Paris West University Nanterre La Défense

About: Paris West University Nanterre La Défense is a education organization based out in Paris, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Finite element method. The organization has 895 authors who have published 1430 publications receiving 21712 citations.

Asymmetries in rent seeking

Abstract: In rent-seeking contests, players are seldom identical to one another. In this chapter, we examine the rent-seeking literature that explores the effects of specific forms of asymmetry between contestants. We consider Tullock’s rent-seeking contests involving two players who differ in strength (marginal returns to effort), motivation (valuations of the sought-after rent) and cunning (bargaining power). We study the combined interaction of these three possible forms of asymmetry in rent-seeking. We examine how these asymmetries affect the rent-seeking contest and investigate the effect of ex post trading opportunities on the players’ efforts and probabilities of winning and on the social costs of rent-seeking.

Excess Returns, Portfolio Choices and Exchange Rate Dynamics: The Yen/Dollar Case, 1980-1998

Abstract: We built a portfolio choice model in which agents are heterogeneous and possibly draw systematic rational forecast errors.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Quand les morts reviennent, réflexion sur l'ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres

Abstract: Quand les morts reviennent… Reflexion sur l’ancestralite chez les Mayas des Basses Terres. Le culte des ancetres est souvent evoque dans la litterature ethnologique amerindienne, sans que soit pourtant etablie son existence. Cet article s’attache a montrer que certains groupes mayas des Basses Terres pratiquent un culte familial des ancetres, dont le jour des morts, ou hanal pixan, apparait comme la manifestation la plus pregnante. Nous fonderons notre raisonnement sur des criteres precis empruntes a des etudes ethnologiques de societes dites « a ancetres » auxquels seront confrontees les croyances et les pratiques mayas. L’approche est comparative, a la fois dans le temps, en croisant des donnees coloniales et ethnographiques du xxe siecle, et dans l’espace, en confrontant les usages et les croyances de deux groupes mayas pourtant apparentes, les Yucateques et les Lacandons.

Retour sur une « contribution » coloniale. Le succès des coureurs nord‑africains dans l’athlétisme français des années 1950

Abstract: ResumeL’article porte sur la reussite des coureurs algeriens et marocains dans l’athletisme francais durant les annees 1950. Etudiant cette ⊫ contribution ⊻ coloniale sous l’angle des relations inegales mais a double sens s’etablissant entre la metropole et la colonie, il s’agit de rendre compte des logiques et oppositions socioculturelles qui sont au principe, d’une part, de ces succes sportifs a priori improbables et, d’autre part, de l’evolution de l’athletisme en France et en Afrique du Nord. Centre sur les conditions qui sous-tendent ces succes sportifs et sur les transformations qu’ils entrainent, et montrant comment, au sein d’un rapport de forces qui leur est massivement defavorable, les colonises parviennent, en se l’appropriant, a transformer une pratique importee par les colons, le texte suggere que le cas de l’athletisme est exemplaire pour montrer que la situation coloniale n’est qu’une variante extreme du perpetuel conflit entre cultures en competition.

Statistical learning based on Markovian data maximal deviation inequalities and learning rates

Abstract: In statistical learning theory, numerous works established non-asymptotic bounds assessing the generalization capacity of empirical risk minimizers under a large variety of complexity assumptions for the class of decision rules over which optimization is performed, by means of sharp control of uniform deviation of i.i.d. averages from their expectation, while fully ignoring the possible dependence across training data in general. It is the purpose of this paper to show that similar results can be obtained when statistical learning is based on a data sequence drawn from a (Harris positive) Markov chain X, through the running example of estimation of minimum volume sets (MV-sets) related to X’s stationary distribution, an unsupervised statistical learning approach to anomaly/novelty detection. Based on novel maximal deviation inequalities we establish, using the regenerative method, learning rate bounds that depend not only on the complexity of the class of candidate sets but also on the ergodicity rate of the chain X, expressed in terms of tail conditions for the length of the regenerative cycles. In particular, this approach fully tailored to Markovian data permits to interpret the rate bound results obtained in frequentist terms, in contrast to alternative coupling techniques based on mixing conditions: the larger the expected number of cycles over a trajectory of finite length, the more accurate the MV-set estimates. Beyond the theoretical analysis, this phenomenon is supported by illustrative numerical experiments.