Euro Effect on Trade in Final, Intermediate and Capital Goods

The aim of this paper is to provide fresh evidence on the effect of the adoption of the euro on exports of different types of goods. The novelty with respect to previous research is threefold. First, disaggregated trade data are used to allow for heterogeneous effects for final intermediate and capital goods. Second, we distinguish between the euro effect on the extensive and the intensive margins of trade. Finally, we estimate the impact of the Euro adoption controlling for exchange rate volatility, exchange rate movements and EU membership. This allows us to disentangle the effect of a common currency beyond the elimination of trade barriers and of any variation in the exchange rate. The main results indicate that the impact of the Euro on trade values (intensive margin) is around 9% for intermediates, 7% for final goods and it is negative for capital goods. Interestingly, the Euro effects on the extensive margin of trade are found to be negative and significant for the three types of goods, pointing to increasing specialization.Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness is grateful acknowledged (ECO2014-58991-C3-2-R)

What Explains Indirect Exports of Goods and Services in Eastern Europe and Central Asia?

This paper investigates the determinants of indirect exporting, using firm- level data for 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Indirect exporting depends on a combination of fixed and variable trade cost factors. We first hypothesize that firms that perceive customs, transportation, crime and legal sys- tems as severe obstacles anticipate higher fixed costs and are more likely to export indirectly. The second hypothesis is that indirect exporting tends to be a temporary strategy. Econometric models are used to test the first hypothesis and transition matrices to test the second. In particular, probit, Heckman-probit and fractional response models are estimated to analyse the determinants of the export mode and the share of indirect exports. The results indicate that the factors that account for the fixed cost of exporting, mainly affect the decision to export indirectly (extensive margin), but some of them also affect, to a lesser extent, the amount exported indirectly (intensive margin). More specifically, factors such as customs and trade restrictions and transportation obstacles affect the extensive margin only, whereas crime affects both margins. Secondly, trade agreement membership mainly affects trade in manufactured goods, while exchange rate volatility affects positively the extensive and intensive margin of indirect exports of services. The results also indicate that firms are more likely to change their status as an indirect exporter than they are to change their status as a direct exporter or a non-exporter, which provides support to the second hypothesis

The Gravity of Arms

1 The Gravity of Arms Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the determinants of international arms transfers in a gravity model framework . By distinguishing between the decision to export arms (extensive margin) and the value of the arms exported (intensive margin), while also considering its interdependence, is what differentiates this paper from previous research . A theoretically - justified gravity model of trade augmented with political and security motives is estimated using a two - stage panel data approach for 104 exporting countries over the period from 1950 to 2007. In addition to the usual gravity variables related to the economic mass of the trading countries and the trade cost factors, the model is extended with political and security factors. T he level of democracy in both trading partners , political differences between trading partners and voting similarity with the United States in the UN General Assembly of the countries engaged in trade are the main political factors , whereas the existence of conflicts, military pacts and embargoes are taken as security motives . The key result indicates that both political and security motives are an important determinant of an arms trade , but their effects on the extensive margin of exports (the decision to order a transfer) differs from their effect on the intensive margin (average value of exports) . Moreover , the relative importance of the fa ctors under study has changed since 1989 . In the post - Cold War period , countries that are less democratic are more likely to export arms , military pacts are less relevant and embargoes play a role

Contact cleaning of polymer film solar reflectors

This paper describes the accelerated ageing of polymer film reflecting surfaces under the conditions to be found during contact cleaning of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors in the presence of dust and sand particles. In these situations, contact cleaning using brushes and water is required to clean the reflecting surfaces. Whilst suitable for glass reflectors, this paper discusses the effects of existing cleaning processes on the optical and visual properties of polymer film surfaces, and then describes the development of a more benign but effective contact cleaning process for cleaning polymer reflectors. The effects of a range of cleaning brushes are discussed, with and without the presence of water, in the presence of sand and dust particles from selected representative locations. Reflectance measurements and visual inspection shows that a soft cleaning brush with a small amount of water can clean polymer film reflecting surfaces without inflicting surface damage or reducing specular reflectance

LINKING FIRMS IN VALUE BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS: TOWARDS A CLASSIFICATION MODEL

This paper contributes to the business ecosystem literature by offering a classification model that allows for the differentiation of intercompany connections. The researchers found that the definition of a business ecosystem lacks separation in the types of connection between companies. Business ecosystems were found to differentiate significantly, from loosely coupled to highly regulated and organised company relationships. Work with practitioners has shown that some may even result in newly founded business ventures. The authors are therefore proposing a classification model for business ecosystems that allows further classifications in studies. The outcome of this study has helped practitioners to operationalise product service and service business ecosystems

