Propagation of Economic Shocks in Input-Output Networks: A Cross-Country Analysis

This paper investigates how economic shocks propagate and amplify through the input-output network connecting industrial sectors in developed economies. We study alternative models of diffusion on networks and we calibrate them using input-output data on real-world inter-sectoral dependencies for several European countries before the Great Depression. We show that the impact of economic shocks strongly depends on the nature of the shock and country size. Shocks that impact on final demand without changing production and the technological relationships between sectors have on average a large but very homogeneous impact on the economy. Conversely, when shocks change also the magnitudes of input-output across-sector interdependencies (and possibly sector production), the economy is subject to predominantly large but more heterogeneous avalanche sizes. In this case, we also find that: (i) the more a sector is globally central in the country network, the largest its impact; (ii) the largest European countries, such as those constituting the core of the European Union's economy, typically experience the largest avalanches, signaling their intrinsic higher vulnerability to economic shocks.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, supplemental material sectio

Special Libraries, July 1978

Volume 69, Issue 7https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1978/1005/thumbnail.jp

Special Libraries, March-April 1923

Volume 14, Issue 3https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1923/1002/thumbnail.jp

Religion, the Cold War State, and the Resurgence of Evangelicalism in the US, 1942 - 1990

Although many observers consider the Bush administration’s “faith-based initiative” a unique breach in the wall of separation between church and state, close ties between the federal government and religious agencies are no novelty in the history of American public policy. Since the end of the Second World War, billions of dollars of public funds have been made available to religiously-affiliated hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, and social services - institutions which were regarded as vital to Cold War preparedness. By the same token, government use of religious foreign aid agencies, the donation of surplus land and military facilities to religious charities, and the funding of the chaplaincy in the armed forces have undergirded Cold War foreign policy goals. Based on the principle of subsidiarity, post-war public policy thus integrated religious groups into the framework of the welfare and national security state in ways which underwrote both the expansion of the federal government and the growth of religious agencies. Crucially, public funding relations involved not only mainline Protestant, Jewish and Catholic organizations, but also white evangelicals, who had traditionally been the most outspoken opponents of closer ties between church and state. Cold War Anti-Communism, the fear of Catholic or secularist control of public funds, and pragmatic considerations, however, ushered in the gradual revision of their separatist views. Ironically, the programs of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, so vilified by the Christian Right, pioneered many of the funding streams most beneficial to evangelical providers. Considering that since 1945 the sprawling and loosely organized evangelical movement has become the largest single religious faction in the US, and that conservative Protestants now form the most strongly Republican group in the religious spectrum, these findings are of particular importance. They suggest that Cold War state-building and the resurgence of Evangelicalism mutually reinforced each other in ways which have been largely ignored by scholarship on conservatism and its focus on the “backlash” against the political and cultural upheaval of the 1960s. Based on newly accessible archival materials and a comprehensive review of secondary literature, this paper suggests that the institutional and ideological ties between evangelicals and the state, which developed in the aftermath of the Second World War, are as important in understanding the political mobilization of conservative Protestants as the more recent “culture war” sentiments.Beobachter der amerikanischen Politik deuten die so genannte „faith-based initiative” der Bush-Regierung, die eine staatliche Mitfinanzierung religiöser Sozialeinrichtungen ermöglicht, zumeist als einen Versuch, die traditionelle Trennung von Kirche und Staat in den USA zu unterminieren. Bei näherem Hinsehen zeigt sich jedoch, dass bundesstaatliche Gelder bereits seit dem zweiten Weltkrieg in großem Umfang zum Aufbau religiöser Krankenhäuser, Universitäten, internationaler Hilfsorganisationen und sozialer Dienste beigetragen haben. Unter der Ägide des Kalten Krieges wurden religiöse Gruppen institutionell und ideologisch in die Staatsbildung der Nachkriegszeit integriert, die weder eine Rückkehr zum „Nachtwächterstaat” der zwanziger Jahre darstellte, noch auf dem Staatsbegriff des New Deal beruhte. Stattdessen war das spezifische Merkmal des „Cold War state“, dass er auf dem Prinzip der Subsidiarität aufbaute, welches den Staat in erster Linie als Geldgeber für den Aufbau einer von privaten, gemeinnützigen und kirchlichen Einrichtungen getragenen sozialstaatlichen Infrastruktur ansah. Zu den besonderen Charakteristika des sich daraus entwickelnden neuen Verhältnisses zwischen Kirche und Staat gehörte, dass konservative protestantische Gruppen, die bislang auf einer strikten Trennung beider Bereiche bestanden, zunehmend in die subsidiaristischen Strukturen eingebunden wurden. Vor allem die Identifikation der Evangelikalen mit dem Antikommunismus und ihre Furcht vor katholischer Dominanz bei der staatlichen Förderung trug zu ihrer neuen Staatsnähe bei. Darüber hinaus profitierten konservative Protestanten insbesondere während der Ausweitung des Wohlfahrtsstaates in den sechziger Jahren (Great Society), die sie ansonsten als Beginn des moralischen Verfalls und staatlichen Versagens angreifen, zunehmend von öffentlichen Mitteln. Dies wirft die Frage auf, welche Rolle diese neue Hinwendung zum Staat für die politische Mobilisierung der Evangelikalen spielte, die in der Forschung zumeist erst in den achtziger Jahren als Resultat der Ablehnung gegenkultureller Impulse angesiedelt wird. Unter Rückgriff auf Theorien der sozialen Bewegungen zeigt der Beitrag auf, dass die ideologische und institutionelle Integration in den Staatsbildungsprozess seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg ebenso wichtig war für das politische Wiedererwachen der Evangelikalen wie ihre Reaktion gegen „sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll” seit den späten siebziger Jahren

