Financial Reforms and Technical Efficiency in Indian Commercial Banking: A Generalized Stochastic Frontier Analysis

In this study we estimate technical efficiency of Indian commercial banks from 1989- 2009 using a multiple-output generalized stochastic production frontier, and analyze the effects of financial sector reforms on measured efficiency. This generalized technique estimates technical efficiency in the presence of multiple outputs, filling a gap in the existing literature. Our results show that Indian commercial banks were operating with 64% efficiency on average during the sample period and that efficiency declined in both public and private banks during most parts of the post-reform period. The capital adequacy ratios negatively influenced efficiency while the number of branches had no significant effect on bank efficiency. Financial sector reforms, however, have had mixed results on technical efficiency. The initial phase of reform had positive impact on technical efficiency while the later phases adversely affected technical efficiency of commercial banks. Throughout the sample period, public sector banks show higher efficiency levels compared to private sector and foreign banks.

Essays on evidence and effects of international movements of capital and labor

This dissertation presents three essays on the evidence and effects of international mobility of capital and labor. Essay 1 explores the behavior of this coefficient in OECD countries over a thirty year period. The second and third essays focus on international movements of labor measured by immigration and outsourcing. The second essay theoretically examines the impact of low skill outsourcing on domestic tax rates, namely labor tax and profit tax. The third essay empirically shows the impact of low skilled immigration and outsourcing on labor tax rates in OECD countries. What follows is a summary of the essays.;The first essay, Reassessing International Capital Mobility: The Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle Disappears examines how capital mobility changed over the years, especially during the 1990s often termed as the era of globalization. Feldstein-Horioka type regressions using pooled annual data for OECD countries show that savings-investment correlations fall continuously throughout the 1990s implying increasing capital mobility. This is in sharp contrast to the fairly stable behavior of the coefficient till late 1980s. Evidences show that the phenomenon is indeed global and not country specific. Current account data also confirms increased capital mobility. Developing countries too become financially integrated during the 1990s, but they had an earlier start than OECD nations.;The second essay, Outsourcing and Domestic Tax Policy , is a theoretical depiction of the impact of foreign outsourcing on domestic tax rates. The model includes two types of workers, namely managers or high skilled workers who also own the firms and workers who are low skilled and are hired by the managers. An individual can choose to become either of the two given his innate ability and the cost of acquiring skills. In addition, we introduce outsourcing as a factor in a firm\u27s decision making. The firms or managers can hire native workers and outsource jobs abroad. The government taxes both labor income and profit income and provides transfers. The tax rates are determined through a process of voting in which the median voter plays a pivotal role. Our model shows that if the domestic firms increase foreign outsourcing, labor tax rates decline and profit tax rates increase unambiguously in the home country.;The third essay, Immigration, Outsourcing and Tax Policy: Evidence from OECD Countries studies effects of immigration and outsourcing on domestic labor tax rates. Immigration and outsourcing are typically portrayed as substitutes in production and in terms of their effects on the domestic economy. A political economy analysis shows that immigration and outsourcing may actually have very different impact on the domestic economy, so that they may not be viewed as substitutes anymore. A study on 15 OECD countries finds that while low skilled immigration increases tax burden on domestic labor, low skilled outsourcing may actually reduce it. Low skilled immigration may impose additional fiscal burden and thus lead to higher tax rates on labor. Outsourcing of low skilled jobs, on the other hand, does not make any claims on government transfers and therefore, may result in lower domestic labor tax rates

Effect of ondansetron on the analgesic efficacy of tramadol used for postoperative analgesia: a randomised controlled study

