Information Disclosure in Open Non-Binding Procurement Auctions: an Empirical Study

The outcome of non-binding reverse auctions critically depends on how information is distributed during the bidding process. We use data from a large European procurement platform to study the impact of different information structures, specifically the availability of quality information to the bidders, on buyers' welfare and turnover of the platform. First we show that on the procurement platform considered bidders indeed are aware of their rivals' characteristics and the buyers preferences over those non-price characteristics. In a counterfactual analysis we then analyze the reduction of non-price information available to the bidders. As we find, platform turnovers in the period considered would decrease by around 30%, and the buyers' welfare would increase by the monetary equivalent of around 45% of turnover of the platform

Transparency in Buyer-Determined Auctions: Should Quality be Private or Public?

We study non-binding procurement auctions where both price and non-price characteristics of bidders matter for being awarded a contract. The outcome of such auctions critically depends on how information is distributed among bidders during the bidding process. As we show theoretically, whether it is in the buyer's interest to conceal or to disclose non-price information most importantly depends on how important the quality aspects of the good to be procured are to the buyer: The more important the quality aspects are to the buyer, the more interesting concealment becomes. We then empirically study the impact of a change in the information structure using data from a large European online procurement platform for different categories of goods. In a counterfactual analysis we analyze the reduction of non-price information available to the bidders. In the data we find that the choice of information structure indeed matters. Confirming the hypothesis obtained in our theoretical framework, we find that in auction categories where bidders' non-price characteristics are of little importance for the decisions of the buyers, concealment of non-price information decreases buyers' welfare by up to 6% due to reduced competitive pressure leading to higher bids. In contrast, for categories where bidders' non-price characteristics strongly influence buyers' decisions concealment of non-price information increases buyers' welfare by up to 15%

Exploring the Opaqueness of the Patent System - Evidence from a Natural Experiment

One of the objectives of patent systems is to disclose information which other agents can build on in further inventions and in their decision-making. While some observers take it as given that real-world patent systems serve this objective, we argue in this article that patent systems are highly opaque and likely to be of limited value as a source of information. We use data from a natural experiment to explore this issue. Requests for accelerated examination used to be publicly observable at the European Patent Office (EPO). Starting in December 2001, the EPO started to treat these requests as confidential information. Using data on acceleration requests which were historically known only to the applicant and the EPO, and later provided to us, we test whether the change in the information regime impacted the actions of applicants and their rivals. We develop a theoretical model of acceleration requests and patent opposition to identify the extent to which the patent system is opaque. We confirm empirically that opposition and acceleration rates of high-value patents change significantly in most technological areas once acceleration requests become unobservable. We interpret these results as evidence that the system is highly opaque in many fields

Substrate engineering for high quality emission of free and localized excitons from atomic monolayers in hybrid architectures

We acknowledge financial support by the State of Bavaria and the European Research Council (Project Unlimit-2D).Atomic monolayers represent a novel class of materials to study localized and free excitons in two dimensions and to engineer optoelectronic devices based on their significant optical response. Here, we investigate the role of the substrate on the photoluminescense response of MoSe2 and WSe2 monolayers exfoliated either on SiO2 or epitaxially grown InGaP substrates. In the case of MoSe2, we observe a significant qualitative modification of the emission spectrum, which is widely dominated by the trion resonance on InGaP substrates. However, the effects of inhomogeneous broadening of the emission features are strongly reduced. Even more strikingly, in sheets of WSe2, we could routinely observe emission lines from localized excitons with linewidths down to the resolution limit of 70 μeV. This is in stark contrast to reference samples featuring WSe2 monolayers on SiO2 surfaces, where the emission spectra from localized defects are widely dominated by spectral diffusion and blinking behaviour. Our experiment outlines the enormous potential of III-V-monolayer hybrid architectures to obtain high quality emission signals from atomic monolayers, which are straight forward to integrate into nanophotonic and integrated optoelectronic devices.PostprintPeer reviewe

Receiving thank you letters in inpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS):a qualitative study of nurse’s experiences

Introduction: Previous research has found that nurses in inpatient CAMHS can struggle to define their role and contribution to patient care. While gratitude has received increased attention in relation to subjective well‐being in healthcare settings, the receipt of gratitude in the form of thank you letters is currently unexplored in the CAMHS context.Aim/Question: To gain an understanding of how inpatient CAMHS nursing staff experience receiving expressions of gratitude from patients.Method: Adopting an exploratory qualitative approach, two focus group interviews were conducted. Participants completed a brief online follow‐up questionnaire. Data were examined using thematic analysis. Results: Reflecting on expressions of gratitude improved understanding of professional identity, enhanced reflexivity, enhanced team cohesion and increased professional and personal confidence and motivation.Discussion: Expressions of gratitude appear to offer meaningful sources of feedback for nurses and support a greater sense of personal accomplishment, professional role and the relational impact of care for patients. When nurses share and discuss expressions of gratitude with colleagues this brings benefits additional to the initial receipt. Implications for Mental Health Nursing: Nurses should be supported to engage in discussing and reflecting upon receiving thank you letters and other tokens of gratitude although care should be taken to support those who might experience unease or increased self‐doubt

Performance evaluation of closed-loop logistics systems with generally distributed service times

The performance evaluation of hospital logistics is becoming more and more important to guarantee efficient services in health establishments. Therefore, we propose a new discrete-time approach for the steady-state analysis of closed-loop queueing systems with arbitrary topology and generally distributed service times. Based on a finite Markov chain, it is possible to compute the complete cycle time distribution of service systems with a population constraint. In addition, the distribution of the number of customers at each service station can be obtained. The method is applied to the analysis of a sterilization process of medical devices. To verify the method, we compare the results of our discrete-time approach to the results that are obtained by a simulation model

Power-to-Syngas: A Parareal Optimal Control Approach

A chemical plant layout for the production of syngas from renewable power, H2O and biogas, is presented to ensure a steady productivity of syngas with a constant H2-to-CO ratio under time-dependent electricity provision. An electrolyzer supplies H2 to the reverse water-gas shift reactor. The system compensates for a drop in electricity supply by gradually operating a tri-reforming reactor, fed with pure O2 directly from the electrolyzer or from an intermediate generic buffering device. After the introduction of modeling assumptions and governing equations, suitable reactor parameters are identified. Finally, two optimal control problems are investigated, where computationally expensive model evaluations are lifted viaparareal and necessary objective derivatives are calculated via the continuous adjoint method. For the first time, modeling, simulation, and optimal control are applied to a combination of the reverse water-gas shift and tri-reforming reactor, exploring a promising pathway in the conversion of renewable power into chemicals

Spatiotemporal Pattern of Neuroinflammation After Impact-Acceleration Closed Head Injury in the Rat

Inflammatory processes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of traumatic brain damage. We analyzed the spatiotemporal expression pattern of the proinflammatory key molecules: interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and inducible nitric oxide synthase in a rat closed head injury (CHI) paradigm. 51 rats were used for RT-PCR analysis after CHI, and 18 for immunocytochemistry. We found an early upregulation of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA between 1 h and 7 h after injury; the expression of iNOS mRNA only revealed a significant increase at 4 h. After 24 h, the expression decreased towards baseline levels, and remained low until 7 d after injury. Immunocytochemically, IL-1β induction was localized to ramified microglia in areas surrounding the primary impact place as well as deeper brain structures. Our study shows rapid induction of inflammatory gene expression that exceeds by far the primary impact site and might therefore contribute to tissue damage at remote sites