Considerations for a design and operations knowledge support system for Space Station Freedom

Engineering and operations of modern engineered systems depend critically upon detailed design and operations knowledge that is accurate and authoritative. A design and operations knowledge support system (DOKSS) is a modern computer-based information system providing knowledge about the creation, evolution, and growth of an engineered system. The purpose of a DOKSS is to provide convenient and effective access to this multifaceted information. The complexity of Space Station Freedom's (SSF's) systems, elements, interfaces, and organizations makes convenient access to design knowledge especially important, when compared to simpler systems. The life cycle length, being 30 or more years, adds a new dimension to space operations, maintenance, and evolution. Provided here is a review and discussion of design knowledge support systems to be delivered and operated as a critical part of the engineered system. A concept of a DOKSS for Space Station Freedom (SSF) is presented. This is followed by a detailed discussion of a DOKSS for the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and Work Package-2 portions of SSF

The State-by-State Effects of Mad Cow Disease Using a New MRIO Model

Until recently, it is hard to find studies to estimate how much the total economic losses for U.S. or other states by the BSE incidents except one dominant study by Devadoss et al (2005), which used CGE (Computable Generalized Equations) model for U.S. However, they are not reporting the direct impacts by each state and indirect impacts resulting from state-by-state economic relations. The interindustry relations and spatial connections have required to developing the Multiregional Input-Output (MRIO) type model, and in the sense, the experience of beef export closures to foreign countries is the suitable case enabling to estimate the economic impacts via inter-regional inter-industrial connections. Therefore, this study estimated the U.S. economic losses by foreign export closures of each state due to the BSE incident in Washington State using a different, newly developed methodology, complementing the previous study. To assess the economic impacts of BSE on each state and U.S. national economy, we used two methodologies. First, we forecasted normal status of beef exports from January in 2004 to April in 2005 using time-series analyses, based on monthly pre-2004 foreign historical exports data obtained from WISERTrade data, in order to calculate the direct gaps between the estimated exports which would have been had if the BSE had not been discovered and the actually decreased exports. Second, a newly constructed MRIO-type model by Park et al (2006), the NIEMO (National Interstate Economic Model), addressed how much the impacts within each state including Washington, interstate effects, and U.S. national losses by the BSE are, based on the final demand losses from the ex-post incidents. While domestic U.S. market can find the equilibrium rapidly by tightening supply side, international barriers to hinder U.S. exports still become a critical agricultural policy for U.S. government. The closure of U.S. exports of bovine by mad cow disease occurred in Washington State yielded a huge shock into the U.S. economy due to simultaneous closures of other state exports. Currently, the only available MRIO model, the NIEMO, enables to estimate the economic losses by the simultaneous closures of each state export of beef and related products. In terms that the NIEMO can supply information comparing the different economic impacts of state-by-state to agricultural policy-makers, they can distribute the national subsides due to the incident, considering the spreading impacts.BSE, Time-series, Multiregional Input-Output, Economic Impacts, Agricultural Policy, Health Economics and Policy,

