Aircraft approach guidance using relative Loran-C navigation

The experiments carried out at MIT during 1984 focussed on two aspects of Loran-C relative navigation that would impact system performance at the sub-microsecond level of accuracy: tracking loop bandwidth and localized field deformation. Figures are given to illustrate the results from both effects

Red tape and delayed entry

Does cutting red tape foster entrepreneurship in industries with the potential to expand? We address this question by combining the time needed to comply with government entry procedures in 45 countries with industry-level data on employment growth and growth in the number of establishments during the 1980s. Our main empirical finding is that countries where it takes less time to register new businesses have seen more entry in industries that experienced expansionary global demand and technology shifts. Our estimates take into account that proxying global industry shifts using data from only one country–or group of countries with similar entry regulations–will in general yield biased results.Entry regulation, entry, globally expanding industries

Red tape and delayed entry

Does cutting red tape foster entrepreneurship in industries with the potential to expand? We address this question by combining the time needed to comply with government entry procedures in 45 countries with industry-level data on employment growth and growth in the number of establishments during the 1980s. Our main empirical finding is that countries where it takes less time to register new businesses have seen more entry in industries that experienced expansionary global demand and technology shifts. Our estimates take into account that proxying global industry shifts using data from only one country–or group of countries with similar entry regulations–will in general yield biased results. JEL Classification: E6, F43, L16entry, entry regulation and globally expanding industries

Estimating cross-industry cross-country models using benchmark industry characteristics

International industry data permits testing whether the industry-specific impact of cross-country differences in institutions or policies is consistent with economic theory. Empirical implementation requires specifying the industry characteristics that determine impact strength. Most of the literature has been using US proxies of the relevant industry characteristics. We show that using industry characteristics in a benchmark country as a proxy of the relevant industry characteristics can result in an attenuation bias or an amplification bias. We also describe circumstances allowing for an alternative approach that yields consistent estimates. As an application, we reexamine the influential conjecture that financial development facilitates the reallocation of capital from declining to expanding industries.

Adjustment to target capital, finance and growth

Does financial development result in capital being reallocated more rapidly to industries where it is most productive? We argue that if this was the case, financially developed countries should see faster growth in industries with investment opportunities due to global demand and productivity shifts. Testing this cross-industry cross-country growth implication requires proxies for (latent) global industry investment opportunities. We show that tests relying only on data from specific (benchmark) countries may yield spurious evidence for or against the hypothesis. We therefore develop an alternative approach that combines benchmark-country proxies with a proxy that does not reflect opportunities specific to a country or level of financial development. Our empirical results yield clear support for the capital reallocation hypothesis.Financial development, sector analysis, growth, measurement error, investment opportunities

Human capital, the structure of production and growth

Do high levels of human capital foster economic growth by facilitating technology adoption? If so, countries with more human capital should have adopted more rapidly the skilled-labor augmenting technologies becoming available since the 1970’s. High human capital levels should therefore have translated into fast growth in more compared to less human-capital-intensive industries in the 1980’s. Theories of international specialization point to human capital accumulation as another important determinant of growth in human-capital-intensive industries. Using data for a large sample of countries, we find significant positive effects of human capital levels and human capital accumulation on output and employment growth in human-capital-intensive industries.Human Capital, Growth, Structure of Production

Human capital, the structure of production, and growth

Do high levels of human capital foster economic growth by facilitating technology adoption? If so, countries with more human capital should have adopted more rapidly the skilled-labor augmenting technologies becoming available since the 1970’s. High human capital levels should therefore have translated into fast growth in more compared to less human-capital-intensive industries in the 1980’s. Theories of international specialization point to human capital accumulation as another important determinant of growth in human-capital-intensive industries. Using data for a large sample of countries, we find significant positive effects of human capital levels and human capital accumulation on output and employment growth in human-capitalintensive industries. JEL Classification: E13, F11, O11Growth, Human capital, structure of production

A programme to determine the exact interior of any connected digital picture

Region filling is one of the most important and fundamental operations in computer graphics and image processing. Many filling algorithms and their implementations are based on the Euclidean geometry, which are then translated into computational models moving carelessly from the continuous to the finite discrete space of the computer. The consequences of this approach is that most implementations fail when tested for challenging degenerate and nearly degenerate regions. We present a correct integer-only procedure that works for all connected digital pictures. It finds all possible interior points, which are then displayed and stored in a locating matrix. Namely, we present a filling and locating procedure that can be used in computer graphics and image processing applications

Automation aids for ATC controllers

March 1985Includes bibliographical references (leaf 9)Development of Air Traffic Controller automation aids is frequently hampered by the mathematical nature of the algorithms they are based upon. These limitations are: lack of adaptability to local conditions; high development, testing, and modification costs; and low end-user confidence on the algorithm's behavior. Research in Artificial Intelligence has produced systems whose logic is implemented by means of rules which may be defined by the end-user without explicit programming. Such rule-based systems may provide a flexible, low-cost alternative to mathematical algorithms. Since the end-user can exercise significant control over the behavior of such logic, automation aids built using these methods can be tailored to the user's environment, preferences, and experience more readily than if built around a classical mathematical algorithm. While this is theoretically possible, present rule-based systems technology is insufficient to allow practical implementation of an ATC aid today. An experimental new rule-based core system has been developed which overcomes some of these obstacles, but a number of problems, including that of poor hardware performance, remain outstanding as topic for continuing research