Strong and safe Nash equilibrium in some repeated 3-player games

We consider a 3-player game in the normal form, in which each player has two actions. We assume that the game is symmetric and repeated infinitely many times. At each stage players make their choices knowing only the average payoffs from previous stages of all the players. A strategy of a player in the repeated game is a function defined on the convex hull of the set of payoffs. Our aim is to construct a strong Nash equilibrium in the repeated game, i.e. a strategy profile being resistant to deviations by coalitions. Constructed equilibrium strategies are safe, i.e. the non-deviating player payoff is not smaller than the equilibrium payoff in the stage game, and deviating players' payoffs do not exceed the non-deviating player payoff more than a positive constant which can be arbitrary small and chosen by the non-deviating player. Our construction is inspired by Smale's good strategies described in \cite{smale}, where the repeated Prisoner's Dilemma was considered. In proofs we use arguments based on approachability and strong approachability type results.Comment: 19 page

Osadnictwo ma wyspie Thira (Santoryn) od neolitu po późną epokę brązu

This article presents a history of the Thera Island occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Altogether, 13 settlements and 2 cemeteries have been recorded from this period. The island was inhabited until the Late Bronze Age. The most significant centre on the island was surely the town of Akrotiri. At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, a large eruption of the Santorini volcano took place which ceased the occupation and covered the almost entire island with a thick layer of pumice.This article presents a history of the Thera Island occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Altogether, 13 settlements and 2 cemeteries have been recorded from this period. The island was inhabited until the Late Bronze Age. The most significant centre on the island was surely the town of Akrotiri. At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, a large eruption of the Santorini volcano took place which ceased the occupation and covered the almost entire island with a thick layer of pumice

Modeling mechanism of economic growth using threshold autoregression models

In recent economic literature it has been emphasized that across both advanced countries and emerging markets, high levels of debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio (90% and above) are associated with notably lower growth outcomes. On the other hand, much lower levels of external debt-to-GDP ratio (60% and below) are associated with adverse outcomes for emerging market growth. These findings have been broadly cited and used in practice. On the other hand, there is an opposite evidence, such that the initial level of debt-to-GDP ratio has no impact on economic growth rate. Taking both viewpoints into account, we propose to employ a time series-based nonlinear mechanism in the threshold autoregression form in order to examine the possible relationship between economic growth rate and its potential determinants included the mentioned debt-to GDP indicator. The originality of the study is that it employs threshold variables instead of exogenous variables and time-series data instead of panel data to reveal the economic instruments that have determined the business cycle in European countries for the last 2 decades -starting from 1995. The purpose of the study is to check the mechanism of growth (measured in terms of GDP growth rate and industrial production growth rate) depending on several important macroeconomic variables, such as public debt, rate of inflation, interest rate, and rate of unemployment with the level of growth itself serving as the threshold variable. We propose an efficient methodology for seeking the best specification of threshold autoregression model in terms of both goodness of fit and parsimony of parametrization. The data (quarterly and monthly) applied in the research cover the time period from the beginning of 1995 to the end of 2013. Such a long period is interesting because it allows investigation of the mechanism of growth under two different economic policy models. We identify that the exogenous monetary mechanism played an important role in diagnosing the phases of business cycle in most European economies which is in line with liberal economic policy dominating in the observed period. The initial level of debt-to-GDP ratio as its increase within the recession period was of no value for the economic growth pattern

Modelling and Forecasting Business Cycle in CEE Countries using a Threshold Approach

We propose to apply a time-series-based nonlinear mechanism in the threshold autoregression (TAR) form in order to examine business cycles in Central and Eastern European economies and compare them to the entire EU business cycle. The threshold variables, such as consumer price index, short and long interest rates, unemployment rate and an exchange rate vs. the U.S. Dollar, have been considered. The purpose of the paper is to model and to predict business cycles in Central and East European (CEE) economies (the EU Member States) and compare them to business cycles of the entire EU28 area and Eurozone EU19. We found that the exogenous mechanism played an important role in diagnosing the phases of business cycles in CEE economies, which is in line with the entire EU economic area. The results of business cycle forecasting using bootstrap technique are quite promising, while bootstrap confidence intervals are used for diagnosis

Macroeconomic Performance and International Competitiveness of the Agro-food Sectors in the EU Countries: Implications for the Future CAP

AbstractThe study is aimed at comparison of macroeconomic performance of agro-food sectors in the national economies of the EU countries and competitiveness of these sectors reflected by international trade specialization. To assess macroeconomic performance of the agro-food sectors we used data on employment, gross value added and output extracted from the Eurostat Database. To evaluate international competitiveness of the analyzed sectors revealed comparative advantage index (RCA) and revealed competitiveness index (RC) were calculated using the WTO database on exports and imports of agricultural products and food. Both relative macroeconomic performance and international competitiveness of the agro-food sectors differ considerably among the EU member state countries but the relationship between them is not very clear. However, it seems that as far as international competitiveness is concerned the CAP should be more oriented towards improving economic efficiency of the agro-food sectors, especially in the countries where the RC index is low

Penicillin Allergy Assessment and Skin Testing in the Outpatient Setting

Penicillin allergies are among of the most commonly reported allergies, yet only 10% of these patients are truly allergic. This leads to potential inadvertent negative consequences for patients and makes treatment decisions challenging for clinicians. Thus, allergy assessment and penicillin skin testing (PST) are important management strategies to reconcile and clarify labeled penicillin allergies. While PST is more common in the inpatient setting where the results will immediately impact antibiotic management, this process is becoming of increasing importance in the outpatient setting. PST in the outpatient setting allows clinicians to proactively de-label and educate patients accordingly so beta-lactam antibiotics may be appropriately prescribed when necessary for future infections. While allergists have primarily been responsible for PST in the outpatient setting, there is an increasing role for pharmacist involvement in the process. This review highlights the importance of penicillin allergy assessments, considerations for PST in the outpatient setting, education and advocacy for patients and clinicians, and the pharmacist’s role in outpatient PST