Trends and Cycles in Australian State and Territory Unemployment Rates.

This paper has as its subject matter the behaviour of state unemployment rates over time. Arguments are presented which suggest that the common approach which entails regressing state or regional rate of unemployment on the national rate is not likely to yield much useful knowledge. As a positive contribution to the literature, this paper focuses on two things: first, the behaviour over time in the dispersion of state unemployment rates and their relationship with the business cycle and; second, tests for the presence of common trends and/or common cycles in the state unemployment rates. The results suggest that there is a case which can be made for regional policy in Australia.REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ; UNEMPLOYMENT ; BUSINESS CYCLES

Liquidity and Arbitrage in Options Markets: A SurvivalAnalysis Approach

This paper examines the determinants of the time it takes for an index options market to return to no arbitrage values after put-call parity deviations, using intraday transactions data from the French index options market. We employ survival analysis to characterize how limits to arbitrage influence the expected duration of arbitrage deviations. After controlling for conventional limits to arbitrage, we show that liquidity-linked variables are associated with a faster reversion of arbitrage profits. The introduction of an ETF also affects the survival rates of deviations but this impact essentially stems from the reduction in the level of potential arbitrage profits.Limits to arbitrage, liquidity, survival analysis, index options, ETFs

Dynamic correlations across REIT sub-sectors

The issue of whether Real Estate Investment Trusts should pursue a focused or diversified investment strategy remains an ongoing debate within both the academic and industry communities. This paper considers the relationship between REITs focused on different property sectors in a GARCH-DCC framework. The daily conditional correlations reveal that since 1990 there has been a marked upward trend in the coefficients between US REIT sub-sectors. The findings imply that REITs are behaving in a far more homogeneous manner than in the past. Furthermore, the argument that REITs should be focused in order that investors can make the diversification decision is reduced

Les insécurités d’attachement et l’engagement conjugal au sein de couples vivant de la détresse relationnelle

Essai doctoral présenté en en vue de l’obtention du grade de doctorat en psychologie (D. Psy), option psychologie cliniqueUtilisant une approche multimodale de l'engagement, cette étude visait à élargir notre compréhension des associations dyadiques entre les insécurités d'attachement (évitement de l’intimité et anxiété d’abandon) et l'engagement conjugal (engagement optimal, sur-engagement, et sous-engagement) auprès de 154 couples qui consultent en thérapie conjugale. Après la première séance de thérapie, chaque partenaire a complété le questionnaire sur les expériences d’attachement amoureux et le questionnaire du modèle multimodal d'engagement de couple. Les analyses acheminatoires basées sur le modèle d'interdépendance acteur-partenaire ont révélé que l'anxiété d’abandon chez les hommes et les femmes était positivement liée à leur propre surengagement (effet acteur), ainsi qu’au sous-engagement de leur partenaire (effet partenaire). De plus, l'évitement de l'intimité chez les hommes et les femmes était positivement lié à leur propre sous-engagement, négativement lié à leur engagement optimal (effets acteurs), mais n'était pas associé au niveau d'engagement de leur partenaire. En outre, les associations entre l’insécurité d’attachement d’un individu et son propre engagement conjugal étaient modérées par l’attachement amoureux de son partenaire. À la lumière de la théorie de l’attachement, des réflexions cliniques pour la thérapie conjugale sont discutées.The present study examined the dyadic associations between attachment insecurities (avoidance and anxiety) and relationship commitment (optimal, over, and under) in a sample of 154 relationally distressed couples. Path analyses using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model revealed that anxiety was positively associated with over-commitment (actor effect) and under-commitment (partner effect), whereas avoidance was positively associated with undercommitment and negatively associated with optimal commitment (actor effects). The associations between individuals’ attachment insecurities and their own optimal commitment were also moderated by their partners’ attachment insecurities. Results are discussed in light of attachment theory and their implications for couple therapy are specified

Faith capital: a persistence study of two student learning communities at a northeastern community college

The purpose of this embedded single-case study is to explore and better understand what social and institutional factors account for the success or lack of success in developing, delivering, and sustaining learning communities in support of at-risk, underprepared students enrolled at the community college where the research was conducted. Towards that end, theories of social capital, social justice education, and emergent organizational strategies are aligned with practitioner perspectives in an examination of two student learning community initiatives at the college. Faith capital (Hanson, 2001) is a secular notion aligned with the principles of social capital as an integrative locus for institutional effectiveness and as a means to socially-just educational practice. It is collectively engendered by members of social networks whose principles, espoused values, and associability interact without strict dependence on a prevailing organizational hierarchy at the college. In practicing faith capital, members of social networks lend their knowledge, expertise, and determination to the production of social capital and the provision of public good. The public good produced by these social networks are student learning communities providing enhanced pathways to postsecondary degrees for at-risk, underprepared students at the college

