Equilibrium Effects Research Articles

Estimating the general equilibrium effects of services trade liberalization

AbstractThe intangible nature of services and the lack of disaggregated trade data increase the difficulties involved in assessing the impediments to cross‐border trade in services. In an attempt to reduce the information gap existing in services trade, this article estimates the impact of trade barriers along with the conditional and general equilibrium responses to the partial liberalization of services trade, using structural gravity. Using data collected by the OECD, I find that the level of restrictiveness applied by an importing country has a negative and significant impact on trade; however, this impact is heterogeneous across services sectors. By focusing on eight services sectors, I find that the partial liberalization of services trade will cause real income to increase by, on average, 4.8%. The most restrictive countries are the largest winners of the partial liberalization of services trade, benefiting from the availability of less expensive sources and an increase in their attractiveness as a source.

Equilibrium policy portfolios when some investors are restricted from holding certain assets

PurposeThe authors analyze the equilibrium effects of non-tradable assets on optimal policy portfolios. They study how the existence of non-tradable assets impacts optimal asset allocation decisions of investors who own such assets and of investors who do not have access to non-tradable assets.Design/methodology/approachIn this theoretical analysis, the authors analyze a model with tradable and non-tradable asset classes whose cash flows are jointly normally distributed. There are two types of investors, with and without access to non-tradable assets. All investors have constant absolute risk aversion preferences. The authors derive closed form solutions for optimal investor demand and equilibrium asset prices. They calibrated the model using US data for listed equity, bonds and private equity. Further, the authors illustrate the sensitivities of quantities and prices with respect to the main parameters.FindingsThe study finds that the existence of non-tradable assets has a large impact on optimal asset allocation. Investors with (without) access to non-tradable assets tilt their portfolios of tradable assets away from (toward) assets to which non-tradable assets exhibit positive betas.Practical implicationsThe model provides important insights not only for investors holding non-tradable assets such as private equity but also for investors who do not have access to non-tradable assets. Investors who ignore the effect of non-tradable assets when reverse-engineering risk premia from asset covariances and market capitalizations might severely underestimate the equity risk premium.Originality/valueThe authors provide the first comprehensive analysis of the equilibrium effects of non-tradability of some assets on optimal policy portfolios. Thus, this paper goes beyond analyzing the effects of market imperfections on individual portfolio choices.

Radiative losses in the chromosphere during a C-class flare

Context. Solar flares release an enormous amount of energy (∼1032 erg) into the corona. A substantial fraction of this energy is transported to the lower atmosphere, which results in chromospheric heating. The mechanisms that transport energy to the lower solar atmosphere during a flare are still not fully understood. Aims. We aim to estimate the temporal evolution of the radiative losses in the chromosphere at the footpoints of a C-class flare, in order to set observational constraints on the electron beam parameters of a RADYN flare simulation. Methods. We estimated the radiative losses from hydrogen, and singly ionized Ca and Mg using semiempirical model atmospheres, which were inferred from a multiline inversion of observed Stokes profiles obtained with the CRISP and CHROMIS instruments on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. The radiative losses were computed taking into account the effect of partial redistribution and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium. To estimate the integrated radiative losses in the chromosphere, the net cooling rates were integrated between the temperature minimum and the height where the temperature reaches 10 kK. We also compared our time series of radiative losses with those from the RADYN flare simulations. Results. We obtained a high spatial-resolution map of integrated radiative losses around the flare peak time. The stratification of the net cooling rate suggests that the Ca IR triplet lines are responsible for most of the radiative losses in the flaring atmosphere. During the flare peak time, the contribution from Ca II H and K and Mg II h and k lines are strong and comparable to the Ca IR triplet (∼32 kW m−2). Since our flare is a relatively weak event, the chromosphere is not heated above 11 kK, which in turn yields a subdued Lyα contribution (∼7 kW m−2) in the selected limits of the chromosphere. The temporal evolution of total integrated radiative losses exhibits sharply rising losses (0.4 kW m−2 s−1) and a relatively slow decay (0.23 kW m−2 s−1). The maximum value of total radiative losses is reached around the flare peak time, and can go up to 175 kW m−2 for a single pixel located at footpoint. After a small parameter study, we find the best model-data consistency in terms of the amplitude of radiative losses and the overall atmospheric structure with a RADYN flare simulation in the injected energy flux of 5 × 1010 erg s−1 cm−2.

