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Energy security constitutes a pivotal determinant in safeguarding the seamless functioning of economies. This research endeavours to shed light on the underlying predilections and potential scopes for enhancement within China's provincial energy security policies. By delving into an array of policy documents procured from the esteemed Legal Information Network of Peking University, it offers a meticulous exploration. Employing sophisticated text analysis methodologies, the study constructs a two‐tier analytical framework, meticulously encapsulating both the policy instruments employed and the intricate processes of their execution. Leveraging the power of Nvivo 12 Plus software, pertinent policy contents are systematically coded, with those aligning with the defined analytical dimensions aggregated for frequency computations. Furthermore, a Policy Measurement and Categorization (PMC) index model is devised, harnessing word frequency statistical data to assign a quantitative assessment to the policies under scrutiny. The empirical results demonstrate a noteworthy disparity in the adoption of policy tools among various provinces, with command‐and‐control mechanisms, economic incentive structures, and societal engagement strategies emerging as the most recurrent policy types. Among the energy security policies scrutinized, approximately 84.85% were categorized as effective, while a smaller yet significant portion, 6.06%, was classified as outstanding. Despite the overall robustness of China's provincial energy security policies, the investigation identifies several avenues for further refinement. The study suggests that the government could bolster these measures through intensified focus on transformative adjustments to energy structures, augmentation of green loan guarantee systems, and fostering enhanced inter‐sectoral collaboration. These strategic enhancements may serve as key levers to propel China's provincial energy security policies towards even greater effectiveness and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the influence of decision maker's risk preference degree on decision making, this paper employs CVaR risk measure criterion to facilitate decision making. The optimal decision making of supply chain finance under partial credit guarantee and blockchain technology empowerment is investigated. In addition, the CVaR decision models for supply chain finance under two scenarios of partial credit guarantee and blockchain technology empowerment are constructed. The inverse solving is conducted with the help of the Stackelberg model to find out the optimal ordering quantity, wholesale price, and interest rate. The influencing factors of decision making are investigated. This study shows that, within a certain risk‐averse range, the ordering quantity of retailers under the partial credit guarantee model is larger than that under the blockchain technology‐enabled model. In contrast, the conditional risk value of suppliers under the partial credit guarantee model is much smaller than that under the blockchain technology‐enabled model. In conclusion, the blockchain technology is beneficial to reduce supply chain finance risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Requisite variety theory posits that internal variety is essential to develop responses to external variety. Facing increased local competition local bank branches could lower the odds of Small Business Administration (SBA) loan defaults by increasing knowledge variety through variations in geographic distances and industries among SBA loans. Our analysis shows that although local competition increases the odds of default, variations in industries represented in the SBA portfolio, the variation in geographic distances among loans in the portfolio lowers the odds of default. Our study emphasizes the importance of requisite variety at the branch level and presents important implications for policymakers and practitioners in the third‐party loan guarantee milieu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of two insurance mechanisms: loan guarantee insurance and yield insurance, on a capital‐constrained contract‐farming supply chain where the farmer is risk‐averse and faces yield uncertainty. Using the sequential model, we derive the farmer's optimal farm size, the agrodealer's optimal wholesale price and the insurance company's optimal premium rate. The result shows that under both insurance mechanisms, premium subsidies can promote the farmer to increase the farm size. However, we find that under loan guarantee insurance, when the premium subsidy is relatively high, the farmer's farm size increases with the poor harvest risk. Under yield insurance, the farmer's conditional value‐at‐risk (CVaR) value increases with respect to the premium subsidy rate. Under loan guarantee insurance, the premium rate increases with respect to the premium subsidy. As a result, the farmer's CVaR value decreases with respect to the premium subsidy rate when it is relatively high. Further analysis indicates that with the same government subsidy expenditure, the efficiency of premium subsidies to increase the farmer's production quantity is better under loan guarantee insurance mode, but the efficiency of premium subsidies to increase the farmer's CVaR value is better under yield insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How should the government support small and medium‐sized enterprises amid a pandemic crisis while balancing the trade‐off between short‐run stabilization and long‐run allocative efficiency? We develop a two‐sector equilibrium model featuring small businesses with private information on their likely future success and a screening contract. Businesses in the sector adversely affected by a pandemic can apply for government loans to stay afloat. A pro‐allocation government sets a harsh default sanction to deter entrepreneurs with poorer projects, thereby improving long‐run productivity at the cost of persistent unemployment, whereas a pro‐stabilization government sets a lenient default sanction. Interest rate effective lower bound leads to involuntary unemployment in the other open sector and shifts the optimal default sanction to a lenient stance. The rise in firm markups exerts the opposite effect. A high creative destruction wedge polarizes the government's hawkish and dovish stances, and optimal default sanction is more lenient, exacerbating resource misallocation. The model illuminates how credit guarantees might be structured in future crises. This paper is part