bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fast nonlinear susceptibility inversion with variational regularization
Authors: Milovic Carlos , Bilgic Berkin , Zhao Bo , Acosta‐Cabronero Julio , Tejos Cristian
Published: January 2018

Purpose

Quantitative susceptibility mapping can be performed through the minimization of a function consisting of data fidelity and regularization terms. For data consistency, a Gaussian‐phase noise distribution is often assumed, which breaks down when the signal‐to‐noise ratio is low. A previously proposed alternative is to use a nonlinear data fidelity term, which reduces streaking artifacts, mitigates noise amplification, and results in more accurate susceptibility estimates. We hereby present a novel algorithm that solves the nonlinear functional while achieving computation speeds comparable to those for a linear formulation.

Methods

We developed a nonlinear quantitative susceptibility mapping algorithm (fast nonlinear susceptibility inversion) based on the variable splitting and alternating direction method of multipliers, in which the problem is split into simpler subproblems with closed‐form solutions and a decoupled nonlinear inversion hereby solved with a Newton‐Raphson iterative procedure. Fast nonlinear susceptibility inversion performance was assessed using numerical phantom and in vivo experiments, and was compared against the nonlinear morphology‐enabled dipole inversion method.

Results

Fast nonlinear susceptibility inversion achieves similar accuracy to nonlinear morphology‐enabled dipole inversion but with significantly improved computational efficiency.

Conclusion

The proposed method enables accurate reconstructions in a fraction of the time required by state‐of‐the‐art quantitative susceptibility mapping methods. Magn Reson Med 80:814–821, 2018. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Evaluating Mid‐Upper Arm Circumference Z‐Score as a Determinant of Nutrition Status
Authors: Stephens Karen , Escobar April , Jennison Erika Nicole , Vaughn Lindsey , Sullivan Rhonda , Abdel‐Rahman Susan ,   on behalf of the CMH Nutrition Services Z‐Score Research Team
Published: January 2018

Background

Mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC) z‐score, has recently been listed as an independent indicator for pediatric malnutrition. This investigation examined the relationship between MUAC z‐score and the z‐scores for conventional indicators (ie, weight‐for‐length and body mass index) to expand the available evidence for nutrition classification z‐score threshold ranges in U.S. practice settings.

Methods

This was a single‐center study of children through 18 years of age seen between October 2015 and September 2016. Height and weight were obtained on intake. MUAC was measured at midpoint of the humerus, between the acromion and olecranon. Age‐specific and gender‐specific z‐score values were calculated using published λ, μ, and σ values derived from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference data. Nutrition status was determined from biochemical data; prior history; anthropometrics; weight gain velocity; weight loss, if present; and nutrient intake.

Results

5,004 children (7.5 ± 5.7 years, 53% boys) were evaluated. As expected, MUAC z‐scores were significantly correlated with body mass index (r = 0.789, P < .01) and weight‐for‐length (r = 0.638, P < .01) z‐scores. There was a large degree of overlap in z‐scores for all indicators between nutrition status groups; however, MUAC z‐scores spanned a narrower range of values such that mean MUAC z‐scores are lower in children classified as overweight/obese and higher in children who were severely malnourished than the corresponding body mass index or weight‐for‐length z‐scores.

Conclusion

These data are the first to suggest that the z‐score ranges used to define various stages of malnutrition may not be the same for all indicators.
Chronic Critical Illness: Application of What We Know
Authors: Rosenthal Martin D. , Kamel Amir Y. , Rosenthal Cameron M. , Brakenridge Scott , Croft Chasen A. , Moore Frederick A.
Published: January 2018

Over the last decade, chronic critical illness (CCI) has emerged as an epidemic in intensive care unit (ICU) survivors worldwide. Advances in ICU technology and implementation of evidence‐based care bundles have significantly decreased early deaths and have allowed patients to survive previously lethal multiple organ failure (MOF). Many MOF survivors, however, experience a persistent dysregulated immune response that is causing an increasingly predominant clinical phenotype called the persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome (PICS). The elderly are especially vulnerable; thus, as the population ages the prevalence of this CCI/PICS clinical trajectory will undoubtedly grow. Unfortunately, there are no proven therapies to prevent PICS, and multimodality interventions will be required. The purpose of this review is to: (1) discuss CCI as it relates to PICS, (2) identify the burden on healthcare and poor outcomes of these patients, and (3) describe possible nutrition interventions for the CCI/PICS phenotype.
Corrosion behavior of PANI/Epoxy/nano SnO2 polymeric nanocomposite coated stainless steel in 3.5 wt% NaCl
Authors: Zor S. , Ilmieva N.
Published: January 2018