Localized equilibrium and mineralogic effects on trace element distribution and mobility in highly metamorphosed Eucrite Elephant Moraine (EET) 90020

Eucrites exhibit a range of igneous and metamorphic textures and geochemistries that can be used to study the evolution of early planetary differentiation and crust formation in the solar system. We integrated petrologic/textural observations, in-situ geochemical analyses, and thermodynamic modeling to explore the petrogenesis of Elephant Moraine (EET) 90020, an unbrecciated meteorite. We identified microdomains that record relatively high metamorphic temperatures and concluded that diffusion processes likely modified EET 90020 during and/or after peak thermal conditions. There is little evidence that partial melting caused the distribution of minor and trace elements within or among the microdomains. Trace element linear transect measurements within the microdomains imply that phosphate minerals strongly controlled trace element distributions throughout the sample. The discrepancy between the observed metamorphic textures, major element chemistry, and the trace element distributions is a consequence of differing chemical mobility. Multiple processes are influencing geochemistry within a single sample which has implications for the development of petrogenetic models that seek to reconcile the differences observed between eucrite geochemical groups.

Low‐Cost Volumetric 3D Printing of High‐Precision Miniature Lenses in Seconds (Advanced Optical Materials 17/2022)

Targeting the fast prototyping and massive production of complicated lenses, Zhiwei Zhu and co-workers report a low-cost volumetric 3D printing method for the ultra-fast and high-precision fabrication of miniature lenses with sub-nanometric roughness (see article number 2200488). The complex-shaped lenses are generated by the volumetric projection stereolithography and corrected by introducing an iterative learning scheme. Super-smooth surfaces are guaranteed by the meniscus equilibrium effect.

Chemical Evolution of R-process Elements in Stars (CERES)

Aims. The Chemical Evolution of R-process Elements in Stars (CERES) project aims to provide a homogeneous analysis of a sample of metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < –1.5). We present the stellar parameters and the chemical abundances of elements up to Zr for a sample of 52 giant stars. Methods. We relied on a sample of high signal-to-noise UVES spectra. We determined stellar parameters from Gaia photometry and parallaxes. Chemical abundances were derived using spectrum synthesis and model atmospheres. Results. We determined chemical abundances of 26 species of 18 elements: Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, and Zr. For several stars, we were able to measure both neutral and ionised species, including Si, Sc, Mn, and Zr. We have roughly doubled the number of measurements of Cu for stars at [Fe/H] ≤ −2.5. The homogeneity of the sample made it possible to highlight the presence of two Zn-rich stars ([Zn/Fe] ∼ +0.7), one r-rich and the other r-poor. We report the existence of two branches in the [Zn/Fe] versus [Ni/Fe] plane and suggest that the high [Zn/Fe] branch is the result of hypernova nucleosynthesis. We discovered two stars with peculiar light neutron-capture abundance patterns: CES1237+1922 (also known as BS 16085-0050), which is ∼1 dex underabundant in Sr, Y, and Zr with respect to the other stars in the sample, and CES2250-4057 (also known as HE 2247-4113), which shows a ∼1 dex overabundance of Sr with respect to Y and Zr. Conclusions. The high quality of our dataset allowed us to measure hardly detectable ions. This can provide guidance in the development of line formation computations that take deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium and hydrodynamical effects into account.

Spatiotemporal differences of population spatial equilibrium in urban agglomeration and its carbon emission reduction effect: A case study in China

Seeking a scientific and reasonable population structure is the key to realizing low-carbon and green development of urban agglomerations. Based on the coupled coordination degree model and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), this paper studied the spatiotemporal differences of population spatial equilibrium in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration, and constructed a nonlinear dynamic panel econometric model and quantile regression model to empirically test the carbon emission reduction effect and its heterogeneity of the population spatial equilibrium. The research conclusions are as follows: First, the population spatial equilibrium index of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration shows an upward trend in time, but the overall level is not high and the internal gap is obvious. In space, it presents a situation of concentration in the central urban area of Changsha. Second, the carbon emissions of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration have obvious dynamic inertia and path-dependent characteristics. That is, the carbon emissions of the previous period will significantly promote the carbon emissions of the current period. Third, the carbon emission reduction effect of population spatial equilibrium has the characteristics of an inverted “U” shape, and the population spatial equilibrium index in most areas is too low to achieve carbon emission reduction. Fourth, the legal environment helps to promote the spatial balance of population, thereby reducing the regional total carbon emissions, per capita carbon emissions and carbon emissions per unit area. Last, Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration needs to improve the level of economic development and government expenditure to realize the carbon emission reduction effect. In general, Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration should take into account the development of economy and environment in the process of improving the level of population space balance, so as to achieve a win-win situation for economy and environment.

