INFLATION CONVERGENCE IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN ECONOMIES

In this study, the degree of convergence of inflation rates of Central and East European economies to a variety of measures of European norm inflation is assessed using a range of econometric techniques. These include unit root testing based upon time series and panels of data and – an innovation to the pertinent literature – tests of nonlinear convergence. The results suggest that while convergence can be revealed in a number of cases, there is some sensitivity associated with the testing framework, in particular whether time series or panel methods are used. Furthermore, the inflation convergence performance of the Central and Eastern European countries is conditional on the chosen inflation benchmark, the composition of the panel and the correlations among members. Moreover, by conducting a battery of linearity tests, it is found that nonlinear inflation convergence is virtually ubiquitous for the period that includes the accession of the Central and Eastern European former transition economies into the EU.inflation convergence, panel data, linearity tests

Portfolio Construction in Global Financial Markets

This paper presents a classroom simulation that can be used to introduce the concepts of portfolio management and asset allocation in the presence of global markets. While there are portfolio management games and stock trading games that are designed to cover an entire semester, this simulation provides a single period introduction to portfolio management. The simulation also creates an environment in which students discover how exchange rate volatility can affect investment returns of global funds.

Regional income distribution and human capital formation: A model of intergenerational education transfer in a global context

The demographic problems in developed countries are getting more and more important. Very low fertility rates especially among skilled individuals will soon become relevant for a country's economy. Also of importance is education of children. Since there is an increasing demand for skilled workers, the positive correlation between social background and education worsens the situation. Therefore family planning as well as fertility providing and educational measures are of major importance for regional decision makers. We define in our model the optimal number of children considering the income and education of their parents by using a Cobb-Douglas utility function which implies that children and consumption are complementary goods. Children are considered to be a differentiated good with respect to their education. Therefore, we distinguish between high educated and low educated children. After deciding the optimal number of children, the education level of children has to be determined. We assume that only one parent is responsible for the education. Further we presume a negative correlation between the opportunity costs of educating a child and their parent's qualification. Since we consider the parents income and education, many cases result. Regional policy makers have the possibility to change individual decisions regarding offspring by creating monetary incentives. As wages and therefore family income are exogenous, the regional governments have only two policy measures left: either child allowance and/or scholarships. Considering the population's preferences, regions may optimize the number and structure of children. --population policy,education,qualification,factor proportions,globalization

Collective Excitations of Supersymmetric Plasma

Collective excitations of N = 1 supersymmetric electromagnetic plasma are studied. Since the Keldysh-Schwinger approach is used, not only equilibrium but also non-equilibrium plasma, which is assumed to be ultrarelativistic, is under consideration. The dispersion equations of photon, photino, electron and selectron modes are written down and the self-energies, which enter the equations, are computed in the Hard Loop Approximation. The self-energies are discussed in the context of effective action which is also given. The photon modes and electron ones appear to be the same as in the usual ultrarelativistic plasma of electrons, positrons and photons. The photino modes coincide with the electron ones and the selectron modes are as of free relativistic massive particle.Comment: 14 pages, typos corrected, Phys. Rev. D in prin

FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REFRIGERATED FOOD PRODUCTS TRUCKING FIRMS IN THE U.S.

This study provides an overview of the financial characteristics of U. S. refrigerated food products trucking firms as a group and by regions. The analytical tools used for evaluating the financial assessment of the industry were several commonly used liquidity, profitability, and solvency ratios. One of the results reveals that the pre-tax income-to-gross revenue ratio, a measure of profitability, for the firms as a group averaged 0.01. This value means that one-cent of every dollar earned in services ("sales") was available to pay taxes and distribute profits.Agribusiness,

International Success of British Companies

This paper examines the international success of British companies in a matrix combining global market share and international revenues. We identify those industry segments in which British companies are most successful internationally, and also investigate whether these are attractive industries in terms of profitability and growth. We find that the industries with the largest global market shares for British companies are Mining, Casinos (and Gaming), Oil Companies (Major), Distillers & Brewers, and Water Utilities. Four of the top ten might be considered to be “sin” industries. The industries with the highest international revenues are Precious Metals, Pharmaceuticals, Industrial (Diversified), Oil Companies (Secondary), and Mining. We also find that virtually all of the largest British firms average over a 10% global market share, in the “British Winners” segment of our matrix. However, we find the second measure, the extent of internationalization, to be ambiguous. The manufacturing (product-based) firms tried to be highly internationalized, as they compete globally, but the largest British services firms (financials, retailers) tend to have low internationalization, and therefore appear to benefit from a still somewhat regulated home market. In addition, British companies have done a good job of building up global market shares in higher growth industries. We provide recommendations for managers as to how British companies with different combinations of global market share and extent of internationalisation can improve their positions. Our methodology can also be applied to analyzing companies from other nations.

Novel modelling of ultra-compact X-ray binary evolution - stable mass transfer from white dwarfs to neutron stars

Tight binaries of helium white dwarfs (He WDs) orbiting millisecond pulsars (MSPs) will eventually "merge" due to gravitational damping of the orbit. The outcome has been predicted to be the production of long-lived ultra-compact X-ray binaries (UCXBs), in which the WD transfers material to the accreting neutron star (NS). Here we present complete numerical computations, for the first time, of such stable mass transfer from a He WD to a NS. We have calculated a number of complete binary stellar evolution tracks, starting from pre-LMXB systems, and evolved these to detached MSP+WD systems and further on to UCXBs. The minimum orbital period is found to be as short as 5.6 minutes. We followed the subsequent widening of the systems until the donor stars become planets with a mass of ~0.005 Msun after roughly a Hubble time. Our models are able to explain the properties of observed UCXBs with high helium abundances and we can identify these sources on the ascending or descending branch in a diagram displaying mass-transfer rate vs. orbital period.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, MNRAS Letters, in pres