Free trade agreements and the environment with pre-existing subsidies

Countries that wish to erect trade barriers have a variety of instruments at their disposal. In addition to tariffs and quotas, countries can offer tax relief, low interest financing, reduced regulation ,and other subsidies to domestic industries facing foreign competition. In a trade agreement, countries typically agree to reduce not only tariffs, but also subsidies. We consider the effect of a trade agreement on pollution emissions. We show that while reducing tariffs may indeed increase pollution intensive production in a country, reductions in some subsidies required by the trade agreement reduce pollution in general equilibrium for reasonable parameter values. The reduction results from two effects. First, a reduction in subsidies to firms reduces pollution-causing capital accumulation. Second, if subsidized firms, industries, and/or state owned enterprises are sufficiently more pollution intensive, then reducing subsidies moves capital and labor from more to less pollution intensive firms. We calibrate the model to the case of China and show that pollution emissions after China's accession to the WTO are up to 22.9 percent lower than a baseline in which China does not enter the WTO, without any pollution abatement policy changes or environmental side agreements.trade agreements, domestic subsidies, pollution emissions, dynamic general equilibrium

The Role of Entrepreneurship in Productivity Growth: Decentralized versus Centrally Planned Economies

Trends in gross domestic product (GDP) and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the former socialist economies seem to indicate that these economies were converging to unusually low long-run growth rates in the late 1980s. In this paper we develop an endogenous growth model of entrepreneurship that is able to account for the difference in long-run performance between centrally planned economies and market-oriented ones. Long-run growth rates of output and productivity are determined by the growth of the stock of managerial knowledge, which in turn depends on the share of the population involved in entrepreneurial activities and on the time that they spend on those activities. We analyze the effect of two characteristics of centrally planned economies on their growth performance. First, in centrally planned economies factors of production are distributed by the central planner to the firms’ managers through a contest that uses up some of the managers’ productive effort. Second, the leadership is “egalitarian”, in the sense that it treats individuals with different abilities equally. We show that these two features reduce the fraction of people becoming entrepreneurs/managers, as well as their managerial effort, which in turn reduces long-run output and TFP growth. Furthermore, we find that centrally planned economies have lower income inequality and slightly higher capital-output ratios, which is consistent with these countries’ experiences.managerial knowledge, productivity, growth, economic systems

Trade, growth, and convergence in a dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model

In models in which convergence in income levels across closed countries is driven by faster accumulation of a productive factor in the poorer countries, opening these countries to trade can stop convergence and even cause divergence. We make this point using a dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model — a combination of a static two-good, two-factor Heckscher-Ohlin trade model and a two-sector growth model — with infinitely lived consumers where international borrowing and lending are not permitted. We obtain two main results: First, countries that differ only in their initial endowments of capital per worker may converge or diverge in income levels over time, depending on the elasticity of substitution between traded goods. Divergence can occur for parameter values that would imply convergence in a world of closed economies and vice versa. Second, factor price equalization in a given period does not imply factor price equalization in future periods.International trade

Trade, Growth, and Convergence in a Dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin Model

This paper studies the properties of a dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model - a combination of a static two-good, two-factor Heckscher-Ohlin trade model and a two-sector growth model - with infinitely lived consumers where international borrowing and lending are not permitted. We obtain two main results: First, even if factor prices are equalized, countries that differ only in their initial endowments of capital per worker may converge or diverge in income levels over time, depending on the elasticity of substitution between traded goods. Divergence can occur for parameter values that would imply convergence in a world of closed economies and vice versa. Second, factor price equalization in a given period does not imply factor price equalization in future periods.

Els conflictes de la zona grisa

De totes les diverses activitats que els actors polítics d’arreu del món duen a terme és la guerra –en les seves diverses formes– la que comporta més greus conseqüències per les societats que la pateixen i el més determinant dels condicionants que afecten el futur de les nacions a curt, mitjà i llarg termini. Aquest article, doncs, tracta d’analitzar els canvis experimentats a les guerres del present, per tal d’aproximar-nos a la realitat dels conflictes d’avui

Chorological notes on the Sicilian endemic Euphorbia papillaris (Euphorbiaceae)

Thanks to the discovery of a new important site in the Trapani Mountains, the distribution of Euphorbia papillaris, a rare plant endemic to N-W Sicily, is revised. On the basis of the unpublished record, one of the two hypotheses on the discovery of the species in Sicily, previously advanced, is here confirmed. Floristic and ecological information on the new locality are also provided

Anomalous origin of the left main artery from the pulmonary artery: Adult presentation with systemic collateral supply and giant right coronary artery aneurysm

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Mandative subjunctives in present-day British English

‘Mandative subjunctives’ are verbal forms found in constructions such as ‘The law requires that a vote be held’. They are usually associated with legal or institutional contexts and have often been considered ‘archaic’ (Fowler, 1926, p.574, cited in Waller, 2017, p.64). Unlike previous research, this thesis takes an integrated approach to the study of these forms, combining syntax-semantics, history and indexicality to capture the multiple factors behind their social meanings. My research questions are: 1) What are the syntactic and semantic properties of mandative subjunctives, and what model best captures them? 2) How and why has the use of the subjunctive changed over time? 3) How is the subjunctive used in contemporary British English? What are the social meanings associated with it? The data is drawn from two corpora of British English (i.e., the Spoken BNC2014 and the BE06), fifteen interviews with language practitioners and three British style guides. With regard to the syntax-semantics of these constructions, I put forward a comprehensive account based on a modal semantics framework (Gueron, 2008). My historical and ideological analysis, inspired by a ‘Critical Interpretive Synthesis’ approach (Dixon-Woods et al., 2006), sheds light on the long-standing association between the subjunctive mood and the prestige sociolect of the political elite. This is reflected in my analysis of interviews and style guides, which highlights a continuing link with class privilege. Finally, with regard to the functions of mandative subjunctives in present-day British English, my discourse analysis shows their ability to convey specific meanings depending on the context and genre in which they are used. While, at their core, they evoke authority and power, their indexical properties can be exploited in numerous and creative ways both in writing and in speech, across different levels of formality. This is significant because it demonstrates how a linguistic form typically considered ‘archaic’ can acquire new social meanings and thus remain relevant. Overall, my thesis shows that combining syntactic, historical and sociolinguistic analyses is key to advancing our understanding of linguistic features

Recent and new taxonomic acquisitions in some native genera of Asteraceae from southern Italy and Sicily

After a brief review of the recent acquisition in some native genera of family Asteraceae from southern Italy and Sicily, a new endemic species of Anthemis (sect. Hiorthia) is described from Sicily and named Anthemis parlatoreana. The locus classicus of the new taxon, falling in the NW Tyrrhenian coast of the island (Castellammare del Golfo, Trapani), coincides with that of Ptilostemon greuteri, another endemic very rare species of the Sicilian flora. Data on the morphology, distribution, ecology and conservation status of the new species are provided. The taxonomic relationships with the other Sicilian taxa of the same section, in particular A. cupaniana, are also analyzed. The simultaneous presence in the same site of other endemic plants enriches the area of the limestone reliefs of Castellammare del Golfo and all of north-western Sicily with biogeographic significance and biogenetic importance

ETN Technical Standards Report

Development of technical standards for specific European lines and tagging projects in the form of a report