Acceleration Through a Holistic Support Model: An Implementation and Outcomes Analysis of FastStart@CCD

Originally designed for students who test into at least two levels of developmental education in a particular subject area, FastStart is a compressed course program model launched in 2005 at the Community College of Denver (CCD). The program combines multiple semester-length courses into a single intensive semester, while providing case management, career exploration, and educational planning services. This report discusses the development of FastStart, its program features, and student perspectives, and it presents findings from a quantitative analysis of the FastStart math program. The authors find that participation is associated with higher rates of enrolling in and passing college-level math courses but not with increased persistence or with increased accumulation of college-level credits. The analysis suggests that FastStart makes it possible for students to complete the developmental math sequence and required gatekeeper math course more quickly than would otherwise be possible, without harming other long-term academic outcomes. The report also analyzes pedagogical features of FastStart drawn from classroom observations and interviews

Primary commodity prices: co-movements, common factors and fundamentals

The behavior of commodities is critical for developing and developed countries alike. This paper contributes to the empirical evidence on the co-movement and determinants of commodity prices. Using nonstationary panel methods, we document a statistically significant degree of co-movement due to a common factor. Within a Factor Augmented VAR approach, real interest rate and uncertainty, as postulated by a simple asset pricing model, are both found to be negatively related to this common factor. This evidence is robust to the inclusion of demand and supply shocks, which both positively impact on the co-movement of commodity prices.Commodity Prices, Panel Estimation, Factor Models

Where Do Firms Export, How Much, and Why?

The empirical finding that exporting firms are more productive on average than non-exporters has provoked a large theoretical literature based on models such as Melitz (2003), where more productive firms are more likely to overcome costs associated with trade. This paper provides a systematic empirical assessment of the Melitz framework using a unique Irish dataset that includes information on destinations and firm characteristics such as productivity. We find a number of interesting deviations from the model’s predictions including a high degree of unpredictable idiosyncratic participation in export markets by firms, a relatively weak positive correlation between the extent of export participation and export sales, and a limited role for productivity in explaining firm exporting behavior. We illustrate the effect of firm heterogeneity on gravity regressions of aggregate trade flows and show how past exporting to a particular market has a strong impact on the current probability of exporting there.

Where do Firms Export, How Much and Why?

The empirical finding that exporting firms are more productive on average than non-exporters has provoked a large theoretical literature based on models such as Melitz (2003), where more productive firms are more likely to overcome costs associated with trade. This paper provides a systematic empirical assessment of the Melitz framework using a unique Irish dataset that includes information on destinations and firm characteristics such as productivity. We find a number of interesting deviations from the model's predictions including a high degree of unpredictable idiosyncratic participation in export markets by firms, a relatively weak positive correlation between the extent of export participation and export sales, and a limited role for productivity in explaining firm exporting behavior. We illustrate the effect of firm heterogeneity on gravity regressions of aggregate trade flows and show how past exporting to a particular market has a strong impact on the current probability of exporting there.

Flexibility is a mechanical determinant of antimicrobial activity for amphipathic cationic α-helical antimicrobial peptides

AbstractAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are recognized as the potential substitutions for common antibiotics. Flexibility has been demonstrated to be a dominant on antimicrobial activity of an AMP, similar to the structural parameters such as hydrophobicity and hydrophobic moment as well as positive charge. To better understand the effect of flexibility on antimicrobial activity, we herein examined seventy-eight peptides derived from nine different species. Defined as a weighted average of amino acid flexibility indices over whole residue chain of AMP, flexibility index was used to scale the peptide flexibility and indicated to be a reflection of mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural rigidities. The results demonstrated that flexibility index is relevant to but different from other structural properties, may enhance activity against Escherichia coli for stiff clustered peptides or reduce activity against E. coli for flexible clustered peptides, and its optimum occurs at about −0.5. This effect of flexibility on antimicrobial activity may be involved to the antimicrobial actions, such as stable peptide-bound leaflet formation and sequent stress concentration in target cell membrane, mechanically. The present results provide a new insight in understanding antimicrobial actions and may be useful in seeking for a new structure–activity relationship for cationic and amphipathic α-helical peptides