La théorie des anticipations de la structure par terme : test à partir des titres publics français.

This paper focuses on the expectations hypothesis of the term structure on long-term government bonds. Standard tests (based on the relationships between the change in the long-term rate and the spread and between the change in the short-term rate and the spread) lead to a puzzle close to the one obtained by Campbell and Shiller (1991) using US data. An approach based on stationarity of excess returns and error-correction models gives more details on these results: the expectations hypothesis is widely accepted when holding return is considered whereas it is systematically rejected when rollover return is considered.Term structure of interest rates ; Expectations hypothesis ; Cointegration ; Error-correction model.

Le contenu en information de la pente des taux : application au cas des titres publics français.

This paper evaluates the information content of the term structure about future changes in interest rates and changes in inflation rate, in France. A data set has been constructed, which contains zero-coupon yield curves on government bonds over the period 1980-95. The information content is generally very weak over the whole period. On the contrary, over the period 1985-95, the term structure contains information for certain maturities. On the one hand, spreads vis-à-vis 2-year rates are informative for future changes in short-term rates, whereas spreads vis-à-vis 3-year rates are informative for both future changes in short-term rates and future changes in long-term rates; on the second hand, the spreads from (2- versus 1-year rates) to (5- versus 1-year rates) and (4- versus 2-year rates) are the most informative for future changes in inflation rate.Term structure of interest rates ; Expectations hypothesis ; Fisher relation ; Information Content.

The Expectation Theory: Tests on French, German, and American Euro-Rates.

This paper deals with tests of the expectations hypothesis of the term structure on French, German, UK and US short-term interest rates. Three tests are examined: the first is based on forward rates and the other two are based on the interest rates spread. First, we show that the puzzle highlighted by Campbell and Shiller (1991) for US data does not hold in the cases of French and UK short-term rates. Second, we propose tests for the expectations hypothesis based on error-correction specifications. These tests are shown to be much more favorable for the theory and the initial puzzle disappears.Term structure of interest rates ; Expectations hypothesis ; Error-correction model.

Oscillatory combustion in rockets Third semiannual report, Jun. 1 - Nov. 30, 1965

Rocket engine oscillatory combustion studie

Price Setting in France: new Evidence from Survey Data

This paper reports the results of a survey conducted by the Banque de France during winter 2003-2004 to investigate the price-setting behavior of French manufacturing companies. Prices are found to adjust infrequently; the median firm modifies its price only once a year. Price reviews are more frequent than price changes; the median firm reviews its price quarterly. Firms are found to follow either time-dependent, state-dependent or both pricing rules. Moreover, the chosen interval of price reviews depends on the probability that changes in the firms' environment occur. Coordination failure and nominal contracts (either written or implicit) are the most important sources of price stickiness, while pricing thresholds and physical menu costs appear to be totally unimportant. Asymmetries in price stickiness are found to be different for cost shocks compared to demand shocks: prices are more rigid downward than upward for cost shocks, while the reverse is true for demand shocks.Price rigidity ; Price-setting behaviour ; Inflation persistence ; Survey data

La formation des prix dans les industries françaises et dans la zone euro : résultats d’enquêtes spécifiques.

rigidité des prix, comportement de formation des prix, persistance de l’inflation, données d’enquêtes.

The Information Content of the French and German Government Bond Tield Curves: Why Such Differences?.

In this paper, we evaluate the information content of the yield curve as regards future interest rates and inflation in France and Germany. An original data set of long-term zero-coupon interest rates for French and German government bonds was constructed for the period 1980-97. Empirical evidence shows that the German yield curve has a significant information content about the future average change in short-term rates and the future path of inflation. The information content of the French yield curve is much more limited and is only relevant for the average change in short-term rates. We show that the difference between the results obtained for both countries mainly stems from lower variability in German risk premia than in French risk premia.Term structure of interest rates ; Information content

Short-timescale Fluctuations in the Difference Light Curves of QSO 0957+561A,B: Microlensing or Noise?

From optical R band data of the double quasar QSO 0957+561A,B, we made two new difference light curves (about 330 days of overlap between the time-shifted light curve for the A image and the magnitude-shifted light curve for the B image). We observed noisy behaviours around the zero line and no short-timescale events (with a duration of months), where the term event refers to a prominent feature that may be due to microlensing or another source of variability. Only one event lasting two weeks and rising - 33 mmag was found. Measured constraints on the possible microlensing variability can be used to obtain information on the granularity of the dark matter in the main lensing galaxy and the size of the source. In addition, one can also test the ability of the observational noise to cause the rms averages and the local features of the difference signals. We focused on this last issue. The combined photometries were related to a process consisting of an intrinsic signal plus a Gaussian observational noise. The intrinsic signal has been assumed to be either a smooth function (polynomial) or a smooth function plus a stationary noise process or a correlated stationary process. Using these three pictures without microlensing, we derived some models totally consistent with the observations. We finally discussed the sensitivity of our telescope (at Teide Observatory) to several classes of microlensing variability.Comment: MNRAS, in press (LaTeX, 14 pages, 22 eps figures

Electronic structure of the molecule based magnet Cu PM(NO3)2 (H2O)2

We present density functional calculations on the molecule based S=1/2 antiferromagnetic chain compound Cu PM(NO3)2 (H2O)2; PM = pyrimidine. The properties of the ferro- and antiferromagnetic state are investigated at the level of the local density approximation and with the hybrid functional B3LYP. Spin density maps illustrate the exchange path via the pyrimidine molecule which mediates the magnetism in the one-dimensional chain. The computed exchange coupling is antiferromagnetic and in reasonable agreement with the experiment. It is suggested that the antiferromagnetic coupling is due to the possibility of stronger delocalization of the charges on the nitrogen atoms, compared to the ferromagnetic case. In addition, computed isotropic and anisotropic hyperfine interaction parameters are compared with recent NMR experiments

Algorithm Diversity for Resilient Systems

Diversity can significantly increase the resilience of systems, by reducing the prevalence of shared vulnerabilities and making vulnerabilities harder to exploit. Work on software diversity for security typically creates variants of a program using low-level code transformations. This paper is the first to study algorithm diversity for resilience. We first describe how a method based on high-level invariants and systematic incrementalization can be used to create algorithm variants. Executing multiple variants in parallel and comparing their outputs provides greater resilience than executing one variant. To prevent different parallel schedules from causing variants' behaviors to diverge, we present a synchronized execution algorithm for DistAlgo, an extension of Python for high-level, precise, executable specifications of distributed algorithms. We propose static and dynamic metrics for measuring diversity. An experimental evaluation of algorithm diversity combined with implementation-level diversity for several sequential algorithms and distributed algorithms shows the benefits of algorithm diversity