In this study, polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites containing metal oxide nanoparticles such as SnO2 with different ratios (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g) were successfully synthesized by in‐situ polymerization for improving the corrosion efficiency of PANI. The synthesized polymeric nanocomposites have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction pattern (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis techniques. Furthermore in order to, enhance the mechanical and barrier properties of PANI matrix, PANI nanocomposites in the presence of metal oxide nanoparticles were mixed with epoxy resin such as polyvinyl butyral and applied as additives in the PANI matrix. PANI/epoxy/metal oxide polymeric nanocomposites were prepared as a thin layer coating and applied on polished AISI 304 stainless steel substrates. The corrosion protection efficiency of the freshly prepared SnO2 containing PANI nanocomposites were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 3.5 wt%. NaCl solution. The surface morphology and the structure of the film were evaluated by SEM. Finally, the obtained results revealed that PANI/epoxy/SnO2 metal oxide nanocomposites coatings provided a significant protection against corrosive environment. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E2415–E2425, 2018. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers
Using hydrogen‐doped In2O3 films as a transparent back contact in (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells
Authors: Keller Jan , Shariati Nilsson Nina , Aijaz Asim , Riekehr Lars , Kubart Tomas , Edoff Marika , Törndahl Tobias
Published: January 2018

This study evaluates the potential of hydrogen‐doped In2O3 (IOH) as a transparent back contact material in (Agy,Cu1‐y)(In1‐x,Gax)Se2 solar cells. It is found that the presence of Na promotes the creation of Ga2O3 at the back contact during (Agy,Cu1‐y)(In1‐x,Gax)Se2 growth. An excessive Ga2O3 formation results in a Ga depletion, which extends deep into the absorber layer. Consequently, the beneficial back surface field is removed and a detrimental reversed electrical field establishes. However, for more moderate Ga2O3 amounts (obtained with reduced Na supply), the back surface field can be preserved. Characterization of corresponding solar cells suggests the presence of an ohmic back contact, even at absorber deposition temperatures of 550°C. The best solar cell with an IOH back contact shows a fill factor of 74% and an efficiency (η) of 16.1% (without antireflection coating). The results indicate that Ga2O3 does not necessarily act as a transport barrier in the investigated system. Observed losses in open circuit voltage (VOC) as compared to reference samples with a Mo back contact are ascribed to a lower Na concentration in the absorber layer.
Laser emission in a 3D nanoporous polymer replica of amorphous blue phase III
Authors: Gandhi Sahil Sandesh , Li Yong , Luo Dan , Chien Liang‐Chy
Published: January 2018

Wide‐temperature polymer stabilized cubic blue phases (BPI and BPII) facilitated the emergence of practically feasible band‐edge BP lasers. However, the mysterious “blue fog” amorphous BPIII always remained elusive in terms of its applicability to photonic devices due to its random amorphous structure devoid of photonic bandgaps and due to the difficulty in effectively identifying and stabilizing it for practical applications. We present the first photonic device based on amorphous BPIII by demonstrating that a three‐dimensional BPIII polymer scaffold or template, when infiltrated with liquid crystal and laser dye, forms a system where random lasing action is generated due to multiple scattering events occurring in the nanoporous and disordered polymer replica of BPIII. This study represents a facile approach for the development of photonic devices which favorably exploit unique polymer network morphologies for laser emission. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018, 56, 551–557
Microfluidics‐based liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry multiple reaction monitoring approach for the relative quantification of Burkholderia cenocepacia secreted virulence factors
Authors: Depluverez Sofie , Daled Simon , De Waele Stijn , Planckaert Sören , Schoovaerts Jolien , Deforce Dieter , Devreese Bart
Published: January 2018

Rationale

Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic pathogen that is commonly isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Quorum sensing has been suggested to play a role in the activity of type II and type VI secretion systems and the release of virulence factors. Apart from the classical acyl homoserine lactone quorum sensing, B. cenocepacia also uses the diffusible signal factor system (DSF). Quantitative information on the true impact of DSF molecules on the release of ZmpA and other virulence factors is lacking.

Methods

Based on results of a label‐free proteomics analysis addressing changes in the secretome in response to DSFs, a panel of peptides was selected to develop a microfluidics liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method implementing single reaction monitoring (SRM) to quantify B. cenocepacia virulence factors.

Results

Increase in secretion of virulence factors upon treatment with BDSF was observed for ZmpA and Aida, but not for ZmpB. Type VI secretion system dependent Hcp1 and TecA were decreased. However, non‐physiological amounts of BDSF were needed to provoke the effect. DSFs from P. aeruginosa and S. maltophilia were also affecting virulence factor secretion, but the effect was smaller than for the endogenous BDSF.