An exploratory social network analysis of academic research networks

For several decades, academics around the world have been collaborating with the view to support the development of their research domain. Having said that, the majority of scientific and technological policies try to encourage the creation of strong inter-related research groups in order to improve the efficiency of research outcomes and subsequently research funding allocation. In this paper, we attempt to highlight and thus, to demonstrate how these collaborative networks are developing in practice. To achieve this, we have developed an automated tool for extracting data about joint article publications and analyzing them from the perspective of social network analysis. In this case study, we have limited data from works published in 2010 by England academic and research institutions. The outcomes of this work can help policy makers in realising the current status of research collaborative networks in England

Attentional filtering of visual information by neuronal ensembles in the primate lateral prefrontal cortex.

The activity of neurons in the primate lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is strongly modulated by visual attention. Such a modulation has mostly been documented by averaging the activity of independently recorded neurons over repeated experimental trials. However, in realistic settings, ensembles of simultaneously active LPFC neurons must generate attentional signals on a single-trial basis, despite the individual and correlated variability of neuronal responses. Whether, under these circumstances, the LPFC can reliably generate attentional signals is unclear. Here, we show that the simultaneous activity of neuronal ensembles in the primate LPFC can be reliably decoded to predict the allocation of attention on a single-trial basis. Decoding was sensitive to the noise correlation structure of the ensembles. Additionally, it was resilient to distractors, predictive of behavior, and stable over weeks. Thus, LPFC neuronal ensemble activity can reliably encode attention within behavioral time frames, despite the noisy and correlated nature of neuronal activity

Museum of Latino History Feasibility Study

The State of California, in considering the feasibility of a proposal for a State Museum of Latino History retained the consulting team of Economics Research Consultants, Florian Martinez Associates, and J. Wetzel Associates to conduct a study. The museum’s purpose would be to provide a venue for displaying artifacts, exhibits, and cultural programs which educate the public as to the historical development and contributions of Latinos to California specifically and America generally. The resulting report has the following sections: introduction, summary and conclusions, concept statement, attendance analysis, space requirements, museum location and site analysis, financial analysis, and organization and implementation recommendations

Recognizing Unit Multiple Intervals Is Hard

Multiple interval graphs are a well-known generalization of interval graphs introduced in the 1970s to deal with situations arising naturally in scheduling and allocation. A d-interval is the union of d intervals on the real line, and a graph is a d-interval graph if it is the intersection graph of d-intervals. In particular, it is a unit d-interval graph if it admits a d-interval representation where every interval has unit length. Whereas it has been known for a long time that recognizing 2-interval graphs and other related classes such as 2-track interval graphs is NP-complete, the complexity of recognizing unit 2-interval graphs remains open. Here, we settle this question by proving that the recognition of unit 2-interval graphs is also NP-complete. Our proof technique uses a completely different approach from the other hardness results of recognizing related classes. Furthermore, we extend the result for unit d-interval graphs for any d ⩾ 2, which does not follow directly in graph recognition problems -as an example, it took almost 20 years to close the gap between d = 2 and d > 2 for the recognition of d-track interval graphs. Our result has several implications, including that recognizing (x, …, x) d-interval graphs and depth r unit 2-interval graphs is NP-complete for every x ⩾ 11 and every r ⩾ 4

Does German Development Aid boost German Exports and German Employment? A Sectoral Level Analysis

This paper uses an augmented gravity model of trade to investigate the link between German development aid and sectoral exports from Germany to aid recipient countries with data from 1978–2011. The findings indicate that in the long run each dollar of German aid is associated with an average increase of US$ 0.83 US of German goods exports. The sectors that benefit the most in terms of exports and employment are machinery, electrical equipment and transport equipment. According to our estimates using input-output analysis and a partial equilibrium framework, the aid-induced gains in sectoral exports are associated with the gross employment of approximately 216,000 people.We would like to thank the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for financing the study. We are extremely grateful to Bart Los (University of Groningen Europe’s leading institution in inputoutput-analysis) for his assistance in computing the employment effects. The comments of the three anonymous referees clearly helped to improve the paper and so did the suggestions that we received at workshops and conferences