Ricardian Equivalence Proposition in a NK DSGE Model for two Large Economies: The EU and the US

This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of active fiscal policy management coupled with a monetary policy that follows the Taylor principle. The objective is to investigate the relevance of the Ricardian Equivalence Proposition (REP) in a framework where two large open economies interact and a fraction of the consumers is financially constrained. According to an estimated vector autoregressive model, a positive shock in government expenditure leads to an increase in private consumption (at odds with the permanent income hypothesis). The channels are studied in a fully microfounded dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model economy calibrated for the Euro Area (EU-12) and for the United States. The crucial parameter that drives the break of the REP is the share of financially constrained consumers. Firms produce tradable varieties in a monopolistic competition framework and pricing is à la Calvo, which leads to nominal price stickiness. Labor varieties are immobile across countries and are demanded in an aggregated fashion by firms. Fiscal policy is specified as a time-consistent rule. We simulate through impulseresponse functions parameterizations that yield results consistent with the REP, and estimate a subset of deep parameters employing Bayesian techniques.

El sendero del acierto y la avenida del error : cinco puntos de error de decisión, sus combinaciones y consecuencias

Fil: Fornero, Ricardo A.. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Económica

Sectoral productivity and spillover effects of FDI in Latin America

Empirical studies analysing productivity effects of inward FDI in Latin America (LA) are inconclusive. We argue that investigating aggregate FDI masks interesting effects of FDI that take place within and across sectors. Moreover, the potential of FDI to generate productivity effects differs across sectors. For these reasons and because sectoral FDI intensities vary significantly among LA countries and change over time, we investigate the productivity effects of FDI in eight different sectors including the primary sector, manufacturing and services. Besides FDI, sector-specific institutional factors, education and a sector‘s export share are considered as control variables. Given the likely endogeneity of variables, a GMM system estimation approach is used. The results indicate that positive productivity effects can be found in all sectors, although they may depend on specific conditions or are limited to a certain time period. Direct productivity effects are highest in the primary sector (agriculture, mining and petroleum production) and in financial services. In contrast, FDI in manufacturing and in transport and telecommunications generates productivity spillovers to nearly all other sectors.FDI, productivity, sector level, Latin America

Sectoral productivity and spillover effects of FDI in Latin America

Empirical studies analysing productivity effects of inward FDI in Latin America (LA) are inconclusive. We argue that investigating aggregate FDI masks interesting effects of FDI that take place within and across sectors. Moreover, the potential of FDI to generate productivity effects differs across sectors. For these reasons and because sectoral FDI intensities vary significantly among LA countries and change over time, we investigate the productivity effects of FDI in eight different sectors including the primary sector, manufacturing and services. Besides FDI, sector-specific institutional factors, education and a sectors export share are considered as control variables. Given the likely endogeneity of variables, a GMM system estimation approach is used. The results indicate that positive productivity effects can be found in all sectors, although they may depend on specific conditions or are limited to a certain time period. Direct productivity effects are highest in the primary sector (agriculture, mining and petroleum production) and in financial services. In contrast, FDI in manufacturing and in transport and telecommunications generates productivity spillovers to nearly all other sectors

Non-Ricardian Aspects of Fiscal Policy in Chile

This paper examines non-Ricardian effects of government spending shocks in the Chilean economy. We first provide evidence on those effects based on vector autoregressions. We then show that such evidence can be accounted for by a model that features: (i) a sizeable share of non-Ricardian households (i.e. households which do not make use of financial markets and just consume their current labor income); (ii) nominal price and wage rigidities; (iii) an inflation targeting scheme and (iv) a structural balance fiscal rule that reflects the particular Chilean fiscal rule. The model is estimated employing Bayesian techniques. Finally, we use model simulations to demonstrate the countercyclical effects of the Chilean fiscal rule as compared with a zero-deficit rule.

Livros didáticos e outros materiais escritos no Colégio Técnico da UFMG (1969-1997)

Este artigo aborda o uso de livros didáticos e outros materiais escritos nas práticas dos professores de Matemática do Colégio Técnico da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais no período 1969-1997. O trabalho resulta de uma pesquisa fundamentada na metodologia da História Oral, com a realização de 16 entrevistas com antigos professores e alunos da escola. Os depoimentos dos professores minimizaram o papel dos livros em suas práticas, acentuando a sua própria produção de materiais escritos, com destaque para estudos dirigidos e instruções programadas para as aulas. Os testemunhos dos alunos se referiram à pouca frequência de aulas expositivas decorrente do uso desses materiais e em geral não enfatizaram o uso de livros. Entretanto, a análise das narrativas revelou que os livros didáticos estiveram muito presentes nas práticas desenvolvidas na escola, por serem essenciais à preparação e à realização dos estudos dirigidos

PROFILES OF HUMAN SPERM DENSITY IN LONG ASYMMETRIC MICROCHANNELS

The development of microfluidic devices presents itself as an innovative approach to improving current assisted reproduction techniques, which are far from being highly efficient. The design of these microdevices is generally very flat, is characterized by many channels and all the walls play a fundamental role, located at micrometric distances from each other. To study this high-confinement effect, human sperm motion was modeled in two dimensions using Langevin dynamics. The cellular density was calculated within channels (with asymmetric entry and exit) of micrometric width and an aspect ratio (width/length,w/L) less than one. To achieve an accurate representation of the oscillatory dynamics,a phenomenological model with experimentally obtained sperm motility parameters was used. As the channel width decreases, the proximity to the walls significantly influences the density distribution, primarily when the distance between them is a few cells, making the effects of the device’s high confinement evident. It was observed that the transverse profile varies for different positions along the channel, especially near the entrances and exits, and remains constant around the middle of the length (L/2). For example, for length of 300μm, the profile remains constant along 125μm, instead, in very short channels asL=50μmthe profiles vary along the length of the channel, that is, the asymmetry dominates