Lagging regions and development strategies: The case of Peru

"Despite the economic transformation of Peru's coastal economy, the country's inland region remains poor and underdeveloped. We herein examine the economic linkages between the two regions using a multi-regional computable general equilibrium model based on a regionalized social accounting matrix. The model results show that coastal growth undermines the inland economy by increasing import competition and internal migration. Peru, therefore, cannot rely solely on rapid national growth to generate broad-based poverty reduction. When we simulate policies aimed at curbing divergence, we find that reducing interregional transaction costs stimulates national economic growth, but widens divergence by shifting inland production towards agriculture and concentrating investment in coastal manufacturing. In contrast, conditional cash transfers reduce regional and rural-urban inequality, but do not stimulate national growth. Finally, investing in inland productivity (through extension services and improved rural roads) reduces regional divergence, but the resulting market constraints worsen rural-urban inequality. These findings suggest that isolated interventions may worsen inequality, and that complementarities exist between supply-side investments and policies aimed at stimulating demand and improving access to national markets." from authors' abstractRegional development, Public investments, economic growth, Development strategies,

Seismic Array Studies of Antarctica and Madagascar

The scope of this dissertation is broad, involving seismic array studies from Antarctica and Madagascar, and includes aspects of glaciology and oceanography as well as solid Earth geophysics. Chapter 2 focuses on the study of stickslip motion of the Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica. It includes methods combining seismic array and GPS time series, from ice stream based-sensors, to determine source dynamics in the framework of an earthquake source. The source characteristics are then analyzed to explain far-field seismic observations of ice stream- sourced surface waves detected throughout West Antarctica. Locations of asperities, or sticky- spots, that cause the Whillans Ice Stream to accelerate and generate seismic energy are found. Some of these asperities are in close proximity to the grounding line, where properties of the bed are altered through tidal flexure of the ice shelf and the influx of water into the subglacial till. Chapter 3 explores ocean generated microseismic noise that is also detected on these ice stream seismometers, with the geometry of the array providing excellent azimuthal resolution. Stacked cross-correlations of seismograms enhance microseismic energy generated by the Southern Ocean in the form of both surface and body waves. The frequency spectra of these waves is analyzed as well as applying seismic array techniques, such as beamforming. Each frequency band provides different information on the source regions of that particular microseism suggesting multiple source mechanisms. Microseisms are modeled using ocean state hindcasts to compare with observations and identify microseism source regions and improve understanding of the effect of sea ice. It is shown that single-frequency microseisms are heavily damped by the presence of sea ice over the continental shelf. Long-period double frequency microseisms are observed and modeled to be sourced in the deep ocean. Short-period double frequency microseisms are also influenced by sea ice seasonality; however, this chapter provides evidence that shows that a component of this band may be sourced in the deep ocean. The focus of Chapter 4 moves away from Antarctica, to Madagascar and the analysis of the first island-wide deployment of broadband seismometers. The priorities of this project are to better understand the crustal and upper mantle structure of Madagascar, and to assess the intraplate volcanism on the island from a seismological point of view for the first time. This chapter presents a surface wave tomography study producing the first shear velocity model of the crust and upper mantle of the island. A range of commonly employed surface wave methods is used to calculate phase velocities across the island. These are then amalgamated and inverted for shear velocity in the crust and the upper mantle. Low velocity regions are shown to extend to upper mantle depths beneath the center and north of the island above which lie intraplate volcanic provinces. This suggests that the mantle lithosphere has been significantly thinned, explaining the relatively high topography observed for a fragment of continental crust

Reflectance spectra of Fe(2+)-Mg(2+) disordered pyroxenes: Implications to remote-sensed spectra of planetary surfaces

The reflectance spectra of Fe(2+)-Mg(2+) disordered orthopyroxenes are relevant to surfaces of terrestrial planets onto which basaltic magma has been extruded. If cooling rates of basalt lava flows were fast, equilibrium iron intersite partitioning may not have been achieved so that abnormal enrichments of Fe(2+) ions in M1 sites would occur. The two intense pyroxene Fe(2+) site CF bands in the 1 micron and 2 micron regions would continue to dominate the the reflectance spectra so that the pyroxene composition and structure type would be readily identified in telescopic spectral profiles. However, abnormal intensification of the Fe(2+)/M1 site CF band at 1.20 microns could lead to the false identification of olivine in remote sensed spectra because in pyroxene-olivine mixtures the inflection around 1.20 microns is the only spectral feature for detecting the presence of olivine. The identification of iron-bearing plagioclase feldspars, too, would be obscured by the pyroxene Fe(2+)/M1 site CF band at 1.20 microns. Such interference would be a major problem if in situ reflectance spectra could be measured on the surface of Venus where ambient temperatures are as high as 475 C. Disordering of Fe(2+) and Mg(2+) ions comparable to that in the orthopyroxenes used in this spectral chemical study might be expected in low Ca pyroxenes occurring on the Venusian surface. Researchers conclude that Fe(2+)/M1 site spectral features need to be carefully assessed in remote-sensed spectra before deductions are made about the presence of olivine on planetary surfaces

