Differential equations associated to Families of Algebraic Cycles

We develop a theory of differential equations associated to families of algebraic cycles in higher Chow groups (i.e., motivic cohomology groups). This formalism is related to inhomogeneous Picard--Fuchs type differential equations. For families of K3 surfaces the corresponding non-linear ODE turns out to be symilar to Chazy's equation.Comment: 8 pages. Final version. To be published in Annales de l'Institute Fourie

Housing regimes and residualization of the subsidized rental sector in Europe 2005-2016

Residualization refers to the process whereby publicly subsidized rental housing moves towards a position in which it provides only a safety net for low-income households. In this paper we quantify residualization based on the income profile of households in the below market rates (BMR) rental sector. Various residualization indicators for 12 European countries from EU-SILC data are calculated. First, we explore the effect of the size of the BMR sector and the cost of alternative tenure types on residualization. Second, we investigate if there are similar trends of residualization from 2005 to 2016. We find that decreases in the share of the BMR sector are associated with significant increases in residualization. Increases in rent differences between the BMR and market rate rental sector are related to larger degrees of residualization. We further observe a rising level of residualization for most countries. However, countries with allocation systems that aim at broader income groups still display the lowest degree of residualization

An interior-point method for mpecs based on strictly feasible relaxations.

An interior-point method for solving mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPECs) is proposed. At each iteration of the algorithm, a single primaldual step is computed from each subproblem of a sequence. Each subproblem is defined as a relaxation of the MPEC with a nonempty strictly feasible region. In contrast to previous approaches, the proposed relaxation scheme preserves the nonempty strict feasibility of each subproblem even in the limit. Local and superlinear convergence of the algorithm is proved even with a less restrictive strict complementarity condition than the standard one. Moreover, mechanisms for inducing global convergence in practice are proposed. Numerical results on the MacMPEC test problem set demonstrate the fast-local convergence properties of the algorithm

Time dependent transport phenomena

The aim of this review is to give a pedagogical introduction to our recently proposed ab initio theory of quantum transport.Comment: 28 pages, 18 figure

Kritische Ereignisse und private Überschuldung. Eine quantitative Betrachtung des Zusammenhangs

Es wird untersucht, ob kritische Ereignisse (z. B. Arbeitslosigkeit) bzw. ein durch kritische Ereignisse ausgelöster finanzieller Schock die Überschuldungswahrscheinlichkeit privater Haushalte signifikant erhöhen (Schockthese). Weiters wird getestet, ob der Effekt kritischer Ereignisse durch kostensparende Handlungen abgeschwächt werden kann (Copingthese) bzw. von der finanziellen und sozialen Ausgangssituation beeinflusst ist (Vulnerabilitätsthese). Datengrundlage sind österreichische Befragungsdaten (ECHP 1995 bis 2001; EU-SILC 2004 bis 2008), auf Basis derer Panel-Regressionsmodelle geschätzt werden. Für die untersuchten kritischen Ereignisse kann kein direkter Effekt auf die Überschuldungswahrscheinlichkeit nachgewiesen werden; sehr wohl aber wirkt sich ein finanzieller Schock signifikant aus. Die Evidenz für eine Gültigkeit der Copingthese ist schwach, aber auch nach Kontrolle unbeobachteter, zeitkonstanter Faktoren stabil. Schätzungen zur Überprüfung der Vulnerabilitätsthese zeigen je nach verwendetem Vulnerabilitätsindikator unterschiedliche Ergebnisse. Die Befunde unterstreichen die Komplexität des Entstehungszusammenhanges: Überschuldung kann weder ausschließlich auf das Konsumverhalten bzw. Kosten-Nutzen-Erwägungen der Haushalte, noch ausschließlich auf exogene Schocks zurückgeführt werden

Housing and health

Deprived housing conditions have long been recognized as a source of poor health. Never- theless, there is scant empirical evidence of a causal relationship between housing and health. The literature identifies two different pathways by which housing deprivation affects health, namely, neighborhood effects and the effects of the individual dwelling unit. However, a joint examination of both pathways is absent from the literature. Moreover, endogeneity is a substantial concern in analyses of these two problems. Thus far, studies addressing endogeneity concerns have done so through experimental design or instrumental variables. While the first approach suffers from problems of external validity, we demonstrate the sub- stantial diffculty in identifying robust and reliable instruments for the latter. Consequently, we adopt an alternative strategy to identify the causal effects of housing on health in 21 European countries by estimating fixed-effect models and considering both sources of endo- geneity, neighborhoods and dwellings. Furthermore, using the panel dimension of our data, we reveal the accumulation dynamics of poor housing conditions. Our results indicate that living in poor housing is the chief socioeconomic determinant of health over the four-year observation period and that bad housing is a decisive, causal transmission pathway by which socioeconomic status affects health

Over-indebtedness in Europe: The relevance of country-level variables for the over-indebtedness of private households

So far, research on the causes of over-indebtedness in Europe has predominantly focused on the characteristics of individuals or households. This article investigates to what extent country-level factors are associated with a European household's risk of being over-indebted. We examine variables that reflect policies aimed at combating over-indebtedness (the average level of economic literacy prevalent within a country and its classification into a specific debt-discharge regime) and variables that reflect other welfare-state policies (a country's affiliation to a specific employment regime and a summary measure referring to the net replacement rate in the case of long-term unemployment). The results, which are based on multilevel logistic regression analyses of European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data for 27 European countries, suggest that all four country-level factors matter. This particularly applies to the variables reflecting other welfare-state policies, thus underlining the relevance of the design of social policy in fighting over-indebtedness

What did you really earn last year?: explaining measurement error in survey income data

The paper analyses the sources of income measurement error in surveys with a unique data set. We use the Austrian 2008-2011 waves of the European Union "Statistics on income and living conditions" survey which provide individual information on wages, pensions and unemployment benefits from survey interviews and officially linked administrative records. Thus, we do not have to fall back on complex two-sample matching procedures like related studies. We empirically investigate four sources of measurement error, namely social desirabil- ity, sociodemographic characteristics of the respondent, the survey design and the presence of learning effects. We find strong evidence for a social desirability bias in income reporting, whereas the presence of learning effects is mixed and depends on the type of income under consideration. An Owen value decomposition reveals that social desirability is a major expla- nation of misreporting in wages and pensions, whereas sociodemographic characteristics are most relevant for mismatches in unemployment benefits