Interoperability between central counterparties

In reaction to recent requests for interoperability between central counterparties of European stock markets, regulators have issued new guidelines to contain systemic risk. Our analysis confirms that the currently applied cross-CCP risk management model can be a source of contagion, particularly if applied in multilateral frameworks. While regulators' new guidelines eliminate systemic risk, this comes at the cost of an inefficiently overcollateralised clearing system. We discuss further approaches that contain systemic risk while reducing or eliminating overcollateralisation. Interoperability is of economic importance as it may contribute to the efficiency and safety of a worldwide fragmented clearing infrastructure.interoperability between central counterparties, financial network, systemic risk, netting efficiency

The political economy under monetary union: has the euro made a difference?

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has transformed Europe and has created an integrated pan-European economy. Much research has focused on understanding this integration process and what benefits and costs it entails. This paper identifies a political economy channel of EMU as the monetary union implies that member states had to transfer or at least curtail their policy autonomy in several areas, such as monetary policy and fiscal policy. The paper shows that EMU has helped reduce the impact of political shocks on the domestic economy of member states but magnified the transmission of political shocks within the euro area. Equally importantly, economies with a weaker track record in terms of economic and institutional quality exhibited a significantly higher sensitivity to domestic political shocks before EMU, but not thereafter. While this may entail that EMU has brought benefits to countries with a weaker economic and institutional stability by insulating them from adverse political developments at home, a potential drawback is that it may provide weaker market discipline for domestic political stability. JEL Classification: F31, F33, G14EMU, Fiscal Policy, monetary policy, political economy, political news, Stock Markets, transmission

Saving behaviour and global imbalances: the role of emerging market economies

In recent years there has been considerable variation in savings patterns across countries and regions, with implications for the configuration of global current account balances, asset valuations and real interest rates. This paper looks at the empirical drivers behind these trends. It uses a reduced-form model that relates private savings to a set of economic fundamentals, while controlling for structural and institutional differences across countries. Addressing a typical shortcoming of the previous literature, estimates are obtained from a dynamic model, which accounts for cross-sectional heterogeneity. The results suggest that saving rates in emerging economies are higher than cross-country estimates based on fundamentals, particularly in Asia. Demographic factors and financial catching-up have been key drivers of the observed changes in savings in these economies. Looking ahead, the prospective population aging is likely to lead to a considerable fall in saving rates in many economies - albeit the process will take decades to unfold. Further progress in financial deepening in developing economies may be conducive to a redistribution of international saving flows and may potentially support a smoother adjustment of global imbalances. JEL Classification: E20, E60emerging economies, global imbalances, panel error correction model, pooled mean group estimation, Private savings

The political economy under monetary union: has the euro made a difference?

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has transformed Europe and has created an integrated pan-European economy. Much research has focused on understanding this integration process and what benefits and costs it entails. This paper identifies a political economy channel of EMU as the monetary union implies that member states had to transfer or at least curtail their policy autonomy in several areas, such as monetary policy and fiscal policy. The paper shows that EMU has helped reduce the impact of political shocks on the domestic economy of member states but magnified the transmission of political shocks within the euro area. Equally importantly, economies with a weaker track record in terms of economic and institutional quality exhibited a significantly higher sensitivity to domestic political shocks before EMU, but not thereafter. While this may entail that EMU has brought benefits to countries with a weaker economic and institutional stability by insulating them from adverse political developments at home, a potential drawback is that it may provide weaker market discipline for domestic political stability

Saving behaviour and global imbalances: the role of emerging market economies

In recent years there has been considerable variation in savings patterns across countries and regions, with implications for the configuration of global current account balances, asset valuations and real interest rates. This paper looks at the empirical drivers behind these trends. It uses a reduced-form model that relates private savings to a set of economic fundamentals, while controlling for structural and institutional differences across countries. Addressing a typical shortcoming of the previous literature, estimates are obtained from a dynamic model, which accounts for cross-sectional heterogeneity. The results suggest that saving rates in emerging economies are higher than cross-country estimates based on fundamentals, particularly in Asia. Demographic factors and financial catching-up have been key drivers of the observed changes in savings in these economies. Looking ahead, the prospective population aging is likely to lead to a considerable fall in saving rates in many economies - albeit the process will take decades to unfold. Further progress in financial deepening in developing economies may be conducive to a redistribution of international saving flows and may potentially support a smoother adjustment of global imbalances

Genetic Variability of the European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, Suggests Gene Flow Between Populations in the Midwestern United States

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a widely distributed and serious economic pest to corn production in the U.S. Genetic variability of O. nubilalis was studied in 18 sub-populations in the upper Midwestern United States using amplified fragment length polymorphism. The relatively low GST values indicate that more variation exists within populations than between populations. High gene flow (Nm) values were indicated across the entire O. nubilalis population; the lowest degree of gene flow was in the northern samples (Nm = 1.96) and the highest degree of gene flow was in the southern samples (Nm = 2.77). The differences observed in the respective regions (north vs. south) may be explained by the voltinism patterns (univoltine vs. multivoltine, respectively) of O. nubilalis: southern multivoltine populations have opportunities for multiple matings for the duration of the year, further mix alleles. AMOVA results also indicated that most of the genetic variation was within sub-populations (≈ 81% of total variation); less variation (≈ 13%) was detected among populations within each of the three regions as designated for this study. However, the most striking and unexpected result was the low percentage of variation between all groups (≈ 6%), further supporting implications of a high degree of gene flow. These results provide support for current requirements of refugia corn planting in Bt-corn management. These results also indicate that if resistance to Bt were to evolve in O. nubilalis, quick action would be necessary to deter the rapid spread of the gene for resistance

Ergonomics and sustainability: Towards and embrace of complexity and emergence

Technology offers a promising route to a sustainable future, and ergonomics can serve a vital role. The argument of this article is that the lasting success of sustainability initiatives in ergonomics hinges on an examination of ergonomics' own epistemology and ethics. The epistemology of ergonomics is fundamentally empiricist and positivist. This places practical constraints on its ability to address important issues such as sustainability, emergence and complexity. The implicit ethical position of ergonomics is one of neutrality, and its positivist epistemology generally puts value-laden questions outside the parameters of what it sees as scientific practice. We argue, by contrast, that a discipline that deals with both technology and human beings cannot avoid engaging with questions of complexity and emergence and seeking innovative ways of addressing these issues.No Full Tex