On the behavioral consequences of reverse causality

Reverse causality is a common attribution error that distorts the evaluation of private actions and public policies. This paper explores the implications of this error when a decision maker acts on it and therefore affects the very statistical regularities from which he draws faulty inferences. Applying the Bayesian-network approach of Spiegler (2016), I explore the equilibrium effects of a certain class of reverse-causality errors, in the context of an example with a quadratic-normal parameterization. I show that the decision context may protect the decision maker from his own reverse-causality error. That is, the cost of reverse-causality errors can be lower for everyday decision makers than for an outside observer who evaluates their choices.

Equilibrium effects on the structure of island divertor and its impact on the divertor heat flux distribution in Wendelstein 7-X

To support the planning of high-performance long-pulse plasma operation for W7-X, the role of equilibrium effects for the structure of island divertor and its profound impacts on the divertor heat flux distribution have been investigated. Finite-beta full-field three-dimensional equilibria for the four most important configurations of W7-X (‘standard’, ‘high-mirror’, ‘high-iota’ and ‘low-iota’) were obtained with the HINT code. Equilibrium calculations show a strong dependence of the edge stochastization on the magnetic configurations. Parameterization to estimate equilibrium effects on edge stochastization and plasma shape was attempted for individual functions. The results indicate that a more stochastic boundary can be attained with increasing plasma beta, except for the low-iota configuration. According to fully diffusive heat-load estimations, it turns out that equilibrium effects are beneficial for spreading the heat flux on the divertor target. The interactions of the beta effects with effects driven by the toroidal plasma current are also analyzed for the standard configuration. Infrared camera measurements confirm the predictions concerning global heat load distributions.

Bubble nucleation to all orders

This paper extends classical results by Langer and Kramers [1–3] and combines them with modern methods from high-temperature field theory [4–8]. Assuming Langevin dynamics, the end-product is an all-orders description of bubble-nucleation at high temperatures. Specifically, it is shown that equilibrium and non-equilibrium effects factorize to all orders — the nucleation rate splits into a statistical and a dynamical prefactor. The derivation clarifies, and incorporates, higher-order corrections from zero-modes [9–11]. The rate is also shown to be real to all orders in perturbation theory. The methods are applied to several models. As such, Feynman rules are given; the relevant power-counting is introduced; RG invariance is shown; the connection with the effective action is discussed, and an explicit construction of propagators in an inhomogeneous background is given. The formalism applies to both phase and Sphaleron transitions. While mainly focused on field theory, the methods are applicable to finite-dimensional systems. Finally, as this paper assumes an effective Langevin description [4–7, 12–14], all results only hold within this framework.

LTA and FAU-X Iron-Enriched Zeolites: Use for Phosphate Removal from Aqueous Medium.

Hydrothermally synthesized Linde type A (LTA) and faujasite X (FAU-X) zeolites are low-cost and environmentally benign inorganic carriers for environmental applications. In this study, (oxy)hydroxides were incorporated onto LTA and FAU-X zeolites to promote the phosphate adsorption. The performance of LTA-Fe and FAU-X-Fe was evaluated through batch adsorption assays. A complete evaluation was performed to recover phosphate from synthetic wastewater. The effect of pH, concentration, equilibrium, and kinetic parameters on phosphate adsorption and its further reuse in sorption–desorption cycles were evaluated. LTA-Fe and FAU-X-Fe are effective for adsorption of phosphate at neutral (e.g., pH 7.0 ± 0.2) and in a broad range of phosphate concentrations. Higher ratios of adsorption capacities were obtained by synthetic zeolites enriched with iron in comparison to their parent forms. The phosphate adsorption occurred through hydrogen bonding and complexation reactions between protonated iron hydroxyl groups and phosphate anions. The phosphate monolayer adsorption was followed by diffusion through the internal pores and 80% of the equilibrium adsorption was reached within 50 min. The LTA-Fe and FAU-X-Fe can be used for phosphate recovery from wastewater treatment plants. The use of LTA-Fe and FAU-X-Fe in a tertiary wastewater treatment stage could allow to reduce the phosphate–phosphorous content, reaching the regulatory levels (equal 1 mg L−1 total phosphorous). The phosphate adsorption using LTA-Fe and FAU-X-Fe does not require pH adjustment, and it is endothermic. The reusability of both iron zeolites is limited, and they can be finally disposed for soil amendment applications.

