Collusion, competition and piracy

In this paper we analyze firms' ability to tacitly collude on pricesin an infinitely repeated duopoly game of vertical productdifferentiation. We show that firms collude if and only if their discountfactor is high enough, i.e. if they value future profits sufficiently. We alsoshow that a lower cost of copying facilitates collusion but that a higherquality of the copy hinders collusion. Thus, the overall effect of thesenew characteristics of copies made by consumers is ambiguous.Collusion, competition, piracy, consumers, cost of copying,

WHY DOES THE PIRATE DECIDE TO BE THE LEADER IN PRICES?

We analyze the roles of the government and the incumbent in preventing piracy, and the reasons and incentives why a pirate would want to be a leader in prices. The framework of analysis used is a duopoly model of vertical product differentiation with price competition, where both incumbent and pirate are committed to keep their prices. We find that both government and incumbent have a key role in avoiding the entry of the pirate. We show that the government will not help the incumbent to become a monopolist, even if he installs an antipiracy system, because a monopoly provides the lowest social welfare. However, he will let the pirate enters as a follower or as a leader, or encourage the incumbent to deter the entry of the pirate, which depends on the technology of the government for monitoring piracy. The pirate decides to become a leader to avoid being brought down by the incumbent and the government, although the leader's profit is lower than the follower's profit. Finally, we find that high-income countries with cheaper monitoring technology have lower piracy rates.Pirate, Incumbent, Government, Price Leadership, Copy, Monitoring Piracy, Income

Lobbyin to prevent commercial piracy

In this paper we develop a common agency model to analyze the problem of pirates entering the market, in which the incumbent and the consumers form pressure groups to lobby the government on policies to prevent piracy while the pirates try to avoid being stopped. We show that a monopoly is not an equilibrium when both the incumbent and consumers lobby the government, and that the cost of monitoring commercial piracy is very important in determining (truthful) equilibria, as is the case where there is no lobby competition. However, it is now more difficult getting the pirate to enter the market.Common Agency, Lobbying, Commercial Piracy, Incumbent, Consumers and Government

Total synthesis of depudecin and analogues via an olefin cross-metathesis based strategy

(-)-Depudecin (1), isolated from the culture broths of the fungus Alternaria brassicicola [1], has been identified as a selective inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDAC) with an IC50 in the low μM range. In contrast to representative HDAC inhibitors, depudecin represents a unique inhibitor of these enzymes by virtue of its molecular structure, featuring the presence of two oxirane rings separated by a trans double bond. Originally discovered as part of a biological screen directed towards the identification of antitumour agents with detransforming activity [2], depudecin was identified as a bioactive metabolite capable of reverting the transformed morphology of tumor cells. Depudecin induced cell cycle arrest and cellular differentiation [3], and also exhibited anti-angiogenesis activity [4]. Prompted by its striking biological properties and enticing structure, we decided to initiate a research program directed towards the synthesis of natural depudecin which has recently culminated with a linear total synthesis [5]. In order to develop an improved access to natural depudecin and analogues for further biological screenings, we explored a synthetic alternative as a shorter and more convergent approach. In this communication we report a new total synthesis of the natural product (-)-depudecin. A key feature of the synthesis is the utilization of an olefin cross-metathesis strategy, which provides for an efficient and improved access to natural depudecin. This strategy was applied to the preparation of the 10-epi and (+)-depudecin, which represent interesting stereoisomeric analogues for SAR studies.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Representing Different Constituencies: Electoral Rules in Bicameral Systems in Latin America and Their Impact on Political Representation

This article analyzes the quantitative (mechanical) effects and qualitative (perceptions) effects on political representation of the election of two separate chambers in Latin America’s bicameral systems. After discussing the spread and strength of bicameralism in Latin America, we compare the different electoral systems for lower chambers and Senates. Our study shows that in a region characterized by relatively high levels of malapportionment in the first chamber, the second chamber reinforces the malapportionment in parliament. Representation tends to be much more disproportional in the upper chamber than in the lower house. Moreover, the differences in the electoral systems and district magnitudes for both chambers make it more difficult for women to win a seat in the Senate.Latin America, Senates, bicameralism, electoral systems, malapportionment, gender quota

Estimation of muscular forces from SSA smoothed sEMG signals calibrated by inverse dynamics-based physiological static optimization

The estimation of muscular forces is useful in several areas such as biomedical or rehabilitation engineering. As muscular forces cannot be measured in vivo non-invasively they must be estimated by using indirect measurements such as surface electromyography (sEMG) signals or by means of inverse dynamic (ID) analyses. This paper proposes an approach to estimate muscular forces based on both of them. The main idea is to tune a gain matrix so as to compute muscular forces from sEMG signals. To do so, a curve fitting process based on least-squares is carried out. The input is the sEMG signal filtered using singular spectrum analysis technique. The output corresponds to the muscular force estimated by the ID analysis of the recorded task, a dumbbell weightlifting. Once the model parameters are tuned, it is possible to obtain an estimation of muscular forces based on sEMG signal. This procedure might be used to predict muscular forces in vivo outside the space limitations of the gait analysis laboratory.Postprint (published version

Crecimiento y financiación de las comunidades autónomas españolas. Desigualdad y convergencia

El objetivo de este Trabajo de Fin de Grado es la realización de un análisis exhaustivo de las desigualdades existentes entre los españoles en función de su lugar de residencia. Para ello, se tomarán como indicadores fundamentales el PIB per cápita y las balanzas fiscales de las distintas Comunidades Autónomas. Su empleo permitirá analizar las disparidades territoriales, comprobando si los territorios son beneficiarios netos de la actividad presupuestaria del gobierno, o si son contribuyentes netos. Cabe destacar, que dicha actividad siempre provoca distribución interterritorial, por lo que unas comunidades tendrán saldo negativo y otras positivo. Es decir, la cuestión principal, no se centra tanto en el signo, sino en la intensidad de dicha redistribución

Debates—Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: why stochastic modeling has not yet permeated into practitioners?

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Sanchez-Vila, X., and D. Fernàndez-Garcia (2016), Debates—Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: Why stochastic modeling has not yet permeated into practitioners?, Water Resour. Res., 52, 9246–9258, doi:10.1002/2016WR019302], which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016WR019302/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingWe address modern topics of stochastic hydrogeology from their potential relevance to real modeling efforts at the field scale. While the topics of stochastic hydrogeology and numerical modeling have become routine in hydrogeological studies, nondeterministic models have not yet permeated into practitioners. We point out a number of limitations of stochastic modeling when applied to real applications and comment on the reasons why stochastic models fail to become an attractive alternative for practitioners. We specifically separate issues corresponding to flow, conservative transport, and reactive transport. The different topics addressed are emphasis on process modeling, need for upscaling parameters and governing equations, relevance of properly accounting for detailed geological architecture in hydrogeological modeling, and specific challenges of reactive transport. We end up by concluding that the main responsible for nondeterministic models having not yet permeated in industry can be fully attributed to researchers in stochastic hydrogeology.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft