Optimal second-degree price discrimination and arbitrage: On the role of asymetric information among buyers

The traditional theory of monopolistic screening tackles individualself-selection but does not address the possibility that buyers couldform a coalition to coordinate their purchases and to reallocate thegoods. In this paper, we design the optimal sale mechanism which takesinto account both individual and coalition incentive compatibilityfocusing on the role of asymmetric information among buyers. We showthat when a coalition of buyers is formed under asymmetric information,the monopolist can do as well as when there is no coalition. Although inthe optimal sale mechanism marginal rates of substitution are notequalized across buyers (hence there exists room for arbitrage), theyfail to realize the gains from arbitrage because of the transaction costsin coalition formation generated by asymmetric information.

Noise in Brain Activity Engenders Perception and Influences Discrimination Sensitivity.

Behavioral and brain responses to identical stimuli can vary with experimental and task parameters, including the context of stimulus presentation or attention. More surprisingly, computational models suggest that noise-related random fluctuations in brain responses to stimuli would alone be sufficient to engender perceptual differences between physically identical stimuli. In two experiments combining psychophysics and EEG in healthy humans, we investigated brain mechanisms whereby identical stimuli are (erroneously) perceived as different (higher vs lower in pitch or longer vs shorter in duration) in the absence of any change in the experimental context. Even though, as expected, participants' percepts to identical stimuli varied randomly, a classification algorithm based on a mixture of Gaussians model (GMM) showed that there was sufficient information in single-trial EEG to reliably predict participants' judgments of the stimulus dimension. By contrasting electrical neuroimaging analyses of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to the identical stimuli as a function of participants' percepts, we identified the precise timing and neural correlates (strength vs topographic modulations) as well as intracranial sources of these erroneous perceptions. In both experiments, AEP differences first occurred ∼100 ms after stimulus onset and were the result of topographic modulations following from changes in the configuration of active brain networks. Source estimations localized the origin of variations in perceived pitch of identical stimuli within right temporal and left frontal areas and of variations in perceived duration within right temporoparietal areas. We discuss our results in terms of providing neurophysiologic evidence for the contribution of random fluctuations in brain activity to conscious perception.

Food's visually perceived fat content affects discrimination speed in an orthogonal spatial task.

Choosing what to eat is a complex activity for humans. Determining a food's pleasantness requires us to combine information about what is available at a given time with knowledge of the food's palatability, texture, fat content, and other nutritional information. It has been suggested that humans may have an implicit knowledge of a food's fat content based on its appearance; Toepel et al. (Neuroimage 44:967-974, 2009) reported visual-evoked potential modulations after participants viewed images of high-energy, high-fat food (HF), as compared to viewing low-fat food (LF). In the present study, we investigated whether there are any immediate behavioural consequences of these modulations for human performance. HF, LF, or non-food (NF) images were used to exogenously direct participants' attention to either the left or the right. Next, participants made speeded elevation discrimination responses (up vs. down) to visual targets presented either above or below the midline (and at one of three stimulus onset asynchronies: 150, 300, or 450 ms). Participants responded significantly more rapidly following the presentation of a HF image than following the presentation of either LF or NF images, despite the fact that the identity of the images was entirely task-irrelevant. Similar results were found when comparing response speeds following images of high-carbohydrate (HC) food items to low-carbohydrate (LC) food items. These results support the view that people rapidly process (i.e. within a few hundred milliseconds) the fat/carbohydrate/energy value or, perhaps more generally, the pleasantness of food. Potentially as a result of HF/HC food items being more pleasant and thus having a higher incentive value, it seems as though seeing these foods results in a response readiness, or an overall alerting effect, in the human brain.

Statistical discrimination of black gel pen inks analysed by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Pearson correlation coefficients were applied for the objective comparison of 30 black gel pen inks analysed by laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). The mass spectra were obtained for ink lines directly on paper using positive and negative ion modes at several laser intensities. This methodology has the advantage of taking into account the reproducibility of the results as well as the variability between spectra of different pens. A differentiation threshold could thus be selected in order to avoid the risk of false differentiation. Combining results from positive and negative mode yielded a discriminating power up to 85%, which was better than the one obtained previously with other optical comparison methodologies. The technique also allowed discriminating between pens from the same brand.

