350 research outputs found
The Number of Firms and the Politics of Export Subsidy
The purpose of this paper is to present a framework to understand that the government's implementation of export subsidy is influenced by the political pressure from the home firms which can bear the costs of forming and maintaining a lobby in order to overcome a free-rider problem associated with lobbying. When the number of the foreign firms is large in comparison with that of the home firms, the home firms can organize a lobby group more easily and lobby for higher export subsidy. The implementation of politically optimal export subsidy can make the domestic social welfare far worse than when the free trade is maintained by a multilateral agreement which prohibit export subsidies.Lobby formation, Political contribution, Export subsidy, Multilateral agreements
The Economics and Politics of Administered Protection: An Analysis of the Japanese Safeguard System for Agricultural Goods
This paper models the lobbying activity concerning a safeguard measure and applies it to the empirical analysis to see if the monitoring system on a safeguard measure is administered along with the WTO agreement or affected by political factors. The model analysis describes that there exists a potential mechanism that a rise in imports induces a political activity by producers. The empirical analysis shows that the monitoring system on a safeguard measure is not so neutral to the WTO conditions and it is more or less influenced by the political factors.Administered protection, Safeguard, Lobbying, WTO agreement
Evidence for a rapid decrease in Pluto's atmospheric pressure revealed by a stellar occultation in 2019
We report observations of a stellar occultation by Pluto on 2019 July 17. A
single-chord high-speed (time resolution s) photometry dataset was
obtained with a CMOS camera mounted on the Tohoku University 60 cm telescope
(Haleakala, Hawaii). The occultation light curve is satisfactorily fitted to an
existing Pluto's atmospheric model. We find the lowest pressure value at a
reference radius of among those reported after 2012,
indicating a possible rapid (approximately of the previous
value) pressure drop between 2016 (the latest reported estimate) and 2019.
However, this drop is detected at a level only and still requires
confirmation from future observations. If real, this trend is opposite to the
monotonic increase of Pluto's atmospheric pressure reported by previous
studies. The observed decrease trend is possibly caused by ongoing
condensation processes in the Sputnik Planitia glacier associated with an
orbitally driven decline of solar insolation, as predicted by previous
theoretical models. However, the observed amplitude of the pressure decrease is
larger than the model predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
High-precision broadband linear polarimetry of early-type binaries IV. Binary system of DH Cephei in the open cluster of NGC 7380
DH~Cephei is a well known massive O+O-type binary system on the northern sky,
residing in the young open cluster NGC~7380. Our high-precision multi-band
polarimetry has clearly revealed that variations of linear polarizations in
this system are synchronous with the phase of the orbital period. We have used
the observed variations of Stokes parameters and to derive the orbital
inclination , orientation , and the direction of rotation. In order
to determine the contribution from interstellar polarization, we have carried
out new observations of polarization of field stars with precisely measured
parallaxes.
The variations of Stokes parameters in all three , , and passbands
clearly exhibit an unambiguous periodic signal at 1.055 d with the amplitude of
variations which corresponds to half of known orbital period of
2.11 d. This type of polarization variability is expected for a binary system
with light scattering material distributed symmetrically with respect to the
orbital plane. Even though most of the observed polarization (2) is
of interstellar origin, about one third of it is due to the intrinsic
component. In addition to the regular polarization variability, there is a
non-periodic component, strongest in the passband. We obtained in the
passband our most reliable values for the orbital inclination and the orientation of the orbit on the sky
, with 1 confidence intervals. The
direction of the binary system rotation on the plane of the sky is clockwise
Examining normative values using the Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery and developmental traits of executive functions among elementary school-aged children in Japan
The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) is a computerized and child-friendly neuropsychological assessment battery that includes subtests aimed at evaluating some aspects of executive functions. Using the CANTAB, this study aims to establish normative values based on the aspects of executive functions among school-aged children in Japan. The participants included 234 children (135 boys and 99 girls aged 6–12 years) enrolled in regular classes, without any clinical records of developmental disorders or educational support. The participants were grouped according to age (6–7, 8–9, and 10–12 years). Four CANTAB subtests, including spatial working memory (SWM) to assess spatial working memory, Stockings of Cambridge (SOC) to evaluate planning, intra/extradimensional set shift (IED) to evaluate attentional set shifting and flexibility, and stop signal task (SST) to evaluate inhibition, were administered to each participant. The results showed that performance in all the CANTAB subtests administered changed with age. Among the subtests, compared with performances in the SOC and IED, those in the SWM and SST improved earlier, thereby indicating that spatial working memory and inhibition develop earlier than planning as well as attentional set shifting and flexibility. Additionally, in the SST subtest, girls made fewer errors than boys did in the 6–7 years group. This study presents normative data of four CANTAB subtests according to age and sex among school-aged children in Japan. We expect that the findings will be used to develop effective tools for the early detection of and support for children with executive dysfunction
- …