of the Economica 100 Series. Economica, the LSE "house journal" is now 100 years old. To commemorate this achievement, we are publishing 100 papers by former students, as well as current and former faculty. Charles Goodhart, CBE, FBA was the Norman Sosnow Professor of Banking and Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science until 2002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two‐echelon supply chain considering capital constraints and asymmetric information is established. The supplier provides credit guarantees for the capital‐constrained retailer to loan from the bank, and its information about the retailer's capital type is asymmetric. The equilibrium decisions of supply chain participants are analyzed by using the Stackelberg game theory and principal–agent theory. Then, a joint contract is designed to eliminate the double marginalization effect. The results show that the supplier and the bank make different decisions for different types of retailers to avoid adverse selection. The joint contract of revenue‐sharing and transfer payment can coordinate the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasingly serious environmental problems, the concept of environmental protection has been deeply rooted in people's minds. The development of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is also highly concerned, but such technology‐led enterprises are still subject to more constraints in financing. This paper introduces the loan guarantee insurance, establishes the income model of each participant under the two financing modes of traditional accounts receivable financing and accounts receivable financing under the cooperation of bank and insurer, and explores the role of loan guarantee insurance in financing of SMEs based on the Stackelberg game model. If the manufacturer's default risk premium is high, at the same time, when the loan interest rate announced by the bank under bank‐insurance cooperation is lower than the traditional model, the manufacturer under the loan guarantee insurance model produces and sells more products. However, while guaranteeing their own profits, the bank and insurer can lower the loan interest rate and insurance premium rate as far as possible, which can stimulate the market. By analyzing the complexity of the system, it is found that the decision‐maker's choice of adjusting speed and initial value affects the development state of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze an important but little‐studied institution for balancing supply risk in the management of procurement operations: performance bonding. By adding the surety as a third party that guarantees contract fulfillment between supplier and buyer, performance bonding aims to streamline the purchasing process by influencing both contractor selection in the bidding phase and contract enforcement during project execution. Using the data on US government procurement from 2005 to 2015 and exploiting an exogenous variation in the threshold for its application to construction contracts, we find that performance bonding improves contract outcomes by 10.5% and 3.7% in terms of delays and extra costs, respectively. Net of bond premia, which by law are included in the award amounts, this effect translates into savings of about 4% in the budget for federal construction projects and 16% for mid‐size projects. We provide suggestive evidence on the effectiveness of selection and monitoring by sureties as driving channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific purpose guarantee funds (SPGFs) such as pension guarantee funds are popular among investors with both specific investment purpose and guaranteed return requirement but receive little academic attention. We propose a practical purpose‐oriented constant proportion portfolio insurance (PO‐CPPI) strategy that optimally allocates its assets into a risk‐free fund (floor) and a purpose‐related portfolio (cushion) to maximize prospect theory investors' utility with consideration of their purpose‐related inflation risk. Our closed‐form solution of optimal PO‐CPPI allocation derived in the continuous time case and Monte‐Carlo simulations in the discrete‐time and dynamic cases prove the superiority of PO‐CPPI over general portfolio insurance strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As many other countries, India leverages on a pre‐existing workfare programme as a COVID‐19 response. We combine monthly administrative data with migration and poverty statistics and provide four insights on the recent expansion of the programme. First, poorer districts include more households, that is, increasing extensive margin. Second, in districts with a high proportion of return migrants, there is no increase, and third, unmet demand for work is higher than the national average of 22.7%. Fourth, despite the expansion, the programme provided just 13.5 days per rural household. The programme requires attention to fulfil its promise as a credible safety net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Michigan Survey, I show that consumers' house price expectations depend upon the recent history of house price developments in their city of residence. Forecast errors are predictable: people systematically underestimate momentum and neglect mean reversion, remaining over‐optimistic for several quarters after a prolonged trend of house price growth, and vice versa. Housing appreciation also increases the share of consumers who believe that real estate is a good investment. Combining loan‐level data from Freddie Mac to regional measures of housing sentiment, I show that an exogenous shift in house price expectations leads to an increase in leverage on new mortgage originations. The effect is concentrated on investment properties and among prime borrowers in nonrecourse states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which is more reassuring to foreign investors—domestic laws or international agreements? A substantial literature argues that foreign investment may be underprovided, because governments cannot offer credible guarantees that judicial institutions are impartial and that investors will be able to fairly resolve disputes with business partners and enforce contracts. This time inconsistency problem deters profitable business partnerships between foreign investors and domestic firms in the host country. Consequently, for emerging market leaders seeking to deepen their countries' integration into global value chains (GVCs), enhancing the confidence of investors in contracting institutions is critical. In this paper, we