Is the J-Curve a Reality in Developing Countries?

We examine the relationship between trade balance and net export with both, the official and real effective exchange rates on the J-Curve hypothesis and find evidence to support in favor of the hypothesis, coming from a panel data of 49 developing countries from Africa. Countries can improve their current account balance by depreciating their currency; however the J-curve hypothesis argues that such changes take time to occur, but should use exchange rate policies discreetly, as it belongs to the “beggar thy neighbor” policies. This may be good for home country but is not so good for the foreign country; as a result, such policies may trigger retaliatory policies. Restrictive trade policies are against the present day notion of free-economy and free-trade policy these are very common around the world

Is the J-Curve a Reality in Developing Countries?

We examine the relationship between trade balance and net export with both, the official and real effective exchange rates on the J-Curve hypothesis and find evidence to support in favor of the hypothesis, coming from a panel data of 49 developing countries from Africa. Countries can improve their current account balance by depreciating their currency; however the J-curve hypothesis argues that such changes take time to occur, but should use exchange rate policies discreetly, as it belongs to the “beggar thy neighbor” policies. This may be good for home country but is not so good for the foreign country; as a result, such policies may trigger retaliatory policies. Restrictive trade policies are against the present day notion of free-economy and free-trade policy these are very common around the world

Is the Balassa-Samuelson Hypothesis still relevant? Cross-country evidence from 1950 -2017

Abstract. We revisit the Balassa and Samuelson hypothesis based on the relationship between real exchange rate and total factor productivity relative to the United States and investigate with panel data set of 182 countries from 1950 to 2017. Results, suggest that there is an inverse relationship between the two, an increase in productivity results in an increase in real exchange rate and the findings supports the hypothesis. We use a range of tests including Arellano-Bond Dynamic Panel Data (both fixed and random effect) estimator and findings validates the hypothesis. All these additional tests confirm that the relationship between real exchange rate and relative factor producity are related in the long-run also.Keywords. Balassa–Samuelson effect; Exchange rate, Fixed effect model, Random effect model, Trade and globalization.JEL. C15, E31, F31, F41

AVR Microcontroller Implementation for Customized Sound Generation

In this paper, we have proposed a technique by which customized sound can be generated using 8 bit AVR microcontroller. Any sound file chosen from computer can be integrated in microcontroller programming which is written in C and compiled by AVR libc compiler. An 8 bit DAC connected to PORT A of AVR microcontroller takes data of  sound file as input and gives converted analog sound signal as output. An audio amplifier based on LM386 Op-Amp circuit amplifies the sound signal which is finally connected to 8Ω speaker for audible sound output. This circuit has been simulated using Proteus ISIS 7 Virtual System Modeling (VSM).DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i1.13

Prevalence of ectoparasites in farmed Pangasius hypothalamus

Of the total 240 Pangasius hypothalamus (5 - 8.7cm) fry examined during September' O1 to February'02, 80 (33.33%) were found to be infested with one or more ecroparasites irrespective of genera or groups. Seven parasitic groups were identified with the highest average prevalence of Trichodinids (55%) followed by Dacrylogyrus spp. ( 42%), Episrylis spp. (8%), Apiosoma spp. (7%) Argulus spp. (5%), Gyrodacrylus spp. (4%) and Piscicola spp. (2%) the lowest prevalent group irrespective of months. Trichodinid and Dacrylogyms spp. were recorded to be the dominating parasitic groups among the seven both in terms of monthly prevalence and severity of infestation throughout the period of investigation. The highest prevalence (60%) of ectoparasite was recorded in December and the lowest (10%) in February irrespective of groups

Perception of the Regional Political Leaders on Climate Change: A Study in Sylhet District in Bangladesh

