Optimical Commodity Price Stabilizador Over the Business Cycle

This paper develops a model to study the design, characterization and dynamic implications of stabilization policies in a dynamic general equilibrium model of the business cycle for an economy tainted by the Dutch disease. The model incorporates a stabilization scheme for the producer price of an export crop in a three- sector RBC model. Stabilization funds have been very popular instruments in developing countries to deal with export price instability. This paper shows that such schemes cannot improve the functioning of the economy, notwithstanding the assumed suboptimality of private outcomes and the possibility of having welfare enhancing policies.Business cycles; Dynamic games; Price Stabilization; Optimal policies; Small open economy Clasiffication JEL:E42, F41.

Sagittarius: The Nearest Dwarf Galaxy

We have discovered a new Galactic satellite galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius. The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy is the nearest galaxy known, subtends an angle of $> 10$ degrees on the sky, lies at a distance of 24 \kpc from the Sun, \sim 16 \kpc from the centre of the Milky Way. Itis comparable in size and luminosity to the largest dwarf spheroidal, has a well populated red horizontal branch with a blue HB extension; a substantial carbon star population; and a strong intermediate age stellar component with evidence of a metallicity spread. Isodensity maps show it to be markedly elongated along a direction pointing towards the Galactic centre and suggest that it has been tidally distorted. The close proximity to the Galactic centre, the morphological appearance and the radial velocity of 140 km/s indicate that this system must have undergone at most very few close orbital encounters with the Milky Way. It is currently undergoing strong tidal disruption prior to being integrated into the Galaxy. Probably all of the four globular clusters, M54, Arp 2, Ter 7 and Ter 8, are associated with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, and will probably share the fate of their progenitor.Comment: MNRAS in press, 22pp uuencoded PS file, 26 printed figures available on request from [email protected]

Chebyshev, Legendre, Hermite and other orthonormal polynomials in D-dimensions

We propose a general method to construct symmetric tensor polynomials in the D-dimensional Euclidean space which are orthonormal under a general weight. The D-dimensional Hermite polynomials are a particular case of the present ones for the case of a gaussian weight. Hence we obtain generalizations of the Legendre and of the Chebyshev polynomials in D dimensions that reduce to the respective well-known orthonormal polynomials in D=1 dimensions. We also obtain new D-dimensional polynomials orthonormal under other weights, such as the Fermi-Dirac, Bose-Einstein, Graphene equilibrium distribution functions and the Yukawa potential. We calculate the series expansion of an arbitrary function in terms of the new polynomials up to the fourth order and define orthonormal multipoles. The explicit orthonormalization of the polynomials up to the fifth order (N from 0 to 4) reveals an increasing number of orthonormalization equations that matches exactly the number of polynomial coefficients indication the correctness of the present procedure.Comment: 20 page

Tacit Collusion under Imperfect Monitoring in the Canadian Manufacturing Industry: An Empirical Study

The paper undertakes a cross-sectoral analysis of a salient empirical implication of the model of tacit collusion advanced by Abreu et al (1986). Specifically, the prevalence of a first order Markovian process for alternating between price wars and collusive periods is assessed by means of non-parametric tests. The analysis focuses on 30 different industries in Canada. The evidence provides weak support for optimal collusion in one industry, which is consistent with the idea that such collusive arrangements are unusual.tacit collusion, game theory, Canada, price war

Accounting and Economic Rates of Return: a Dynamic Econometric Investigation

Many studies have questioned empirical utilization of accounting data as internal rates of return would be more consistent with the relevant economic concept. The paper investigates the dynamic relationships between different measures of accounting rates of return (ARRs) and different approximations for the internal rates of returns (IRRs). In contrast with the prevailing case-study investigations, one considers a panel for quoted Brazilian firms in the manufacturing industry along the 1988-3/2003-2 period. Granger causality tests are considered and even though the results are not completely clear cut, some discernible uni-directional patterns emerge. In particular, there seems to be informational content between economic and accounting rates of return, between ROA (Net Profits/Total Assets) and PM (Gross Profits/ Operational Income), and internal rates of return. This seems to indicate that there is some validity in using accounting rates of return in certain economic studies.

Measuring Market Conduct in the Brazilian Cement Industry: a Dynamic Econometric Investigation

Indirect assessments of market conduct have become widespread in the New Empirical Industrial Organization-NEIO literature. Recently, Steen and Salvanes (1999) provided a flexible dynamic econometric formulation of the approach advanced by Bresnahan (1982) and Lau (1982). The present paper considers a similar approach as applied to regional cement markets in Brazil under more favorable data availability and it also attempts to address part of the critiques that usually emerge with respect to the NEIO literature. In particular, issues pertaining to structural stability and yet the control for the number of competing firms are addressed. The evidence clearly indicates non-negligible and distinct market power in the different regions and yet distinct conduct patterns in the short and long-run.