Identifying asset price booms and busts with quantile regressions

This paper presents a methodology for detecting asset price booms and busts using non-parametric quantile regressions. The method consists in estimating the distribution of real stock prices as a function of fundamental determinants of stock returns, namely real economic activity and real interest rates. It is shown that changes in fundamentals affect not only the location but also the shape of the conditional distribution of stock prices. Asset price booms and busts are identified as realizations on the tails of that distribution. Then we use several indicators to analyse the behaviour of money and credit around the boom and bust episodes.

Identification with Averaged Data and Implications for Hedonic Regression Studies

In this estimation of models with averaged data, weighted least squares is often used and recommended as a way of improving the efficiency of the estimator. However, if the size of the different groups is not conditionally independent of the regressand, consistent estimation may not be possible at all. It is argued that in the case of some leading examples of averaged data regression, consistent estimation is possible using the usual weighted estimator.

Using the Asymmetric Trimmed Mean as a Core Inflation Indicator

This paper discusses the use of the trimmed mean as a core inflation indicator when the price changes distribution is fat tailed and asymmetric and computes several asymmetric trimmed means that meet all the conditions suggested in Marques et al. (2000). It turns out that the 10 per cent trimmed mean centred on the 51.5th percentile is the one with the lowest volatility and so, its use, as a core inflation indicator, is recommended.

An Analysis and Performance Guide of Three Works by Brazilian Composers Featuring the Violin

This is a study of a selection of works for violin composed in the twentieth century by Brazilian composers: Sonata for Violin and Piano by José Guerra Vicente (1906-1976); Chôro for Violin and Orchestra by Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993), and Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano by César Guerra-Peixe (1914 -1993). These pieces contain strong identifiable nationalistic features of Brazilian music allied to twentieth-century compositional elements. The selected works will serve as examples for a study of compositions for violin incorporating the above-mentioned styles. These works have been selected to represent a variety of instrumental genres: a sonata for violin and piano, a concerto for violin and orchestra, and a piano trio. Each composition contains unique characteristics and no scholarly studies have been made of them to date. The first two cited works, Guerra-Vicente’s Sonata and Guarnieri’s Chôro, are in ternary forms, while the trio by Guerra-Peixe has sonata form as a compositional principle. The analytical procedures included, but are not limited to, the methods created by the formal theorists William Caplin,1 James Hepokoski, and Warren Darcy.2 The analytical portions of each chapter focused primarily in the first movements of each work, while the performance guide presented carefully chosen excerpts that contain special challenges. The first chapter provided an overview of the musical history in Brazil with additional information on the repertoire for violin, and each following chapter is dedicated to one of the composers and to his respective work. The chapters are subdivided per each composer’s background, information about the corresponding musical work, analysis, and a performance guide. The analytical portions of each chapter aim to help the performer to better understand the studied repertoire, providing relevant performance practice information for each musical work

The impact of COVID 19 on waste management: Societal responses to waste during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been having a strong impact throughout the world, changing the way we live our lives. This is due to the threat that the virus poses to human health, but also to the impact it has on waste management and consequently the environment. In this dissertation it was intended to study the way that the pandemic has been affecting waste management. With the elaboration of two interviews, it was intended to understand the role that the municipal governments of Lisbon (Portugal) and Salto (Brazil) had on waste management during the pandemic and if the management process has been adequate. It was also intended, with the elaboration of two questionnaires, to understand how the population of both these countries has been affected and which possible impacts can the citizens behavior have in this waste management process. The results showed that both these municipal governments and their respective countries are subject to factors like geographic limitations, population density and social diversity, which directly affect the process of waste management, however there are similarities in the approaches followed. It was also noted that the way to obtain positive results in this waste management process does not depend unilaterally on the intervention of the government nor the social behavior, but the cooperation between both parts. Lastly it was also noted that all the countries must invest in environmental education and conscientization, so the citizens can understand from early on, the impacts that their habits can have on the environment.A pandemia do COVID-19 tem vindo a ter um forte impacto por todo o mundo, mudando o modo como vivemos as nossas vidas. Tal deve-se à ameaça que o vírus apresenta para a saúde humana, mas também ao impacto que tem na gestão de resíduos e consequentemente no meio ambiente. Nesta dissertação procurou-se estudar os impactos que a pandemia tem vindo a ter na gestão de resíduos. Procurou-se, através de duas entrevistas elaboradas, compreender o papel que os governos municipais de Lisboa (Portugal) e Salto (Brasil) tiveram na gestão de resíduos durante a pandemia e se o processo de gestão tem sido adequado. Procurou-se ainda, através de dois questionários elaborados, compreender como a população destes dois países tem sido afetada e que possíveis impactos podem os comportamentos dos cidadãos ter neste processo de gestão de resíduos. Os resultados mostram que ambos os municípios estudados e os respetivos países estão sujeitos a fatores como limitações geográficas, densidade populacional e diversidade social, que afetam diretamente o processo de gestão de resíduos, no entanto encontram-se semelhanças nas abordagens seguidas. Notou-se ainda que o modo de obter resultados positivos no processo de gestão de resíduos não depende unilateralmente da intervenção do governo nem do comportamento social, mas sim de uma cooperação entre ambas as partes. Por fim notou-se também que todos os países devem investir em planos de educação e consciencialização ambiental, de modo a que os cidadãos compreendam desde cedo o impacto que os seus hábitos podem ter no meio ambiente