Sovereign debt markets in turbulent times: Creditor discrimination and crowding-out effects

In 2007, countries in the Euro periphery were enjoying stable growth, low deficits, and lowspreads. Then the financial crisis erupted and pushed them into deep recessions, raising theirdeficits and debt levels. By 2010, they were facing severe debt problems. Spreads increased and,surprisingly, so did the share of the debt held by domestic creditors. Credit was reallocatedfrom the private to the public sectors, reducing investment and deepening the recessions evenfurther. To account for these facts, we propose a simple model of sovereign risk in which debtcan be traded in secondary markets. The model has two key ingredients: creditor discriminationand crowding-out effects. Creditor discrimination arises because, in turbulent times, sovereigndebt offers a higher expected return to domestic creditors than to foreign ones. This providesincentives for domestic purchases of debt. Crowding-out effects arise because private borrowingis limited by financial frictions. This implies that domestic debt purchases displace productiveinvestment. The model shows that these purchases reduce growth and welfare, and may lead toself-fulfilling crises. It also shows how crowding-out effects can be transmitted to other countriesin the Eurozone, and how they may be addressed by policies at the European level.

L'interdiction de discrimination en raison de la nationalité au sens de l'Accord sur la libre circulation des personnes

Introduction : 6 décembre 1992: le peuple suisse rejette l'Accord sur l'Espace économique européen (EEE). Le Conseil fédéral décide alors de privilégier la voie bilatérale pour réglementer ses relations avec l'Union européenne (UE). Près de sept ans plus tard, le 21 juin 1999, un premier paquet de sept accords bilatéraux sont signés à Luxembourg. L'Accord sur la libre circulation des personnes (ALCP ou Accord) en constitue certainement « la partie la plus importante ». L'ALCP a pour objectif de garantir la libre circulation des travailleurs salariés, des travailleurs indépendants ainsi que de certaines catégories de non-actifs, et de faciliter la prestation de services sur le territoire des parties contractantes. Or la réalisation de ces objectifs dépend directement de la mise en oeuvre de l'interdiction de discrimination en raison de la nationalité. Au coeur même du principe de libre circulation, l'interdiction de discrimination en raison de la nationalité constitue, sans aucun doute, la clé de voûte de l'Accords. Partant de ce constat, il conviendra d'étudier dans un premier temps le principe de libre circulation (Partie I), puis de nous pencher dans un second temps sur l'interdiction de discrimination en raison de la nationalité (Partie II). La première partie de notre étude (consacrée à la libre circulation des personnes en vertu de l'ALCP) débutera par un survol des dispositions essentielles à l'appréhension d'un droit fondamental à la libre circulation, ainsi que par une présentation succincte du régime communautaire de libre circulation. Après avoir rappelé les étapes du cheminement ayant conduit à l'adoption de l'ALCP, et après avoir défini les différentes sources régissant la libre circulation entre la Suisse et les Etats membres de l'UE, nous analyserons ensuite l'ALCP lui-même, en procédant à la détermination de son champ d'application ainsi qu'à l'examen des principes généraux qui le régissent. Cet examen nous amènera alors à déterminer le rôle que devrait jouer la jurisprudence de la Cour de justice des Communautés européennes (CJCE) dans le cadre de l'Accord. Fort de cette analyse, nous conclurons cette première partie par une présentation du régime de libre circulation tel qu'institué par l'ALCP, sans oublier bien sûr d'évoquer, finalement, la portée du concept d'entrave et de la notion de citoyenneté européenne dans le cadre de ce régime. La seconde partie de notre étude (consacrée à l'interdiction