Conclusions

Microfluidics‐based SRM is a useful tool to quantitatively assess the impact of quorum sensing on the release of virulence factors by (opportunistic) pathogens.
Enhanced Ultrafast Nonlinear Optical Response in Ferrite Core/Shell Nanostructures with Excellent Optical Limiting Performance
Authors: Perumbilavil Sreekanth , López‐Ortega Alberto , Tiwari Gaurav Kumar , Nogués Josep , Endo Tamio , Philip Reji
Published: January 2018

Nonlinear optical nanostructured materials are gaining increased interest as optical limiters for various applications, although many of them suffer from reduced efficiencies at high‐light fluences due to photoinduced deterioration. The nonlinear optical properties of ferrite core/shell nanoparticles showing their robustness for ultrafast optical limiting applications are reported. At 100 fs ultrashort laser pulses the effective two‐photon absorption (2PA) coefficient shows a nonmonotonic dependence on the shell thickness, with a maximum value obtained for thin shells. In view of the local electric field confinement, this indicates that core/shell is an advantageous morphology to improve the nonlinear optical parameters, exhibiting excellent optical limiting performance with effective 2PA coefficients in the range of 10−12 cm W−1 (100 fs excitation), and optical limiting threshold fluences in the range of 1.7 J cm−2. These values are comparable to or better than most of the recently reported optical limiting materials. The quality of the open aperture Z‐scan data recorded from repeat measurements at intensities as high as 35 TW cm−2, indicates their considerably high optical damage thresholds in a toluene dispersion, ensuring their robustness in practical applications. Thus, the high photostability combined with the remarkable nonlinear optical properties makes these nanoparticles excellent candidates for ultrafast optical limiting applications.
Metal–Organic Framework Encapsulation for the Preservation and Photothermal Enhancement of Enzyme Activity
Authors: Tadepalli Sirimuvva , Yim Jieun , Cao Sisi , Wang Zheyu , Naik Rajesh R. , Singamaneni Srikanth
Published: January 2018

Interfacing biomolecules with functional materials is a key strategy toward achieving externally‐triggered biological function. The rational integration of functional proteins, such as enzymes, with plasmonic nanostructures that exhibit unique optical properties such as photothermal effect provides a means to externally control the enzyme activity. However, due to the labile nature of enzymes, the photothermal effect of plasmonic nanostructures is mostly utilized for the enhancement of the biocatalytic activity of thermophilic enzymes. In order to extend and utilize the photothermal effect to a broader class of enzymes, a means to stabilize the immobilized active protein is essential. Inspired by biomineralization for the encapsulation of soft tissue within protective exteriors in nature, metal–organic framework is utilized to stabilize the enzyme. This strategy provides an effective route to enhance and externally modulate the biocatalytic activity of enzymes bound to functional nanostructures over a broad range of operating environments that are otherwise hostile to the biomolecules.
Tuning the Carrier Confinement in GeS/Phosphorene van der Waals Heterostructures
Authors: Wang Chan , Peng Lei , Qian Qi , Du Jinyan , Wang Sufan , Huang Yucheng
Published: January 2018

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, which have the advantage of integrating excellent properties of the stacked 2D materials by vdW interactions, have gained increasing attention recently. In this work, within the framework of density functional theory calculations, the electronic properties of vdW heterostructure composed of phosphorene (BP) in black phosphorus phase and GeS monolayer are systematically explored. The results show that the carriers are not separated for both lattice‐match and lattice‐mismatch heterostructures. For the lattice‐match heterostructure, it is found that changing monolayer of GeS to bilayer can increase the energy difference of valence band offsets between GeS and BP, thus realizing electron–hole separation. For the lattice‐mismatch heterostructure, altering the layer distance can transform the heterostructure into a typical type‐I alignment, but applying the electric field or doping with 2, 3, 5, 6‐tetrafluoro‐7, 7, 8, 8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ) can make it display a perfect desirable type‐II alignment, where holes migration and electrons transfer are revealed to account respectively for the phenomenon of carrier separation. It is believed that the work would greatly enlarge the potential application of the BP‐based heterostructures in photoelectronics and further stimulate the investigation enthusiasms on other fashionable heterostructures and even unassuming heterostructures in which the charming electronic properties can be modulated to emerge by various general methods.
Cold‐inducible RNA binding protein in cancer and inflammation
Authors: Lujan Daniel A. , Ochoa Joey L. , Hartley Rebecca S.
Published: January 2018

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play key roles in RNA dynamics, including subcellular localization, translational efficiency and metabolism. Cold‐inducible RNA binding protein (CIRP) is a stress‐induced protein that was initially described as a DNA damage‐induced transcript (A18 hnRNP), as well as a cold‐shock domain containing cold‐stress response protein (CIRBP) that alters the translational efficiency of its target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). This review summarizes recent work on the roles of CIRP in the context of inflammation and cancer. The function of CIRP in cancer appeared to be solely driven though its functions as an RBP that targeted cancer‐associated mRNAs, but it is increasingly clear that CIRP also modulates inflammation. Several recent studies highlight roles for CIRP in immune responses, ranging from sepsis to wound healing and tumor‐promoting inflammation. While modulating inflammation is an established role for RBPs that target cytokine mRNAs, CIRP appears to modulate inflammation by several different mechanisms. CIRP has been found in serum, where it binds the TLR4‐MD2 complex, acting as a Damage‐associated molecular pattern (DAMP). CIRP activates the NF‐κB pathway, increasing phosphorylation of Iκκ and IκBα, and stabilizes mRNAs encoding pro‐inflammatory cytokines. While CIRP promotes higher levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in certain cancers, it also decreases inflammation to accelerate wound healing. This dichotomy suggests that the influence of CIRP on inflammation is context dependent and highlights the importance of detailing the mechanisms by which CIRP modulates inflammation. WIREs RNA 2018, 9:e1462. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1462

This article is categorized under:

RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease

RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Interactions: Functional Implications
Veni, vidi, vici: the success of wtf meiotic drivers in fission yeast
Authors: López Hernández José Fabricio , Zanders Sarah E.
Published: January 2018

Meiotic drivers are selfish DNA loci that can bias their own transmission into gametes. Owing to their transmission advantages, meiotic drivers can spread in populations even if the drivers or linked variants decrease organismal fitness. Meiotic drive was first formally described in the 1950s and is thought to be a powerful force shaping eukaryotic genomes. Classic genetic analyses have detected the action of meiotic drivers in plants, filamentous fungi, insects and vertebrates. Several of these drive systems have limited experimental tractability and relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms of meiotic drive. Recently, however, meiotic drivers were discovered in a yeast species. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe wtf gene family contains several active meiotic drive genes. This review summarizes what is known about the wtf family and highlights its potential as a highly tractable experimental model for molecular and evolutionary characterization of meiotic drive.
Erythritol production by yeasts: a snapshot of current knowledge
Authors: Carly Frédéric , Fickers Patrick
Published: January 2018

Erythritol is a four‐carbon sugar alcohol produced by microorganisms as an osmoprotectant. It could be used as a natural sweetener in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Here, a snapshot of current knowledge on erythritol metabolism and synthesis, optimization of its production and more precise process and producer strain improvement is presented.
Principle Guided Investing: The Use of Exclusionary Screens and Its Implications for Green Investors
Authors: von Arx Urs
Published: January 2018

This paper examines how “green” investors can induce firms to invest in clean production technology. The 1-period model incorporates heterogeneous agents — Markowitz investors and green investors — and two groups of firms working either with clean or polluting technology. Since green investors apply exclusionary environmental screens, some firms will invest in abatement technology in order to switch to a clean technology and thereby raising firm value. The number of firms working with clean technology will be larger, the higher the proportion of green investors, the lower costs of abatement technology, the higher diversification benefits of stocks of clean firms and if positive spill-overs for clean firms exist.
Could Regional and Cantonal Banks Reduce Credit Risk through National Diversification?
Authors: Rime Bertrand
Published: January 2018

This paper estimates the reduction of credit risk that can be achieved in Switzerland through a national diversification of bank lending. Using a credit risk model based on corporate default rates, we find that the risk of a nationally diversified loan portfolio can be up to 20% smaller than the average of the risks of cantonal portfolios. From a financial stability perspective, this substantial risk diversification potential should motivate particular scrutiny on the more than hundred Swiss banks staying on the regional business model.
Risk Factors for the Swiss Stock Market
Authors: Ammann Manuel , Steiner Michael
Published: January 2018

The four risk factors controlling for the market, size, value, and momentum effect have become a state-of-the-art framework for various applications in financial markets research. However, previous work shows that these broadly recognized risk factors are country-specific. For these reasons, this paper develops and analyses these factors for the Swiss stock market from January 1990 to December 2005, building on a high quality dataset and taking into account specific characteristics of the Swiss stock market. We find a negative size premium of −0.67% p.a. and a positive value premium of 2.35% p.a. Both, however, show a time-varying character. The momentum effect is the most pronounced with a premium of 10.33% p.a. The results are robust and validated by a comparison to data from the US. Furthermore, we find that the explanatory power of the factors is high, confirming their relevance to the Swiss stock market.
The Effect of Entry Regulation on Process Innovation in the Swiss Mail Industry
Authors: Dietl Helmut M. , Grütter Andreas , Lutzenberger Martin , Felisberto Cátia , Finger Matthias
Published: January 2018

We develop an industry specific model of price competition with product differentiation to analyze the effect of entry regulation on process innovation in the Swiss mail industry. We consider the four most prominent scenarios: Regulated monopoly, end-to-end competition, worksharing without bypass, and work-sharing with bypass. Based on model calibration with data from the Swiss letter market, we find that the incentives to invest in process innovations decrease with deregulation. However, even accounting for this fact, the efficiency gains of a partial liberalization, i.e. worksharing, ensure an increase in social welfare.
Consumer-Directed Health Care: Can Consumers Look After Themselves?
Authors: McFadden Daniel , Winter Joachim , Heiss Florian
Published: January 2018

