Factor proportions and international business cycles

Positive investment comovements across OECD economies as observed in the data are difficult to replicate in open-economy real business cycle models, but also vary substantially in degree for individual country-pairs. This paper shows that a two-country stochastic growth model that distinguishes sectors by factor intensity (capital-intensive vs. labor-intensive) gives rise to an endogenous channel of the international transmission of shocks that first, can substantially ameliorate the “quantity anomalies” that mark large open-economy models, and second, generate a cross-sectional prediction that is strongly supported by the data: investment correlations tend to be stronger for country-pairs that exhibit greater disparity in the factor-intensity of trade. In addition, three new pieces of evidence support the central mechanism: (1) the production composition of capital versus labor-intensive sectors changes over the business cycle; (2) the prices of capital-intensive goods and labor-intensive goods are respectively, procyclical and countercyclical; (3) a positive productivity shock in the U.S. tilts the composition of production towards capital-intensive sectors in other countries

Factor Proportions and International Business Cycles

Positive investment comovements across OECD economies as observed in the data are difficult to replicate in open-economy real business cycle models, but also vary substantially in degree for individual country-pairs. This paper shows that a two-country stochastic growth model that distinguishes sectors by factor intensity (capital-intensive vs. labor-intensive) gives rise to an endogenous channel of the international transmission of shocks that first, can substantially ameliorate the "quantity anomalies" that mark large open-economy models, and second, generate a cross-sectional prediction that is strongly supported by the data: investment correlations tend to be stronger for country-pairs that exhibit greater disparity in the factor-intensity of trade. In addition, three new pieces of evidence support the central mechanism: (1) the production composition of capital versus labor-intensive sectors changes over the business cycle; (2) the prices of capital-intensive goods and labor-intensive goods are respectively, procyclical and countercyclical; (3) a positive productivity shock in the U.S. tilts the composition of production towards capital-intensive sectors in other countries.International business cycles, international comovement, composition effects

Published incidents and their proportions of human error

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose - The information security field experiences a continuous stream of information security incidents and breaches, which are publicised by the media, public bodies and regulators. Despite the need for information security practices being recognised and in existence for some time the underlying general information security affecting tasks and causes of these incidents and breaches are not consistently understood, particularly with regard to human error. Methodology - This paper analyses recent published incidents and breaches to establish the proportions of human error, and where possible subsequently utilises the HEART human reliability analysis technique, which is established within the safety field. Findings - This analysis provides an understanding of the proportions of incidents and breaches that relate to human error as well as the common types of tasks that result in these incidents and breaches through adoption of methods applied within the safety field. Originality - This research provides original contribution to knowledge through the analysis of recent public sector information security incidents and breaches in order to understand the proportions that relate to human erro

Trade and Expropriation: A Factor Proportions Approach

An extended small open economy model is developed and used to examine the effect of trade on the illicit expropriation of incomes and the provision of legal services. We derive conditions under which trade liberalization will reduce expropriation activities. We also derive sufficient conditions for the gains from trade to be amplified or muted relative to the standard model. The signs of these effects depend on factor intensity rankings and factor abundance ratios. Thus the results show that trade liberalization will be beneficial to countries that export labor intensive goods by reducing the incentives for illicit expropriation and reducing the costs of providing legal services. The model also shows that trade liberalization can increase expropriation, particularly for countries that import labor intensive goods and have labor intensive crime problems.Expropriation; Factor Proportions; Gains from Trade; Legal Services

Air Pollution and Lymphocyte Phenotype Proportions in Cord Blood

Effects of air pollution on morbidity and mortality may be mediated by alterations in immune competence. In this study we examined short-term associations of air pollution exposures with lymphocyte immunophenotypes in cord blood among 1,397 deliveries in two districts of the Czech Republic. We measured fine particulate matter < 2.5 μm in diameter (PM(2.5)) and 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 24-hr samples collected by versatile air pollution samplers. Cord blood samples were analyzed using a FACSort flow cytometer to determine phenotypes of CD3(+) T-lymphocytes and their subsets CD4(+) and CD8(+), CD19(+) B-lymphocytes, and natural killer cells. The mothers were interviewed regarding sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, and medical records were abstracted for obstetric, labor and delivery characteristics. During the period 1994 to 1998, the mean daily ambient concentration of PM(2.5) was 24.8 μg/m(3) and that of PAHs was 63.5 ng/m(3). In multiple linear regression models adjusted for temperature, season, and other covariates, average PAH or PM(2.5) levels during the 14 days before birth were associated with decreases in T-lymphocyte phenotype fractions (i.e., CD3(+) CD4(+), and CD8(+)), and a clear increase in the B-lymphocyte (CD19(+)) fraction. For a 100-ng/m(3) increase in PAHs, which represented approximately two standard deviations, the percentage decrease was −3.3% [95% confidence interval (CI), −5.6 to −1.0%] for CD3(+), −3.1% (95% CI, −4.9 to −1.3%) for CD4(+), and −1.0% (95% CI, −1.8 to −0.2%) for CD8(+) cells. The corresponding increase in the CD19(+) cell proportion was 1.7% (95% CI, 0.4 to 3.0%). Associations were similar but slightly weaker for PM(2.5). Ambient air pollution may influence the relative distribution of lymphocyte immunophenotypes of the fetus

Physical properties of four ring-porous hardwood species: Influence of wood rays on tangential and radial wood shrinkage

Some relationships between ray proportions, strength and shrinkage properties and basic density in hardwood species were highlighted. A better understanding of their relationships caused by the variation in moisture content in the hygroscopic domain could be a key factor in determining of wood stability properties and to determine the choice of a specific wood species according to its service life condition. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the physical properties of various ring porous wood species (ii) and to evaluate the influence of wood rays (according to their proportions and volume) on physical properties of wood and more particularly on the Transverse Anisotropy Ratio for Shrinkage (TARS). This study focused on four ring-porous hardwood species; Castanea sativa, Quercus canariensis, Quercus petraea and Quercus robur, differing by the presence and abundance of their multiseriate wood rays. Basic densities, tangential shrinkages, radial shrinkages and the TARS of heartwood and sapwood from each wood species were determined. Wood-rays' proportions and volume were measured by the image analysis method, and their influence on the last three shrinkages was investigated. A significant correlation between wood ray proportions, wood shrinkage values and basic density was observed