Productivity Differences in OECD Countries

This paper investigates cross-country productivity convergence at a sectoral level using multivariate unit-root tests. Our empirical analysis counts with three distinctive features. First, it allows all the coefficients in the panel specification to vary across countries. Second, it accounts for the presence of significant cross-country correlations found in the data. Third, when the null hypothesis of non convergence is rejected, a second test determines the number of converging countries. Based on a sample of thirteen OECD countries our results show evidence of convergence in three out of six sectors, namely, agriculture, construction, and transportation and communication services.Convergence, panel data, productivity

The Greek Crisis: Causes and Consequences

Greece has reached a point where, under any plausible macroeconomic scenario, public debt will continue growing faster than GDP. Fiscal consolidation alone cannot close the solvency gap. A substantial reduction in the stock of debt is needed. Even post-debt restructuring, there is no guarantee that the government will succeed in its dual goal of restoring fiscal solvency and closing the competitiveness gap. Yet we think Greece stands a better chance of accomplishing these goals from inside the EMU rather than outside it. This chapter takes stock of the factors that led to the explosion of public debt, the loss of competitiveness, and the failure of the first EU-IMF programme. We also present our views on the likely debt restructuring (and post-restructuring) scenarios.

Market Structure, Technology Spillovers, and Persistence in Productivity Differentials

Using data from 11 main manufacturing industries in 17 OECD countries, this paper empirically investigates the determinants of cross-country differences in the persistence of productivity differentials Specifically, we focus on the effects of product market structure and technology diffusion. It is found that the manufacturing industries display a wide range of convergence rates. Consistent with theories, the persistence of productivity differentials is found to be positively correlated with the price-cost margin and the intra-industry trade index - the proxies for market monopolistic behavior. The proxies for tecnology diffusion, however, do not exhibit consistently significant effect. Among the conditioning macro variables, productivity convergence appears to be enhanced by human capital but deterred by government spending.Total factor productivity, convergence, market structure, technology diffusion

Testing for Output Convergence: A Re-Examination

This paper investigates output convergence for the G7 countries using multivariate time series techniques. We consider both the null hypotheses of no convergence and convergence. It is shown that inferences on output convergence depend on which one of the two null hypotheses is considered. Further, the no convergence results reported in previous studies using the time series definition may be attributed to the low power of the test procedures being used. Our results also highlight some potential problems on interpreting results from some typical multivariate unit root and stationarity tests.Output convergence, multivariate test, unit root test, stationarity test

Empirical Exchange Rate Models of the Nineties: Are Any Fit to Survive?

Previous assessments of nominal exchange rate determination have focused upon a narrow set of models typically of the 1970's vintage. The canonical papers in this literature are by Meese and Rogoff (1983, 1988), who examined monetary and portfolio balance models. Succeeding works by Mark (1995) and Chinn and Meese (1995) focused on similar models. In this paper we re-assess exchange rate prediction using a wider set of models that have been proposed in the last decade: interest rate parity, productivity based models, and behavioral equilibrium exchange rate' models. The performance of these models is compared against a benchmark model the Dornbusch-Frankel sticky price monetary model. The models are estimated in error correction and first-difference specifications. Rather than estimating the cointegrating vector over the entire sample and treating it as part of the ex ante information set as is commonly done in the literature, we recursively update the cointegrating vector, thereby generating true ex ante forecasts. We examine model performance at various forecast horizons (1 quarter, 4 quarters, 20 quarters) using differing metrics (mean squared error, direction of change), as well as the consistency' test of Cheung and Chinn (1998). No model consistently outperforms a random walk, by a mean squared error measure; however, along a direction-of-change dimension, certain structural models do outperform a random walk with statistical significance. Moreover, one finds that these forecasts are cointegrated with the actual values of exchange rates, although in a large number of cases, the elasticity of the forecasts with respect to the actual values is different from unity. Overall, model/specification/currency combinations that work well in one period will not necessarily work well in another period.

What Do We Know about Recent Exchange Rate Models? In-Sample Fit and Out-of-Sample Performance Evaluated

Previous assessments of nominal exchange rate determination have focused upon a narrow set of models typically of the 1970’s vintage, including monetary and portfolio balance models. In this paper we re-assess the in-sample fit and out-of-sample prediction of a wider set of models that have been proposed in the last decade, namely interest rate parity, productivitybased models, and "behavioral equilibrium exchange rate" models. These models are compared against a benchmark model, the Dornbusch-Frankel sticky price monetary model. First, the parameter estimates of the models are compared against the theoretically predicted values. Second, we conduct an extensive out-of-sample forecasting exercise, using the last eight years of data to determine whether our in-sample conclusions hold up. We examine model performance at various forecast horizons (1 quarter, 4 quarters, 20 quarters) using differing metrics (mean squared error, direction of change), as well as the “consistency” test of Cheung and Chinn (1998). We find that no model fits the data particularly well, nor does any model consistently out-predict a random walk, even at long horizons. There is little correspondence between how well a model conforms to theoretical priors and how well the model performs in a prediction context. However, we do confirm previous findings that out-performance of a random walk is more likely at long horizons.exchange rates, monetary model, productivity, interest rate parity, behavioral equilibrium exchange rate model, forecasting performance