In health care systems today, including those of Switzerland and the United States, participants do not necessarily see the big picture of lifetime health costs and quality of life, and in many systems consumers and providers lack the incentives to manage preventative and chronic care to minimize lifetime private and social health costs. Resource allocation problems induced by asymmetric information and misaligned incentives are exacerbated if consumers fail to have the acuity or perspective needed to make choices consistent with their self-interest when faced with complex health care choices with ambiguous future consequences. This paper examines rationality of consumers’ health perceptions and choices using as a natural experiment the recent introduction in the United States of a highly subsidized market for prescription drug insurance, and draws lessons from this experiment on the practicality of “Consumer Directed Health Care” as an approach to achieving efficient allocation of health care resources by confronting consumers with the full marginal costs of the services they use.
Valuation of Environmental Goods in Profit and Non-Profit Housing Sectors: Evidence from the Rental Market in the City of Zurich
Authors: Banfi Silvia , Filippini Massimo , Horehájová Andrea
Published: January 2018

This paper analyses the impact of electromagnetic pollution, noise and air pollution on the rent level for the aggregated and disaggregated market in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. Although there is no conclusive assessment about the health impacts of electromagnetic radiation people are nonetheless concerned about possible long term risks associated with the exposure. This risk perception may affect the price of dwellings located close to antenna. The regression results show that the environmental variables considered have the expected sign and are highly significant, with exception of the presence of an antenna and the air pollution for the non-profit submarket. However, the greatest part of the variation is explained by the structural variables.
The Impact of Housing Market Segmentation between Tourists and Residents on the Hedonic Price for Landscape Quality
Authors: Soguel Nils , Martin Marc-Jean , Tangerini Alexandre
Published: January 2018

Market segmentation is an important issue when estimating the implicit price for an environmental amenity from a surrogate market like property. This paper tests the hypothesis of a segmentation of the housing market between tourists and residents and computes the implicit price for natural landscape quality in Swiss alpine resorts. The results show a clear segmentation between both groups of consumers, although tests also show that the estimated coefficient for landscape is similar in the tourists’ model and in the residents’. However, since the functional form is non linear, the nominal — rather than relative — value of a change in natural landscape quality is higher in the tourist housing market than in the residents’. Hence, considering the segmentation of the market between tourists and residents is essential in order to provide valid estimates of the nominal implicit price of natural landscape quality.
The Marginal Cost of Saving a Life in Health Care: Age, Gender and Regional Differences in Switzerland
Authors: Felder Stefan , Werblow Andreas
Published: January 2018

This paper estimates the marginal cost of saving a life using age- and gender-specific health care expenditures and mortality rates of the 26 Swiss cantons for the period 1997 to 2006. It shows almost triple the marginal cost of saving a life for women as compared to men, reflecting a lower marginal elasticity of medical inputs, a lower mortality rate and higher spending on health care for women. Medical technology does not differ across cantons while the marginal cost of saving a life does. Wealthy cantons spend more on saving a life at the margin and show a smaller gender gap in longevity.
Price-setting behaviour in Switzerland: Evidence from CPI micro data
Authors: Kaufmann Daniel
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates price-setting behaviour of firms based on the individual price quotes underlying the Swiss consumer price index. The data set covers the years from 1993 to 2005. Six main findings emerge from the analysis. (i) Prices are sticky; the median duration amounts to 4.6 quarters. (ii) Price-setting behaviour is heterogeneous across sectors and outlet characteristics. (iii) Price changes are sizeable; the median absolute size amounts to 9.4%. (iv) There is little evidence of downward price stickiness; almost half of all price changes are decreases. An exception is the service sector, however, where there is evidence of asymmetries in price-setting due to downward rigid wages. (v) Firms respond to expected cost shocks at the date of their occurrence; VAT rate changes do not lead to more price adjustments before they take effect. (vi) There is some evidence that firms adjust their behaviour according to the state of the economy; in particular, firms facing higher rates of inflation adjust prices more frequently.
Unemployment and monetary policy in Switzerland
Authors: Kugler Peter , Sheldon George
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates the impact of the monetary policy change of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in 1999 on the Swiss labor market on the basis of a Phillips relationship. Theoretical considerations as well as previous empirical work suggest that the SNB’s shift to a more inflation-targeted policy should have increased real-wage flexibility and lowered the NAIRU, the sacrifice ratio, and the level and persistence of inflation in Switzerland. Our results tend to confirm these expectations, although a number of the measured effects are not statistically significant.
Variety Gains from Trade in Switzerland
Authors: Mohler Lukas
Published: January 2018