Background: Ondansetron is used to reduce tramadol induced postoperative nausea and vomiting  (PONV). Studies on patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) found that ondansetron reduces the analgesic  efficacy of tramadol. Drug requirement in PCA and in conventional intravenous analgesia without PCA  device may differ. This study evaluated the effect of ondansetron on analgesic efficacy of tramadol for postoperative analgesia without a PCA device.Methods: A prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel group study was  conducted on 126 euthyroid patients of ASA I and II, aged between 30 and 65 years undergoing  hemithyroidectomy under general anaesthesia. Patients were divided into group O and group C. At the time of closure of strap muscles, patients in group O received tramadol 1.5 mg/kg IV and ondansetron 0.1 mg/kg (diluted to 4 ml) IV and those in group C received tramadol 1.5 mg/kg IV and normal saline 4 ml IV. Duration of analgesia, pain score (VAS), PONV and sedation scores were analysed.Results: Duration of analgesia was longer in group C compared with group O (164.1 min vs. 76.3 min, p < 0.05). Postoperative VAS score was higher in group O (p < 0.001). Group C showed higher PONV and sedation score.Conclusion: Ondansetron reduces the duration and quality of analgesia of tramadol administered  conventionally without a PCA device.Keywords: ondansetron, pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, sedation, tramado

Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.Comment: 139 pages, Physics White Paper of the ICAL (INO) Collaboration, Contents identical with the version published in Pramana - J. Physic

Energy Response and Longitudinal Shower Profiles Measured in CMS HCAL and Comparison With Geant4

The response of the CMS combined electromagnetic and hadron calorimeter to beams of pions with momenta in the range 5-300 GeV/c has been measured in the H2 test beam at CERN. The raw response with the electromagnetic compartment calibrated to electrons and the hadron compartment calibrated to 300 GeV pions may be represented by sigma = (1.2) sqrt{E} oplus (0.095) E. The fraction of energy visible in the calorimeter ranges from 0.72 at 5 GeV to 0.95 at 300 GeV, indicating a substantial nonlinearity. The intrinsic electron to hadron ratios are fit as a function of energy and found to be in the range 1.3-2.7 for the electromagnetic compartment and 1.4-1.8 for the hadronic compartment. The fits are used to correct the non-linearity of the e pi response to 5% over the entire measured range resulting in a substantially improved resolution at low energy. Longitudinal shower profile have been measured in detail and compared to Geant4 models, LHEP-3.7 and QGSP-2.8. At energies below 30 GeV, the data, LHEP and QGSP are in agreement. Above 30 GeV, LHEP gives a more accurate simulation of the longitudinal shower profile

Synchronization and Timing in CMS HCAL

The synchronization and timing of the hadron calorimeter (HCAL) for the Compact Muon Solenoid has been extensively studied with test beams at CERN during the period 2003-4, including runs with 40 MHz structured beam. The relative phases of the signals from different calorimeter segments are timed to 1 ns accuracy using a laser and equalized using programmable delay settings in the front-end electronics. The beam was used to verify the timing and to map out the entire range of pulse shapes over the 25 ns interval between beam crossings. These data were used to make detailed measurements of energy-dependent time slewing effects and to tune the electronics for optimal performance

Design, Performance, and Calibration of CMS Hadron Endcap Calorimeters

Detailed measurements have been made with the CMS hadron calorimeter endcaps (HE) in response to beams of muons, electrons, and pions. Readout of HE with custom electronics and hybrid photodiodes (HPDs) shows no change of performance compared to readout with commercial electronics and photomultipliers. When combined with lead-tungstenate crystals, an energy resolution of 8\% is achieved with 300 GeV/c pions. A laser calibration system is used to set the timing and monitor operation of the complete electronics chain. Data taken with radioactive sources in comparison with test beam pions provides an absolute initial calibration of HE to approximately 4\% to 5\%

Design, Performance, and Calibration of the CMS Hadron-Outer Calorimeter

The CMS hadron calorimeter is a sampling calorimeter with brass absorber and plastic scintillator tiles with wavelength shifting fibres for carrying the light to the readout device. The barrel hadron calorimeter is complemented with an outer calorimeter to ensure high energy shower containment in the calorimeter. Fabrication, testing and calibration of the outer hadron calorimeter are carried out keeping in mind its importance in the energy measurement of jets in view of linearity and resolution. It will provide a net improvement in missing \et measurements at LHC energies. The outer hadron calorimeter will also be used for the muon trigger in coincidence with other muon chambers in CMS