Boundary Distributions in Testing Inequality Hypotheses

Testing inequality hypotheses in econometric models has posed a challenge in terms of identifying an applicable null distribution. This study demonstrates an asymptotic boundary null distribution for testing inequalities and discusses some of the trade o¤s in terms of test errors.Boundry distributors, Inequality hypothesis

Property Assessments and Information Asymmetry in Residential Real Estate

This paper presents a game theoretic model of property tax assessment that allows a tax appraiser to either choose a high or a low assessment. The owner either accepts or challenges this assessment. A ‘‘fixed effects’’ regression model is used to evaluate the differences in the assessed values of a sample of houses from Bexar County, Texas during 2000 and 2001. Where the owner of the house is identified as a state licensed property tax consultant, the assessed value, after adjusting for size, age, and other economic characteristics, ranged from a statistically robust 2.5% to 6.2% lower than neighboring houses.

A row generation method for inverse continuous facility location problem

In a single facility location problem, a set of points is given and the goal is finding the optimal location of new facility respect to given criteria such as minimizing time, cost and distances between the clients and facilities. On the other side, the inverse models try to modify the parameters of the problem with the minimum cost such that a given point becomes optimal. In this paper, we introduce a novel algorithm for the general case of the inverse single facility location problem with variable weights in the plane. The convergence and optimality conditions of the algorithm are presented. Then in the special cases, the inverse minisum and minimax single facility location problems are considered and the algorithm tested on some instances. The results indicate the efficiency of the algorithm on these instances.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, 7 table

The American DREAM: DACA, DREAMers, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform

On June 15, 2012, President Obama made an announcement that changed the lives of millions. Effective immediately, the Obama administration would implement a new program—what would come to be known as Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA)—offering eligible undocumented young people both a two-year respite from the haunting possibility of deportation as well as the eligibility to apply for employment authorization. While millions were elated by the President’s announcement, he also faced harsh criticism. Many claimed that his action exceeded federal statutory limits, exceeded his Executive powers, and usurped congressional authority. Still others, anxious to see comprehensive immigration reform implemented, were disappointed that he had not gone further. This Comment will address both criticisms before concluding that DACA is within the President’s power as a form of prosecutorial discretion and that the attendant grant of employment authorization is necessarily within the scope of that power. Part II of this Comment outlines the development of prosecutorial discretion in the law and reviews the scope of judicial review over agency decision-making. It then discusses the history and use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law specifically and summarizes administrative guidance regarding prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context. Part III outlines the DREAM Act and DACA, explores the criticisms of DACA, and evaluates the statutory and constitutional limits of the Executive Branch authority. Part IV ad-dresses comprehensive immigration reform and discusses how DACA is likely to influence that reform. Part V briefly summarizes, reflects, and concludes

The American DREAM: DACA, DREAMers, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform

On June 15, 2012, President Obama made an announcement that changed the lives of millions. Effective immediately, the Obama administration would implement a new program—what would come to be known as Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA)—offering eligible undocumented young people both a two-year respite from the haunting possibility of deportation as well as the eligibility to apply for employment authorization. While millions were elated by the President’s announcement, he also faced harsh criticism. Many claimed that his action exceeded federal statutory limits, exceeded his Executive powers, and usurped congressional authority. Still others, anxious to see comprehensive immigration reform implemented, were disappointed that he had not gone further. This Comment will address both criticisms before concluding that DACA is within the President’s power as a form of prosecutorial discretion and that the attendant grant of employment authorization is necessarily within the scope of that power. Part II of this Comment outlines the development of prosecutorial discretion in the law and reviews the scope of judicial review over agency decision-making. It then discusses the history and use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration law specifically and summarizes administrative guidance regarding prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context. Part III outlines the DREAM Act and DACA, explores the criticisms of DACA, and evaluates the statutory and constitutional limits of the Executive Branch authority. Part IV ad-dresses comprehensive immigration reform and discusses how DACA is likely to influence that reform. Part V briefly summarizes, reflects, and concludes

The balanced 2-median and 2-maxian problems on a tree

This paper deals with the facility location problems with balancing on allocation clients to servers. Two bi-objective models are considered, in which one objective is the traditional p-median or p-maxian objective and the second is to minimize the maximum demand volume allocated to any facility. An edge deletion method with time complexity O(n^2) is presented for the balanced $2$-median problem on a tree. For the balanced 2-maxian problem, it is shown the optimal solution is two end vertices of the diameter of the tree, which can be obtained in a linear time.Comment: 19 page

Information Asymmetry and Adverse Wealth Effects of Crowdfunding

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 in the U.S. expanded the capital markets so that entrepreneurs can appeal directly to non-traditional small crowd investors for investment funds. The final rules and forms of the JOBS Act became effective in May 16, 2016. Existing literature is thus relatively small but contains ample praises for expected positive consequences of the new crowdfunding laws for the capital markets and for the crowd in general but has only limited analysis on the prospect of adverse wealth effects of crowdfunding for the crowd investors. A limited number of existing studies have highlighted the prospect of a rise in opportunity for fraud as a consequence of information asymmetry between venture capital seekers and crowd investors. This study establishes a new and secondary form of adverse wealth effect of crowdfunding for the crowd in a setting that focuses on information asymmetry between non-accredited crowd investors and accredited traditional investors. The analysis is performed within a two-period, two-state signaling model with information asymmetry between two groups of signal recipients

Therapeutic Modalities Targeting Neuroinflammation After Neonatal Hypoxia-Ischemia

Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) occurs in 1-6/1000 live full-term births (Shankaran, 2009). Of those affected, 15-20% will die in the postnatal period, and 25% of survivors will be left with long-term neurological disabilities (Gunn, 2000; Vannucci, 1997; Fatemi, 2009). It has become increasingly clear that peripheral immune cells infiltrate the brain parenchyma as part of the physiological response to tissue damage after HI injury. The interplay between infiltrating immune cells and brain resident cells during the inflammatory response is however dynamic and complex; in that neuro-immune crosstalk, by way of specific molecular mediators, is responsible for both neurodestructive as well as neuroprotective outcomes. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that COX-2 mediates mechanisms of brain injury and that G-CSF exerts structural and functional protection after neonatal HI. To mimic the clinical features of HI brain injury, neonatal rat pups were subjected to unilateral carotid artery ligation followed by 2 hours of hypoxia (8% O2 at 37°C). We used a gain and loss of function approach (pharmacological activation or inhibition, respectively) for COX-2, a neutralizing antibody for lL-15, and a gene silencer for natural killer cells in both splenectomized and non-splenectomized rats to verify the role of COX-2 in splenic immune cell responses following HI. We found that elevations in COX-2 expression by immune cells promoted IL-15 expression in astrocytes and infiltration of inflammatory cells; additionally, down-regulated the pro-survival protein, PI3K, resulting in caspase-3 mediated neuronal death. Additionally, we investigated the efficacy of G-CSF on long-term Hl-induced morphological and functional outcomes using two different dosing regimens; and found the neurotrophic factor to significantly improve behavioral and neuropathological recovery. These results provide insight into the mechanistic basis of mflammation and indentify key components of the neuroinflammatory response after HI. Thus, we propose that COX-2 inhibition or G-CSF administration during the acute phase of injury are novel therapeutic modalities that target detrimental and beneficial mechanisms of neuroinflammation, respectively, and may offer a safe and effective option with longterm benefits for the Hl-injured infant

The effect of monovision contact lenses on reading speed and comprehension and a comparison of fitting the near add on the dominant versus non-dominant eye

Monovision has been a successful correction modality for over 30 years. While there has been considerable interest in the area, there are little data regarding the effect of monovision contact lenses on eye movements used specifically during the two-dimensional, high contrast task of reading. This study examined the effects of monovision on reading speed and comprehension and whether the preferred eye, corrected for far versus near, affected reading performance for 8 presbyopic subjects. These subjects were carefully screened to meet normal visual function criteria. The subjects wore three different combinations of lenses, and measurements related to their eye movements were recorded using the Ober-2-Visagraph while reading a passage. Monovision contact lenses were found to have no significant effect on reading speed and comprehension in this small group of presbyopes. Likewise, there appeared to be no effect on reading performance related to whether the preferred eye was corrected for far versus near. However, specific research parameters for future studies aimed at determining the effect of monovision on reading speed and comprehension have been proposed

Private Partner Selection and Bankability Assessment of PPP in Infrastructure Projects

The use of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure projects has garnered much international attention over the past few decades. The inclusion of private investors and operators has expanded and improved the quality of public services. When entering a PPP, the most important decision for governments is the selection of the private partner. The selection process should identify and pre-qualify those prospective partners that have the best potential for the successful development and delivery of the proposed PPP project. A successful partnership should ensure that both partners, i.e. the public sector department and the private corporation, have an effective business relationship. While private partner selection is a critical factor, essential for the successful completion of PPP projects, there is a general lack of decision making tools available to assist governments in the selection process. This research aims to assist governments with such decisions by (1) identifying and studying the criteria for selecting the most appropriate private partners for PPP projects; (2) developing a model to select the best private partner; and (3) developing model(s) and a framework that can assess a project’s risk profile from the financing agencies’ perspective. This research proposes two integrated models. The first model is developed to select the best private partners for PPP infrastructure projects. The selection process is modeled using a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method to adequately handle the process’s imprecision, vagueness and uncertainty. This model takes into account the possible dependencies among selection criteria as well as between alternatives and selection criteria, providing a more realistic solution than deterministic models which ignore such interdependencies. The second model is developed to improve the credit evaluation procedure for evaluating private partners for PPP projects, wherein their bankability is assessed before accepting their request to borrow funds. Publicly-available financial information is utilized to drive a clear understanding and sound interpretation of a project’s free cash flow and its forecasted future free cash flow. In this model, a set of criteria are defined from a survey conducted with credit experts, and then the TOPSIS method is used to calculate the weights of the criteria. Four criteria are used to assess private partners' financial ability based on the detailed free cash flows in multiple scenarios. The developed framework is applied to six PPP projects in Africa where the private partners of these projects were analyzed, evaluated, and prioritized based on their bankability. The model’s result provides creditors with two benefits; it ranks the private partners according to their overall suitability based on the projects’ characteristics and creditors' requirements, and it calculates the maximum amount a creditor would be willing to pay as a loan to each of the partners. The developed framework is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge in four main aspects. First, it provides a structured tool for governments and decision makers to use to evaluate potential private partner's ability to achieve their strategic objectives, as well as identifying the partners’ strengths and weaknesses. Second, the decision-making tool accounts for influential factors other than the already widely-considered technical and financial aspects, such as safety, environmental, political and managerial concerns. Third, the bankability assessment model combines risk and credit analysis, which enables creditors to rank projects according to their overall suitability based on a projects’ characteristics and the creditors' requirements. Finally, the developed framework provides credit analysts with a tool to quantify the risks affecting projects, and to calculate the maximum amount a creditor would be willing to pay as a loan to each of the projects