Pigouvian taxes to internalize environmental damages from Chilean mining−A computable general equilibrium analysis

In several countries, mining taxes are applied as a mechanism to collect resources but without adequately evaluating their economic impacts. From a theoretical perspective, the implementation of royalties can be justified in the non-renewable nature of mining resources. In contrast, Pigouvian taxes aim to make productive activities internalize their environmental damages. This study illustrates the general equilibrium effects on the Chilean economy of replacing the current royalty on copper mining with Pigouvian taxes, considering various environmental damages. For the above, a computable general equilibrium model is developed and calibrated with a Social Accounting Matrix base year 2016. The results show that the internalization of all environmental damages would generate a significant drop in mining activity and electricity generation, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions . Also, it is observed that the fall in GDP and increase in the real exchange rate would modify the production of other tradable and non-tradable sectors, benefiting non-copper export sectors. The fall in economic activity reduces the payment to productive factors, although the impact is greater on capital and skilled labor. The fall in income is more remarkable in the richest households than in the poorest households, which improves income distribution but increases poverty. Finally, the results on poverty reflect the need to implement monetary transfers to the poorest households.

Risk pooling, intermediation efficiency, and the business cycle

We develop a tractable macro-finance model in which entrepreneurs cannot pool idiosyncratic risks across firms due to restricted market participation. Costly risk pooling is provided by financial intermediaries who also issue safe assets via balance sheet leverage. We characterize the general equilibrium effects that associate intermediation costs with the dynamics of output and show that higher (lower) cost efficiency fosters (weakens) growth but also amplifies (dampens) its fluctuations. The model predicts negative relationships between the financial sector’s costs-to-assets and leverage ratios and the business cycle, which we find to hold for the US economy.

The equilibrium effects of digital technology on banking, production, and employment

This paper examines the impacts of China's digital technology on equilibrium outcomes in its labor, product, and loan markets. We show that digital development is good for employment expansion along with a pay rise, and that rapid e-Commerce growth leads to a fall in the price of products and a rise in the quantity of their transactions. It is unclear how loan interest rates change with Fintech adoption, but we find that banks’ lending business will be expanding due to its strong interaction with the digital economy. These theoretical findings are largely consistent with well-documented observations on China.

Coordination frictions and economic growth

AbstractIn practice, firms face a number of scarce innovation projects. They choose one towards which to direct their effort, but do not coordinate these choices. This gives rise to coordination frictions. This paper develops an expanding-variety endogenous growth model to study the implications of these frictions for growth and welfare. We find that the coordination failure generates a number of foregone innovations and reduces the economy-wide research intensity. Both effects decrease the growth rate. This creates a general equilibrium effect that endogenously amplifies the fraction of wasteful simultaneous innovation. Furthermore, formalizing the coordination frictions uncovers a novel link between the “stepping on toes” and “standing on shoulders” externalities—their magnitudes are endogenously determined through the ratio of firms to innovation projects. We find that the “stepping on toes” externality is larger for all parameter values.