Special Libraries, May-June 1943

Volume 34, Issue 5https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1943/1004/thumbnail.jp

Industry 4.0: The Future of Indo-German Industrial Collaboration

Industry 4.0 can be described as the fourth industrial revolution, a mega- trend that affects every company around the world. It envisions interconnections and collaboration between people, products and machines within and across enterprises. Why does Industry 4.0 make for an excellent platform for industrial collaboration between India and Germany? The answers lie in economic as well as social factors. Both countries have strengths and weakness and strategic collaboration using the principles of Industry 4.0 can help both increase their industrial output, GDP and make optimal use of human resources. As a global heavy weight in manufacturing and machine export, Germany has a leading position in the development and deployment of Industry 4.0 concepts and technology. However, its IT sector, formed by a labor force of 800,000 employees, is not enough. It needs more professionals to reach its full potential. India, on the other hand, is a global leader in IT and business process outsourcing. But its manufacturing industry needs to grow significantly and compete globally. These realities clearly show the need for Industry 4.0-based collaboration between Germany and India. So how does Industry 4.0 work? In a first step, we look at the technical pers- pective – the vertical and horizontal integration of Industry 4.0 principles in enterprises. Vertical integration refers to operations within Smart Factories and horizontal integration to Smart Supply Chains across businesses. In the second step, we look at manufacturing, chemical industry and the IT sector as potential targets for collaboration between the two countries. We use case studies to illustrate the benefits of the deployment of Industry 4.0. Potential collaboration patterns are discussed along different forms of value chains and along companies’ ability to achieve Industry 4.0 status. We analyse the social impact of Industry 4.0 on India and Germany and find that it works very well in the coming years. Germany with its dwindling labor force might be compensated through the automation. This will ensure continued high productivity levels and rise in GDP. India, on the other hand has a burgeoning labor market, with 10 million workers annually entering the job market. Given that the manufacturing sector will be at par with Europe in efficiency and costs by 2023, pressure on India’s labor force will increase even more. Even its robust IT sector will suffer fewer hires because of increased automation. Rapid development of technologies – for the Internet of Things (IoT) or for connectivity like Low-Power WAN – makes skilling and reskilling of the labor force critical for augmenting smart manufacturing. India and Germany have been collaborating at three levels relevant to Industry 4.0 – industry, government and academics. How can these be taken forward? The two countries have a long history of trade. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is the largest such chamber in India and the largest German chamber worldwide. VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), the largest industry association in Europe, maintains offices in India. Indian key players in IT, in turn, have subsidia- ries in Germany and cooperate with German companies in the area of Industry 4.0. Collaboration is also supported on governmental level. As government initiatives go, India has launched the “Make in India” initiative and the “Make in India Mittelstand! (MIIM)” programme as a part of it. The Indian Government is also supporting “smart manufacturing” initiatives in a major way. Centers of Excellence driven by the industry and academic bodies are being set up. Germany and India have a long tradition of research collaboration as well. Germany is the second scientific collaborator of India and Indian students form the third largest group of foreign students in Germany. German institutions like the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) are working to strengthen ties between the scientific communities of the two countries, and between their academia and industry. What prevents Industry 4.0 from becoming a more widely used technology? Recent surveys in Germany and India show that awareness about Industry 4.0 is still low, especially among small and medium manufacturing enterprises. IT companies, on the other hand, are better prepared. There is a broad demand for support, regarding customtailored solutions, information on case studies and the willingness to participate in Industry 4.0 pilot projects and to engage in its platform and networking activities. We also found similar responses at workshops conducted with Industry 4.0 stakehold- ers in June 2017 in Bangalore and Pune and in an online survey. What can be done to change this? Both countries should strengthen their efforts to create awareness for Industry 4.0, especially among small and medium enterprises. Germany should also put more emphasis on making their Industry 4.0 technology known to the Indian market. India’s IT giants, on the other hand, should make their Industry 4.0 offers more visible to the German market. The governments should support the establishing of joint Industry 4.0 collaboration platforms, centers of excellence and incubators to ease the dissemination of knowledge and technology. On academic level, joint research programs and exchange programs should be set up to foster the skilling of labor force in the deployment of Industry 4.0 methods and technologies

Special Libraries, March 1945

Volume 36, Issue 3https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1945/1002/thumbnail.jp