Since the seminal work of Krugman(1979), variety gains from trade are recognized as an important channel of welfare gains. In this paper, the gains from variety are estimated for Switzerland. It is found that despite the openness of the Swiss economy these gains are not substantial and smaller than in other countries; specifically compared to the gains in the United States. It is shown that the reasons for this result are twofold: First, the Swiss imports are shown not to be as differentiated as their U.S. counterparts; consequently, new varieties do not provide the same value to consumers. Second, variety growth of imports in Switzerland is much smaller compared to variety growth in larger countries. It is furthermore shown that this latter effect is quantitatively more important than the first.
Redistribution in Switzerland: Social cohesion or simple smoothing of lifetime incomes?
Authors: Engler Monika
Published: January 2018

Using the example of Switzerland, this paper examines the extent to which the state and the social security institutions change the income distribution. Two sets of questions are examined: (1) Who benefits from the public services, and who bears the public costs? (2) To what extent does an annual redistribution involve redistribution (a) across households with different lifetime income, and (b) across different phases of life within the same households? Budget incidence analyses and pseudo panel procedures allow to compare annual and lifetime household incomes that arise before and after transfers. The results suggest that public interventions induce substantial redistribution, which is due primarily however, to income-smoothing transfers within households and not to redistribution across households.
Aging and the financing of social security in Switzerland
Authors: Keuschnigg Christian , Keuschnigg Mirela , Jaag Christian
Published: January 2018

The gains in life expectancy are expected to double the dependency ratio and increase population by 10% in Switzerland until 2050. To quantify the effects on social security and public finances, we use an overlapping generations model with five margins of labor supply: labor market participation, hours worked, job search, retirement, and on-the-job training. A passive fiscal strategy would be very costly. A comprehensive reform, including an increase in the retirement age to 68 years, may limit the tax increases to 4 percentage points of value added tax and reduce the decline of per capita income to less than 6%.
An analysis of technical efficiency and efficiency factors for Austrian and Swiss non-profit theatres
Authors: Zieba Marta
Published: January 2018

This article explores the measurement of the production technology and efficiency of the performing arts sector. The stochastic frontier analysis has been used to estimate the technical efficiency scores for 20 Austrian and 30 Swiss non-profit theatres over 36 and 26 years, respectively. The number of visitors and tickets on offer are considered as two alternative measures of artistic output. The results indicate that individual efficiency estimates are very sensitive to the econometric specification of the unobserved heterogeneity of theatres. In particular, econometric techniques which do not account for this heterogeneity produce much lower efficiency levels. The indefinable dimension of artistic output such as theatre-specific quality may also have an important influence on efficiency estimates. The empirical analysis also delivers the first insights into the impact of exogenous factors on technical efficiency such as the number of theatres in the local area, regional differences and the level of public subsidies.
Did the CDS market push up risk premia for sovereign credit?
Authors: Andenmatten Sergio , Brill Felix
Published: January 2018

We examine the empirical relationship between credit default swap (CDS) premia and government bond spreads for Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain (the ‘PIIGS’ countries). We find some evidence for a long-run relationship in the sense of cointegration for the two markets. In most cases (five out of seven), only CDS premia contribute to the price discovery process. In the other cases, both markets make a more or less equal contribution. All in all, this suggests that bond spreads react only sluggishly to long-term imbalances, as measured by the cointegrating relationship. In light of this, we can conclude that, in most cases, CDS markets are leading markets if there is a long-run relationship between the CDS and government bond spread markets. This may partly be due to liquidity effects.
Financial market integration in late medieval Europe: Results from a threshold error correction model for the Rhinegulden and Basle Pound 1365–1429
Authors: Kugler Peter
Published: January 2018

This paper analyzes the integration of the foreign exchange market for the Basle Pound and the Rhinegulden and the market for gold and silver bullion for the period 1365–1429. The application of a threshold error correction model indicates that transaction costs prevent arbitrage when the difference between the gold-silver ratio and the exchange rate is within a 7.4% band, whereas larger deviation exchange rate movements close this gap within one year.
The real-time predictive content of the KOF Economic Barometer
Authors: Siliverstovs Boriss
Published: January 2018

We investigate whether the KOF Economic Barometer – a leading indicator released by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute – is useful for short-term prediction of quarterly year-on-year real GDP growth in Switzerland. Using a real-time data set consisting of historical vintages of GDP data and the leading indicator we find that the model augemented with the KOF Barometer produces more accurate forecasts of the Swiss GDP than purely autoregressive models and consensus forecasts.
Sectoral Growth Effects of Energy Policies in an Increasing-Varieties Model of the Swiss Economy
Authors: Bretschger Lucas , Ramer Roger
Published: January 2018

The paper applies a theoretical model with increasing capital varieties to study the impact of energy on growth. It translates a multisectoral framework version to a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Swiss economy. We study the impacts of a policy aiming at enabling the economy to reach the longterm target of a 2000-Watt-society, implying a substantial reduction of the energy input in the future. We find that (i) the aggregate effects of an ambitious energy efficiency policy turn out to be moderate, (ii) all sectors in the economy continue to grow at robust positive rates (although growth rates decrease in some sectors compared to business-as-usual), and (iii) some industries experience substantially higher growth under regulation. We focus on the different sectoral growth effects to simulate future structural change.
Linking the Swiss Emissions Trading System with the EU ETS: Economic Effects of Regulatory Design Alternatives
Authors: Vöhringer Frank
Published: January 2018

