Adjustment of the US current account deficit

We present a two country DGE model and estimate it using Bayesian techniques and euro area and US quarterly data for 1977–2004. In analysing the current accounts we find that a lower US rate of time preference or a higher dollar risk premium could render the deficit sustainable, but that these could push the interest rate to the zero bound. Secondly, we find that fiscal policy is not sufficiently effective to improve the current account although the zero bound is not hit.current account; zero bound; policy coordination

Estimation of semiparametric stochastic frontiers under shape constraints with application to pollution generating technologies

A number of studies have explored the semi- and nonparametric estimation of stochastic frontier models by using kernel regression or other nonparametric smoothing techniques. In contrast to popular deterministic nonparametric estimators, these approaches do not allow one to impose any shape constraints (or regularity conditions) on the frontier function. On the other hand, as many of the previous techniques are based on the nonparametric estimation of the frontier function, the convergence rate of frontier estimators can be sensitive to the number of inputs, which is generally known as “the curse of dimensionality” problem. This paper proposes a new semiparametric approach for stochastic frontier estimation that avoids the curse of dimensionality and allows one to impose shape constraints on the frontier function. Our approach is based on the singleindex model and applies both single-index estimation techniques and shape-constrained nonparametric least squares. In addition to production frontier and technical efficiency estimation, we show how the technique can be used to estimate pollution generating technologies. The new approach is illustrated by an empirical application to the environmental adjusted performance evaluation of U.S. coal-fired electric power plants.stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), nonparametric least squares, single-index model, sliced inverse regression, monotone rank correlation estimator, environmental efficiency

Eco-Efficiency Analysis of Consumer Durables Using Absolute Shadow Prices

We develop a method for eco-efficiency analysis of consumer durables by utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In contrast to previous product efficiency studies, we consider the measurement problem from the perspective of a policy maker. The novel innovation of the paper is to measure efficiency in terms of absolute shadow prices that are optimized endogenously within the model to maximize efficiency of the good. Thus, the efficiency measure has a direct economic interpretation as a monetary loss due to inefficiency, expressed in some currency unit. The advantages as well as technical differences between the proposed approach and the traditional production-side methods are discussed in detail. We illustrate the approach by an application to eco-efficiency evaluation of Sport Utility Vehicles.Activity Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Environmental efficiency, Product evaluation, Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)

Search for neutrinoless double beta decay with NEMO 3 experiment

NEMO 3 experiment is designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. It is located in the Modane Underground Laboratory (LSM) and has been taking data since February 2003. The half- lives of two neutrino beta decay have been measured for seven isotopes. No evidence of neutrinoless double beta decay has been found. The limits on both the half-lives of the neutrinoless double beta decay and the corresponding Majorana effective masses are derivedComment: 3 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, PANIC08 Conference proceeding

Blaming the exogenous environment? Conditional efficiency estimation with continuous and discrete environmental variables

This paper proposes a fully nonparametric framework to estimate relative efficiency of entities while accounting for a mixed set of continuous and discrete (both ordered and unordered) exogenous variables. Using robust partial frontier techniques, the probabilistic and conditional characterization of the production process, as well as insights from the recent developments in nonparametric econometrics, we present a generalized approach for conditional efficiency measurement. To do so, we utilize a tailored mixed kernel function with a data-driven bandwidth selection. So far only descriptive analysis for studying the effect of heterogeneity in conditional efficiency estimation has been suggested. We show how to use and interpret nonparametric bootstrap-based significance tests in a generalized conditional efficiency framework. This allows us to study statistical significance of continuous and discrete environmental variables. The proposed approach is illustrated by a sample of British pupils from the OECD Pisa data set. The results show that several exogenous discrete factors have a significant effect on the educational process.

Seurajohtamisen kehittäminen suomalaisessa jalkapalloilussa

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on tutkia eurooppalaista seurajohtamista 2000-luvulla ja soveltaa seurajohtamisen erilaisia metodeja suomalaisen jalkapalloilun kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksessa pyritään etsimään erilaisia keinoja kehittää suomalaisen jalkapalloilun seurajohtamista tulevaisuudessa. Suomessa jalkapalloseurojen organisoitu seurajohtaminen on tällä hetkellä vielä kehitysvaiheessa. Tutkimus auttaa suomalaisia jalkapalloseuroja kehittymään ja lisäämään toimintansa tehokkuutta. Teoreettinen osuus muodostuu seurajohtamisen erilaisia menetelmiä käsittelevistä tutkimuksista ja kerätystä lähdemateriaalista. Tutkimukset ovat peräisin European Association for Sport Managementin (EASM) tutkijoiden tuloksista, joissa seurajohtamisen osa-alueita on analysoitu erilaisin keinoin. Teoreettisen viitekehyksen avulla voidaan nähdä, millaista seurajohtaminen on Euroopassa. Näitä seurajohtamisesta saatavia menetelmiä voidaan hyödyntää suomalaisessa jalkapalloilussa ja sen seurajohtamisessa. Tutkimuksessa käy ilmi, miten eurooppalaisten jalkapalloseurojen johtaminen toimii. Lisäksi tutkimus antaa erilaisia kehitysehdotuksia suomalaisten jalkapalloseurojen toiminnan parantamiseksi. Tutkimustulosten hyödyntämisellä suomalaiset jalkapalloseurat voivat kehittää toimintaansa tai hyödyntää vain tiettyjä vaikutuksia seurajohtamisen tueksi. Tutkimuksen tärkein tavoite on kehittää suomalaisten jalkapalloseurojen seurajohtamista. Kehitysehdotusten avulla suomalaiset jalkapalloseurat voivat toimia jatkossa tehokkaammin ja monipuolisemmin. Tutkimukseni nostaa esille jalkapalloseuroille hyödyllisiä toimintamalleja, joita seurat eivät ole omassa toimintasuunnitelmassaan ottaneet huomioon. Tutkimustulokseni perustuvat suomalaisen jalkapallon kehittämiseen Suomen palloliiton toimintastrategian 2010–2013, erilaisten johtamismallien sekä menetelmien ja vapaaehtoistoiminnan hyödyntämisen avulla. Tulokset kehittävät suomalaista jalkapalloa ja luovat hyvän pohjan uudelle tutkimustyölle tulevaisuudessa.Team management in European football and improving team management in Finnish football The primary option of this thesis was to examine team management in Europe and develop Finnish football with different kind of methods in team management. The research will help Finnish football teams to develop themselves and become more effective in business side of sport. In Finland the organised team management is right now in the development phase and this research will help Finish football teams improve their team management skills. The theoretical frame of this work is based on different kind of researches, studies and books on team management and management in general. The researches are from European Asso-ciation for Sport Management (EASM) and in these researches the EASM analysts have studied different kind of team management solutions in European countries. With this theoretical frame we can see the team management in Europe and how it is done. The results show how European team management works and how we can develop Finnish football with different kind of solutions in team management. Utilising this information in team management we can develop Finnish football. Finnish football teams can fit the team management system to support their business or just utilise the best pieces from their point of view. The most important factor is that Finnish football teams develop their team management in the future to support their actions in business. Utilising the developing ideas in this research, Finnish football teams will become more efficient and versatile. This research gives some new aspects of team management in Finnish football