36 research outputs found
BASEL III: Long-term impact on economic performance and fluctuations
We assess the long-term economic impact of the new regulatory standards (the Basel III reform), answering the following questions. (1) What is the impact of the reform on long-term economic performance? (2) What is the impact of the reform on economic fluctuations? (3) What is the impact of the adoption of countercyclical capital buffers on economic fluctuations? The main results are the following. (1) Each percentage point increase in the capital ratio causes a median 0.09 percent decline in the level of steady state output, relative to the baseline. The impact of the new liquidity regulation is of a similar order of magnitude, at 0.08 percent. This paper does not estimate the benefits of the new regulation in terms of reduced frequency and severity of financial crisis, analysed in Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS, 2010b). (2) The reform should dampen output volatility; the magnitude of the effect is heterogeneous across models; the median effect is modest. (3) The adoption of countercyclical capital buffers could have a more sizeable dampening effect on output volatility. These conclusions are fully consistent with those of the reports by the Long-term Economic Impact group (BCBS, 2010b) and Macro Assessment Group (MAG, 2010b).Basel III, countercyclical capital buffers, financial (in)stability, procyclicality, macroprudential policy.
The macroeconomic effects of Government asset purchases: evidence from postwar US housing credit policy
We document the portfolio activity of federal housing agencies and provide evidence on its impact on mortgage markets and the economy. Through a narrative analysis, we identify historical policy changes leading to expansions or contractions in agency mortgage holdings. Based on those regulatory events that we classify as unrelated to short-run cyclical or credit market shocks, we find that an increase in mortgage purchases by the agencies boosts mortgage lending and lowers mortgage rates. Agency purchases influence prices in other asset markets and stimulate residential investment. Using information in GSE stock prices to construct an alternative instrument for agency purchasing activity yields very similar results as our benchmark narrative identification approach
Clam dredging effects and subsequent recovery of benthic communities at different depth ranges
MONETARY SHOCKS, POLICY TOOLS AND FINANCIAL FIRM STOCK RETURNS: EVIDENCE FROM THE 2008 US QUANTITATIVE EASING
The impact of unconventional monetary policy in the euro area. Structural and scenario analysis from a Bayesian VAR
Temporal variability in epifaunal assemblages associated with temperate gorgonian gardens
The present study is one of the few that investigate the temporal variability of epifaunal assemblages
associated with coral species, particularly the octocorals Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica in
south Portugal. The results suggest time rather than colony size as a primary driver of the ecological
patterns of these assemblages, which were dominated by amphipods, molluscs and polychaetes. Temporal
variability was linked to changes in environmental parameters, namely temperature, chlorophyll a
and particulate organic carbon. Hence, temporal variability must be taken into account for the design of
future biodiversity assessment studies, as different patterns may be observed depending on the sampling
time. Associated epifaunal assemblages were consistently dominated by resident species (i.e. species
present in all sampling periods) and a peak of rare species was observed in the transition from spring to
summer following the increase in seawater temperature. Turnover was particularly high in the transition
between the spring and summer periods. In both hosts, turnover was higher in the small sized colonies,
which harboured less diverse and less abundant assemblages that also differed from those inhabiting
larger size colonies. The high levels of diversity associated with gorgonian colonies highlight the need for
the conservation of this priority habitat
Biodiversity patterns of epifaunal assemblages associated with the gorgonians Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica in response to host, space and time
Patterns of biodiversity (α- and ÎČ-diversity), abundance and community structure of the epifaunal assemblages associated with two gorgonians, Eunicella gazella and Leptogorgia lusitanica, were analysed in relation to host, colony size, location and time. Colony size and time were the major factors shaping attendant assemblages. Patterns of α-diversity and ÎČ-diversity were host-dependent. Assemblages associated with E. gazella showed a significant inter-annual variability for most of the metrics analysed, while in those associated with L. lusitanica only ShannonâWiener varied significantly between years. In L. lusitanica Hurlbert's expected number of taxa was significantly lower in small-sized than in medium- to large-sized colonies, but an opposite pattern was detected for ÎČ-diversity, reflecting the higher heterogeneity among small-sized colonies. The dbRDA analysis segregated the assemblages associated with each of the two hosts; the faunal patterns were mainly explained by colony size related attributes (area, number of branches and, to a lesser extent, width) and the âcolonialâ epibiont cover. However, we suggest that altogether they may act as a metacommunity, with high temporal and spatial fluidity in their composition and structure related to multiple factors including not only a component of stochasticity but also life history events, biotic interactions and response to habitat heterogeneity and environmental variability
