Non-parametric efficiency, progress and regress measures for panel data: Methodological aspects

This purely methodological paper deals with the rôle of time in non-parametric efficiency analysis. Using both FDH and DEA technologies, it first shows how each observation in a panel can be characterized in efficiency terms vis-à-vis three different kinds of frontiers: (i) ‘contemporaneous’, (ii) ‘sequential’, and (iii) ‘intertemporal’. These are then compared with window analysis. Next, frontier shifts ‘outward’ and ‘inward’, interpreted as progress or regress are considered for the two kinds of technologies, and computational methods are described in detail for evaluating such shifts in either case. These are also contrasted with what is measured by the ‘Malmquist’ productivity index. Finally, an alternative way of identifying progress and regress, independent of the frontier notion and referring instead to some ‘benchmark’ notion, is extended here to panel data.     

Characterizing properties of approximate solutions for optimization problems

Approximate solutions for optimization problems become of interest if the ‘true’ optimum cannot be found: this may happen for the simple reason that an optimum does not exist or because of the ‘bounded rationality’ (or bounded accuracy) of the optimizer. This paper characterizes several approximate solutions by means of consistency and additional requirements. In particular we consider invariance properties. We prove that, where the domain contains optimization problems without maximum, there is no non-trivial consistent solution satisfying non-emptiness, translation and multiplication invariance. Moreover, we show that the class of ‘satisficing’ solutions is obtained, if the invariance axioms are replaced with Chernoff’s Choice Axiom.     

Fractal pattern growth simulation in electrodeposition and study of the shifting of center of mass

We presented simulation of fractal pattern in electrodeposition (Diffusion limited aggregation) using concept of off lattice walk.It is seen that the growth patterns are based on a parameter called ‘bias’. This parameter ‘bias’ controls the growth of patterns similar to that of electric field in electrodeposition technique. In present study the fractal patterns are grown for different values of ‘bias’. Dendritic patterns grown at lower value of ‘bias’ comprises open structure and show limited branching. As the bias is increased the growth tends to be dense and show more crowded branching. Box counting was implemented to calculate fractal dimension. The structural and textural complexities and are compared with the experimental observations.It was also noted that in the evolution of DLA patterns, the center of mass of the growth is shifted slightly. We tracked the position of the center of mass of simulated electro deposits under different electric field conditions. The center of mass exhibit random walk like patterns and it wanders around the origin or the starting point of the growth.     

The zone of flow establishment for plumes with significant buoyancy

The self-similar assumption used in jet and plume models is only valid for distances of greater than about six stack diameters downstream, in the zone of established flow (ZEF). The ‘Gaussian’ profile, observed at the beginning of the ZEF, must be related to source ‘top hat’ parameter values. However, previously used formulae are shown here to be approximations, being valid only for non-buoyant sources (‘pure jets’). Extensions to sources of significant buoyancy are described in terms of the densimetric Froude number, based on recently published experimental work.     

Specialization, inequality and the social stability of economies with collective property rights

Many, if not most, economies are observed to exhibit some form of collective ownership with some goods. These economies may fail to be socially stable, in the sense that the economy has an empty core; some groups may have an incentive to ‘recontract out’. We show that, for a class of economies with collective ownership, sufficient ‘specialization’ in the endowment holdings of these economies gives rise to a non-empty core, so achieving social stability. It is shown, moreover, that reductions in income inequality are consistent with social stability, to the extent that these reductions preserve or increase ‘specialization’ in the economy. Finally, we show that our notion of specialization is not limited to the privatized sector of the economy. Even in economies in which there is no privately held property, sufficient specialization guarantees that the economy is socially stable.     

