Signaling Virtue or Vulnerability? The Changing Impact of Exchange Rate Regimes on Government Bond Yields

Do exchange rate regimes affect the conditions under which developed countries borrow? This paper argues that they do, but their impact on yields depends on the prevailing macroeconomic context. When investors regard inflation as the most relevant risk to bond holdings, monetary union has a distinct advantage over floating and fixed exchange rates because of its credible in-built mechanism to control inflation. However, once default is seen as the most relevant risk, exchange rate rigidity becomes a liability due to its constraining effect on governments’ ability to respond to adverse shocks. We test our argument with a moving window panel analysis for twenty-three OECD countries from 1980 to 2017. We find that before the late 2000s, inflation was penalized under floating and (to a lesser extent) fixed exchange rate regimes, but not in countries in monetary union. Since the 2010s, inflation carries no penalty under any exchange rate regime. Variables linked to default risk (debt and entitlement spending) did not affect yields under any exchange rate arrangements until the mid-2000s. Afterwards, countries in monetary union (and to a lesser extent in fixed exchange rate regimes) were significantly penalized for public debt and entitlement spending, whereas countries with floating regimes were not. Our results speak to the literatures on governments’ institutional commitments and “room to move.”Haben Wechselkursregime einen Einfluss auf die Konditionen, zu denen entwickelte Länder Staatsanleihen ausgeben können? Wir argumentieren in diesem Beitrag, dass dies der Fall ist, wobei ihre Wirkung auf die Anleiherenditen vom vorherrschenden makroökonomischen Kontext abhängt. Erachten Investoren Inflation als das entscheidende Risiko für Investitionen in Anleihen, so hat eine Währungsunion durch ihren glaubwürdigen inte­grierten Mechanismus zur Inflationskontrolle klare Vorteile gegenüber flexiblen und festen Wechselkursen. Wird jedoch ein Ausfall der Rückzahlungen als das entscheidende Risiko angesehen, werden starre Wechselkurse zum Nachteil, da sie die Fähigkeit von Regierungen, auf negative Schocks zu reagieren, verringern. Wir testen unser Argument mithilfe einer für den Zeitraum von 1980 bis 2017 mit gleitenden Zeitfenstern durchgeführten Panelana­lyse von 23 OECD-Ländern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Inflation vor den späten 2000er-Jahren in flexiblen und (weniger stark) in festen Wechselkursregimen finanziell abgestraft wurde, jedoch nicht in den Ländern einer Währungsunion. Seit den 2010er-Jahren wirkt sich Inflation in keinem der Wechselkursregime auf die Renditen aus. Mit dem Ausfallri­siko verknüpfte Variablen (Staatsverschuldung und Sozialausgaben) hatten bis zur Mitte der 2000er-Jahre in keinem der Wechselkursregime einen Einfluss auf die Renditen. Danach wurden Länder in einer Währungsunion erheblich (und Länder in festen Wechselkursregimen weniger stark) für Staatsverschuldung und Sozialausgaben abgestraft, während dies bei Ländern in flexiblen Regimen nicht der Fall war. Unsere Ergebnisse tragen zur Literatur über institutionelle Selbstverpflichtungen und Handlungsspielräume von Regierungen bei.Contents 1 Introduction 2 Commitment devices and policy autonomy from a theoretical perspective 3 Inflation risk, default risk, and exchange rate regimes: An analysis of twenty-three OECD countries 4 Results section Results Robustness checks 5 Discussion and conclusion Appendix A Sources used for identifying sample countries’ exchange rate regimes over time Appendix B Results controlling for capital mobility (measured via the Chinn-Ito capital account openness index) Appendix C Results excluding countries with a greater share of foreign currency-denominated debt than 2 percent (Canada and Sweden) Appendix D Results for crawling peg exchange rate regime Appendix E Results excluding heavily indebted EMU countries (Belgium, Greece, and Italy) Appendix F Results excluding EMU countries with the lowest sovereign credit ratings prior to the crisis (Greece, Italy, and Portugal) Reference

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Friedreich Ataxia

Friedreich’s Ataxia (FRDA) is the commonest hereditary form of ataxia affecting the Western European population. FRDA is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by an intronic GAA repeat expansion within the FXN gene; the 96% of the patients are homozygous, while the remaining 4% are compound heterozygous carrying the GAA repeat mutation on one allele and point mutations on the other one. FRDA first symptoms appear at young age during the firsts two decades of life. The clinical features include progressive gait and limb ataxia, dysarthria, muscle weakness, peripheral sensory neuropathy, pes cavus, and scoliosis. FRDA is a multi-systemic disorder; therefore, patients develop non-neurological signs, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, diabetes, and urological problems

Quality control facilities for large optical reflectors at ENEA-Casaccia for physics application

The paper describes the quality control facilities for large optical reflectors available at ENEA-Casaccia. Commercial and custom spectrophotometers allow to measure the reflectance; specular and diffused for flat samples, and specular for the full-size reflector. In the case of spherical shape, the 2f and the pin-hole optical tests give a quick evaluation of the focusing effectiveness and the curvature uniformity, respectively. An optical profilometer allows to accurately measure the reflector profile and its deviations from the project specifications