Half-isolated zeros and zero-density estimates

We introduce a new method to detect the zeros of the Riemann zeta function which is sensitive to the vertical distribution of the zeros. This allows us to prove there are few `half-isolated' zeros. By combining this with classical methods, we improve the Ingham-Huxley zero-density estimate under the assumption that the non-trivial zeros of the zeta function are restricted to lie on a finite number of fixed vertical lines. This has new consequences for primes in short intervals under the same assumption.Comment: 39 pages, 2 figures. Version 2 has stronger results and a simpler argumen

The Geographic Structure of Milk Hauling Cost and Efficiencies in New York State

R.B. 94-03A survey of the milk haulers in the Northeast was conducted in June 1992 to assess the status of the industry. Detailed information on characteristics of the hauling businesses as well as the equipment operated was collected. Data submitted by milk haulers with New York addresses was isolated from the survey data set and analyzed on a regional basis. Some of the general topics addressed include the number, size, and location of hauling businesses, wages paid to hired drivers, and the cost of milk hauling equipment. A section is devoted to measures of hauling efficiency. Two sections review the costs involved in milk hauling, the first of which is more general in its approach. The second cost-based section investigates differences in hauling costs between small-and large-sized milk haulers

Tariff-Rate Quotas : Difficult to model or plain simple?

The difficulty of reliably and accurately incorporating tariffrate quotas (TRQs) into trade models has received a lot of attention in recent years. As a result of the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, TRQs replaced an assortment of tariff and nontariff instruments in an effort to standardise trade barriers, and facilitate their future liberalisation. Understanding the nuances of TRQs is now particularly crucial for New Zealand because of the preferential access arrangements that New Zealand has for a number of products in highly protected markets such as the European Union, Japan, and the United States. It has been argued that TRQs are complex instruments and are difficult to model because for any trade flow between two countries, one of three regimes may be applicable : 1. The import quota may not be binding and the within-quota tariff applies; 2. The quota may be binding, the within-quota tariff applies, and a quota rent is created; or 3. Trade occurs over and above the quota, in which case an over-quota tariff applies (although, even in this regime, someone is still able to collect the quota rent on within-quota trade). But even this characterisation, which many claim is too complex to model, is a major simplification of reality. Bilateral preferences are ubiquitous, and such preferences are usually included in the determination of multilateral market access quotas. It is usual, therefore, that the TRQ instrument has several tiers to the quota schedule, plus a number of within and over-quota tariff rates applicable on either a bilateral or a multilateral basis. Further trade liberalisation creates something of a dilemma for New Zealand. Any decrease in over-quota tariffs and/or increase in quota levels potentially reduces the value of quota rents, many of which accrue to New Zealand due to the bilateral preferences. It is important, therefore, that New Zealand trade negotiators understand how much additional trade is required to offset the loss of New Zealands quota rents. Modelling trade in the presence of TRQs is the only way to ascertain this knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to show that complex TRQs can be modelled very easily and precisely. The only catch is that the model must be formulated as a complementarity problem rather than the more conventional linear or nonlinear optimisation problem. The concept will be demonstrated using a simple 3-region, single commodity spatial price equilibrium model of trade.Tariff-rate quota, trade modelling, mathematical programming, complementarity

Polyimide processing additives

A process for preparing polyimides having enhanced melt flow properties is described. The process consists of heating a mixture of a high molecular weight poly-(amic acid) or polyimide with a low molecular weight amic acid or imide additive in the range of 0.05 to 15 percent by weight of additive. The polyimide powders so obtained show improved processability, as evidenced by lower melt viscosity by capillary rheometry. Likewise, films prepared from mixtures of polymers with additives show improved processability with earlier onset of stretching by TMA