The paper has been designed to explore the perception of the regional political leaders on climate change. It explains the perception of the political leaders about general information, causes, and impacts of climate change. Therefore, the research design of the study was explorative and mostly descriptive. Probability sampling was used for sample selection. From the population of 367.58 respondents were selected by using Cochran’s formula. This study incorporated both primary and secondary sources of data. Data was collected through social survey and in-depth interview method from the study area. These pertinent data were analysed by different statistical method like percentage analysis, weighted mean index, chi-square method etc. It was found that most of the respondents’ perception about the climate change is satisfactory comparatively where perception about causes of climate change was better than the perception about impacts of climate change. Here, year of schooling was significantly associated with the respondents’ perception on climate change. On the other hand, involvement with voluntary organization is significantly associated with respondents’ perception about impacts of climate change. On the contrary, duration of the involvement with political party has no significant relation regarding to the perception of the political leaders on various aspects of climate change

A bizarre case report of self-harm by ingested lock trapped in oropharynx

The present case report deals with a highly and yet unreported case of self-harm in which a medium sized lock was ingested with convulsive movements of the face and neck which ultimately got trapped in oropharyngeal region. The lock managed to ‘sink’ and settled down in that region so that the patient did not feel any gross pain once it was swallowed. There was history of mental illness reported by the attendants of the patient that remained unverified since no treatment card or the name of drug(s) was shown to the treating team of doctors. Therefore, it remained speculative whether the attempt to swallow lock was as a result of psychiatric illness or was supplemented by other social factor notable the influence of “Tantrik”. Tantriks are special breed of spiritual healers who resorted to unscientific method of healing. At times they use unethical practices. There are reports in which tantrik have provoked their unsuspecting victims to highly complex maneuvers leading to self-harm. The present case, it is believed falls in this category

Synthesis and characterization of aggregated nano-cobalt particles by bottom up approach

This paper reports a novel process for the synthesis of nano-sized cobalt particles by a bottom-up approach. Cobalt chloride has been reduced using hydrazine as the precursor, in a basic medium maintained at 700C. Other factors studied in this research were the combined effect of using an anionic surfactant – sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and a cationic polymer-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in the formation of nano-sized agglomerated Co particles. Further particle size reduction (less than 5nm) was achieved by using this combination of SDS with PVP. These nano-aggregated cobalt particles were characterized by using high resolution electron microscopes HRSEM/HRTEM with EDX facilities. On the basis of electron microscopic observations a model is postulated: in the absence of SDS/PVP the cobalt atoms get aggregated and form a natural oxide layer around them, with time further aggregation occur they meet up with more Co particles. When both SDS and PVP are present, PVP is able to form a polymeric coating around the aggregated cobalt particles already oxidized and stops further agglomeration. The PVP-polymeric layer is able to hinder the formation of further agglomeration of Co atoms hence a dramatic reduction in the particle sizes are obtained. Keywords: Bottom-up, SDS/PVP, Co particles, 5n

Relationship between Economic Growth and Debt: An Empirical Analysis for Sub-Saharan Africa

In this study, we examine the connection between economic growth and debt, with the question in mind -“Is debt a burden and bad for economic growth? Employing several sophisticated statistical approaches to investigate the problem and to assess the impact of debt on economic growth in 48 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa from 1995 to 2012, we find evidence of Granger causality between debt and economic growth in 8 out of the 48 sub-Saharan countries during the period of study and validate for the existence of “Debt Laffer Curve.” We also study the relationship between debt and economic growth rate in Granger causality and Dynamic Arellano-Bond panel data estimation frameworks, and find evidence of a negative correlation between the two variables (Debt and GDP) and confirm the findings by testing several versions of the models. Political decision and economic policy are intertwined and need to be examined carefully when implemented for economic growth and our findings lend credence to the politically unpopular austerity measures (constraints on government spending financed by borrowing). There is a limit to the economic growth rate that the government financed expenditure can bring. If the burden of debt is too high then there is a negative impact of debt on the economic growth.Keywords. Economic Growth, Debt, Laffer curve and Investments.JEL. E20, E60, E24