Aliphatic polyamide nanofilm with ordered nanostripe, synergistic pore size and charge density for the enhancement of cation sieving

Enhanced cation sieving selectivity is significant for polyamide (PA) nanofiltration membrane in terms of extracting lithium from Salt Lake brines, which enable to reduce production cost and operating energy consumption. Herein, an aliphatic PA nanofilm with ordered nanostripe was fabricated using a novel distorted and non-coplanar monomer, cyclopentane tetracarboxylic acid chloride (CPTC). Because of the fine-tuning of the dendrimer porous layer, the resultant aliphatic PA membrane revealed decreased thickness in separation layer, and an enhanced synergistic effect of size exclusion and Donnan equilibrium on mono-/divalent cation. Separation experiments indicated that a higher MgCl2 rejection (up to 98.36%) and a lower LiCl rejection (33.3%) were obtained, thus achieving a good cation selectivity (48.25 for Na+/Mg2+, 36.5 for Li+/Mg2+). This result was better compared with the full-aromatic and most of the literature reported positive charged PA membranes. Moreover, water flux of the CPTC–tris(2-aminoethyl) amine (TAEA) membrane with nanostripe structure (N-CPTC–TAEA) increased 3.98–4.74 times (for example, 135.9 ± 4.62 for 2000 ppm LiCl) that of the CPTC–TAEA membrane. Meanwhile, the N-CPTC–TAEA also exhibited a better antifouling property than that of the full-aromatic membrane. This study demonstrates that the N-CPTC–TAEA tends to be an alternative membrane material for cation separation.

A new design for market power monitoring in the electricity market. A simulation for Italy

The liberalization of electricity markets has been dominated by conditions of oligopoly and market power, as shown in numerous studies in empirical literature on the supply side. However, regulators have used statistical measurements to monitor the extent of market power, making little reference to founded theoretical approaches. This paper provides a new contribution to the literature on the electricity market by presenting a theoretical and empirical model to construct competitive equilibrium, and estimating market power on both the supply and demand side of the day-ahead electricity market. We implement an accurate measurement of the welfare loss associated with non-competitive market conditions, based on ex-ante demand and supply behavior.This model provides a useful analytical tool for regulators and policy-makers in order to implement pro-competitive regulation. We perform an empirical simulation to show the effects of non-competitive equilibria on the Italian hourly markets over the period 2013–2014. In an ideal competitive market, prices would be lower than historical prices by about 2–5% and quantities would be higher by about 0.5–1%.

Numerical Analysis on Effect of Coronary Supply-Demand Equilibrium on Varying Coronary Blockage and Stress Conditions.

In this paper, we present a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to capture the effect of physical stress and stenosis severity in coronary arteries leading to changes in coronary supply demand oxygen equilibrium. We propose a coupled Od-3d coronary vessel model to predict the variation in flow dynamics of coronary as well as arterial system, modeled using an in-silico model replicating cardiovascular hemodynamics. CFD simulation were solved using subject specific CT scan for coronary and arterial flow and pressure along with metrics related to arterial wall shear stress. Simulations were performed for three heart rates (75, 90 and 120 bpm) and four stenosis states representing different stages of Coronary artery disease (CAD) namely healthy, 50%, 75%, 90% blockage in left anterior descending artery (LAD). Myocardial oxygen supply demand equilibrium were calculated for each cases using hemodynamic surrogate markers naming Diastolic pressure time index for supply and Tension time index for demand. The proposed 0d-3d coupled hemodynamic model of the coronary vessel bed along with supply-demand equilibrium estimated for different stress level and stenosis severity may provide useful insights on the dynamics of CAD manifestation and predict vulnerable regions in coronary bed for early screening and interventions.

Efficient redistribution

What is the optimal shape of non-linear income and wealth taxes? We answer this question using a dynamic general equilibrium model with uninsurable idiosyncratic risk. Our analysis reproduces the distribution of income and wealth in the United States and takes into account the long-lived transition dynamics after policy reforms. We find that a uniform flat tax on capital and labor income combined with a lump-sum transfer is nearly optimal. The incremental welfare gains from steeper marginal income and wealth taxes are small, especially when the planner has a strong preference for redistribution, due to strong behavioral and general equilibrium effects.

Casimir effect in kinetic theory

We study Casimir effect in equilibrium and non-equilibrium photon gas in the frame of quantum kinetic theory for U(1) gauge field. We derive first the transport, constraint and gauge fixing equations for the photon number distribution from Maxwell’s equations, and then calculate the energy variation and Casimir force for a finite system by considering boundary condition on the surface of the system. The Casimir force in vacuum is suppressed by the thermal motion of photons in equilibrium state, when considering two adiabatic plates. In non-equilibrium state, the photon induced Casimir force oscillates and decays with time and finally disappears.