whole, a specific model is proposed which possesses analytic solutions for both Coulomb and Yukawa potentials, in addition to certain other remarkable properties. A variational principle for the model leads to a relatively simple method for obtaining numerical solutions
Minimum Detection Efficiencies for a Loophole-Free Bell-type Test
We discuss the problem of finding the most favorable conditions for closing
the detection loophole in a test of local realism with a Bell inequality. For a
generic non-maximally entangled two-qubit state and two alternative measurement
bases we apply Hardy's proof of non-locality without inequality and derive an
Eberhard-like inequality. For an infinity of non-maximally entangled states we
find that it is possible to refute local realism by requiring perfect detection
efficiency for only one of the two measurements: the test is free from the
detection loophole for any value of the detection efficiency corresponding to
the other measurement. The maximum tolerable noise in a loophole-free test is
also evaluated.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Is There a Way for Old Industrial Districts to Become Attractive for Cultural Industry? The Case of Media Businesses in Halle (Saale), Germany
manufacturing have collapsed are trying to stimulate entrepreneurial activities of businesses in the cultural industry. The question is whether this strategy could be successful. This article examines the strategy of supporting the sector of Media Industry (´MI´) by policy makers in the region of Halle in East Germany, where a strong de-industrialization has taken place after the German reunification. Stimulated by the policy makersâ support measures, there actually was a remarkable development of MI. However, the number of MI firms and their employees did not further increase in recent years, after having reached a certain level. This illustrates the limits of political measures for turning a cityâs path of industrial development voluntarily.media industry, cultural industry, business development, urban development, location factors
How Government Cares for Urban Economic Growth: the Impact of Different Fiscal Grant Schedules in the German Federal States on the Development of Urban Areas
In recent years, in the public discussion on (regional) economic policy, the importance of urban districts or cities for regional and for national economic growth has been strongly emphasized. It is an usual assumption that agglomeration economies may be found inside urban areas. For making best use of agglomeration economies, there have been proposals for changing the traditional scheme of regional policy from an orientation on "interregional equalizationââŹĹ and "aid" for the regions lagging behindââŹĹ towards support for the strongestââŹĹ and "stimulating economic growth conditions in urban areasââŹĹ. The paper has the intention to bring more light into the question how a countryâs government could efficiently support the economic conditions in larger cities or urban areas. There are of course several instruments for this. One quite common instrument in most countries are the Systems for Local Fiscal Equalization (LFE), by which the national (federal) government or the states (within federations) are allocating different categories of grants in aid to the local level of government. As the LFE-systems differ strongly not only between different countries, but also between the states within a country, it seems necessary to focus on some countries or even on some states within a country. As a first approach to analyse the existing LFE-rules, this paper is concentrating on the conditions in six selected German states. For this sample, the paper is analyzing the current fiscal position of urban areas within the federal states (or Lander) of Germany and is trying to give some first answers to the following questions: Do some states care more than other states for urban areas? What is the institutional setting for spending state money for urban areas: Are the grants per capita higher for the more agglomerated urban areas? Have the grants the potential to stimulate urĂÂŹban growth â or are they supporting public functions without positive impacts on the economy? How are the urban centres compensated for their function as central places? The analysis is done on the basis of the statesâ rules on LFE, in the sense of an ex-ante evaluation of these rules, by classifying the rules according to their incidence (in favor or against urban centers). It is shown that there are quite different ways for a state to allocate grants in favour of the cities. There is an enormous lack of transparency in the LFE-systems of all states in the sample. The impression is that the LFE-rules are not trying, so far, to support the cities and their ecoĂÂŹnoĂÂŹmic performance consistently. In some states, shrinking cities and cities with special problems (e. g. with a high number of welfare recipients) could be to some extent even in a better fiscal position than cities with economic growth and growth potentials.
Orbital order, stacking defects and spin-fluctuations in the -electron molecular solid RbO
We examine magnon and orbiton behavior in localized O anti-bonding
molecular orbitals using an effective Kugel-Khomskii Hamiltonian
derived from a two band Hubbard model with hopping parameters taken from {\em
ab initio} density functional calculations. The considerable difference between
intraband and interband hoppings leads to a strong coupling between the spin
wave dispersion and the orbital ground state, providing a straightforward way
of experimentally determining the orbital ground state from the measured magnon
dispersion. The near degeneracy of different orbital ordered states leads to
stacking defects which further modulate spin-fluctuation spectra. Proliferation
of orbital domains disrupts long-range magnetic order, thus causing a
significant reduction in the observed N\'eel temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
The Higgs portal and an unified model for dark energy and dark matter
We examine a scenario where the Higgs boson is coupled to an additional
singlet scalar field which we identify with a quintessence field. We show that
this results in an unified picture of dark matter and dark energy, where dark
energy is the zero-mode classical field rolling the usual quintessence
potential and the dark matter candidate is the quantum excitation (particle) of
the field, which is produced in the universe due to its coupling to the Higgs
boson.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. New references and acknowledgment adde
Selective-pivot sampling of radial distribution functions in asymmetric liquid mixtures
We present a Monte Carlo algorithm for selectively sampling radial
distribution functions and effective interaction potentials in asymmetric
liquid mixtures. We demonstrate its efficiency for hard-sphere mixtures, and
for model systems with more general interactions, and compare our simulations
with several analytical approximations. For interaction potentials containing a
hard-sphere contribution, the algorithm yields the contact value of the radial
distribution function.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Coherence of a qubit stored in Zeeman levels of a single optically trapped atom
We experimentally investigate the coherence properties of a qubit stored in
the Zeeman substates of the 5S1/2, F=1 hyperfine ground level of a single
optically trapped Rb-87 atom. Larmor precession of a single atomic spin-1
system is observed by preparing the atom in a defined initial spin-state and
then measuring the resulting state after a programmable period of free
evolution. Additionally, by performing quantum state tomography, maximum
knowledge about the spin coherence is gathered. By using an active magnetic
field stabilization and without application of a magnetic guiding field we
achieve transverse and longitudinal dephasing times of T2*=75..150 \mus and
T1>0.5 ms respectively. We derive the light-shift distribution of a single atom
in the approximately harmonic potential of a dipole trap and show that the
measured atomic spin coherence is limited mainly by residual position- and
state-dependent effects in the optical trapping potential. The improved
understanding enables longer coherence times, an important prerequisite for
future applications in long-distance quantum communication and computation with
atoms in optical lattices or for a loophole-free test of Bell's inequality.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
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