The Swiss government intends to link the Swiss Emissions Trading System to the EU ETS after 2012. Employing GENESwIS, a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Swiss economy, we investigate the macroeconomic and sectoral effects of a post-2012 Swiss ETS with linking to the EU ETS. It is the first such CGE analysis for Switzerland with disaggregated sectors according to magnitude of CO2 emissions from installations, which allows distinguishing ETS installations from non-ETS installations in the same sector. The reference scenario represents the announced post-2012 Swiss climate policy without ETS, implying a GHG emissions target for 2020 of −20% with respect to 1990. In the ETS policy scenarios, regulatory issues include participation thresholds and the share of auctioned permits. We show that the Swiss ETS reduction targets are not ambitious when declining baseline emissions are assumed. Thus, most ETS installations profit from an ETS, while non-ETS sectors have to reduce more emissions (and pay a higher CO2 tax). In the context of the simulated Swiss ETS scenarios, we find that distributional consequences of regulatory choices are far more important than efficiency considerations.
Assessing the Future of Renewable and Smart Grid Technologies in Regional Energy Systems
Authors: Babonneau F. , Haurie A. , Tarel G. J. , Thénié J.
Published: January 2018

In this paper we present the regional techno-economic model ETEM, designed for the analysis of regional energy/environment systems and we show how it can be used to explore the possible penetration of new technologies in a region corresponding roughly to the canton of Geneva. We investigate three scenarios with different constraints on CO2 emissions and electricity imports and show the essential role played by new technologies, linked through a smart grid, in the effort toward a sustainable energy system. We strengthen our conclusion with a stochastic approach dealing with uncertainty in future electricity prices and electric car technology penetration.
Assessment of Acceptable Swiss post-2012 Climate Policies
Authors: Sceia André , Altamirano-Cabrera Juan-Carlos , Vielle Marc , Weidmann Nicolas
Published: January 2018

In the framework of the revision of the Swiss CO2-Law and in the preparation of the international negotiations that place at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Swiss Government has proposed a set of instruments and two levels of abatement to define the Swiss climate policy for the post-2012 period. By 2030, Switzerland would recuce its GHG emission by 30% or 45%, depending on whether or not the rest of the world world would commit to strong emissions reductions. The proposed policies are the result of consultation procedures take into account the views of major stakeholders and lobbies and allow for differienciated carbon prices in different sectors of the Swiss economy. Linking a Cumputable General Equilibrium (CGE) and two sectoral energy models, we evaluate the policies for the two scenarios. We find important disparities in the prices of carbon faced by the different economic sectors and higher welfare costs than those that would be triggered by a uniform carbon tax.
Wealth effects on consumption in Switzerland
Authors: Schmid Frank
Published: January 2018

This paper studies the role of wealth fluctuations for aggregate consumption in Switzerland. In the long-run, wealth is found to have a significant effect on consumption. In the short-run, by contrast, the effects are less clear as consumption and wealth sometimes deviate persistently from equilibrium. Such deviations from equilibrium can have a duration of up to 3 years. If these equilibrium deviations are due to rapid wealth growth, Swiss consumers expand their consumption spending less than they could because they perceive large parts of these wealth gains as merely transitory. While they do not adapt to transitory wealth changes, they eventually react to the permanent wealth changes. On average, 80% of the variation in Swiss wealth that lasts for at least 24 quarters is permanent and it is exactly to those permanent lasting shocks that Swiss consumers react. Because consumption and wealth both react to the same permanent shocks, these results can be interpreted as evidence that consumers react less to changes in wealth per se than to changes in the business cycle.
Monetary policy and asset prices: When cleaning up hits the zero lower bound
Authors: Berger Wolfram , Kissmer Friedrich
Published: January 2018

Recently, convincing evidence has been presented that the recession in the wake of the recent financial crisis resulted primarily from an overly levered housing sector that was forced to deleverage and cut consumption spending when faced with collapsing housing prices. Following this interpretation it is argued that, as opposed to the consensus view on monetary policy in the vicinity of the ZLB, optimal monetary policy may involve an interest rateincreaseif the ZLB threatens to become a binding constraint in the aftermath of an asset price bust. This result delivers arguments to advocate a— in the previous literature less favored— pre-emptive tightening policy in an asset price boom.
Multinational financial structure and tax competition
Authors: Wrede Matthias
Published: January 2018

