Asymmetric information, credit market condition, and entrepreneurial finance

The issue of imperfect information plays a much more important role in financing “informationally opaque” small businesses than in financing large companies.1 This chapter examines the asymmetric information issue in entrepreneurial finance from two perspectives: the effects of relationship lending and the impacts of credit market concentration on entrepreneurial financial behavior. These two perspectives are strongly linked to each other via the asymmetric information issue in entrepreneurial finance. Existing literature has recognized the important role played by relationship lending in alleviating the problem of asymmetric information. However, mixed empirical results have been reported. For example, it has been found that the development of relationship lending can improve the availability of finance for small businesses borrowers (Petersen and Rajan, 1994) and reduce the costs of finance (Berger and Udell, 1995). Meanwhile, with monopoly power, banks may extract rents, in terms of charging higher-than-market interest rates, from small businesscustomers who have very concentrated banking relationships (Ongena and Smith, 2001). In addition, both favorable and unfavorable effects of credit market concentration on financing small businesses have been acknowledged. Small business borrowers may have to pay a higher-than-market price on loans (Degryse and Ongena, 2005) and are more likely to be financially constrained (Cetorelli, 2004) than in competitive markets. On the other hand, empirical studies have shown that market concentration create a strong motive for lenders to invest in private information from small business customers, and therefore a concentrated market is more efficient in terms of private information acquisition (Han et al., 2009b). The objective of this chapter is to investigate, by reviewing existing literature, the role played by relationship lending and the effects of market concentration on financing entrepreneurial businesses that are supposed to be informationally opaque. In the first section we review literature on the important role played by asymmetric information in entrepreneurial finance from two perspectives: asymmetric information and relationship lending, and the theoretical modeling of asymmetric information. Then we examine the relationship between capital market conditions and entrepreneurial finance and attempt to answer two questions: Why is the capital market condition important for entrepreneurial finance? and What are the effects of capital market conditions on entrepreneurial financial behavior in terms of discouraged borrowers, cash holding, and the availability and costs of finance?

The value of information in an agency model with moral hazard

I show that the principal and the agent may each prefer that the principal or the agent has imperfect information about the principal's technology in a principal-agent environment with moral hazard. Principals expend considerable resources on data cumulation and analysis. However, such investments in information acquisition are benecial only if the agent will know that the principal is not ignorant or it allows the principal to implement a dierent action. When the principal is perfectly informed about her technology, the agent prefers to be ignorant. In addition, the value of perfect information for the agency is negative if the principal would implement the same action with either possible technology. I also investigate the dierences between ex ante and ex post contracting, and the ramications of the principal being ignorant or potentially ignorant about the technology. Finally, I determine if the principal's utility varies continuously with the degree of informativeness of the agent about the principal's technology. In this vein, I determine whether the agent's uncertainty may make the principal better o if she has the less informative technology.

Topics in Behavioural Economics - Information and Fairness. Revised edition

This thesis dwells upon topics in behavioural economics: information and fairness, with five research papers. The first two contributions are concerned with the extension of standard auction formats with information acquisition strategies. The third paper addresses global games framed as a speculative attack and tests theoretical predictions for risk and ambiguity. The fourth contribution deals with disclosing conflicts of interest, where one player has a monetary incentive to deceive. The last paper extends a standard model of social preferences with a second fairness dimension and studies how economic agents distort fairness norms exhibiting a self-serving bias effect.

An assessment system for evaluation of driving competencies

Automobiles have deeply impacted the way in which we travel but they have also contributed to many deaths and injury due to crashes. A number of reasons for these crashes have been pointed out by researchers. Inexperience has been identified as a contributing factor to road crashes. Driver’s driving abilities also play a vital role in judging the road environment and reacting in-time to avoid any possible collision. Therefore driver’s perceptual and motor skills remain the key factors impacting on road safety. Our failure to understand what is really important for learners, in terms of competent driving, is one of the many challenges for building better training programs. Driver training is one of the interventions aimed at decreasing the number of crashes that involve young drivers. Currently, there is a need to develop comprehensive driver evaluation system that benefits from the advances in Driver Assistance Systems. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to explain how driving abilities evolves with on-road driving experience. To our knowledge, driver assistance systems have never been comprehensively used in a driver training context to assess the safety aspect of driving. The aim and novelty of this thesis is to develop and evaluate an Intelligent Driver Training System (IDTS) as an automated assessment tool that will help drivers and their trainers to comprehensively view complex driving manoeuvres and potentially provide effective feedback by post processing the data recorded during driving. This system is designed to help driver trainers to accurately evaluate driver performance and has the potential to provide valuable feedback to the drivers. Since driving is dependent on fuzzy inputs from the driver (i.e. approximate distance calculation from the other vehicles, approximate assumption of the other vehicle speed), it is necessary that the evaluation system is based on criteria and rules that handles uncertain and fuzzy characteristics of the driving tasks. Therefore, the proposed IDTS utilizes fuzzy set theory for the assessment of driver performance. The proposed research program focuses on integrating the multi-sensory information acquired from the vehicle, driver and environment to assess driving competencies. After information acquisition, the current research focuses on automated segmentation of the selected manoeuvres from the driving scenario. This leads to the creation of a model that determines a “competency” criterion through the driving performance protocol used by driver trainers (i.e. expert knowledge) to assess drivers. This is achieved by comprehensively evaluating and assessing the data stream acquired from multiple in-vehicle sensors using fuzzy rules and classifying the driving manoeuvres (i.e. overtake, lane change, T-crossing and turn) between low and high competency. The fuzzy rules use parameters such as following distance, gaze depth and scan area, distance with respect to lanes and excessive acceleration or braking during the manoeuvres to assess competency. These rules that identify driving competency were initially designed with the help of expert’s knowledge (i.e. driver trainers). In-order to fine tune these rules and the parameters that define these rules, a driving experiment was conducted to identify the empirical differences between novice and experienced drivers. The results from the driving experiment indicated that significant differences existed between novice and experienced driver, in terms of their gaze pattern and duration, speed, stop time at the T-crossing, lane keeping and the time spent in lanes while performing the selected manoeuvres. These differences were used to refine the fuzzy membership functions and rules that govern the assessments of the driving tasks. Next, this research focused on providing an integrated visual assessment interface to both driver trainers and their trainees. By providing a rich set of interactive graphical interfaces, displaying information about the driving tasks, Intelligent Driver Training System (IDTS) visualisation module has the potential to give empirical feedback to its users. Lastly, the validation of the IDTS system’s assessment was conducted by comparing IDTS objective assessments, for the driving experiment, with the subjective assessments of the driver trainers for particular manoeuvres. Results show that not only IDTS was able to match the subjective assessments made by driver trainers during the driving experiment but also identified some additional driving manoeuvres performed in low competency that were not identified by the driver trainers due to increased mental workload of trainers when assessing multiple variables that constitute driving. The validation of IDTS emphasized the need for an automated assessment tool that can segment the manoeuvres from the driving scenario, further investigate the variables within that manoeuvre to determine the manoeuvre’s competency and provide integrated visualisation regarding the manoeuvre to its users (i.e. trainers and trainees). Through analysis and validation it was shown that IDTS is a useful assistance tool for driver trainers to empirically assess and potentially provide feedback regarding the manoeuvres undertaken by the drivers.

Towards a smart cancer registry

Aims Pathology notification for a Cancer Registry is regarded as the most valid information for the confirmation of a diagnosis of cancer. In view of the importance of pathology data, an automatic medical text analysis system (Medtex) is being developed to perform electronic Cancer Registry data extraction and coding of important clinical information embedded within pathology reports. Methods The system automatically scans HL7 messages received from a Queensland pathology information system and analyses the reports for terms and concepts relevant to a cancer notification. A multitude of data items for cancer notification such as primary site, histological type, stage, and other synoptic data are classified by the system. The underlying extraction and classification technology is based on SNOMED CT1 2. The Queensland Cancer Registry business rules3 and International Classification of Diseases – Oncology – Version 34 have been incorporated. Results The cancer notification services show that the classification of notifiable reports can be achieved with sensitivities of 98% and specificities of 96%5, while the coding of cancer notification items such as basis of diagnosis, histological type and grade, primary site and laterality can be extracted with an overall accuracy of 80%6. In the case of lung cancer staging, the automated stages produced were accurate enough for the purposes of population level research and indicative staging prior to multi-disciplinary team meetings2 7. Medtex also allows for detailed tumour stream synoptic reporting8. Conclusions Medtex demonstrates how medical free-text processing could enable the automation of some Cancer Registry processes. Over 70% of Cancer Registry coding resources are devoted to information acquisition. The development of a clinical decision support system to unlock information from medical free-text could significantly reduce costs arising from duplicated processes and enable improved decision support, enhancing efficiency and timeliness of cancer information for Cancer Registries.

Näkövammaisten tietokoneavusteinen tiedon hankinta

The study examines various uses of computer technology in acquisition of information for visually impaired people. For this study 29 visually impaired persons took part in a survey about their experiences concerning acquisition of infomation and use of computers, especially with a screen magnification program, a speech synthesizer and a braille display. According to the responses, the evolution of computer technology offers an important possibility for visually impaired people to cope with everyday activities and interacting with the environment. Nevertheless, the functionality of assistive technology needs further development to become more usable and versatile. Since the challenges of independent observation of environment were emphasized in the survey, the study led into developing a portable text vision system called Tekstinäkö. Contrary to typical stand-alone applications, Tekstinäkö system was constructed by combining devices and programs that are readily available on consumer market. As the system operates, pictures are taken by a digital camera and instantly transmitted to a text recognition program in a laptop computer that talks out loud the text using a speech synthesizer. Visually impaired test users described that even unsure interpretations of the texts in the environment given by Tekstinäkö system are at least a welcome addition to complete perception of the environment. It became clear that even with a modest development work it is possible to bring new, useful and valuable methods to everyday life of disabled people. Unconventional production process of the system appeared to be efficient as well. Achieved results and the proposed working model offer one suggestion for giving enough attention to easily overlooked needs of the people with special abilities. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): K.4.2 Social Issues: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities I.4.9 Image processing and computer vision: Applications Keywords: Visually impaired, computer-assisted, information, acquisition, assistive technology, computer, screen magnification program, speech synthesizer, braille display, survey, testing, text recognition, camera, text, perception, picture, environment, trasportation, guidance, independence, vision, disabled, blind, speech, synthesizer, braille, software engineering, programming, program, system, freeware, shareware, open source, Tekstinäkö, text vision, TopOCR, Autohotkey, computer engineering, computer science

Screening Cycles

We demonstrate how endogenous information acquisition in credit markets creates lending cycles when competing banks undertake their screening decisions in an uncoordinated way, thereby highlighting the role of intertemporal screening externalities induced by lending market competition as a structural source of instability. We show that uncoordinated screening behavior of competing banks may be not only the source of an important financial multiplier, but also an independent source of fluctuations inducing business cycles. The screening cycle mechanism is robust to generalizations along many dimensions such as the lending market structure, the lending rate determination and the imperfections in the screening technology.

Abordagem informacional da política externa brasileira : a participação da CREDN (1995-2011)

O estudo a ser apresentado tem como objetivo analisar a influência dos deputados federais na política externa brasileira, mais especificamente dos deputados da Comissão de Relação Exteriores e Defesa Nacional. A idéia não é criar um novo paradigma de inserção, mas levantar pistas sobre diferentes formas de participação que o legislativo pode ter na condução dessa política no país. Contrariamos as análises que atribuem ao legislativo pouca participação ao processo decisório e focalizam a atuação na aprovação (ou não), dos acordos internacionais enviados pelo Executivo. Nesse sentido, procuramos ir além dessa abordagem tradicional abrindo o leque para outras formas de participação dos deputados federais na política externa brasileira. A politização da política externa e o papel mais ativo da Comissão de Relações Exteriores e Defesa Nacional (CREDN) têm levado a uma maior atuação do legislativo nessas questões. Principalmente a partir da maior atenção da oposição para as questões de política externa. A política externa foi considerada a política pública mais insulada do debate político-partidário. Mas, agora, os legisladores têm participado e se interessado cada vez mais por estas questões. O Congresso tem utilizado mais seus instrumentos institucionais de fiscalização para monitorar a condução da política externa. Assim, foi analisado o papel da CREDN como mecanismo de aquisição de informação, com o intuito de informar o legislador mediano em termos de política externa. O estudo parte do modelo informacional para encontrar respostas sobre o incentivo que os legisladores teriam em coletar informações (custosas) sobre política externa. Desse modo, procura-se analisar o incentivo dos legisladores em ativar tal política no plenário (Santos e Almeida, 2009; Martin, 2000). De forma cada vez mais extensiva e fiscalizadora, acrescentando informações às políticas formuladas pelo Executivo (Almeida & Santos, 2008)

An architecture design with data model for product recovery management systems

Due to concerns about environmental protection and resource utilization, product lifecycle management for end-of-life (EOL) has received increasing attention in many industrial sectors including manufacturing, maintenance/repair, and recycling/refurbishing of the product. To support these functions, crucial issues are studied to realize a product recovery management system (PRMS), including: (1) an architecture design for EOL services, such as remanufacturing and recycling; (2) a product data model required for EOL activity based on international standards; and (3) an infrastructure for information acquisition and mapping to product lifecycle information. The presented works are illustrated via a realistic scenario. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

一类载人潜水器的导航技术研究

介绍了一类载人潜水器导航系统的组成,接着阐述了基于工业以太网的信息采集模块.由于载人潜水器动力学模型存在未建模扰动以及各种传感器存在不同程度的误差,需要采用卡尔曼滤波器(KF)等方法进行数据滤波,最后将滤波后的数据用于该类载人潜水器的导航研究.半物理仿真平台结果表明,载人潜水器的导航精度得到了大幅度提高.

WAGO750模块与PC机之间的通讯

介绍了一种用于WAGO750-842以太网节点及系列模块与PC机之间的一种通用而又简便的通讯方法,该方法能够使PC机与WAGO750系列模块方便地进行数据交换,从而达到计算机对控制对象进行信息采集和控制输出的目的。该方法已在载人潜水器控制系统中得到成功应用,效果良好。

景物的三维信息获取及其运动分析

采用模糊熵函数对图象象素分类作出整体最优分类评价,实现了区域分割.利用矩及其函数做为各区域的特征表达,构成以区域为基元的符号特征集并描述图象内容。根据立体图象对间的几何关系,解出各区域(基元)的相对三维坐标。与象索匹配相比较,它可以获得较高精度的三维信息和可描述的景物信息.通过获取不同时空的各区域(基元)三维信息,确定了它们的空间运动状态。联系这些状态,构造出景物中物体间的空间关系和近似模型,实现了对景物的3-D识别和描述。

基于Zernike矩边缘检测的焊缝信息获取

针对目前焊缝坐标提取方法存在精度较低,难于实现视觉引导的机器人激光焊接高速度、高精度的要求,提出一种基于Zernike正交矩的曲线焊缝位置坐标信息获取算法,该算法首先采用Zernike边缘检测算法识别焊缝边缘,然后提取出焊缝的中心线,最后计算出该中心线的亚像素坐标。通过试验验证了该算法的可行性。