Radiation and magnetic field effects on new semiconductor power devices for HL-LHC experiments

The radiation hardness of commercial Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride power MOSFETs is presented in this paper, for Total Ionizing Dose effects and Single Event Effects, under gamma, neutrons, protons and heavy ions. Similar tests are discussed for commercial DC-DC converters, also tested in operation under magnetic field

Thermal design optimization of novel modular power converter assembly enabling higher performance, reliability and availability

An alternative integration scheme for a half-bridge switch using 70 μm thin Si IGBTs and diodes is presented. This flat switch, which is designed for high-frequency application with high power density, exhibits high strength, high toughness, low parasitic inductance and high thermal conductivity. Such a novel assembly approach is suitable to optimize performance, reliability and availability of the power system in which it is used. The paper focuses on the thermal performance of this assembly at normal and extreme operating conditions, studied by means of FEM thermo-fluidynamic simulations of the module integrated with connectors and liquid cooler, and thermal measurement performed on an early prototype. Improved solutions are also investigated by the FE model

Surgical site infection after caesarean section. Space for post-discharge surveillance improvements and reliable comparisons

Surgical site infections (SSI) after caesarean section (CS) represent a substantial health system concern. Surveying SSI has been associated with a reduction in SSI incidence. We report the findings of three (2008, 2011 and 2013) regional active SSI surveillances after CS in community hospital of the Latium region determining the incidence of SSI. Each CS was surveyed for SSI occurrence by trained staff up to 30 post-operative days, and association of SSI with relevant characteristics was assessed using binomial logistic regression. A total of 3,685 CS were included in the study. A complete 30 day post-operation follow-up was achieved in over 94% of procedures. Overall 145 SSI were observed (3.9% cumulative incidence) of which 131 (90.3%) were superficial and 14 (9.7%) complex (deep or organ/space) SSI; overall 129 SSI (of which 89.9% superficial) were diagnosed post-discharge. Only higher NNIS score was significantly associated with SSI occurrence in the regression analysis. Our work provides the first regional data on CS-associated SSI incidence, highlighting the need for a post-discharge surveillance which should assure 30 days post-operation to not miss data on complex SSI, as well as being less labour intensive

The CMS ECAL Barrel HV system

The CMS electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) comprises 75848 scintillating lead tungstate crystals. 61200 crystals are contained in the ECAL Barrel section and are read out by avalanche photodiode (APD) with internal gain of about 50. This gain is achieved with a high voltage (HV) of about 400 Volts. The gain stability requirement implies a supply voltage stable to within 0.01%. We describe our experience with the installed Barrel HV power supply system, which has been used for data taking since 2008

Metal transfer to sediments, invertebrates and fish following waterborne exposure to silver nitrate or silver sulfide nanoparticles in an indoor stream mesocosm.

The fate of engineered nanomaterials in ecosystems is unclear. An aquatic stream mesocosm was explored the fate and bioaccumulation of silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag2S NPs) compared to silver nitrate (AgNO3). The aims were to determine the total Ag in water, sediment and biota, and to evaluate the bioavailable fractions of silver in the sediment using a serial extraction method. The total Ag in the water column from a nominal daily dose of 10 μg L-1 of Ag for the AgNO3 or Ag2S NP treatments reached a plateau of around 13 and 12 μg L-1, respectively, by the end of the study. Similarly, the sediment of both Ag-treatments reached ~380 μg Ag kg-1, and with most of it being acid-extractable/labile. The biota accumulated 4-59 μg Ag g-1 dw, depending on the type of Ag-treatment and organism. The oligochaete worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, accumulated Ag from the Ag2S exposure over time, which was similar to the AgNO3 treatment by the end of the experiment. The planarian, Girardia tigrina, and the chironomid larva, Chironomus riparius, showed much higher Ag concentrations than the oligochaete worms; and with a clearer time-dependent statistically significant Ag accumulation relative to the untreated controls. For the pulmonated snail, Physa acuta, bioaccumulation of Ag from AgNO3 and Ag2S NP exposures was observed, but was lower from the nano treatment. The AgNO3 exposure caused appreciable Ag accumulation in the water flea, Daphnia magna, but accumulation was higher in the Ag2S NP treatment (reaching 59 μg g-1 dw). In the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, AgNO3, but not Ag2S NPs, caused total Ag concentrations to increase in the tissues. Overall, the study showed transfer of total Ag from the water column to the sediment, and Ag bioaccumulation in the biota, with Ag from Ag2S NP exposure generally being less bioavailable than that from AgNO3

Radiation hardness qualification of PbWO4 scintillation crystals for the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPEnsuring the radiation hardness of PbWO4 crystals was one of the main priorities during the construction of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at CERN. The production on an industrial scale of radiation hard crystals and their certification over a period of several years represented a difficult challenge both for CMS and for the crystal suppliers. The present article reviews the related scientific and technological problems encountered