An arithmetic proof of John’s ellipsoid theorem

Using an idea of Voronoi in the geometric theory of positive definite quadratic forms, we give a transparent proof of John’s characterization of the unique ellipsoid of maximum volume contained in a convex body. The same idea applies to the ‘hard part’ of a generalization of John’s theorem and shows the difficulties of the corresponding ‘easy part’.Received: 8 October 2004     

Induced effects and technological innovation with strategic environmental policy

This paper investigates an environmental policy designed to reduce the emission of pollutants under uncertainty, where the agents’ problem is formulated as an optimal stopping problem. We first analyze the single-agent’s case according to Pindyck [Pindyck, R.S., 2002. Optimal timing problems in environmental economics. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 26, 1677–1697]. We then extend the model to the case in which there are two competing agents. Therefore, we consider the external economic effects that are peculiar to an agent’s environmental policy decision. Finally, we consider the effect of technological innovation. The results of the analysis suggest that if there are two competing agents, they implement environmental policy simultaneously. Furthermore, the threshold for implementing environmental policy is higher when there are two agents, and how long these two agents take to implement environmental policy depends on the magnitude of the external economic effect. Furthermore, when we consider the effect of technological innovation, we show that the incentive to be the leader occurs if an additional condition is satisfied.     

Higher order differentiability properties of the composition and of the inversion operator

This paper contains theorems of r-th order Fréchet differentiability, with r≥1, for the autonomous composition operator and for the inversion operator in Schauder spaces. The optimality of the differentiability theorems for the composition is indicated by means of an ‘inverse result’. A main point of this paper is that (higher order) ‘sharp’ differentiability theorems for the composition operator can be proved by approximating the operator by composition operators whose superposing function is a polynomial, an idea which may be employed in other function space settings.     

On the expected discounted penalty function at ruin of a surplus process with interest

In this paper, we study the expected value of a discounted penalty function at ruin of the classical surplus process modified by the inclusion of interest on the surplus. The ‘penalty’ is simply a function of the surplus immediately prior to ruin and the deficit at ruin. An integral equation for the expected value is derived, while the exact solution is given when the initial surplus is zero. Dickson’s [Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 11 (1992) 191] formulae for the distribution of the surplus immediately prior to ruin in the classical surplus process are generalised to our modified surplus process.     

Generalized p-Center problems: Complexity results and approximation algorithms

In an earlier paper, two alternative p-Center problems, where the centers serving costumers must be chosen so that exactly one node from each of p prespecified disjoint pairs of nodes is selected, were shown to be NP-complete. This paper considers a generalized version of these problems, in which the nodes from which the p servers are to be selected are partitioned into k sets and the number of servers selected from each set must be within a prespecified range. We refer to these problems as the ‘Set’ p-Center problems. We establish that the triangle inequality (Δ-inequality) versions of these problems, in which the edge weights are assumed to satisfy the triangle inequality, are also NP-complete. We also provide a polynomial time approximation algorithm for the two Δ-inequality Set p-Center problems that is optimal for one of the problems in the sense that no algorithm with polynomial running time can provide a better constant factor performance guarantee, unless P = NP. For the special case ‘alternative’ p-Center problems, which we refer to as the ‘Pair’ p-Center problems, we extend the previous results in several ways. For example, the results mentioned above for the Set p-Center problems also apply to the Pair p-Center problems. Furthermore, we establish and exploit a correspondence between satisfiability and the dominating set type of problems that naturally arise when considering the decision versions of the Pair p-Center problems.     

Path-dependent processes and the emergence of macro-structure

Path-dependent systems of the ‘autocatalytic’ or self-reinforcing type typically possess a multiplicity of possible asymptotic outcomes or structures, with early random fluctuations determining which structure is ‘selected’.We explore a wide class of such systems, which we call non-linear Polya systems, where increments to proportions or concentrations occur with probabilities that are non-linear functions of present proportions or concentrations. We show that such systems converge to outcomes (proportions or concentrations) that are represented by the stable fixed points of these functions. These limit theorems are strong laws of large numbers for path-dependent increments, and as such they generalize the standard Borel strong law for independent increments. They are powerful and easy to use.We show applications in chemical kinetics, industrial location theory and in the emergence of technological structure in the economy.     

