EMPIRICISM AND THE ART OF TEACHING

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

THE SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION AND RESIDENT INSTRUCTION

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

The End of Moderate Inflation in Three Transition Economies?

This paper examines the moderation of inflation in three transition economies, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland at the end of the 1990s. We argue that the institutions for the conduct of monetary policy in these countries were relatively weak and that monetary policy was unsupported by fiscal policy and hampered by multiple objectives. Using a VAR model of inflation, we show that, under a variety of assumptions, foreign prices and the persistence of inflation were the key determinants of inflation in these countries. From this finding we conclude that the moderation of inflation in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland was due largely to the decline in import prices from 1997 on, and thus it is likely be a temporary phenomenon.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39817/3/wp433.pd

Elastic scattering signals of solar neutrinos with enhanced baryonic currents

The coupling of the baryonic current to new neutrino states \nu_b with strength in excess of the weak interactions is a viable extension of the Standard Model. We analyze the signature of \nu_b appearance in the solar neutrino flux that gives rise to an elastic scattering signal in dark matter direct detection and in solar neutrino experiments. This paper lays out an in-depth study of \nu_b detection prospects for current and future underground rare event searches. We scrutinize the model as a possible explanation for the reported anomalies from DAMA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II and confront it with constraints from other null experiments.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures; code-correction to Xenon ionization (S2) analyses; Xenon10 constraint in Fig.6 is weakened and Xenon100 projection in Fig.7 is revise

Balkan and Mediterranean Candidates for European Union Membership: The Convergence of their Monetary Policy with that of the European Central Bank

We compare the convergence with German monetary policy of the Balkan and Mediterranean country candidates for EU membership with that of countries that have recently joined the EU. Significant linkages exist between German base money stock and that of recent members of the EU; the same holds true for some of the Mediterranean region candidates for EU membership and for Slovenia and Croatia. Among the other Balkan economies and Turkey, the ability to follow the policies of the Bundesbank is nonexistent. Such weak policy coordination suggests the need for strengthening the financial sectors of these countries, for macroeconomic stabilization and for a period in which they tie their policies more closely to the ECB before they can be considered serious candidates for EU membership.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39840/3/wp456.pd

The Effects of Transition and Political Instability On Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: Central Europe and the Balkans

This paper examines the effect of transition and of political instability on FDI flows to the transition economies of Central Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans. We find that FDI to transition economies unaffected by conflict and political instability exceed those that would be expected for comparable West European countries. Success with stabilization and reform tends to increase FDI inflows. In the case of Balkan counties, conflict and instability have reduced FDI inflows below what one would expect for comparable West European countries, and reform and stabilization failures have further reduced FDI to the region. Thus the economic costs of instability in the Balkans have been quite high.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40115/3/wp729.pd

Real and Monetary Convergence within the European Union and Between the European Union and Candidate Countries: A Rolling Cointegration Approach

We use rolling cointegration to measure the convergence of base money, M2, the consumer price index and industrial output between two reference countries, Germany and France, and recent EU members and some transition economy candidates. Counties that recently joined the EU exhibit time-varying cointegration with the reference countries over much of the 1980-2000 sample period. Cointegration for the transition economies was comparable for M2 and prices, but less so for monetary policy and industrial output. This suggests that a peg to the Euro upon accession is feasible for the East European candidates, but the benefits of joining the Euro zone are as yet limited.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39842/3/wp458.pd

The evolution of monetary policy in transition economies

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CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING IN THE WESTERN REGION

The quality of faculty advising has been a source of concern among students and faculty. As an initial attempt at addressing these concerns this paper summarizes the results of a faculty advising study in undergraduate agricultural economics programs. Various advising program characteristics among western schools are discussed and contrasted to schools in other regions. Interregional and interdepartmental variation was found in advisor resource allocation, advising program implementation, rewards and priorities, and evaluations of advising quality. Despite larger enrollments, smaller advising budgets, less support and lower rewards for advising, schools in the West reported advising quality comparable if not superior to that in other regions.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,