Adventskalender, Tag 22: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 14: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 18: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

An observation of circular RNAs in bacterial RNA-seq data

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of RNA with an important role in micro RNA (miRNA) regulation recently discovered in Human and various other eukaryotes as well as in archaea. Here, we have analyzed ... [more ▼]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of RNA with an important role in micro RNA (miRNA) regulation recently discovered in Human and various other eukaryotes as well as in archaea. Here, we have analyzed RNA-seq data obtained from Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli in a way similar to previous studies performed on eukaryotes. We report observations of circRNAs in RNA-seq data that are reproducible across multiple experiments performed with different protocols or growth conditions. [less ▲]

Optimal Income Taxation for the Alleviation of Working-Poverty When Domestic Work is Rewarded

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The increase in income needed for working households to escape relative poverty may be achieved either by households supplying more hours of paid work on the labor market, or by policy makers adjusting ... [more ▼]

The increase in income needed for working households to escape relative poverty may be achieved either by households supplying more hours of paid work on the labor market, or by policy makers adjusting income taxation, minimum wages and social transfers targeted at working households. While past work has given considerable attention to the latter policy instruments, theoretical work on how income taxation could minimize working-poverty is scarce. Our study aims to fill this gap. Unlike the traditional optimal income taxation literature, which considers that households allocate time only between consumption and leisure, we explicitly model households’ decisions as including domestic work, which is a social contribution and should be rewarded. This new framework highlights (i) the importance of emphasizing the difference between domestic work and real leisure and, (ii) the policy implications of non-market time allocation. [less ▲]

Adventskalender, Tag 5: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 4: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The Defect of Random Hyperspherical Harmonics

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The EU-Turkey Statement: A Treaty That Violates Democracy

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 16: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Frontaliers atypiques dans la Grande-Région SaarLorLux

E-print/Working paper (2016)

The Greater Region is characterised by the singular independence of its labour market between its different sectors. Cross-border commuting across national borders has been facilitated in a tangible way ... [more ▼]

The Greater Region is characterised by the singular independence of its labour market between its different sectors. Cross-border commuting across national borders has been facilitated in a tangible way by the process of European unification, as a result of which the status of cross-border commuters has been defined from the point of view of social and fiscal rights. This definition does not distinguish between border workers who migrate from their "home region" to the neighbouring country and those who come from the neighbouring country to the "home region" to join their place of work. The last-mentioned atypical border phenomenon is becoming increasingly important in the Greater Region. It is therefore in the context of residential mobility and atypical mobility of cross-border employees that the motivations of the latter as well as questions relating to the spatial organisation of daily practices are analysed in the context of the change of domicile. Aspects of social life at the place of residence will also be investigated and the subjective evaluation of residential migration will be detailed. The evaluation of each of these elements is based on the comparative study of atypical commuting at the border between Luxembourg and Lorraine/Saarland. [less ▲]

Adventskalender, Tag 15: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 10: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

(Universal) Unconditional Verifiability in E-Voting without Trusted Parties

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Distributed Processing of Generalized Graph-Pattern Queries in SPARQL 1.1

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Malaise in the Western Middle Classes

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Adventskalender, Tag 12: Gedanken und Wünsche für Hochbegabte.

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Arbeitszufriedenheit der Arbeitnehmer in Luxemburg

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Die Arbeitszufriedenheit der Arbeitnehmer in Luxemburg hat sich von 2013 zu 2014 insgesamt verringert. Von diesem Rückgang waren insbesondere Arbeitnehmer in der Altersklasse der 45-54 Jährigen ... [more ▼]

Die Arbeitszufriedenheit der Arbeitnehmer in Luxemburg hat sich von 2013 zu 2014 insgesamt verringert. Von diesem Rückgang waren insbesondere Arbeitnehmer in der Altersklasse der 45-54 Jährigen, Arbeitnehmer mit portugiesischer Nationalität sowie in Belgien wohnhafte Arbeitnehmer betroffen. Die Veränderungen von 2014 zu 2015 fallen insgesamt moderater aus. Innerhalb dieses Zeitraums nimmt die Arbeitszufriedenheit der 16-24 Jährigen jedoch relativ stark ab. Arbeitnehmer mit portugiesischer Nationalität steigen in ihrer Arbeitszufriedenheit dagegen wieder an. Zu keinem der drei Erhebungszeitpunkte sind hinsichtlich der Arbeitszufriedenheit Unterschiede zwischen Männern und Frauen sowie zwischen Arbeitnehmern in Vollzeit und in Teilzeit festzustellen. Insgesamt berichten Manager und Führungskräfte sowie Arbeitnehmer in akademischen Berufen im Jahr 2015 über die höchste Arbeitszufriedenheit, dagegen Arbeitnehmer, die Anlagen und Maschinen bedienen sowie Arbeitnehmer, die in Land- und Forstwirtschaft beschäftigt sind, über die geringste Arbeitszufriedenheit. [less ▲]

