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We extend the standard real options approach to analyse the interdependence of investment and consumption decisions by incorporating the spirit of capitalism. For investment, when investment payoff is given as a lump-sum payment, the spirit of capitalism erodes the option value to invest and speeds up investment. However, for a flow investment payoff, the spirit of capitalism encourages the agent to postpone investing since the project value after investment is less than the option value before investment. The results on the investment timing are robust to alternative specifications of the payoff process. For consumption, the agent tends to consume less in the presence of the capitalist spirit. Finally, the time-series properties of consumption and welfare implications of the spirit of capitalism are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend an equilibrium business cycle/asset pricing model of production and capital accumulation by introducing wealth‐dependent time preferences. First, we find that the aggregate consumption is no longer proportional to the output and the consumption volatility is always lower than the volatility of output. Second, the expected real growth rate is increasing in the capital stock, which leads to a twin‐peak shape of the world wealth distribution as shown in the data. With respect to financial markets, we show that the equity risk premium is reduced by the endogenous discounting and exhibits a cyclical pattern, which depends on the capital stock. Finally, time‐varying discount rate leads to welfare improvement and the welfare gain is decreasing in the capital stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the net benefit accruing to a government when choosing between a lower tax rate on future profits and an investment subsidy as investment stimulation. We hypothesize that either the firm or the government faces Knightian uncertainty in contemplating investment. In the presence of the firm's Knightian uncertainty, the government prefers the investment cost subsidy to tax rate reduction as the conventional wisdom in prior literature. However, if the government is concerned about the model uncertainty, the optimal policy depends on the varying characteristics in reality, such as the ambiguity level, the growth rate, the volatility, as well as the interest rate environment. The tax rate cut is favorable when the growth rate, the discount rate, and the volatility are lower, and when the ambiguity parameter is higher. By taking into account Knightian uncertainty, we provide a potential rationale behind evaluating stimulus policies in different economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two A2B type H3corroles and two GaIIItriarylcorroles with carbazole substitutions at 10-positions were synthesized and characterized. An analysis of structure–property relationships of the corroles has been carried out by investigating the optical spectroscopy of the dyes to trends predicted in DFT and TD-DFT calculations. Interestingly, the photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) activity properties of the GaIIItriarylcorroles were determined against the MCF-7 breast cancer line, and Staphyloccocus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), respectively. The cationic G-2Q species exhibited the most favorable properties with an IC50 value of 7.8 μM against MCF-7 cells, and Log reduction values of 7.78 and 3.26 against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli at 0.5 and 10 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is highly reliant upon the properties of cathodes, including crystal structure, electrical conductivity, electrode thickness, and so on. Here, Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3‐δ (BSCF) is synthesized and served as the electrode for enabling high‐performance SOFCs. The effect of electrode thickness on the electrocatalytic activity is systematically investigated. The electrode thickness is adjusted in two ways. One is spray‐coating and then calcining once, and the other is performing the above process twice. On the basis of symmetrical cells configuration, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of BSCF electrode with different thickness is evaluated and analyzed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique and distribution of relaxation time (DRT). The obtained area‐specific resistances (ASRs) of electrodes on the oxygen ion conducting electrolyte Sm0.2Ce0.9O1.90 (SDC) demonstrate the thickness‐dependent electrochemical activity in ORR of BSCF electrode. With an electrode thickness of 24 μm that controlled by conducting "spray‐coating and calcining" twice, the BSCF electrode displays the optimal electrochemical performance with an ASR of 0.072 Ω cm2 in ambient air at 600°C. This strategy has allowed us to produce an electrode layer with optimal thickness, paving a new path for the design of high‐performance SOFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces time-inconsistent preferences into the standard model of capacity choice and investigates its influences on entrepreneurial firms' investment decisions and asset returns. With time-inconsistent preferences, the entrepreneurial firm's expansion decision becomes more conservative. In addition, we find the value reduction caused by time-inconsistent preferences is more substantial in growth opportunities than assets in place. For asset returns, we show that time inconsistency lowers the beta of the firm through the channel of growth opportunities since the beta of assets in place is not affected by time-inconsistent preferences. Finally, the impacts on the capacity choice, firm value and asset returns also depend on such factors as whether entrepreneurs are sophisticated or naive in their expectations regarding future time-inconsistent behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three M(II)(tBu)4phthalocyanines (M = Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II)) were revisited and constructed as nanosheets through solvent and ultrasonication dual-controlled aggregations. These M(II)Pc molecules have exhibited higher electrochemical catalytic efficiency compared with amorphous metallophthalocyanine molecules, which provides new insights into phthalocyanine based material catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend dynamic agency and investment theory by incorporating model uncertainty. As concerns regarding model uncertainty induce a trade‐off between incentives and ambiguity sharing, the principal tends to delay the cash payout to the agent. We find model uncertainty lowers the firm value, the average q and marginal q, where q is defined as the ratio between a physical asset's market value and its replacement value. Furthermore, model uncertainty leads to insufficient investment, which provides an alternative explanation for under‐investment. Finally, the optimal pay‐performance sensitivity of the agent's continuation value to the firm's output is state dependent and exceeds the lower bound when it is close to the payout boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wavelet threshold de-noising is widely applied in de-noising aimed at weakening the noise noise influence of observed values suffered by various conditions. A new threshold function was proposed to improve the de-noising effection with considering the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional threshold function and combining the idea of weighted average function. At the same time, the fixed threshold was replaced by the threshold which changes with the number of decomposition layers to avoid the effective high-frequency noise elimination. The new threshold function was verified by the subsidence data. Firstly, to deal with de-noising data and evaluate the effectiveness by SNR and RMSE using different threshold functions. Secondly, to establish Elman neural network prediction model for de-noising data. Experimental results showed that the improved threshold function based on weight average had better de-noising effection and higher prediction precision, and finally optimized the reliability of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]