Trade in Northeast Asia: Why do Trade Costs Matter?

Trade costs are often cited as an important determinant of the volume of trade. This paper provides enough evidences to ascertain that today’s trade issues in Northeast Asia go beyond the traditional mechanisms of tariffs, and include “behind-the-border” issues. By estimating a modified gravity equation, controlling for endogeneity and remoteness, we find that variations in transaction costs along with trade infrastructure facilities have significant influence on regional trade flows in Northeast Asia. On average, 10 percent saving in transaction costs increases imports by about 5 percent in Northeast Asia. This paper concludes that when tariffs tend to become low in Northeast Asia, the economies in this region could potentially benefit substantially from higher trade provided trade costs are well controlled.trade costs, transaction costs, infrastructure, regional trade, tariff

Entry and Patenting in the Software Industry

To what extent are firms kept out of a market by patents covering related technologies? Do patents held by potential entrants make it easier to enter markets? We estimate the empirical relationship between market entry and patents for 27 narrowly defined categories of software products during the period 1990-2004. Controlling for demand, market structure, average patent quality, and other factors, we find that a 10% increase in the number of patents relevant to market reduces the rate of entry by 3-8%, and this relationship intensified following expansions in the patentability of software in the mid-1990s. However, potential entrants with patent applications relevant to a market are more likely to enter it. Finally, patents appear to substitute for complementary assets in the entry process, as patents have both greater entry-deterring and entry-promoting effects for firms without prior experience in other markets.

Declining Output Volatility: What Role for Structural Change?

The decline in output volatility in a number of countries over the past few decades has been well-documented, though less agreement has been reached about the causes of this decline. In this paper, we use a panel of data from 20 OECD countries to see if there is a role for various indicators of structural reform in explaining the general decline in output volatility. We suggest that reforms in product and labour markets can reduce volatility of aggregate output by encouraging productive resources to shift more readily in response to differential shocks across firms and sectors. In contrast to other studies, we include direct measures of product market regulations and monetary policy regimes as indicators of structural reform. We find that less product market regulation and stricter monetary policy regimes have played a role in reducing output volatility. Our estimates are reasonably robust to a number of alternative specifications, including those that attempt to control for a possible trend in common (unexplained) innovations to output volatility such as a possible decline in the magnitude of global shocks.business cycles; volatility; panel regression; structural reform; monetary policy; OECD

B.O.G.G.L.E.S.: Boundary Optical GeoGraphic Lidar Environment System

The purpose of this paper is to describe a pseudo X-ray vision system that pairs a Lidar scanner with a visualization device. The system as a whole is referred to as B.O.G.G.L.E.S. There are several key factors that went into the development of this system and the background information and design approach are thoroughly described. B.O.G.G.L.E.S functionality is depicted through the use of design constraints and the analysis of test results. Additionally, many possible developments for B.O.G.G.L.E.S are proposed in the paper. This indicates that there are various avenues of improvement for this project that could be implemented in the future

The use of electro-mechanical aids in industrial management

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston UniversityFrom that eventful day in 1750 When electrical current was first discovered and through the succeeding years Where such famous inventions as the electric light, the telephone, and generation of alternating current, were brought into being, to this present age of electronic development, the electro~echanical aids available to industrial management have mounted in number. Many of the basic inventions of the Nineteenth Century, although they have been improved steadily, are accepted as commonplace. Take for instance, the telephone or the electric light, little thought is given to their importance in everyday life. It takes a sudden power failure to firmly indicate our dilemma. In the modern factory loss of power can result in stoppage of machinery, loss of time and costly damage. Many of the newer windowless plants depend on artificial light for their existence; thus, loss of light by power failure can cause accidents in addition to the foregoing results

Flexible Control in Nanometrology

The unceasing development of new small products has increased constantly by introducing multiple facilities in line production, reduced life cycles of new innovative products, and high-precision techniques that require automation and robotization of the nanotechnology production processes. Classic size products are made in normal series and deal little change over the years, while in the field of nanotechnology, product life cycles were shortened significantly, and series production must adapt to the market challenges. Considering the fast changes and multiple innovations in production, we propose equipment that offers a high degree of flexibility and performance for quality products. To compensate efficiently, the fluctuations may appear in production series; a flexible control system is designed to adjust production for large number of items or for various models of processing. The control equipment dedicated to nanotechnologies developed by INCDMTM Bucharest offers solutions for automation processes adapted to various operations and for quick response occurring in nano-production. A modular special design offers flexibility during the process, handling and interoperable ones, along with the possibility of changes facilitated by software that controls the entire verification process and parameter selection for each checked item’s admissibility

Bridges Structural Health Monitoring and Deterioration Detection Synthesis of Knowledge and Technology

INE/AUTC 10.0

Index to 1981 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 6, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1981 Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

A Vision-Based Quality Control Model for Manufacturing Systems

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Alejandra Figueroa-Lopez on November 25, 2021