The Portuguese intra-industry tradeand the labor market adjustment costs: The SAH Again

This paper provides an empirical test of the SAH (Smooth Adjustment Hypothesis) using data from Portugal. According to SAH, intra-industry trade leads to relatively lower adjustment costs in comparison to inter-industry trade. The paper tests the SAH by using a dynamic panel data analysis that takes into account lagged effects of changes in the MIIT (Marginal Intra-Industry Trade) index. The regressions use the absolute change in the total employment in a given industry as a proxy for trade adjustment costs. The main results imply that a higher MIIT leads to lower adjustment costs in the same year. More specifically, the coefficients of the MIIT index are negative and statistically significant in all regressions. These results provide support for the SAH. In addition, the coefficients of the lagged MIIT indicators (one or two period) are mostly positive but not significant throughout. These findings highlight the importance of lagged trade indicators in affecting labor reallocation outcomes and thus adjustment costs.Adjustment costs; dynamic panel data, labor market; marginal intraindustry trade, smooth adjustment hypothesis, Portugal.

Immigration and Trade in Portugal: A Static and Dynamic Panel Data Analysis

This article tests the relation between immigration and Portuguese bilateral trade, considering the fifteen European partners (EU15). Using a static and dynamic panel data analysis, the results show that the stock of immigrants has a positive effect on Portuguese exports, imports and bilateral intra-industry trade. These results suggest that immigration affects all types of trade in a positive way. The underlying assumption is that immigration contributes to decrease the costs of transactions, which in turn promotes all trade flows. The static and dynamic results do not confirm the hypothesis of a negative effect of immigration on Portuguese exports. In the static model, a 10% increase in immigration induces a 5.98 % increase in exports and a 5.55% increase in imports. The effect on the Portuguese trade balance is positive. However, the dynamic results for the export and import equations are more reliable, showing a smaller positive effect on exports. A 10% increase in bilateral immigration induces a 0.47% and 2.34% increase in exports and imports, respectively. Our findings also suggest that when immigrants to Portugal originate from a Latin partner-country, the effects on trade are stronger than in the case of immigrants from non-Latin countries. The study is based on an extended gravitational model, in order to incorporate the qualitative factors as control variables.intra-industry trade; immigration; gravity model; panel data; Portugal.

Effect of noise in open chaotic billiards

We investigate the effect of white-noise perturbations on chaotic trajectories in open billiards. We focus on the temporal decay of the survival probability for generic mixed-phase-space billiards. The survival probability has a total of five different decay regimes that prevail for different intermediate times. We combine new calculations and recent results on noise perturbed Hamiltonian systems to characterize the origin of these regimes, and to compute how the parameters scale with noise intensity and billiard openness. Numerical simulations in the annular billiard support and illustrate our results.Comment: To appear in "Chaos" special issue: "Statistical Mechanics and Billiard-Type Dynamical Systems"; 9 pages, 5 figure

An Adult with Episodic Abnormal Limb Posturing

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BP Reduction, Kidney Function Decline, and Cardiovascular Events in Patients without CKD.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), intensive systolic BP treatment (target <120 mm Hg) was associated with fewer cardiovascular events and higher incidence of kidney function decline compared with standard treatment (target <140 mm Hg). We evaluated the association between mean arterial pressure reduction, kidney function decline, and cardiovascular events in patients without CKD. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: We categorized patients in the intensive treatment group of the SPRINT according to mean arterial pressure reduction throughout follow-up: <20, 20 to <40, and ≥40 mm Hg. We defined the primary outcome as kidney function decline (≥30% reduction in eGFR to <60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 on two consecutive determinations at 3-month intervals), and we defined the secondary outcome as cardiovascular events. In a propensity score analysis, patients in each mean arterial pressure reduction category from the intensive treatment group were matched with patients from the standard treatment group to calculate the number needed to treat regarding cardiovascular events and the number needed to harm regarding kidney function decline. RESULTS: In the intensive treatment group, 1138 (34%) patients attained mean arterial pressure reduction <20 mm Hg, 1857 (56%) attained 20 to <40 mm Hg, and 309 (9%) attained ≥40 mm Hg. Adjusted hazard ratios for kidney function decline were 2.10 (95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 3.59) for mean arterial pressure reduction between 20 and 40 mm Hg and 6.22 (95% confidence interval, 2.75 to 14.08) for mean arterial pressure reduction ≥40 mm Hg. In propensity score analysis, mean arterial pressure reduction <20 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 44 and a number needed to harm of 65, reduction between 20 and <40 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 42 and a number needed to harm of 35, and reduction ≥40 mm Hg presented a number needed to treat of 95 and a number needed to harm of 16. CONCLUSIONS: In the intensive treatment group of SPRINT, larger declines in mean arterial pressure were associated with higher incidence of kidney function decline. Intensive treatment seemed to be less favorable when a larger reduction in mean arterial pressure was needed to attain the BP target.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“Fragmentation, Vertical Intra-Industry Trade, and Automobile components"

By analyzing vertical intra-industry trade (VIIT) within Portugal's automobile parts and components industry, this study adds new empirical evidence for the international fragmentation of the production process. For trade partner countries, we choose the EU countries, the BRICs, and the US during the period 1995 to 2005. From panel data analysis, the empirical evidence supports the notion that shorter geographical distance, dissimilar income levels, and dissimilar endowments between two economies lead to a higher VIIT of automobile components. In addition, our results also confirm the hypothesis that automobile (assembly) production in each country promotes higher VIIT of auto parts, while economic integration in the style of the European Union and similarity in culture do not magnify the VIIT of the parts and components industry. We conclude that income differences between trade partner countries are an important driver via the international fragmentation of production of a higher VIIT. However, a call for a geographically closer vertical linkage by the agglomeration effect for large domestic automobile production leads a firm to keep the entire production process within a country and may deter this income-difference effectVertical intra-industry trade, Fragmentation, Panel data, Automobile components

Comment on Bress et al. Effect of Intensive Versus Standard Blood Pressure Treatment According to Baseline Prediabetes Status: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Trial. Diabetes Care 2017;40:1401-1408.

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Country-Specific Determinants of Intra-Industry Trade in Portugal

Based on the theoretical models of Helpman and Krugman (1985), Falvey and Kierzkowski (1987) and Flam and Helpman (1987) and on the empirical studies of Greenaway, Hine and Milner (1994) and Hummels and Levinsohn (1995), we use a static and dynamic panel data approach to test the country-specific determinants of Portuguese intra-industry trade (IIT). We include income variables together with supply-side variables in order to test the demand similarity and factor endowments difference hypotheses. The results suggest that the Linder hypothesis is confirmed and that differences in income levels have a positive (negative) effect on vertical IIT (horizontal IIT and IIT). However, our findings only partially confirm Helpman and Krugman's theoretical predictions