de discrimination en raison de la nationalité selon l'ALCP) identifiera, à titre liminaire, les différentes dispositions de l'Accord visant à prohiber les discriminations en raison de la nationalité. Ces dispositions mises en lumière, nous détaillerons alors les étapes de l'examen permettant de relever la présence d'une discrimination en raison de la nationalité, en nous appuyant sur la jurisprudence de la Cour de justice et celle du Tribunal fédéral d'une part, et sur la doctrine développée en matière d'interdiction de discrimination d'autre part. Dans la foulée, nous pourrons ainsi présenter les différentes formes que peut revêtir une discrimination. Nous examinerons, en particulier, le régime prévu par la jurisprudence de la Cour de justice et celle du Tribunal fédéral en matière de discriminations à rebours présentant un élément transfrontalier. Suite de quoi nous serons en mesure - après examen des jurisprudences allemande et autrichienne relatives aux situations internes de discriminations à rebours - de procéder à une appréciation critique de la solution adoptée par le Tribunal fédéral en pareilles situations. A la suite de ces deux chapitres portant sur la notion et sur les formes de discriminations, il y aura lieu de définir le champ d'application matériel et personnel des différentes dispositions de l'Accord visant à interdire les discriminations en raison de la nationalité. Lors de la définition du champ d'application personnel en particulier, il conviendra, en premier lieu, d'identifier les personnes susceptibles d'invoquer ces différentes dispositions (les bénéficiaires). Cet examen débutera par l'identification des conditions générales communes à l'ensemble des dispositions étudiées. Il se poursuivra par l'analyse des conditions spécifiques de chaque norme, et se terminera par une présentation du régime particulier réservé aux membres de la famille et aux travailleurs détachés. En second lieu, il s'agira de déterminer les sujets de droit à l'encontre desquels ces dispositions sont opposables (les destinataires). Plus précisément, il s'agira d'examiner dans quelle mesure les particuliers, en sus des Etats, peuvent être destinataires des différentes obligations de l'ALCP en matière de libre circulation et d'interdiction de discrimination. Les champs d'application ayant été définis, il nous restera alors à examiner les différentes dispositions de l'Accord susceptibles de limiter la portée du principe de non-discrimination. Pour ce faire, nous analyserons en détail l'article 5 Annexe I-ALCP qui permet de limiter les droits consacrés par l'Accord pour des raisons d'ordre public, de sécurité publique ou de santé publique. Nous nous pencherons aussi sur les limitations liées à l'exercice de la puissance publique, consacrées par les articles 10, 16 et 22 al. 1 Annexe I-ALCP. Après un passage en revue des dernières dispositions de l'Accord prévoyant des limitations, nous examinerons ensuite dans quelle mesure certains principes non expressément prévus par l'Accord sont également susceptibles de justifier une différence de traitement en raison de la nationalité. Nous conclurons cette étude en analysant les implications juridiques d'une violation de l'interdiction de discrimination, ceci non seulement dans les relations liant l'Etat à un particulier, mais aussi dans celles liant deux particuliers entre eux. Dans le premier cas de figure nous verrons qu'il y a lieu de différencier l'analyse en fonction du type d'acte en question - les implications d'une violation n'étant pas les mêmes selon que l'on se trouve en présence d'une norme, d'une décision ou d'un contrat (de droit administratif ou de droit privé) présentant un caractère discriminatoire. Dans le second cas de figure, il s'agira cette fois-ci de distinguer les implications des conditions discriminatoires en fonction des différentes phases d'une relation contractuelle - aux stades de la conclusion d'un contrat, de son exécution et de sa résiliation.

