This paper formalises a three-tier administrative hierarchy. A benevolent federal government must decide how to fund an indivisible local public work, planned to be undertaken by a single firm. But the federal government observes neither the cost nor the local benefit of the project. To obtain...

A robust principal component analysis can be easily performed by computing the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a robust estimator of the covariance or correlation matrix. In this paper the authors derive the influence functions and the corresponding asumptotic variances for these robust...

The minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) scatter estimator is a highly robust estimator for the dispersion matrix of a multivariate, elliptically symmetric distribution. It is fast to compute and intuitively appealing. In this note we derive its influence function and compute the asymptotic...

The perspective taken in this paper is strictly narrowed to the strategic choice of the composition of public debt, as opposed to the determination of the total amount borrowed. Thus, it takes as given the level of taxes and government expenditures at the moment of the choice of debt...

Dix entreprises de chemins de fer africains sont comparees entre elles au moyen de trois methodes multicriteres: Electre I, Promethee II, Judges. Les 25 criteres de premier niveau retenus sont regroupes d'abord en 8 familles capturant chacune un objectif de deuxieme niveau. L'efficacite du...

The purpose of this paper is twofold: it presents the current state of the welfare state in the European Union, and it considers its future prospects given the various challenges to which it is exposed. In the presentation of social protection, which is the main component of the welfare state,...

An axiomatization of the interactions between the palyers of any coalition is given. It is based on three axioms: linearity, dummy and symmetry. These interaction indices extend the Banzhaf and Shapley values when using in addition two equivalent recursive axioms. Lastly, the authors give an...

This paper analyses how government policies can affect the steady state margins and output in European countries. It draws heavily on a study realized by Aziz J. and Leruth L. (1997), who show that the government can the cyclical behaviour of the economy by changing the composition of public...

This paper describes the application of a simulated annealing approach to the solution of a complex portfolio selection model. The model is a mixed integer quadratic programming problem which arises when Markowitz' classical mean-variance model is enriched with additional realistic constraints....

This paper presents a Gaussian reduced-form default risk model. The riskless rate follows a two-dimensional ARMA process. The mean-reverting default spread features a ratio involving the market value of the firm's assets. Under recurrent credit risk, bond prices are analytically derived. Using...