基于视觉测量的机器人激光焊接信息获取及路径规划

随着计算机视觉与机器人智能控制学科的飞速发展，在汽车工业中，结合视觉测量和机器人控制技术，采用激光拼焊方式加工汽车车身零部件显示出愈来愈重要的作用。在国外汽车板材激光拼焊技术已获得广泛应用，而在国内还只是处于研发和试生产阶段。应用工业机器人进行激光拼焊，不仅能充分发挥工业机器人灵活性、智能性等特点，而且还能代替大型激光拼焊装备进行生产，降低成本，提高效益。本课题以激光拼焊为背景，以搭建的工业机器人激光拼焊试验系统为研究平台，对基于视觉的激光焊接机器人焊缝位置信息获取及路径规划技术进行了研究。 在众多的信息获取方法中，立体视觉是一种有效的三维信息获取技术。一个完整的立体视觉过程包括：图像获取、特征提取、摄像机标定、立体匹配、深度信息计算和插值六个部分。单个摄像机获取的图像是二维的，图像的深度信息丢失。采用两个相同的摄像机在不同位置对被测物件取像，通过立体视觉匹配能计算出图像的深度信息。为避免立体匹配的困难，采用结构光代替其中一个摄像机是行之有效的方法。基于视觉的激光焊接机器人焊缝位置信息获取是立体视觉技术在激光焊接机器人焊接作业中的典型应用。对由CCD摄像机拍摄到工件图像进行算法处理提取出焊缝特征信息，是基于视觉的激光焊接机器人系统中关键技术之一。 图像处理的精度直接影响到整个视觉测量系统的精度，获取的焊缝位置信息的准确性直接决定着焊接任务的成败。焊缝在图像上表现为两条边缘，在成像条件较好的情况下，可以采用边缘特征提取的方法来获取工件焊缝的位置信息。亚像素边缘检测是近年来较为流行的边缘检测算法，检测的边缘精度可以达到亚像素级别。基于Zernike矩的亚像素边缘检测算法具有很好的抗噪性，适用于激光焊缝信息的提取，但检测出的边缘较粗，本文针对Zernike矩亚像素边缘检测存在的不足进行了算法改进，推导出7×7模板系数，并提出了新的边缘判断依据。试验验证了改进算法的有效性。改进的算法能获取焊缝位置精确信息。 阐述了Tsai两步法和Zhang的基于平面靶标标定的原理和标定过程。提出双线结构光视觉测量系统，建立了用于跟踪曲线焊缝的双线结构光视觉系统的数学模型，并给出标定方法。该方法首先采用Zhang的标定方法对摄像机进行标定，然后基于交比不变性原理，对结构光平面进行拟合。双线结构光视觉系统在跟踪曲线焊缝时，在一帧图像中可以同时检测出焊缝转角偏差和位置偏差，应用在机器人激光焊接焊缝跟踪上可获得比单线结构光更加丰富的信息。 激光焊接机器人焊枪的位姿直接影响着焊接质量的好坏。本文研究了机器人末端执行器位姿表达方法，建立了焊枪位姿和焊缝坐标系的数学模型。在激光焊接机器人焊接之前需要对焊缝编程，阐述了焊接机器人编程原理。针对在圆弧焊缝曲率变化较大的地方采用视觉测量方法存在较大的测量误差，提出偏转角的概念，对偏转角提前进行补偿，能明显提高焊接质量。 设计了测量焊接机器人轨迹误差的试验，对激光焊接机器人在高速焊接或焊接曲率较大的圆弧时轨迹误差进行了测量和分析。归纳了焊接机器人轨迹误差的来源及其产生的原因。给出了一种补偿机器人轨迹误差的方法。该方法的基本思想是先由结构光视觉系统测量出焊接机器人的重复轨迹误差，然后由视觉伺服系统补偿。实验证明，该方法应用在长焊缝和曲线焊缝焊接时，能有效补偿焊接机器人的轨迹误差。