Iowa "50 States Project": A Review of the 1983 Code for Sexuality Discrimination, February 1984

The "50 States Project" is the name given to President Ronald D. Reagan;s 1981 pledge to encourage the fifty governors to initiate individual state projects to review their state Codes for unequal treatment of persons based upon sex. We believe that Iowa is the first state to complete this project. Project efforts in Iowa began in June of 1981, when the Governor Robert D. ray appointed Dr. Patricia L. Geadelmann, Chairperson on the Iowa commission on the Status of Women, as Iowa's 50 State Project representative. A 50 States planning committee was formed consisting of members from the Governor Ray's staff, the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, and the Iowa Legislature. Various alternatives for reviewing the Iowa code and the Iowa Administrative Rules were studied and recommendations of the group were reported to Governor Terry E. Branstad prior to his inauguration.

Attention-related potentials allow for a highly accurate discrimination of mild cognitive impairment subtypes.

The three most frequent forms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are single-domain amnestic MCI (sd-aMCI), single-domain dysexecutive MCI (sd-dMCI) and multiple-domain amnestic MCI (md-aMCI). Brain imaging differences among single domain subgroups of MCI were recently reported supporting the idea that electroencephalography (EEG) functional hallmarks can be used to differentiate these subgroups. We performed event-related potential (ERP) measures and independent component analysis in 18 sd-aMCI, 13 sd-dMCI and 35 md-aMCI cases during the successful performance of the Attentional Network Test. Sensitivity and specificity analyses of ERP for the discrimination of MCI subgroups were also made. In center-cue and spatial-cue warning stimuli, contingent negative variation (CNV) was elicited in all MCI subgroups. Two independent components (ICA1 and 2) were superimposed in the time range on the CNV. The ICA2 was strongly reduced in sd-dMCI compared to sd-aMCI and md-aMCI (4.3 vs. 7.5% and 10.9% of the CNV component). The parietal P300 ERP latency increased significantly in sd-dMCI compared to md-aMCI and sd-aMCI for both congruent and incongruent conditions. This latency for incongruent targets allowed for a highly accurate separation of sd-dMCI from both sd-aMCI and md-aMCI with correct classification rates of 90 and 81%, respectively. This EEG parameter alone performed much better than neuropsychological testing in distinguishing sd-dMCI from md-aMCI. Our data reveal qualitative changes in the composition of the neural generators of CNV in sd-dMCI. In addition, they document an increased latency of the executive P300 component that may represent a highly accurate hallmark for the discrimination of this MCI subgroup in routine clinical settings.

A temporal hierarchy for conspecific vocalization discrimination in humans.

The ability to discriminate conspecific vocalizations is observed across species and early during development. However, its neurophysiologic mechanism remains controversial, particularly regarding whether it involves specialized processes with dedicated neural machinery. We identified spatiotemporal brain mechanisms for conspecific vocalization discrimination in humans by applying electrical neuroimaging analyses to auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in response to acoustically and psychophysically controlled nonverbal human and animal vocalizations as well as sounds of man-made objects. AEP strength modulations in the absence of topographic modulations are suggestive of statistically indistinguishable brain networks. First, responses were significantly stronger, but topographically indistinguishable to human versus animal vocalizations starting at 169-219 ms after stimulus onset and within regions of the right superior temporal sulcus and superior temporal gyrus. This effect correlated with another AEP strength modulation occurring at 291-357 ms that was localized within the left inferior prefrontal and precentral gyri. Temporally segregated and spatially distributed stages of vocalization discrimination are thus functionally coupled and demonstrate how conventional views of functional specialization must incorporate network dynamics. Second, vocalization discrimination is not subject to facilitated processing in time, but instead lags more general categorization by approximately 100 ms, indicative of hierarchical processing during object discrimination. Third, although differences between human and animal vocalizations persisted when analyses were performed at a single-object level or extended to include additional (man-made) sound categories, at no latency were responses to human vocalizations stronger than those to all other categories. Vocalization discrimination transpires at times synchronous with that of face discrimination but is not functionally specialized.

Policy Addressing Civil Rights/Discrimination Complaints, January 3, 2011

The Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP) shall comply with all applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination, as well as the State of Iowa’s Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Anti-Discrimination Policy for Executive Branch Employees (Section 2.40 of Iowa Department of Administrative Services Managers and Supervisors Manual). Federal law prohibits discrimination against individuals or groups, either in employment or in the delivery of services or benefits, on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability. State law prohibits discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and education. Under the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965, discrimination, or different treatment, is illegal if based on race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, physical disability, mental disability, retaliation (because of filing a previous discrimination complaint, participating in an investigation of a discrimination complaint, or having opposed discriminatory conduct), age (in employment and credit), familial status (in housing and credit) or marital status (in credit). State policy requires all employees and applicants for employment in the executive branch be afforded equal access. The intent of this policy is to ensure that employment opportunities, within the executive branch of state government, are accessible to all persons, and that executive branch agencies do not discriminate against any person because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or physical or mental disability.

Statistical discrimination and employers' recruitment : Practices for low-skilled workers

This paper deals with the recruitment strategies of employers in the low-skilled segment of the labour market. We focus on low-skilled workers because they are overrepresented among jobless people and constitute the bulk of the clientele included in various activation and labour market programmes. A better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of interventions in this labour market segment may help improve their quality and effectiveness. On the basis of qualitative interviews with 41 employers in six European countries, we find that the traditional signals known to be used as statistical discrimination devices (old age, immigrant status and unemployment) play a somewhat reduced role, since these profiles are overrepresented among applicants for low skill positions. However, we find that other signals, mostly considered to be indicators of motivation, have a bigger impact in the selection process. These tend to concern the channel through which the contact with a prospective candidate is made. Unsolicited applications and recommendations from already employed workers emit a positive signal, whereas the fact of being referred by the public employment office is associated with the likelihood of lower motivation.