This paper analyzes the investment decisions of insured banks under fixed-rate deposit insurance. The model takes into account the charter value and allows banks to dynamically revise their asset portfolios. Trade-offs exist between preserving the charter and exploiting deposit insurance. The optimal bank portfolio problem is solved analytically for a constant charter value. In any audit period...

This paper, adopting the recursive multiple-priors utility, studies the optimal consumption and portfolio choice in a Merton-style model with anticipation when there is a difference between ambiguity and risk. The fundamental issue is what the effects of ambiguity and anticipation on the investor’s behavior are. In the case of a logarithmic felicity function, the paper also shows that no hedgin...

Let MPT (v, 2) denote a maximum packing of triples of order v and index 2. An MPT (v, 2) is called simple if it contains no repeated triples. It is proved in this paper that for v > 2 and any even 2, the necessary and sufficient condition for the embedding of a simple MPT(v,2) in a simple MPT(u,).) is u >/2v + 1.

Weighted utility models attempt to account for risk preferences in terms of an expectation-like equation applied to the subjective evaluation of probabilities and outcomes, while Portfolio theory assumes that risk preference is a function of expected value and perceived risk. A pair of empirical predictions which contrasts Portfolio theory with all weighted utility models is derived and tested....

Modern civilization is dependent upon fossil fuels, a nonrenewable energy source originally provided by the storage of solar energy. Fossil-fuel dependence has severe consequences, including energy security issues and greenhouse gas emissions. The consequences of fossil-fuel dependence could be avoided by fuel-producing artificial systems that mimic natural photosynthesis, directly converting s...

Contemporary societies are faced by a new spectre haunting the 'globe' – the changing of the world's climate. Such change is believed to be caused by increased levels of ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHGs) in the atmosphere which cannot be fully absorbed into the oceans and hence impact upon the earth’s present and future temperatures. Such a climate forcing mainly results from systems that involve extra...

As the previous chapters have noted, the climate system is forced by a number of factors, e.g., solar impact, the greenhouse effect, etc. For the greenhouse effect, clouds, water vapor, and CO2 are of the utmost importance. The emergence of computers as a viable scientific tool in the 1960s in conjunction with the availability of spectroscopic data enabled us to treat the numerous complexities ...

Negative carbon isotope anomalies in carbonate rocks bracketing Neoproterozoic glacial deposits in Namibia, combined with estimates of thermal subsidence history, suggest that biological productivity in the surface ocean collapsed for millions of years. This collapse can be explained by a global glaciation (that is, a snowball Earth), which ended abruptly when subaerial volcanic outgassing rais...

Varga L. (2008): Hercinothrips femoralis (Reuter, 1891) – a new pest thrips (Thysanoptera: Panchaetothripinae) in Slovakia. Plant Protect Sci., 44: 114–118. Monitoring of pest species in plant production and extended trade on ornamental plant material, including precise identification, are the main goals of modern plant protection. As a result, a new species of phytophagous thrips – Hercinothri...

Energy is a key component of people’s quality of life and an essential element for “driving” economies. Nowadays, we are totally dependent on an abundant and uninterrupted supply of energy for living and working. It is a key ingredient in all sectors of modern economies But energy consumption is inseparably linked with environmental impact issues: the production, transportation, transmission an...