Monetary policy and inflation persistence in the Eurozone

The primary goal of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy is to achieve price stability. Whereas during the 1980s and 1990s there was a rapid and strong convergence in terms of price differential among the Euro countries, particularly in those countries with higher inflation rates in the past, single monetary policy has proved to be quite inefficient in continuing this trend and has not achieved further reductions in inflation rate differentials within the euro zone. Since the ECB sets the official interest rate according to the average inflation of the euro area, the persistence of such price differentials within the area would mean that the “one size interest rate policy” would not fit all. This paper studies empirically the inflation rate differentials and their persistence in some currency unions with the aim to draw some conclusions for the working of the ECB monetary policy. KEYWORDS: monetary policy; inflation persistence; currency unions

Good Banks and Bad Banks, Centralised Banks and Local Banks and Economic Growth

The on-going banking crisis has demonstrated the significance of banking for economic growth. While banks as creators of money are important for the functioning of the economy, bank lending to productive enterprises is necessary for economic activity. Much of the international policy discussion supports the notion of reform of banking structure to allow banks to perform these two functions more effectively. On the one hand there is a discussion of separating traditional banking functions from those which exposed the system to excessive risk, i.e. separating ‘good' banking from ‘bad' banking. At the same time there has been discussion of the relative merits of large-scale banking concentrated in financial centres and smaller-scale local banking

O papel do crédito na divergência regional: regiões espanholas e países da Zona do Euro

This paper provides a theoretical account of the role of regional differences in cyclical patterns of credit availability for patterns of regional convergence or divergence. While mainstream theories imply either equalising regional capital flows, or else lower credit availability for peripheral regions due to market imperfections, Post-Keynesian theory of liquidity preference and financial structure imply the scope for greater credit volatility for peripheral regions, especially in downturns, contributing to real economic divergence. This latter account is assessed by means of an empirical analysis of patterns in bank credit over the business cycle among the Spanish regions and Eurozone countries

Connection of Isolated Stereoclusters by Combining C-13-RCSA, RDC, and J-Based Configurational Analyses and Structural Revision of a Tetraprenyltoluquinol Chromane Meroterpenoid from Sargassum muticum

The seaweed Sargassum muticum, collected on the southern coast of Galicia, yielded a tetraprenyltoluquinol chromane meroditerpene compound known as 1b, whose structure is revised. The relative configuration of 1b was determined by J-based configurational methodology combined with an iJ/DP4 statistical analysis and further confirmed by measuring two anisotropic properties: carbon residual chemical shift anisotropies (13C-RCSAs) and one-bond 1H-13C residual dipolar couplings (1DCH-RDCs). The absolute configuration of 1b was deduced by ECD/OR/TD-DFT methods and established as 3R,7S,11R

Cycle of Knowledge in the Management of the Supply Chain of Corn for Human Consumption

The objective of this study is to characterize the cycle of knowledge in the supply chain of the industry of corn for human consumption. White corn is cultivated almost exclusively for human consumption and it has a significant value in the food supply in countries whose diet has a high proportion of this variety of corn, such as: Venezuela, México and Colombia in America, and the Republic of South Africa and Sahel countries in Africa. Corn is produced in Venezuela, under rainfed conditions and in a highly mechanized production system. The cycle of knowledge is defined as a progressive spiral in which knowledge is created, stored, transferred, applied and preserved, in order to increase the competitiveness and  sustainability of organizations and companies in the food supply chain. This non experimental and crosssectional research is of a descriptive type. It was conducted in Venezuela during the second semester of 2009 in the supply chain of white corn, specifically, at the level of first tier producers (primary sector). The population is constituted by 1,754 producers of corn in the most important producing regions of the country. The representative sample was selected by the stratified sampling technique with proportional allocation: by association of corn producers and according to the grain yield. A questionnaire was designed and conducted according to the structured survey method. Its validity was verified by discriminant tests of items and its reliability through Bartlett's test, variance factorial analysis, Kaiser/Meyer/Olkin and Cronbach Alpha, achieving the last one a value of 0.9276.The production units have an average area of 67.17 ha, with 1.97 permanent workers and 4.06 temporary workers. They obtained a physical productivity of 4,210.45 kg/ha. The Knowledge Index (KI) achieved a value of 69.78% and the Perception Index of the results (PI) was 76.06%. The Pearson correlation among these indices was positive and significant with a value of 0.51. The factorial analysis for principal components with rotated factors allows obtaining four factors from the five dimensions originally considered. These factors are: (1) knowledge creation, (2) knowledge storage, (3) knowledge transfer and application, and (4) preservation of knowledge.The results allow us to conclude that the cycle of knowledge is managed in four stages in an intuitive and predominantly tacit manner which is the reason why those practices related to explicit knowledge become the agents of differentiation. Moreover, the existence of a positive correlation between the Knowledge Index and the Perception Index of the positive results by the producer was also proven

