Revisiting lepton flavor violation in supersymmetric type II seesaw

In view of the recent measurement of reactor mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ and updated limit on $BR(\mu \to e \gamma)$ by the MEG experiment, we re-examine the charged lepton flavor violations in a framework of supersymmetric type II seesaw mechanism. Supersymmetric type II seesaw predicts strong correlation between $BR(\mu \to e \gamma)$ and $BR(\tau \to \mu \gamma)$ mainly in terms of the neutrino mixing angles. We show that such a correlation can be determined accurately after the measurement of $\theta_{13}$. We compute different factors which can affect this correlation and show that the mSUGRA-like scenarios, in which slepton masses are taken to be universal at the high scale, predicts $3.5 \lesssim BR(\tau \to \mu \gamma)/BR(\mu \to e \gamma) \lesssim 30$ for normal hierarchical neutrino masses. Any experimental indication of deviation from this prediction would rule out the minimal models of supersymmetric type II seesaw. We show that the current MEG limit puts severe constraints on the light sparticle spectrum in mSUGRA model if the seesaw scale lies within $10^{13}$-$10^{15}$ GeV. It is shown that these constraints can be relaxed and relatively light sparticle spectrum can be obtained in a class of models in which the soft mass of triplet scalar is taken to be non-universal at the high scale.Comment: Minor changes in text; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Land utilization and ecological aspects in the Sylhet-Mymensingh Haor Region of Bangladesh: An analysis of LANDSAT data

The use of remote sensing data from LANDSAT (ERTS) imageries in identifying, evaluating and mapping land use patterns of the Haor area in Bangladesh was investigated. Selected cloud free imageries of the area for the period 1972-75 were studied. Imageries in bands 4, 5 and 7 were mostly used. The method of analysis involved utilization of both human and computer services of information from ground, aerial photographs taken during this period and space imageries

Microfinance and Environment: Does the Participation in the Microcredit Based Social Forestry of Proshika in Bangladesh Improve Environmental Literacy?

The study intends to assess the impact of the participation in the microcredit based social forestry program of Proshika in Bangladesh on the environmental literacy of participating households. The analysis is based on a household-level survey of 450 households. Considering the endogeneity in program participation, the instrumental variable (IV) technique has been used to achieve the objective of the paper. The results indicate that the participation in the social forestry program of Proshika significantly enhances the environmental literacy of participating households.Microcredit, Social Forestry, Environmental Literacy, Proshika, Bangladesh,

Does the Participation in the Microcredit Programs Increase Consumption of Participating Households? The Case of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh

This paper assesses empirically the impact of the participation in the microcredit program of the Grameen Bank on consumption of participating households. A household level survey was carried out for collecting data (N=521). The results of the empirical estimations indicate that the participation of a household in the microcredit program of the Grameen Bank increases consumption of participating households significantly. But there is non-linearity in the increasing trend in consumption of participating households. The consumption level goes up gradually with the increase in the membership duration up to five years of membership, but the growth rate starts declining after that period of membership.Microcredit, Consumption, Impact Assessment, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

The Equivalence of Contests

We use a Tullock-type contest model to show that intuitively and structurally different contests can be strategically and revenue equivalent to each other. We consider a two-player contest, where outcome-contingent payoffs are linear functions of prizes, own effort, and the effort of the rival. We identify strategically equivalent contests that generate the same family of best response functions and, as a result, the same revenue. However, two strategically equivalent contests may yield different equilibrium payoffs. Finally, we discuss possible contest design applications and avenues for future theoretical and empirical research.rent-seeking, contest, spillover, equivalence, revenue equivalence, contest design

By How Much Does Conflict Reduce Financial Development?

Financial development is vulnerable to social conflict. Conflict reduces the demand for domestic currency as a medium of exchange and a store of value. Conflict also leads to poor quality governance, including weak regulation of the financial system, thereby undermining the sustainability of financial institutions. Conflict therefore reduces the social return to financial liberalization and other financial-sector reforms. This paper presents a theoretical model integrating the effects of conflict and financial liberalization, and then tests the model on data for 79 countries. Using an explanatory variable that measures the intensity of conflict (from low to high) the results show that conflict significantly reduces financial development, and that this negative effect increases as conflict intensifies. The paper concludes that conflict reduction is essential if financial reform is to have its full benefit for development