Temporal variability of biodiversity patterns and trophic structure of estuarine macrobenthic assemblages along a gradient of metal contamination
The present study aimed to investigate the response of macrobenthic assemblages along a gradient of
metal contamination using a combination of uni- and multivariate methods focusing on their composition,
structure and function. A total of six sites were established based on a preliminary survey, which
identified three areas with different levels of contamination. These areas were defined as slightly
contaminated (SC), moderately contaminated (MC) and highly contaminated (HC). Each area comprised
two sites, sampled in four sampling surveys (September 2012, February, May and October of 2013). To
investigate the response of the macrobenthic assemblages the number of individuals (N), number of taxa
(S), ShannoneWeaver diversity (H0), Pielou's equitability (J0) and different distance-based multivariate
measures of b-diversity (complementarity) were analysed. b-diversity as turnover was also analysed
together with spatial and temporal changes in the trophic structure. A clear gradient of increasing
contamination was consistently detected, but comparisons with available sediment quality guidelines
indicated that adverse biological effects may be expected in all areas. This result suggests measuring
concentrations of contaminants in the sediment per se may be insufficient to establish a clear link between
ecological patterns and the contamination of the system. Also it highlights the difficulty of
identifying reference areas in highly urbanized and industrialized estuaries. Only multivariate analysis
(dbRDA; both using the taxonomic and trophic composition) and b-diversity as turnover showed a
consistent response to metal contamination. Higher heterogeneity, mainly due to contribution of rare
species (i.e. species present in a single sampling period), was observed in the least contaminated area
(SC), decreasing towards the HC. In terms of the trophic function, a shift from a dominance of carnivores
in the SC to the dominance of deposit-feeding organisms (and associations) along the contamination
gradient was evident
Perianal Crohn's disease - association with significant inflammatory activity in proximal small bowel segments
Perianal Crohn's disease (CD) prevalence varies according to the disease location, being particularly frequent in patients with colonic involvement. We aimed to evaluate small bowel involvement and compare small bowel capsule endoscopy findings and inflammatory activity between patients with and without perianal disease.Objectives: Perianal Crohnâs disease (CD) prevalence varies according to the disease location, being particularly frequent in patients with colonic involvement. We aimed to evaluate small bowel involvement and compare small bowel capsule endoscopy findings and inflammatory activity between patients with and without perianal disease.
Materials and methods: Retrospective single-center study including 71 patients â all patients with perianal CD (17 patients) who performed a small bowel capsule endoscopy were included, and non-perianal CD patients were randomly selected (54 patients). Clinical and analytical variables at diagnosis were reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS v21.0 and a two-tailed p value <.05 was defined as indicating statistical significance.
Results: Patients had a median age of 30â±â16 years with 52.1% females. Perianal disease was present in 23.9%. Patients with perianal disease had significantly more relevant findings (94.1% vs 66.6%, pâ=â.03) and erosions (70.6% vs 42.6%, pâ=â.04), however, no differences were found between the two groups regarding ulcer, villous edema and stenosis detection. Overall, patients with perianal disease had more frequently significant small bowel inflammatory activity, defined as a Lewis Scoreââ„135 (94.1% vs 64.8%, pâ=â.03), and higher Lewis scores in the first and second tertiles (450â±â1129 vs 0â±â169, pâ=â.02 and 675â±â1941 vs 0â±â478, pâ=â.04, respectively). No differences were found between the two groups regarding third tertile inflammatory activity assessed with the Lewis Score.
Conclusion: Patients with perianal CD have significantly higher inflammatory activity in the small bowel, particularly in proximal small bowel segments, when compared with patients without perianal disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio