Self-organized criticality in a model of collective bank bankruptcies

The question we address here is of whether phenomena of collective bankruptcies are related to self-organized criticality. In order to answer it we propose a simple model of banking networks based on the random directed percolation. We study effects of one bank failure on the nucleation of contagion phase in a financial market. We recognize the power law distribution of contagion sizes in 3d- and 4d-networks as an indicator of SOC behavior. The SOC dynamics was not detected in 2d-lattices. The difference between 2d- and 3d- or 4d-systems is explained due to the percolation theory.Comment: For Int. J. Mod. Phys. C 13, No. 3, six pages including four figure

Markovian approximation in foreign exchange markets

In this paper we test the random walk hypothesis on the high frequency dataset of the bid--ask Deutschemark/US dollar exchange rate quotes registered by the inter-bank Reuters network over the period October 1, 1992 to September 30, 1993. Then we propose a stochastic model for price variation which is able to describe some important features of the exchange market behavior. Besides the usual correlation analysis we have verified the validity of this model by means of other approaches inspired by information theory . These techniques are not only severe tests of the approximation but also evidence some aspects of the data series which have a clear financial relevance.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, uses elsart.cls and JournalOfFinance.sty, 7 eps figures, submitted to J. of Int. Money and Financ

Perception of poverty .Individual, household and social enviromental determinants

People’s perception of their own well-being depends on, among other factors, the household level of income and wealth, the respondent’s socio-economic characteristics (sex, age, employment status, etc..) and social capital endowment of household place of residence (Sen A., 1985, The Standard of Living. The Tanner Lectures, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). However, limited attention has been dedicated to understanding to what extent people’s perception of their own well-being is influenced by social capital endowment of household place of residence. Interest in this type of problem arises from the need to highlight to what extent subjective perception of well-being depends on individual and family socio-economic conditions and to what extent it depends on the characteristics of the local context of where the family lives. Such evidence would help the central and local authorities and economic operators to choose the appropriate socio-economic measures in order to improve household living conditions. Hence, this research aims to answer the following questions: i) To what extent subjective well-being is affected by respondent's socio-economic characteristics, by household economic conditions and by social capital endowment of household place of residence? ii) Which of the social capital components (Social Behaviour, Social Relationships, Social Engagement, Civic Responsibility, Territorial Characteristics) has a higher impact on subjective well-being and can be regarded as primary risk factor of family poverty status? In order to purse this aim , the ordered probit model will be used to analyse answers to the following question taken from the Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) of the Bank of Italy Considering your monthly disposable income, is your household able to make ends meet: (1) with great difficulty, (2) with difficulty, (3) with some difficulty, (4) without difficulty, (5) with ease, (6) with great ease? The explanatory variables x are grouped as following: 1. Respondent’s socio-economic characteristics; 2. Household socio-economic characteristics; 3. Social capital endowment of household place of residence. and we adopt the definition of social capital suggested by the World Bank Social Capital Initiative research group “The social capital […] includes the institutions, the relationships, the attitudes and values that govern interactions among people and contribute to economic and social development “ . ( See Grootaert, C. and van Bastelaer, T., 2002, Social capital from definition to measurement, in Grootaert, C. and van Bastelaer, T. (Eds.): Understanding and Measuring Social Capital. A Multidisciplinary Tool for Practitioners, The World Bank, Washington DC. and for measurement issues Santini I., 2008, Social capital and its impact on the production process, Int. J. Management and Decision Making, Vol. 9, n.5.) The model will be applied to the 2006 Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) of the Bank of Italy. The same model will be applied to previous Surveys on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) of the Bank of Italy in order to highlight possible changes in the determinants of subjective well-being

Discovery of 21cm absorption in a zabs=2.289z_{\rm abs} =2.289 DLA towards TXS 0311+430: The first low spin temperature absorber at z > 1

We report the detection of HI 21 cm absorption from the $z=2.289$ damped Lyman-$\alpha$ system (DLA) towards TXS 0311+430, with the Green Bank Telescope. The 21 cm absorption has a velocity spread (between nulls) of $\sim 110$ km s$^{-1}$ and an integrated optical depth of $\int \tau {\rm d}V = (0.818 \pm 0.085)$ km s$^{-1}$. We also present new Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope 602 MHz imaging of the radio continuum. TXS 0311+430 is unresolved at this frequency, indicating that the covering factor of the DLA is likely to be high. Combining the integrated optical depth with the DLA HI column density of \nhi = $(2 \pm 0.5) \times 10^{20}$ \cm, yields a spin temperature of $T_s = (138 \pm 36)$ K, assuming a covering factor of unity. This is the first case of a low spin temperature ($1$ DLA and is among the lowest ever measured in any DLA. Indeed, the $T_s$ measured for this DLA is similar to values measured in the Milky Way and local disk galaxies. We also determine a lower limit (Si/H) $\gtrsim 1/3$ solar for the DLA metallicity, amongst the highest abundances measured in DLAs at any redshift. Based on low redshift correlations, the low $T_s$, large 21 cm absorption width and high metallicity all suggest that the $z \sim 2.289$ DLA is likely to arise in a massive, luminous disk galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS (Letters

Braquiópodos del Banco de Chella (Mar de Alborán, Mediterráneo Occidental)

En el Banco de Chella (Mar de Alborán) se han identificado las siguientes especies de braquiópodos: Crania anomala (MÜLLER), Gryphus vitreus (BORN), Terebratulina retusa (LINNÉ), Megathiris detruncata (GMELIN), Megerlia truncata (LINNE) y Pantellaria monstruosa (SCACCHI). Es la primera vez que se cita Pantellaria monstruosa en una locadidad concreta del Mediterráneo español. Todas estas especies se encuentran sobre un substrato rocoso o gravo arenoso, y presentan diferentes abundancias relativas entre las formas alteradas y no alteradas tafonómicamente.In the Chella Bank (Alborán Sea) the following species of brachiopods have been identified: Crania anomala (MULLER), Gryphus vitreus (BORN), Terebratulina retusa (LINNE), Megathiris detruncata (EMELIN), Megerlia truncata (LINNE) and Pantellaria monstruosa (SCACCHI). The occurrence of Pantellaria monstruosa is cited for the first time in a specific area of the spanish Mediterranean. All these species live on a rochy or sandy gravel substrate Int the studied sample, the different relative abundance between well preserved forms and taphonomical altered ones has been considered

Federal Estate Taxation: Section 2036(a)(1) Transfer Requires Affirmative Action

The Sixth Circuit, in National City Bank v. United States, held that the possession by the decedent of the power to alter the ultimate disposition of property, in the absence of any exercise of that power, was not sufficient in itself to constitute a transfer under section 2036(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code

Are bank employees stressed? job perception and positivity in the banking sector: an italian observational study

Background: The epidemiology of stress on bank workers in Europe is only at the introductory stages. This study investigated for the first time the association between occupational stress level in bank-employees using the BEST8, Karasek-Model and socio-demographic and working factors in Italy. Methods: The observational pilot study involved 384 employees. Three questionnaires were adopted to collect data: Karasek-Model, BEST8 (p < 0.001) and Positivity-Scale. Results: 25% of the sample belonged to high stress group. The workers more stressed were older with a commercial role and consumer of antidepressants/sedatives. Women were much more likely to agree with the perception of feeling unsafe in a possible robbery (OR = 2.42; 95% CI: 1.50-3.91) and with that sales requests were in conflict with one's own personal moral code (OR = 2.31; 95% CI: 1.38-3.87). Older employees declared feeling inadequate in the workplace (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.07-3.65) and younger employees referred to be anxious about meeting financial budget goals. Workers who had a low positivity had a lower probability of adaptation (OR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83-0.93). Conclusions: The occupational stress level in the banking sector involves many aspects: gender, type of bank, role, personal morals, high job-demands, low level of decision-making. This study recommended that banks should implement strategic interventions for well-being of employees, and consequently for their productivity

Tree-structured complementary filter banks using all-pass sections

Tree-structured complementary filter banks are developed with transfer functions that are simultaneously all-pass complementary and power complementary. Using a formulation based on unitary transforms and all-pass functions, we obtain analysis and synthesis filter banks which are related through a transposition operation, such that the cascade of analysis and synthesis filter banks achieves an all-pass function. The simplest structure is obtained using a Hadamard transform, which is shown to correspond to a binary tree structure. Tree structures can be generated for a variety of other unitary transforms as well. In addition, given a tree-structured filter bank where the number of bands is a power of two, simple methods are developed to generate complementary filter banks with an arbitrary number of channels, which retain the transpose relationship between analysis and synthesis banks, and allow for any combination of bandwidths. The structural properties of the filter banks are illustrated with design examples, and multirate applications are outlined