Fabrication and performance of low-fouling UF membranes for 2 the treatment of Isolated Soy Protein solutions

[EN] Consumers are becoming more conscious about the need to include functional and nutritional foods in their diet. This has increased the demand for food extracts rich in proteins and peptides with physiological effects that are used within the food and pharmaceutical industries. Among these protein extracts, soy protein and its derivatives are highlighted. Isolated soy protein (ISP) presents a protein content of at least 90%. Wastewaters generated during the production process contain small proteins (8-50 kDa), and it would be desirable to find a recovery treatment for these compounds. Ultrafiltration membranes (UF) are used for the fractionation and concentration of protein solutions. By the appropriate selection of the membrane pore size, larger soy proteins are retained and concentrated while carbohydrates and minerals are mostly recovered in the permeate. The accumulation and concentration of macromolecules in the proximity of the membrane surface generates one of the most important limitations inherent to the membrane technologies. In this work, three UF membranes based on polyethersulfone (PES) were fabricated. In two of them, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added in their formulation to be used as a fouling prevention. The membrane fouling was evaluated by the study of flux decline models based on Hermia's mechanisms.The Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain), through the project 2623 (PAID-05-10), funded this research.Garcia-Castello, EM.; Rodríguez López, AD.; Barredo Damas, S.; Iborra Clar, A.; Pascual-Garrido, J.; Iborra-Clar, MI. (2021). Fabrication and performance of low-fouling UF membranes for 2 the treatment of Isolated Soy Protein solutions. Sustainability. 13(24):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413682S116132

Functional Enrichment Analysis of Regulatory Elements

This work has been partially supported by FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Economia y Conocimiento/(grant CV20-36723), grant PID2020-119032RB-I00, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades (Grant P20_00335).Statistical methods for enrichment analysis are important tools to extract biological information from omics experiments. Although these methods have been widely used for the analysis of gene and protein lists, the development of high-throughput technologies for regulatory elements demands dedicated statistical and bioinformatics tools. Here, we present a set of enrichment analysis methods for regulatory elements, including CpG sites, miRNAs, and transcription factors. Statistical significance is determined via a power weighting function for target genes and tested by theWallenius noncentral hypergeometric distribution model to avoid selection bias. These new methodologies have been applied to the analysis of a set of miRNAs associated with arrhythmia, showing the potential of this tool to extract biological information from a list of regulatory elements. These new methods are available in GeneCodis 4, a web tool able to perform singular and modular enrichment analysis that allows the integration of heterogeneous information.FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Economia y Conocimiento CV20-36723MCIN/AEI PID2020-119032RB-I00FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades P20_0033

Normalized medical information visualization

A new mark-up programming language is introduced in order to facilitate and improve the visualization of ISO/EN 13606 dual model-based normalized medical information. This is the first time that visualization of normalized medical information is addressed and the programming language is intended to be used by medical non-IT professionals.S

¿Existe un intervalo de tiempo de isquemia fría seguro para el injerto renal?

Objective: It is aimed to characterize the true relationship of the cold ischemia time (CIT) with graft survival and with the principal post-transplantation events.aterial and methods: We analyzed 378 kidney transplants, studying the relationship of the CIT with graft survival using a univariate analysis according to the COX model and seeking the optimum cutoff according to the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. The relationship between CIT and the principal events of the post-transplant was studied using the binary logistic regression. Results: The mean follow-up of all the group was 77.8 months (± 51 SD) and the mean CIT was 14.8 hours (± 5.1 SD). The univariate analysis revealed that the CIT was not related with the graft survival as a continuous variable (OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.9-1.08; p > 0.05). On establishing the cutoff at 18 hours, we found differences in the actuarial survival. Survival at 5 years was 91% with CIT 18 h. Each hour of cold ischemia increased risk of delay in the graft function by 10% (OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.05-1.15; p < 0.001) and also conditioned a greater incidence of acute rejection (41.5% vs. 55.3%; p = 0.02) and less time to the first rejection episode (72.6 days ± 137 vs. 272.2 days ± 614.8; p = 0.023) after 18 hours. The CIT did not seem to be related (p < 0.05) with the rest of the post-transplantation events, such as surgical complications or hospital admissions. Conclusions: In our experience, cold ischemia under 18 hours does not seem to negatively affect graft survival