study the emerging market of Vietnam to examine which type of reassurance mechanism is most successful. Using a survey of 1,583 foreign firms, we inform investors about either a domestic law or international treaty designed to strengthen commercial arbitration procedures. We find that priming foreign firms about the international investment agreement has a larger positive impact on their views about the future profitability of their projects and the likelihood of contracting with other firms in GVCs than simply learning about the commitments in domestic law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, self‐fulfilling cases, that is, ones in which an agent's believing a proposition guarantees its truth, have been offered as counterexamples to uniqueness. According to uniqueness, at most one doxastic attitude is epistemically rational given the evidence. I argue that self‐fulfilling cases are not counterexamples to uniqueness because belief‐formation is not governed by epistemic rationality in such cases. Specifically, this is because epistemic rationality is not just about forming true beliefs, but about tracking mind‐independent truths. In support of the latter claim, I offer three arguments, namely that self‐fulfilling and non‐self‐fulfilling cases differ in their phenomenology, in the norms that guide belief formation, and in the way they relate to the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We deploy a stochastic life‐cycle model to examine how the superannuation guarantee (SG) impacts on welfare for Australian superannuation fund members under a reference‐dependent utility function that evaluates consumption relative to target, allowing for existing superannuation, taxation and Age Pension eligibility rules. The analysis highlights how the optimal SG can vary substantially with pre‐retirement income, the post‐retirement consumption target and various other assumptions. We conclude that no single SG rate is appropriate for all members and suggest that the main reason for increasing the SG above 9.5 percent would be an aim of replacing the Age Pension where possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new scalable small‐signal model for 0.1 μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT up to 110 GHz is presented in this paper. The taps between the gate/drain manifold and fingers on the device has been investigated and included in the equivalent circuit. In addition, to ensure high scalability, a set of scaling rules are presented. A novel extraction procedure for extrinsic capacitances using full‐wave electromagnetic (FW‐EM) method has been introduced along with corresponding structures used for EM simulation. The nonlinear dependence of the extrinsic inductances on the gate‐width has been accounted for by a new scaling rule, which can be used to extract their value from measurement data. To guarantee the stability of the scaling coefficients, two devices with different gate‐width have been utilized for their generation. The proposed scalable model has been verified using 0.1 μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices with different gate‐widths and different gate‐fingers. The experiment results show good agreement between model and measurement S‐parameters up to 110 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact of household participation in a large‐scale public works programme in India on educational decisions including children schooling and expenditure incurred on private coaching and other educational components. Exogenous variation in proximity of households to a river is used to control for the potential endogeneity. The findings indicate positive impact of the programme on expenditure on private coaching while having no impact on other educational expenditures indicating higher income elasticity of private coaching. The paper thus emphasizes on various direct and indirect benefits of the programme which necessitate its effective implementation at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that, whenever k divides n, the complete k‐uniform hypergraph on n vertices can be partitioned into disjoint perfect matchings. Equivalently, the set of k‐subsets of ann‐set can be partitioned into parallel classes so that each parallel class is a partition of the n‐set. This result is known as Baranyai's theorem, which guarantees the existence of Baranyai partitions. Unfortunately, the proof of Baranyai's theorem uses network flow arguments, making this result nonexplicit. In particular, there is no known method to produce Baranyai partitions in time and space that scale linearly with the number of hyperedges in the hypergraph. It is desirable for certain applications to have an explicit construction that generates Baranyai partitions in linear time. Such an efficient construction is known for k=2 and 3. In this paper, we present an explicit recursive quadrupling construction for k=4 and n=4t, where t≡0,3,4,6,8,9(mod12). In a follow‐up paper (Part II), the other values of t, namely, t≡1,2,5,7,10,11(mod12), will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The congestion control mechanism is one of the most important components in Internet, which guarantees network normal operation and prevents network from congestion collapse. It is noticed that traditional loss‐based algorithms are not moving data very well in today's Internet. To get channel resource highly utilized, such algorithms maintain a standing queue of packets at bottleneck and cause large transmission delay. Recently, effort has been devoted from academia and industry to design new solution which could achieve high throughput and low transmission delay simultaneously. There are several fruitful results such as the bottleneck bandwidth and round trip time (BBR) and Vivace, Copa, Cellular Controlled delay TCP (C2TCP). Among them, BBR is the most eminent one. There are other variant algorithms by modifying some parameters in BBR for possible improvement, and BBR has also evolved drastically into version 2 (BBRv2). In this work, a framework is implemented to evaluate the performance of these algorithms on ns3. Interested readers could test other congestion control algorithms or design new methods. Moreover, this work can work as reference for engineers to tune parameters in BBR or choose other solutions for their applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article presents a continuous dynamical system model learning methodology that can be used to generate reference trajectories for the autonomous systems to follow, such that these trajectories are invariant to a given closed set and uniformly ultimately bounded with respect to an equilibrium point inside the closed set. The autonomous system dynamics are approximated using extreme learning machines (ELM), the parameters of which are learned subject to the safety constraints expressed using a reciprocal barrier function, and the stability constraints derived using a Lyapunov analysis in the presence of the ELM reconstruction error. This formulation leads to solving a constrained quadratic program (QP) that includes a finite number of decision variables with an infinite number of constraints. Theorems are developed to relax the QP with infinite number of constraints to a QP with a finite number of constraints which can be practically implemented using a QP solver. In addition, an active sampling methodology is developed that further reduced the number of required constraints for the QP by only evaluating the constraints at a smaller subset of points. The proposed method is validated using a motion reproduction task on a seven degree‐of‐freedom Baxter robot, where the task space position and velocity dynamics are learned using the presented methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel unknown input interval observer (UIIO) is proposed for systems not satisfying the relative degree condition. In interval estimation, estimation errors are required not only positive but also convergent. For this purpose, some works combined unknown input observer with interval estimation, namely UIIO where by virtue of some transformations, some states are expressed as functions of outputs and other states which are decoupled from the unknown input. Nevertheless, complete decoupling can be guaranteed when the systems satisfy relative degree condition, which does not hold for some practical systems. Although some works have been done to relax the requirement on relative degree condition, they usually construct auxiliary outputs using high‐order differentiators which necessitates that the signals are smooth enough as well as that their derivatives are bounded, limiting the application of existing approaches and also increasing the computational cost. Motivated by the discussions above, a novel UIIO scheme combining the interval observation technique with adaptive sliding mode is proposed, without the relative degree condition and free from differentiating signals, hence the design process is simplified and the computational cost is decreased. Finally, simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control with dynamic event‐triggered strategy for saturated systems is considered in this paper. The CNF control is introduced to improve the system response speed and reduce the overshoot under disturbances. The dynamic event‐triggered mechanism (DETM) is utilized to save more communication resources. The focus of this paper is to achieve the asymptotic tracking of saturated systems by combining DETM with CNF control. A criterion is presented to guarantee that the system can track the reference input signal asymptotically. Zeno behavior is eliminated by proving the minimum time interval is greater than zero. Finally, simulations are carried out to verify the correctness of the proposed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a distributed model predictive control algorithm for power flow systems that can maintain overall stability when the system equilibrium configuration changes. The dynamics of the large‐scale power flow systems can be described by transportation, conversion, and storage of energy among and across subsystems. By strategically choosing the output for each subsystem and augmenting each local model predictive controller with a special passivity‐incremental constraint, the equilibrium‐independent dissipativity property of each closed‐loop subsystem can be guaranteed. The dissipativity‐preserving coupling between subsystems in the power flow system can be utilized to maintain equilibrium‐independent dissipativity and stability of the overall system. Simulation results of a fluid tank system with a changing equilibrium configuration show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the mixed H2/H∞ performance optimization is first formulated as a nonzero‐sum game, of which the sufficient condition guaranteeing the existence of the Nash equilibrium is derived using the Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) theory. Then, Hamiltonian‐driven inequalities are presented to evaluate the H2 and H∞ performances. Using this Hamiltonian‐inequality driven approach, the coupled HJ equations arising from finding the Nash equilibrium are relaxed to the HJ inequality constraints. A novel mixed policy iteration (PI) algorithm is developed that uses sum‐of‐squares (SOS) program in policy evaluation step, and consists of an H2 performance improvement step and an H∞ performance guarantee step. This constrained‐driven approach allows us to present a PI algorithm that takes into account both robustness and performance objectives. Finally, a numerical simulation is carried out to highlight the efficacy of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even the highest‐rated life‐annuity providers have a nonzero probability of becoming insolvent during an annuitant's retirement, and many potential annuitants are unaware of the state guaranty associations (SGAs) which provide insurance against the associated financial consequences. We study the theoretical implications of insolvency risk—real and perceived—for annuitization. Then, using a disciplined calibration of annuitant misperceptions in a standard life cycle model, we show that even the modest perceived risk of default associated with highly‐rated providers can—absent awareness of the SGAs—reduce annuitization and significantly reduce welfare. We further consider the implications of information frictions which prevent retirees from discerning true insolvency risk and we find that these frictions have plausibly large additional quantitative implications for annuitization and welfare. Simulations of our model further suggest that the general lack of awareness of the SGA backstop by potential annuitants can erode a sizable fraction of the potential welfare benefits thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we (1) discuss the reasons why pre‐registration is a good idea, both for the field and individual researchers, (2) respond to arguments against pre‐registration, (3) describe how to best write and review a pre‐registration, and (4) comment on pre‐registration's rapidly accelerating popularity. Along the way, we describe the (big) problem that pre‐registration can solve (i.e., false positives caused by p‐hacking), while also offering viable solutions to the problems that pre‐registration cannot solve (e.g., hidden confounds or fraud). Pre‐registration does not guarantee that every published finding will be true, but without it you can safely bet that many more will be false. It is time for our field to embrace pre‐registration, while taking steps to ensure that it is done right. This article is part of a Research Dialogue: Krishna (2021): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1211 Pham & Oh (2021): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1209 Simmons et al. (2021): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1207 Pham & Oh (2021): https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1213 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control design problem for the uncertain nonlinear system with bounded state constraint and mismatching condition is considered in this paper. The uncertainty in the system, which may be due to unknown system parameters and external disturbance, is nonlinear and time‐varying. The state of the system is constrained to be bounded. The system does not satisfy the (global) matching condition. A creative one‐to‐one state transformation is proposed by converting the bounded states into the unbounded ones. A step‐by‐step state transformation is proposed to convert the mismatched system into a matched system. The robust control is then proposed based on the transformed system. The control is demonstrated to be able to guarantee the uniform boundedness and uniform ultimate boundedness of the system in the presence of uncertainty, while the state constraint can be always guaranteed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article deals with an improved scheme of tube‐based robust economic model predictive control (TEMPC). The controller is robust to unknown but bounded disturbances where guarantees recursive feasibility, robust stability, and convergence to the economically optimal operating point. Time‐varying economic criteria are considered in the stage cost function of the control design. Initial states of the nominal—nondisturbed—system are considered as decision variables. It lets the controller know more information about the real—disturbance affected—system to take advantage of the recursive horizon approach. It also increases the control degree of freedom and enlarges the region of attraction. Making the closed‐loop system work at the economically optimal operating point contradicts with the economic behavior. A convex optimization problem is represented to keep the economic performance from degradation as much as possible. It modifies the control optimization problem to economic optimally guarantee the closed‐loop robust stability, which is called practical stability. It is shown that more economic behavior could be achieved under some conditions by relaxing the stability but maintaining the recursive feasibility guarantee, which is called relaxed stability. To show the efficiency of the proposed method, it is applied to the building energy management of smart grid. A commercial microgrid with battery energy storage dynamics and refrigeration dynamics of a supermarket are considered as a smart building system where the time‐varying electricity price of the main grid is considered in the objective function. The results show valuable achievements in the TEMPC economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the premise that financing constraints frequently occur in the supply chain, this paper investigates the financing model of the supplier providing guarantee for the retailer under symmetric and asymmetric information. The optimal solutions of the retailer, the supplier, and the bank are studied by using the Stackelberg game. Results show that increasing the supplier's guarantee proportion can effectively improve the bank's reasonable margin rate and increase the supplier's profit. Under the condition of asymmetric information, the bank can increase the probability of credit loan in the supply chain by reducing the cost of spot check and setting up a reasonable fine limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new reinforcement learning approach for nonlinear optimal control where the value function is updated as restricted to control Lyapunov function (CLF) and the policy is improved using a variation of Sontag's formula. The practical asymptotic stability of the closed‐loop system is guaranteed during the training and at the end of training without requiring an additional actor network and its update rule. For a single‐layer neural network (NN) with exact basis functions, the approximate function converges to the optimal value function, resulting in the optimal controller. When a deep NN is used, the level set shapes of the trained NN become similar to those of the optimal value function. Because Sontag's formula with CLF is equivalent to the optimal controller when the given CLF has the same level set shapes as the optimal value function, Sontag's formula with the trained NN provides a nearly optimal controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retailer is a capital‐constrained newsvendor and can borrow money from the bank if necessary. To help the retailer get a bank loan at a lower interest rate, the supplier provides guarantee for the retailer's loan up to a prespecified amount. In a Stackelberg game, the supplier decides the wholesale price and the guarantee amount as a leader, and then the retailer determines the order quantity and the amount of the loan as a follower. The supplier is risk‐neutral while the retailer's risk preference is reflected by a spectral risk measure (risk‐neutral, risk‐averse, or risk‐seeking). For a given wholesale price and guarantee amount, the retailer's objective function is quasi‐concave in the order quantity. The optimal solutions for the supplier and the retailer are derived. The supplier's expected profit with optimized wholesale price increases with the guarantee amount, and thus the supplier's optimal policy is to provide a full guarantee for the retailer's loan. When the supplier can limit his guarantee responsibility by a proportion of the outstanding loan obligation, the supplier's optimal policy is also to provide a full guarantee. Even if the retailer incurs bankruptcy costs in the event of repayment default, the supplier's optimal guarantee policy remains the same in these two different forms of limited guarantee. However, when the wholesale price is exogenous, that is, not