Exact equations for smoothed Wigner transforms and homogenization of wave propagation

The Wigner transform (WT) has been extensively used in the formulation of phase-space models for a variety of wave propagation problems including high-frequency limits, nonlinear and random waves. It is well known that the WT features counterintuitive ‘interference terms,’ which often make computation impractical. In this connection, we propose the use of the smoothed Wigner transform (SWT), and derive new, exact equations for it, covering a broad class of wave propagation problems. Equations for spectrograms are included as a special case. The ‘taming’ of the interference terms by the SWT is illustrated, and an asymptotic model for the Schrödinger equation is constructed and numerically verified.     

Explicit representations of maximal subgroups of the Monster

Most of the maximal subgroups of the Monster are now known, but in many cases they are hard to calculate in. We produce explicit ‘small’ representations of all the maximal subgroups which are not 2-local. The representations we construct are available on the World Wide Web at http://brauer.maths.qmul.ac.uk/Atlas/.     

Stability and Comparison of States of Dynamical Systems with Respect to a Time-Varying Cone

We investigate classes of dynamical systems in a partially ordered space with properties of monotonicity type with respect to specified cones. We propose new methods for the stability analysis and comparison of solutions of differential systems using time-varying cones. To illustrate the results obtained, we present examples using typical cones in vector and matrix spaces.__________Translated from Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 198–213, February, 2005.     

Estimation of a mean in the presence of an extreme observation

The performance of Anscombe, semi-Winsorization and Winsorization (A, S and W) rules for dealing with extreme observations are investigated for observations from N(μ, σ²) and the simple case where it is assumed that at most one observation in the sample may be biased, arising from N(μ + aσ, σ²) and the primary objective is to estimate μ when σ is unknown. Each of these rules is separately treated in terms of the estimated standard deviation, range and interquartile range. A Monte Carlo method is used to evaluate certain expectation integrals that arise in the computations. We give the results for sample sizes n = 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 of determining the constants necessary to give ‘premiums’ of 0.01 and 0.05 for each of the rules. The performance of the rules is measured in terms of ‘protection’. Features of the resulting tables are discussed.     

Developing a platform for comparison of hospital admission systems: An illustration

There is an increasing need to develop a platform for comparing hospital admission planning systems due to a shift in the service paradigm in the health sector. The current service concept of hospital admission planning aims at optimising the use of scarce hospital resources without paying much attention to the level of service offered to patients. As patients nowadays do not accept long waiting times for hospital admission, it becomes necessary to consider alternative admission service concepts. Waiting lists have also become a political issue, and alternative concepts have been advocated such as giving all patients an appointment for admission. A simulation model was built to examine the impacts of extreme admission service concepts in a simplified hospital setting. The alternative concepts considered are based on the ‘zero waiting time’ principle (immediate treatment), and the ‘booked admissions’ principle (using an appointment for admission). The results of these admission service concepts are compared with the results of the current concept, based on the ‘maximising resource use’ principle. The paper deals with the development of a framework and tool that allows evaluating different, somehow conflicting, hospital admission planning concepts and the usefulness of such framework and tool for more refined/real-life approaches to hospital admission planning.     

The Fermat rule for multifunctions on Banach spaces

Using variational analysis, we study vector optimization problems with objectives being closed multifunctions on Banach spaces or in Asplund spaces. In particular, in terms of the coderivatives, we present Fermat’s rules as necessary conditions for an optimal solution of the above problems. As applications, we also provide some necessary conditions (in terms of Clarke’s normal cones or the limiting normal cones) for Pareto efficient points.This research was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship scheme (CUHK) and an Earmarked Grant from the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong. Research of the first author was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of P. R. China (Grant No. 10361008) and the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province, P. R. China (Grant No. 2003A002M).     

Cyclic permutations and evolutionary trees

Given a tree with leaf set X, there are certain ways of arranging the elements of X in a circular order so that can be embedded in the plane and ‘preserve’ this ordering. We investigate some new combinatorial properties of these ‘circular orderings.’ We then use these properties to establish two results concerning dissimilarity maps on X that are induced by edge-weighted trees with leaf set X.