Let's Talk Business: The Economic Impact of Brexit

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Desperately Seeking Small Worlds in Corporate Boards: International Evidence from Listed Firms

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Props of ribbon graphs, involutive Lie bialgebras and moduli spaces of curves M_g,n

E-print/Working paper (2015)

We establish a new and surprisingly strong link between two previously unrelated theories: the theory of moduli spaces of curves $\cM_{g,n}$ (which, according to Penner, is controlled by the ribbon graph ... [more ▼]

We establish a new and surprisingly strong link between two previously unrelated theories: the theory of moduli spaces of curves $\cM_{g,n}$ (which, according to Penner, is controlled by the ribbon graph complex) and the homotopy theory of $E_d$ operads (controlled by ordinary graph complexes with no ribbon structure, introduced first by Kontsevich). The link between the two goes through a new intermediate {\em stable}\, ribbon graph complex which has roots in the deformation theory of quantum $A_\infty$ algebras and the theory of Kontsevich compactifications of moduli spaces of curves $\overline{\cM}_{g,n}^K$. Using a new prop of ribbon graphs and the fact that it contains the prop of involutive Lie bialgebras as a subprop we find new algebraic structures on the classical ribbon graph complex computing $H^\bu(\cM_{g,n})$. We use them to prove Comparison Theorems, and in particular to construct a non-trivial map from the ordinary to the ribbon graph cohomology. On the technical side, we construct a functor $\f$ from the category of prop(erad)s to the category of operads. If a properad $\cP$ is in addition equipped with a map from the properad governing Lie bialgebras (or graded versions thereof), then we define a notion of $\cP$-``graph'' complex, of stable $\cP$-graph complex and a certain operad, that is in good cases an $E_d$ operad. In the ribbon case, this latter operad acts on the deformation complexes of any quantum $A_\infty$-algebra. We also prove that there is a highly non-trivial, in general, action of the Grothendieck-Teichm\"uller group $GRT_1$ on the space of so-called {\em non-commutative Poisson structures}\, on any vector space $W$ equipped with a degree $-1$ symplectic form (which interpolate between cyclic $A_\infty$ structures in $W$ and ordinary polynomial Poisson structures on $W$ as an affine space). [less ▲]

Assessing and Improving the Mutation Testing Practice of PIT

E-print/Working paper (2015)

A Polyakov formula for sectors

E-print/Working paper (2015)

We consider finite area convex Euclidean circular sectors. We prove a variational Polyakov formula which shows how the zeta-regularized determinant of the Laplacian varies with respect to the opening ... [more ▼]

We consider finite area convex Euclidean circular sectors. We prove a variational Polyakov formula which shows how the zeta-regularized determinant of the Laplacian varies with respect to the opening angle. Varying the angle corresponds to a conformal deformation in the direction of a conformal factor with a logarithmic singularity at the corner. As an application of the method, we obtain an analogues Polyakov formula for a surface with one conical singularity. We compute the zeta-regularized determinant of rectangular domains of fixed area and prove that it is uniquely maximized by the square. [less ▲]

On rationality of certian type A Galois representations

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Airport Congestion and Inefficiency in Slot Allocation

E-print/Working paper (2015)

This paper analyzes optimal slot allocation in the presence of airport congestion. We model peak and offpeak slots as vertically differentiated products, and congestion limits the number of peak slots ... [more ▼]

This paper analyzes optimal slot allocation in the presence of airport congestion. We model peak and offpeak slots as vertically differentiated products, and congestion limits the number of peak slots that the airport can allocate. Inefficiency emerges when the airport does not exploit all its slots. We show that for a private airport, inefficiency may arise if the airport is not too congested and the per-passenger fee is small enough, while with a public airport it does not emerge. Furthermore the airport, irrespective of its ownership, tends to give different slots to flights with same destination if the underlying market is a duopoly, and a single slot if the underlying market is served by a monopoly. [less ▲]

Remittance and Migration Prospects for the Twenty-First Century

E-print/Working paper (2015)

