Household's Preferences and Monetary Policy Inertia

The estimation of monetary policy rules suggests that the interest rates set by central banks move with a certain inertia. Although a number of hypotheses have been suggested to explain this phenomenon, its ultimate origin is unclear, thus delineating this issue as a modern "puzzle" in monetary economics. We show that household's preferences can play an important role in determining optimal interest rate inertia. Importantly, this can occur even when the central bank has egligible preferences for smoothing the interest rate

Real-time Optimal Monetary Policy with Undistinguishable Model Parameters and Shock Processes Uncertainty

This paper studies optimal real-time monetary policy when the central bank takes the exogenous volatility of the output gap and inflation as proxy of the undistinguishable uncertainty on the exogenous disturbances and the parameters of its model. The paper shows that when the exogenous volatility surrounding a specific state variable increases, the optimal policy response to that variable should increase too, while the optimal response to the remaining state variables should attenuate or be unaffected. In this way the central bank moves preemptively to reduce the risk of large deviations of the economy from the steady state that would deteriorate the distribution forecasts of the output gap and inflation. When an empirical test is carried out on the US economy the model predictions tend to be consistent with the data

On the geometric genus of reducible surfaces and degenerations of surfaces to unions of planes

In this paper we study some properties of degenerations of surfaces whose general fibre is a smooth projective surface and whose central fibre is a reduced, connected surface $X \subset IP^r$, $r \geq 3$, which is assumed to be a union of smooth projective surfaces, in particular of planes. Our original motivation has been a series of papers of G. Zappa which appeared in the 1940-50's regarding degenerations of scrolls to unions of planes. Here, we present a first set of results on the subject; other aspects are still work in progress and will appear later. We first study the geometry and the combinatorics of a surface like $X$, considered as a reduced, connected surface on its own; then we focus on the case in which X is the central fibre of a degeneration of relative dimension two over the complex unit disk. In this case, we deduce some of the intrinsic and extrinsic invariants of the general fibre from the ones of its central fibre. In the particular case of $X$ a central fibre of a semistable degeneration, i.e. $X$ has only global normal crossing singularities and the total space of the degeneration is smooth, some of the above invariants can be also computed by topological methods (i.e., the Clemens-Schmid exact sequence). Our results are more general, not only because the computations are independent on the fact that $X$ is the central fibre of a degeneration, but also because the degeneration is not semistable in general.Comment: latex2e, 26 pages, 11 figure

Central Bank Preferences, Distribution Forecasts and Economic Stability in a Small Open-economy

This paper relates the central bank's preferences on the inflation index and on the degree of smoothness of the interest rate to the quality of its forecasts and the expected perturbing impact of several shocks. The framework is a Markov jump-linear-quadratic system for optimal policy with model uncertainty in a timeless perspective. Comparing CPI and domestic inflation targeting, the latter implies considerably less variability in the distribution forecast of the economic dynamics. Furthermore, domestic inflation targeting stands out for much less sensitiveness to interest rate smoothing, and for resulting in more expected economic stability. Importantly, domestic inflation targeting allows significantly improving the prediction accuracy of the interest rate behaviour

Special scrolls whose base curve has general moduli

In this paper we study the Hilbert scheme of smooth, linearly normal, special scrolls under suitable assumptions on degree, genus and speciality.Comment: Latex2e, shorter versio

Chemical constituents, toxicity and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil of the leaves of Tectona grandis

The leaves of Tectona grandis (Verbanaceae) was subjected to hydrodistillation in order to obtain the essential oil from the plant. The pale yellow essential oil gave a percentage yield of 0.184%. Relative percentages of individual component were analyzed by GC/GC-MS. A total of fifty-four (54) constituents were identified representing 86.5% of the total essential oil fraction. Oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, apocarotenoids, phenylpropanoids and non-terpene derivatives were the various classes of compounds identified. The LC50 value from the brine shrimp toxicity assay was 183.29µg/ml. The oil extract was also subjected to antibacterial assay and it showed significant activities against all the clinical test organisms used except Pseudomonas aeruginos

Illegal Drugs and Public Corruption: Crack Based Evidence from California

Do illegal drugs foster public corruption? To estimate the causal effect of drugs on public corruption in California, we adopt the synthetic control method and exploit the fact that crack cocaine markets emerged asynchronously across the United States. We focus on California because crack arrived here in 1981, before reaching any other state. Our results show that public corruption more than tripled in California in the first three years following the arrival of crack cocaine. We argue that this resulted from the particular characteristics of illegal drugs: a large trade-off between profits and law enforcement, due to a cheap technology and rigid demand. Such a trade-off fosters a convergence of interests between criminals and corrupted public officials resulting in a positive causal impact of illegal drugs on corruption

A study of physicochemical properties, volatile component analysis and antioxidative properties of honey

Honey samples from five different floral origins were analysed through solid phase microextraction (SPME) with objective to identify and compare their volatile organic compound profile. In addition, the levels of water, HMF, free proline, total acidity, diastase activity and sugar content have also been reported. The samples showed adequate water and HMF content. Total phenolics varied from 75.6 to 98.5mg/g, while total flavonoids were comprised between 1.86 and 4.93 mg/g, expressed as quercetin equivalents (the lowest and highest values were also found for Eucalyptus honey and neem honey, respectively). The IC50 value for DPPH has been found to be ranged from 4.97 to 9.45mg/ml. The highest DPPH RSA was found in Eucalyptus honey, followed by mustard honey and neem hone

Entrepreneurial approach for open innovation: opening new opportunities, mapping knowledge and highlighting gaps

Purpose Since the first definition of open innovation (OI), the indivisible relationship between this concept and entrepreneurship was undeniable. However, the exact mechanisms by which an entrepreneurial approach may benefit OI processes and vice versa are not yet fully understood. The study aims to offer an accurate map of the knowledge evolution of the OI-entrepreneurship relationship and interesting gaps to be filled in the future. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a bibliometric analysis, coupled with a systematic literature review performed over a data set of 106 peer-reviewed articles published from 2005 to 2020 to identify thematic clusters. Findings The results show five thematic clusters: entrepreneurial opportunities, organisational opportunities, strategic partnership opportunities, institutional opportunities and digital opportunities for OI. Investigating each of them, the authors created a framework that highlights future avenues for further developing the topic. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to systematise, analyse and critically interpret the literature concerned with the topic of the OI-entrepreneurship