Suitability of equivalent linear soil models for analysing the seismic response of a concrete tunnel

Current methods of analysis for the seismic response of tunnels rely on linear elastic soil constitutive behaviour. This has obvious benefits in terms of minimising the number of soil parameters required and the complexity compared to more sophisticated soil models. However, it has recently become possible to parameterise sophisticated soil models using only routine data from boreholes or in-situ testing. This paper will therefore review the effectiveness of seismic analyses using an equivalent linear soil constitutive model, by comparison of 2D Finite Element simulations with those using an advanced non-linear elastic model with isotropic hardening plasticity. In the elastic case, the parameters have been estimated using Equivalent-linear Earthquake site Response Analyses software (EERA) and consideration will be given to the amount of sublayering that is required to match the variation of soil properties with depth. The tunnel considered is of horseshoe shape and sprayed concrete construction (New Austrian Tunnelling Method), based on metro tunnels in Santiago, Chile, subjected to the Llolleo ground motion from the 1985 Valparaiso Earthquake. The results will focus the differences in the induced structural forces within the tunnel lining and modification to the ground motion in the near-field of the tunnel, and discuss the implications of this for tunnel design

Predictive model for polishing times in mould finishing

El pulido, proceso final utilizado en la producción de piezas, es a menudo lento y se aplica manualmente. Normalmente define la rugosidad superficial y la precisión de la pieza. Se lleva a cabo utilizando partículas duras para producir la abrasión de la superficie de la pieza a pulir. En este documento se propone un modelo para predecir el progreso del frente de pulido. El modelo tiene en cuenta la topografía resultante antes de la mecanización a través de su curva de Abbott - Firestone, la velocidad relativa del material abrasivo, la fuerza aplicada, el material de la pieza y el tamaño de los granos abrasivos. Separa las aportaciones realizadas por el material de la pieza y el tipo abrasivo de la topografía previa. También muestra los valores recomendados para los diferentes parámetros de proceso a ser utilizados en la predicción de la evolución del frente de pulido en algunos materiales. Además se estima el tiempo de pulido necesario para eliminar completamente la topografía resultante del fresado utilizando una estrategia de perforación transversal. Por último, se muestra la predicción del modelo del frente de pulido, lo que confirma que el mecanismo de abrasión caracteriza dicho proceso.Polishing, the final process used in the production of parts, is often slow and often applied manually. It normally defines the surface roughness and part accuracy. It is performed using hard particles to produce abrasion of the workpiece surface to be polished. In this paper a model for predicting the progress of the polishing face is proposed. The model considers the topography resulting from prior mechanizing through its Abbott-Firestone curve, the relative speed of the abrasive material, the applied force, the workpiece material and the size of the abrasive grains. It separates the contributions made by the workpiece material and the abrasive type from the prior topography. It also shows recommended values for different process parameters to be used in predicting the evolution of the polishing front in some materials. Additionally, the polishing time required to completely remove the topography that results from ball milling using a cross drilling strategy is estimated. Finally, the model's correct prediction of the polished front is shown, confirming that the abrasion mechanism characterizes the sandpaper polishing process.Peer Reviewe