The Pessimism Factor: SEC EDGAR Form 10-K Textual Analysis and Stock Returns

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Triple-A rating? Juncker's vision for the EU's social policy scorecard

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Trade Credit and firm Comovements

E-print/Working paper (2015)

This paper provides evidence that production linkages, as well as credit chains (represented by trade credit), are important for the transmission of idiosyncratic (firm-level) shocks across firms in the ... [more ▼]

This paper provides evidence that production linkages, as well as credit chains (represented by trade credit), are important for the transmission of idiosyncratic (firm-level) shocks across firms in the economy. We build on the idea that trade credit develops along production linkages, and amplifies the idiosyncratic shock as firms may lack inputs and also liquidity. Using disaggregated firm-level data we show that the disturbance of customer's sales increases with greater trade credit linkage. We show that during a recession the existence of trade credit linkage propagates shocks upstream, from a supplier onto its upstream customer. In these periods, firms are short of liquidity and are unable to withstand a drop in trade credit provision. In good times, however, trade credit plays a stabilizing role, reducing the volatility of firms' sales. In these periods, firms with sufficient liquidity are able to transfer some of it to liquidity-starved production partners in order to guarantee their own stable production. [less ▲]

Regards sur les cambriolages et les tentatives de cambriolages

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Selon l’enquête sur la sécurité 2013, 10% des ménages ont été victimes d’un cambriolage et 9% ont subi une tentative de cambriolage au cours des 5 dernières années. Il s’agit d’introductions ou de ... [more ▼]

Selon l’enquête sur la sécurité 2013, 10% des ménages ont été victimes d’un cambriolage et 9% ont subi une tentative de cambriolage au cours des 5 dernières années. Il s’agit d’introductions ou de tentatives d’introduction dans leur bien immobilier au Luxembourg ou à l’étranger. La grande majorité des effractions (83%) a eu lieu au Grand-Duché et près d’un tiers (35%) se sont produites entre 22h et 6h. Dans 73% des cas, l’habitation était visée ; les installations extérieures, annexes et abris de jardin étant moins souvent concernés (26%). Si dans près de 8 cambriolages sur 10 un vol a effectivement été commis, la violence physique quant à elle reste plutôt rare (2%). 21.5% des incidents n’ont pas été déclarés à la police, en général parce que les victimes ont jugé que ça n’en vallait pas la peine. Lorsque le cambriolage a été déclaré, 47% des déclarants étaient « très satisfaits » et 23% « satisfaits » des services de la police. Les victimes de cambriolages ou tentatives de cambriolages sont davantage d’avis que le niveau de criminalité a globalement augmenté que les non-victimes. Ils apprécient moins le travail de la police et des tribunaux et se prononcent plutôt en faveur de peines de prison pour les cambrioleurs tandis que les non-victimes plaident plutôt pour des sanctions sous forme de travaux d’intérêt général. [less ▲]

The Transformation of the European Economic Constitution

E-print/Working paper (2015)

The current times of constitutional transformation in the EU place the following question on the agenda: Is the ongoing economic crisis demarcating the end of the original conception of a ‘European ... [more ▼]

The current times of constitutional transformation in the EU place the following question on the agenda: Is the ongoing economic crisis demarcating the end of the original conception of a ‘European Economic Constitution’ as it has developed since the early days of the EEC? Or are we witnessing simply a shift towards a new more encompassing model of an EU ‘Economic Constitution’ in which economic government and economic governance tools are used in parallel to deepen integration and continue the spill-over of economic integration into previously national policies? This contribution traces and evaluates conceptual, regulatory, institutional and legitimacy-related changes and challenges to the EU’s model of the ‘Economic Constitution’ as the basic legal framework and conceptions of EU law governing economic policy. This chapter argues that the EU’s constitutional framework in the form of the existing Treaties and General Principles of EU law did not provide an adequate legal framework to cope with the ongoing crisis. This failure has, in our view, initiated an ongoing transformation of the EU’s ‘Economic Constitution’ as we know it. Laying the foundations for the transformation took place in several consecutive steps mostly on the intergovernmental level and often as a combination of EU law, public international law and in some cases mixed with private law instruments. The nature of this development creates challenges regarding ensuring compliance of these newly developed structures with the Union’s foundational principles of ensuring transparency, democratic legitimacy, fundamental rights and effective review mechanisms in the context of a system under the rule of law. In order to illustrate the modes of the continuous transformation of the ‘Eoncomic Constitution’ and to evaluate the direction it is taking, this chapter will start with tracing its origins and follow its evolution over time. It thereby distinguishes two separate but interlinked elements of the ‘Economic Constitution.’ It first looks at the original focus of European regulation regarding what we refer to as ‘micro-economic’ matters with policies including competition law and the control of state aids. This chapter then turns to the evolving focus of EU law the larger questions of economic and fiscal policies which we refer to in the following as the ‘macro-economic’ element of the constitutional framework. [less ▲]

Does tax competition increase disparity among jurisdictions?