a decision variable, the full guarantee is not necessarily optimal for supplier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We present an overview of hybrid Casper the Friendly Finality Gadget (FFG), a proof‐of‐stake checkpointing protocol overlaid onto Ethereum's proof‐of‐work blockchain. We describe its core functionalities and reward scheme and explore its properties. Our findings indicate that Casper's implemented incentives mechanism ensures liveness, while providing safety guarantees that improve over standard proof‐of‐work protocols. On the basis of a minimal impact implementation of the protocol as a smart contract on the blockchain, we discuss additional issues related to parametrization, funding, throughput, and network overhead and detect potential limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We price equity‐linked life insurance with surrender guarantees and account for risk preferences in the form of risk‐averse and loss‐averse policyholders in continuous time. Risk‐averse policyholders surrender their policy for higher equity index values. Compared to optimally surrendered policies, this behavior creates substantial policy value losses. In contrast, loss‐averse policyholders surrender once the surrender benefit realizes a gain but keep under‐performing policies. This disposition effect reduces the policy value relative to both optimally surrendered policies and policies surrendered by risk‐averse policyholders. Insurers in competitive markets need to estimate their policyholders' risk preferences accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel method, which we call Consistent ZoomOut, for efficiently refining correspondences among deformable 3D shape collections, while promoting the resulting map consistency. Our formulation is closely related to a recent unidirectional spectral refinement framework, but naturally integrates map consistency constraints into the refinement. Beyond that, we show further that our formulation can be adapted to recover the underlying isometry among near‐isometric shape collections with a theoretical guarantee, which is absent in the other spectral map synchronization frameworks. We demonstrate that our method improves the accuracy compared to the competing methods when synchronizing correspondences in both near‐isometric and heterogeneous shape collections, but also significantly outperforms the baselines in terms of map consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of an income guarantee on borrowing in a risky setting with marked seasonality. A three‐season, infinite‐horizon model is developed, in which the aims of smoothing consumption and maintaining creditworthiness are somewhat opposed and the seasonal timing of transfers matters. If borrowing does not affect production, then larger transfers concentrated in the lean season may well lead to a contraction of the total amount borrowed over the whole annual cycle. If borrowing also finances working capital, then larger transfers make riskier positions attractive, and investment in working capital and total borrowing may both increase. These insights are tested in the context of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, as implemented in upland Odisha. The potential endogeneity of participation is addressed by using the female reservation for local elections as an instrument. Each day's work reduces the estimated level of borrowing in the lean season by about the regulated wage. In contrast, the estimated effect on borrowing in the cultivation season by households owning at least the median holding is to increase it by about one‐and‐a‐half times the wage; but there is no significant effect for households owning less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, due to the development of precise point positioning (PPP), the inconsistency of map and satellite positioning results due to crustal deformation has come to the surface. In order to solve this problem, a parameter for correcting the crustal deformation is necessary, and if it is provided as a service, the validity period and the accuracy guarantee are also necessary. In this research, we considered the validity period of parameters and the estimation method of the coordinates used for calculating the amount of crustal deformation and actually constructed the crustal movement correction parameter generation system and accuracy evaluation system. The parameters generated by this method are called semi‐dynamic reduction (SD/R) parameters. As a result of evaluating the accuracy of SD/R parameters, we achieved a target accuracy of 4 cm at 98.3% verification points in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the effectiveness of the proposed method was shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article studies control and performance enforcement for a class of uncertain dynamical systems that consist of actuated and unactuated portions physically interconnected to each other. The proposed approach stabilizes the overall interconnected system in the presence of unknown physical interconnections as well as system uncertainties. Performance guarantees are enforced, individually, on the actuated as well as unactuated portions of the interconnected system via this approach. For enforcing these performance guarantees, a set‐theoretic model reference adaptive control approach is used, in conjunction with linear matrix inequalities, to restrict the respective system error trajectories of the actuated and unactuated dynamics inside a priori, user‐defined compact sets. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated using simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Superannuation Guarantee Levy (SGL) is scheduled to be increased from 2025, and there is evidence that an increase could be offset against wages. This paper uses a dynamic model to estimate the distribution of the impact of the SGL increase on both pre‐ and post‐retirement standards of living. The paper shows the increase in the SGL rate has the potential to reduce current consumption for the mean household below the "first level of financial stress" (derived from ABS (6530) Table 11.4) whilst only marginally increasing post‐retirement consumption. The SGL increase may not be an acceptable trade‐off between current consumption and retirement savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider semidefinite programs (SDPs) with equality constraints. The variable to be optimized is a positive semidefinite matrix X of size n. Following the Burer‐Monteiro approach, we optimize a factor Y of size n × p instead, such that X = YYT. This ensures positive semidefiniteness at no cost and can reduce the dimension of the problem if p is small, but results in a nonconvex optimization problem with a quadratic cost function and quadratic equality constraints in Y. In this paper, we show that if the set of constraints on Y regularly defines a smooth manifold, then, despite nonconvexity, first‐ and second‐order necessary optimality conditions are also sufficient, provided p is large enough. For smaller values of p, we show a similar result holds for almost all (linear) cost functions. Under those conditions, a global optimum Y maps to a global optimum X = YYT of the SDP. We deduce old and new consequences for SDP relaxations of the generalized eigenvector problem, the trust‐region subproblem, and quadratic optimization over several spheres, as well as for the Max‐Cut and Orthogonal‐Cut SDPs, which are common relaxations in stochastic block modeling and synchronization of rotations. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing challenges in urban water infrastructure systems, including aging infrastructure, supply uncertainty, extreme events, and security threats, depends highly on water distribution networks modeling emphasizing the importance of realistic assumptions, modeling complexities, and scalable solutions. In this study, we propose a derivative-free, linear approximation for solving the network water flow problem. The proposed approach takes advantage of the special form of the nonlinear head loss equations, and, after the transformation of variables and constraints, the water flow problem reduces to a linear optimization problem that can be efficiently solved by modern linear solvers. Ultimately, the proposed approach amounts to solving a series of linear optimization problems. We demonstrate the proposed approach through several case studies and show that the approach can model arbitrary network topologies and various types of valves and pumps, thus providing modeling flexibility. Under mild conditions, we show that the proposed linear approximation converges. We provide sensitivity analysis and discuss in detail the current limitations of our approach and suggest solutions to overcome these. All the codes, tested networks, and results are freely available on Github for research reproducibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluate the effectiveness of a partial credit guarantee program, implemented in a large Italian region, that aimed to improve the access to credit of small and medium enterprises. Using unique microdata from a broad set of firms, we show that the policy increased the long‐term loans for beneficiary firms, while the total volume of bank loans was unaffected. Furthermore, targeted firms benefited from a substantial decrease in interest rates. However, there is some evidence that firms are more likely to default as a consequence of the treatment. Conversely, the results do not point to any significant effect on investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein the novel tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivative 1 was designed with an integration of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE), multi‐state mechanochromism and self‐recovery photochromism. The molecule was susceptible to grinding, heating and vapor fuming and showed corresponding transition of its emission colors. The heated powder or single crystal of 1 exhibited reversible photochromism. After a short period of UV irradiation, it showed a bright red color, but recovered to its original white appearance within 1 min. The photochromism is due to the formation of photocyclization intermediates upon UV irradiation, while the eversible mechanochromism is attributed to the weak molecular interactions derived from head‐to‐tail stacking of the molecules. This reversible multi‐state, high‐contrasted and rapid responsive mechanochromic and photochromic property cooperatively provide double enhancement of a multimode guarantee in advanced anti‐counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies systemic risk in the Chinese debt market stemming from inter‐corporate loan guarantees using field data from Zhejiang Province. We apply a weighted and directed network model to analyse the implications for default contagion and systemic risk under different stress testing scenarios. The empirical results indicate that the topology of the loan guarantee network is close to a 'scale‐free' structure, which is known to be robust against accidental failures but vulnerable to coordinated attacks. Hence, the network is able to cope with idiosyncratic shocks resulting from single company failures, but can easily suffer from more widespread contagion if a group of systemically important companies are hit by a targeted shock. We further demonstrate that within our sample of small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) companies, increasing leverage reduces network stability and exacerbates the effects of contagion. More lenient bank lending policies increase the survival rate of sample companies and thereby reduce the losses from default contagion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, the European Council approved the Youth Guarantee (YG) to counteract youth unemployment. Because of its specific features, the YG is useful for understanding whether the EU has triggered policy change in national youth unemployment policies. Contrary to most of the literature on similar topics, we focused in this study on the effect of this specific European measure rather than on broader EU strategies or policies. The study contributes to the literature by qualifying the degree of fit/misfit and suggesting a counterfactual analysis, using the case of France. We first situate the article within the broader Europeanisation debate and present our research design. The second section introduces the policy structure of the YG and investigates youth unemployment policy in France, prior to and after the European initiative. The third section discusses whether the French youth unemployment policy would have been developed in the same way without the YG. A final section concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's (EU) Youth Guarantee aims to improve the labour market situation of young people. Rather than prescribing a uniform policy model, it acknowledges that supportive measures need to align with national, regional and local circumstances. It thus seeks to promote mutual policy learning through the open method of coordination. As an innovative measure, the EU has deployed funding programmes to support the domestic measures related to the Youth Guarantee. We therefore examined in this study whether this mix of recommendations and financial incentives has entailed a convergence of member state policies. Our analysis of policy outputs for the period 2007−2014 yields a mixed empirical picture. There is catching‐up convergence regarding policies' sectoral coverage but increasing divergence concerning the number of adopted policy instruments. The first two years of financial incentives did not produce any effect on enhancing policy experimentation among less active member states. We offer an optimistic and a pessimistic interpretation of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory guarantee systems are locally based practices for assuring organic product authenticity that are proving to be a valuable tool for farmers' empowerment and social innovation. Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in locally based certification and distribution strategies of organic products. Participatory guarantee systems (PGS) simplify bureaucratic procedures for small organic producers, who are often overwhelmed by the extensive documentation required by third‐party certification. PGS development has facilitated several social processes, thus enabling social inclusion, farmers' empowerment, and mutual support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we analyze a convex‐programming method for estimating superpositions of point sources or spikes from nonuniform samples of their convolution with a known kernel. We consider a one‐dimensional model where the kernel is either a Gaussian function or a Ricker wavelet, inspired by applications in geophysics and imaging. Our analysis establishes that minimizing a continuous counterpart of the ℓ1‐norm achieves exact recovery of the original spikes as long as (1) the signal support satisfies a minimum‐separation condition and (2) there are at least two samples close to every spike. In addition, we derive theoretical guarantees on the robustness of the approach to both dense and sparse additive noise. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1956, Federal Loan Guarantee Programs have expanded to the point where recipients of guarantees represent most segments of the economy. Considerable debate centers on the determination of the magnitude of the liability of the Federal Government that is represented by these programs. This paper illustrates how option pricing techniques may be used to obtain estimates of the purely pecuniary costs of loan guarantees, interest saving to the firm on senior and junior debt, and implicit present value profitability indices of projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, a theoretically oriented presentation, examines the social optimality of the current policy of one-hundred per cent guarantees for public agencies' debt issues. The analysis suggests and explores an alternative policy: Coordinating debt repayment with the performance of the assets underlying the debt. The limits of this alternative are analyzed under conditions of uncertainty, characterized by imperfect and expensive information. The first section of the paper will introduce the problem of socially optimal agency debt policy. The classical solution for the optimal agency behavior and its modifications, necessitated by costly imperfect information, will be the focus of the following two sections. The analysis in the next two sections will examine optimal agency policy in a state-preference world utilizing a Pareto criteria for social welfare. The final section of the paper will study the implications for agency optimality in a log utility/channel capacity information world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes to Ontario's bail system (2017) are intended to keep accused out of custody and in the community as they await trial. For the Ministry of the Attorney General, living in the community while on bail is a vast improvement to remand because there is minimal state involvement in the lives of accused, resulting in fewer personal and administrative disruptions. Yet, most accused in the province require a surety to be released. Justices of the peace, Crowns, and even defense counsel expect sureties to act like civilian jailers, which questions the level of state intervention at this stage in the legal process. Previous scholarship on bail attributes the overuse of surety releases to a culture of risk aversion whereby the courts offload responsibility and blame for the accused's actions onto the surety. By exploring how court officials describe and determine who an appropriate surety is and the types of powers afforded to them, this paper argues that although sureties are legally obligated to supervise the accused, the court is still heavily involved in defining what this role looks like and how it should unfold outside the courtroom. The qualitative findings provide important insight into how criminally suspect individuals are governed in the province more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Governments can alleviate the problem of banks denying credit to high risk borrowers and excluding weaker sectors from borrowing by introducing state‐guaranteed loan programs. The main contribution of this paper is the elucidation of the importance of the bank's credit decision‐making structure in ensuring overall effectiveness of loan guarantees. In particular, the government can use the guarantee as an instrument for credit inducement and for affecting the bank's decision‐making system, i.e., its degree of centralization, bias towards approval of loans and reliance on objective loan‐specific information. Résumé: Les garanties gouvernementales de prêts et la structure de la prise de décision en ce qui a trait au crédit. Les gouvernements peuvent soulager le problème des banques qui refusent de faire crédit à des emprunteurs à hauts risques et excluent certains secteurs plus faibles d’accès au crédit, en introduisant des programmes de garantie de prêts. La contribution centrale de ce mémoire est l’élucidation de l’importance de la structure de prise de décision des banques en ce qui a trait au crédit pour assurer l’efficacité des garanties de prêts. En particulier, le gouvernement peut utiliser la garantie comme instrument d’incitation au crédit et pour influencer le système de prise de décision des banques, i.e., le degré de centralisation, la tendance à approuver les prêts, le recours à de l’information objective et spécifique au prêt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]