Inversions of statistical parameters of an acoustic signal in range-dependent environments with applications in ocean acoustic tomography

The paper presents an application of a method for the characterization of underwater acoustic signals based on the statistics of their wavelet transform sub-band coefficients in range-dependent environments. As it was illustrated in previous works, this statistical characterization scheme is a very efficient tool for obtaining observables to be exploited in problems of ocean acoustic tomography and geoacoustic inversion, when range-independent environments are considered. Now the scheme is applied in range-dependent environments for the estimation of range-dependent features in shallow water. A simple denoising strategy, also presented in the paper, is shown to enhance the quality of the inversion results, as it helps to keep the signal characterization to the energy significant part of it. The results presented for typical test cases are encouraging and indicative of the potential of the method for the treatment of inverse problems in acoustical oceanography

Inversion of acoustical data from the SW06 experiment, using a statistical method for signal characterization

his paper presents an application of an acoustic signal characterization scheme for ocean acoustic tomography and geoacoustic inversions proposed by Taroudakis et al., using real data. The work is the first attempt to validate the proposed scheme with data taken from sea experiments. The data have been collected during the SW06 experiment held in the New Jersey Continental Shelf and the inversion results (sea-bed geoacoustic parameters and source range) are compared with those reported by Bonnel and Chapman. The comparison and the signal reconstruction using estimated values of the model parameters is satisfactory being an indication that the new signal characterization method can be used in practical applications of acoustical oceanography

Optimal Tax Policies with Private-Public Clean-Up, Cross-Border Pollution and Capital Mobility

This paper builds a model of a region with two non-identical countries, cross-border pollution and free movements of goods and capital within the region. Pollution reduces welfare and there is simultaneous private and public pollution abatement. Public pollution abatement is financed with the use of lump-sum and pollution tax revenue. The introduction of public pollution abatement enables us to derive the optimal pollution taxes in terms of the marginal cost of public pollution abatement. We derive and compare for each country the Nash and cooperative lump-sum and pollution taxes and examine how cross-border pollution and capital mobility affect them. Finally, we examine the impact of capital mobility on the effectiveness of pollution taxes on net pollution.optimal taxes, public pollution abatement, cross-border pollution, capital mobility

Pollution and Capital Tax Competition within a Regional Block

The paper examines the interaction among taxes on factors income, environmental quality and welfare. We construct a two-country regional block model with capital mobility and cross-border pollution. Pollution in the two countries is simultaneously abated by the private sector, in response to a pollution tax and by the public sector utilizing income and pollution tax revenue. We demonstrate, among other things, that due to the existence of cross-border pollution in many cases the Nash optimal policy on capital income is a positive tax, even if taxes on the income of immobile factors are chosen optimally. This tax rate increases with the degree of cross-border pollution.optimal income taxes, public pollution abatement, cross-border pollution, capital mobility

Optimal Tax Policies under Two-Stage Clean-Up, Cross-Border Pollution and Capital Mobility

The literature has identified cross-border pollution, capital mobility and two-stage clean-up as the key features in the «trade Vs environment» debate, yet no study examines all three simultaneously. We build a two country trading block model with cross-border pollution and free movements of goods and capital between the two countries. Pollution reduces welfare and there is simultaneous private and public pollution abatement. Public pollution abatement is financed with the use of lump-sum and pollution tax revenue. We, also, examine how cross-border pollution and capital mobility affect each country’s optimal tax policies. Finally, we examine how the existence of capital mobility alters the effectiveness of pollution taxes on net pollution.Optimal Taxes, Two-stage Clean-Up. Cross-Border Pollution, Capital Mobility.

Tax Competition, Capital Mobility and Public Good Provision Within a Trading Block

We construct a general equilibrium model of a two-country trading block where governments through tax policies attract mobile capital, and provide an imported public consumption good. At Nash equilibrium, when the public good is under-provided, (i) a country with a large GDP, has a large Nash equilibrium income tax rate, (ii) if initially the existing foreign capital in the country is zero or small, then the country with a large population or high individual marginal willingness to pay for the public good has a large Nash equilibrium income tax rate. When the two countries act cooperatively, then for each country, the cooperative optimal income tax rate is positive, and if they are identical then the cooperative income tax rate is greater than the Nash. When the two countries are different, then it is possible that the cooperative income tax rate is less than the Nash.Nash and cooperative income taxes,capital mobility, public goods

Government should treat its Brexit studies like working papers: circulate them for feedback

With the second Brexit analysis leak, Michael Ellington and Costas Milas write that it is in no one's long-term interest to keep such studies from experts until they are complete or leaked. Considering that the task of measuring Brexit's impact is indeed a tall order, they suggest that the process be made more transparent and open to feedback

Why the Bank of England should change how it publishes the future path of interest rates

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee should revisit the issue of publishing its own future path of interest rates, argue Michael Ellington and Costas Milas. They review the current process and explain why it is not very effective

How will a Bank of England interest rate hike affect the economy?

In anticipation of the Bank of England’s interest rate hike, Michael Ellington and Costas Milas consider the Monetary Policy Committee’s options, and suggest that a hike be avoided until the direction of the Brexit negotiations becomes clearer