E-print/Working paper (2015)

This paper investigates whether a less-developed economy can catch up with a more developed one when they compete for foreign direct investments. The main message of the paper is that jurisdictional ... [more ▼]

This paper investigates whether a less-developed economy can catch up with a more developed one when they compete for foreign direct investments. The main message of the paper is that jurisdictional competition can enable the lagging country to catch up if capital mobility is sufficiently high and the productivity gap is not too large. Further, we show that size asymmetry reinforces (weakens) the productivity catch-up resulting from interjurisdictional competition when the lagging economy is small (large). Finally, we demonstrate that the development gap widens when capital becomes less mobile, which is at odds with previous findings. [less ▲]

Institutional dynamics under revenue volatility and revenue-dependent lobbying power: A stochastic differential game approach

E-print/Working paper (2015)

We propose an analysis of institutional dynamics under uncertainty by the means of a stochastic differential lobbying game with two main ingredients. The rst one is uncertainty inherent in the ... [more ▼]

We propose an analysis of institutional dynamics under uncertainty by the means of a stochastic differential lobbying game with two main ingredients. The rst one is uncertainty inherent in the institutional process itself. The second one has to do with the crucial role of resource windfalls in economic and political outcomes, shaping lobbying power and adding a second source of uncertainty. First, we focus on uncertainty surrounding the institutional process only and show that its main consequence is the existence of multiple equilibria with very distinct features: symmetric equilibria which lead the economy to reach almost surely a stable pointwise institutional steady state in the long run even in the absence of the retaliation motive put forward by the deterministic lobbying literature, and asymmetric equilibria which only show up under uncertainty and do no allow for stochastic convergence to a steady state. Second, when accounting for the two sources of uncertainty together with resource revenue-dependent lobbying power, we show that revenue volatility tends to stabilize institutional dynamics compared to the deterministic counterpart. [less ▲]

Dining Cryptographers are Practical

E-print/Working paper (2015)

The dining cryptographers protocol provides information-theoretically secure sender and recipient untraceability. However, the protocol is considered to be impractical because a malicious participant may ... [more ▼]

The dining cryptographers protocol provides information-theoretically secure sender and recipient untraceability. However, the protocol is considered to be impractical because a malicious participant may disrupt the communication. We propose an implementation which provides information-theoretical security for senders and recipients, and in which a disruptor with limited computational capabilities can easily be detected. [less ▲]

New Grand-Ducal Regulation on fees for audio and audiovisual media service providers

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Bewegungssoziologische Analyse der Begrifflichkeiten der deutschen Trans*-Bewegung

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Are Private Equity Backed Initial Public Offerings Any Different? Timing, Information Asymmetry and Post-IPO Survival

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Approximate Normality of High-Energy Hyperspherical Eigenfunctions

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Regulator Imposes Warning on RTL for Breach of Rules on Protection of Minors over Syrian War Coverage

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Model structure on differential graded commutative algebras over the ring of differential operators

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Historical societies: Luxembourg

E-print/Working paper (2015)

The Axiomatic Approach to Risk Measures for Capital Determination

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Endogenous Capital- and Labor-Augmenting Technical Change in the Neoclassical Growth Model

E-print/Working paper (2015)

The determinants of the direction of technical change and their implications for economic growth and economic policy are studied in the one-sector neoclassical growth model of Ramsey, Cass, and Koopmans ... [more ▼]

The determinants of the direction of technical change and their implications for economic growth and economic policy are studied in the one-sector neoclassical growth model of Ramsey, Cass, and Koopmans extended to allow for endogenous capital- and labor-augmenting technical change. We develop a novel micro-foundation for the competitive production sector that rests on the idea that the fabrication of output requires tasks to be performed by capital and labor. Firms may engage in innovation investments that increase the productivity of capital and labor in the performance of their respective tasks. These investments are associated with new technological knowledge that accumulates over time and sustains long-run growth. We show that the equilibrium allocation is not Pareto-efficient since both forms of technical change give rise to an inter-temporal knowledge externality. An appropriate policy of investment subsidies may implement the efficient allocation. [less ▲]

