14,617 research outputs found
Unemployment equilibrium and economic policy in mixed markets
This paper considers a simple static Cournot-Nash model of an exchange economy with two productive sectors at flexible prices and wages. The traders in the atomless sector are price-takers, while the atoms behave strategically. We focus on the consequences of strategic interactions on the market outcome. Firstly, strategic interactions create underemployment on the labor market. Secondly, when the number of atoms increases without limit, the underemployment equilibrium coincides with the competitive equilibrium. Thirdly, we compare the welfare reached by traders at both equilibria. Fourthly, we consider the implementation of a tax levied on strategic supplies. Finally, we compare the approach retained with the usual monopolistic competition framework.
Local matching indicators for transport with concave costs
In this note, we introduce a class of indicators that enable to compute
efficiently optimal transport plans associated to arbitrary distributions of
demands and supplies in in the case where the cost
function is concave. The computational cost of these indicators is small and
independent of . A hierarchical use of them enables to obtain an efficient
algorithm
What do WMAP and SDSS really tell about inflation?
We derive new constraints on the Hubble function H(phi) and subsequently on
the inflationary potential V(phi) from WMAP 3-year data combined with the Sloan
Luminous Red Galaxy survey (SDSS-LRG), using a new methodology which appears to
be more generic, conservative and model-independent than in most of the recent
literature, since it depends neither on the slow-roll approximation, nor on any
extrapolation scheme for the potential beyond the observable e-fold range, nor
on additional assumptions about initial conditions for the inflaton velocity.
This last feature represents the main improvement of this work, and is made
possible by the reconstruction of H(phi) prior to V(phi). Our results only rely
on the assumption that within the observable range, corresponding to ~ 10
e-folds, inflation is not interrupted and the function H(phi) is smooth enough
for being Taylor-expanded at order one, two or three. We conclude that the
variety of potentials allowed by the data is still large. However, it is clear
that the first two slow-roll parameters are really small while the validity of
the slow-roll expansion beyond them is not established.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Numerical module available at
http://wwwlapp.in2p3.fr/~valkenbu/inflationH/ . References added, discussion
expande
The phase of ongoing EEG oscillations predicts visual perception
Oscillations are ubiquitous in electrical recordings of brain activity. While the amplitude of ongoing oscillatory activity is known to
correlate with various aspects of perception, the influence of oscillatory phase on perception remains unknown. In particular, since phase varies on a much faster timescale than the more sluggish amplitude fluctuations, phase effects could reveal the fine-grained neural mechanisms underlying perception. We presented brief flashes of light at the individual luminance threshold while EEG was recorded.
Although the stimulus on each trial was identical, subjects detected approximately half of the flashes (hits) and entirely missed the other
half (misses). Phase distributions across trials were compared between hits and misses. We found that shortly before stimulus onset, each of the two distributions exhibited significant phase concentration, but at different phase angles. This effect was strongest in the theta and alpha frequency bands. In this timeâfrequency range, oscillatory phase accounted for at least 16% of variability in detection performance and allowed the prediction of performance on the single-trial level. This finding indicates that the visual detection threshold fluctuates over time along with the phase of ongoing EEG activity. The results support the notion that ongoing oscillations shape our perception, possibly by providing a temporal reference frame for neural codes that rely on precise spike timing
Preferences, market power and oligopolistic competition: an example
This paper studies the way market power operates under symmetric oligopoly equilibrium. Stressing the role of preferences and focusing on price manipulation, four results are obtained about asymptotic identifications (for degenerate preferences and large economies) and about welfare configurations.Pure exchange, strategic interactions
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