This paper analyzes tax competition when welfare maximizing jurisdictions levy source-based corporate taxes and multinational enterprises choose tax-efficient capital-to-debt ratios. Under separate accounting, multinationals shift debt from low-tax to high-tax countries. The Nash equilibrium of the tax competition game is characterized by underprovision of publicly provided goods. Under formula apportionment, the country-specific capital-to-debt ratio of a multinational’s affiliate is independent of the jurisdiction’s tax rate. Public good provision is either too large or too small. However, there is clearly underprovision under formula apportionment if the debt externality is not negative.
Driving forces of the Swiss output gap
Authors: Leist Stefan
Published: January 2018

What drives the output gap? Contrary to standard agnostic statistical approaches, New Keynesian small open economy models allow decomposing the output gap into its shocks and confirm the conventional wisdom that most of the variation is due to foreign shocks. However, the risk premium shock also plays an important role. It has a procyclical effect on the output gap except for the most recent recession, where the economic agents demanded a higher risk premium probably due to the large Swiss financial sector. This helped to dampen the recession because of the depreciation of the domestic currency due to this shock.
Environmental tax reforms in Switzerland a computable general Equilibrium impact analysis
Authors: Böhringer Christoph , Müller André
Published: January 2018

The Swiss energy strategy until 2050 envisages ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets along with substantial cutbacks in electricity consumption to establish a low-carbon economy without nuclear energy. Our computable general equilibrium analysis finds that compliance with stringent CO2 constraints requires high CO2 taxes on economic activities which are not eligible for international emissions trading; likewise, electricity consumers are burdened with substantial electricity taxes. Environmental tax reforms are not likely to generate welfare gains without accounting for the benefits of improved environmental quality. However, economic adjustment costs to a low carbon economy without nuclear energy remain modest and can be markedly reduced through revenue-neutral cuts of initial distortionary taxes. On the other hand, alternative recycling strategies pose a trade-off between efficiency and distributional justice which has to be resolved on normative grounds.
Inflation expectations, central bank credibility and the global financial crisis
Authors: Gerlach-Kristen Petra , Moessner Richhild
Published: January 2018

Long-run inflation expectations should not respond to economic news if the central bank is seen as credibly committed to stabilising inflation. In this paper we find that since the onset of the global financial crisis, medium and long-term inflation expectations implied by inflation swaps in the euro area, United Kingdom and United States have become less responsive to actual inflation and changes in oil and food prices. This suggests that the credibility of the central banks in these economies remains intact, despite large increases in their balance sheets due to unconventional monetary policy measures and the introduction of explicit forward guidance at the zero lower bound. We also find an increase in autocorrelation of inflation expectations, which suggests that shocks have a longer-lasting impact than before the financial crisis.
Effects of a Higher Replacement Rate on Unemployment Durations, Employment, and Earnings
Authors: Eugster Beatrix
Published: January 2018

This paper discusses the effects of a higher unemployment benefit replacement rate on unemployment durations, employment, and earnings. A reform of the Swiss unemployment insurance in July 2003 increased the replacement rate by up to 5.88 ppt for individuals who earned between 3,536 and 4,340 CHF and have no children, while it did not change the replacement rate for all other unemployed persons. This allows to study the effects of a higher replacement rate adopting a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach. The change in the replacement rate increased unemployment durations by 3.1 % — or roughly one week — for the treatment group. Women tend to react stronger than men. There is no effect of the level of the replacement rate on employment probabilities or earnings after the unemployment spell is finished.
Capital Flow Waves to and from Switzerland before and after the Financial Crisis
Authors: Yeşin Pinar
Published: January 2018

This paper first shows that capital inflows to and outflows from financial centers were disproportionately affected by the global financial crisis. Switzerland was no exception. The paper then identifies waves of capital flows to and from Switzerland from 2000:Q1 to 2014:Q2 by using a simple statistical method. The analysis shows that private capital inflows to and outflows from Switzerland have become exceptionally muted and less volatile since the crisis. Further, strong and long-lasting ‘home bias’ behavior can be observed for both Swiss and foreign investors. By contrast, net private capital flows have shown significantly higher volatility since the financial crisis, frequently registering extreme movements driven by extreme movements in bank lending flows. These findings suggest that the financial crisis generated a breaking point for capital flows to and from Switzerland.
How do Individual Sectors Respond to Macroeconomic Shocks? A Structural Dynamic Factor Approach Applied to Swiss Data
Authors: Bäurle Gregor , Steiner Elizabeth
Published: January 2018

This paper quantifies the impact of monetary policy, exchange rates and external demand on the production sectors of the Swiss economy. As the model covers the full set of production sectors it is possible through aggregation to estimate the impact of a given shock on total GDP. We conduct the analysis in the framework of a Bayesian structural dynamic factor model. Our approach proves to be useful to cope with the large data set and at the same time allows us to consistently identify fundamental aggregate shocks. We find that monetary variables, such as interest rates and exchange rates, mainly influence the financial sectors. Variations in value added in the manufacturing sectors or business services, on the other hand, are markedly influenced by changes in external demand, but show a weaker and slower reaction to monetary variables.