Dash for Cash: Month-End Liquidity Needs and the Predictability of Stock Returns

E-print/Working paper (2015)

This paper uncovers strong return reversals in the US value weighted stock market index around the last monthly settlement day, T-3, which guarantees liquidity for month-end cash distributions. Similar ... [more ▼]

This paper uncovers strong return reversals in the US value weighted stock market index around the last monthly settlement day, T-3, which guarantees liquidity for month-end cash distributions. Similar reversals in market returns around T-3 are documented internationally. The return reversals are stronger in countries where the mutual fund ownership is large, and in the US they have become stronger over time as the mutual fund ownership of stocks has increased. Using data that contains all trades of a subset of institutional investors, we show direct evidence that institutional trading contributes to the market reversals. Finally, we find that in the cross-section of stocks, return reversals around the turn of the month are stronger for stocks more commonly held by mutual funds and for liquid stocks. These market reversals help explain the previously documented abnormally high market returns around the turn of the month. [less ▲]

Model categorical Koszul-Tate resolution for algebras over differential operators

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Accelerating the DC algorithm for smooth functions

E-print/Working paper (2015)

We introduce two new algorithms to minimise smooth difference of convex (DC) functions that accelerate the convergence of the classical DC algorithm (DCA). We prove that the point computed by DCA can be ... [more ▼]

We introduce two new algorithms to minimise smooth difference of convex (DC) functions that accelerate the convergence of the classical DC algorithm (DCA). We prove that the point computed by DCA can be used to define a descent direction for the objective function evaluated at this point. Our algorithms are based on a combination of DCA together with a line search step that uses this descent direction. Convergence of the algorithms is proved and the rate of convergence is analysed under the Łojasiewicz property of the objective function. We apply our algorithms to a class of smooth DC programs arising in the study of biochemical reaction networks, where the objective function is real analytic and thus satisfies the Łojasiewicz property. Numerical tests on various biochemical models clearly show that our algorithms outperforms DCA, being on average more than four times faster in both computational time and the number of iterations. The algorithms are globally convergent to a non-equilibrium steady state of a biochemical network, with only chemically consistent restrictions on the network topology. [less ▲]

L'industrie automobile dans la Grande Région SaarLorLux en 2011 - évolutions actuelles, défis et solutions possibles

E-print/Working paper (2015)

With almost 150,000 employees and more than 600 companies, the automotive industry is one of the most important sectors in the Greater Region. However, in the more recent past, globalisation ... [more ▼]

With almost 150,000 employees and more than 600 companies, the automotive industry is one of the most important sectors in the Greater Region. However, in the more recent past, globalisation, technological development and, above all, the global economic and financial crisis have had a strong influence on the sector and have posed challenges. This text attempts to review these developments and discuss possible strategies and measures to meet the challenges. [less ▲]

Studying employers’ risk assessment and the role of institutions: An experimental design

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Work Package 7 aims at understanding how early job insecurity can affect an individual’s future career from an employer’s perspective. By paying special attention to the educational background and gender ... [more ▼]

Work Package 7 aims at understanding how early job insecurity can affect an individual’s future career from an employer’s perspective. By paying special attention to the educational background and gender of the applicants, we plan to investigate how employers interpret young applicants’ job insecurity, for example in the form of unemployment or job-mismatch experiences, during recruitment. The negative effects of such experiences on an individual’s chances of being recruited successfully – so called scarring effects – may further vary depending on economic and institutional contexts such as country-specific economic or political conditions, educational structures or economic sectors. By surveying employers from different sectors, we will examine if and how these scarring effects vary between four different countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Norway and Switzerland. We will apply an innovative methodology in the form of an employer-sided survey with an integrated multidimensional vignette experiment in order to simulate the impact of multiple factor s on success and failure when young people who experienced job insecurities apply for new jobs. In the present working paper we summarise the major theoretical concepts that have been used to explain the scarring effects that can result from employer behaviour. Moreover, we outline how we plan to collect data in WP 7 in order to analyse scarring through decision-making on behalf of employers during the recruitment process [less ▲]

Invariant dimensions and maximality of geometric monodromy action

E-print/Working paper (2015)

Sheaves and D-modules on Lorentzian manifolds

E-print/Working paper (2015)