Economic consequences of intifada: a sequel

We give an assessment of the loss in the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and nominal gross national income (GNI) due to twenty- seven months of intifada. It is based on the modest growth scenario given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in their first assessment of the economic developments in 2006 in Palestine. It turns out that the assessed loss is equivalent to the GDP of 1997 and the GNI in 1999: one year on two (and a quarter). Moreover, we show that our 2004 estimates of macro figures of 2002, based on a static computable general equilibrium model, are closer to the 2007 consensus estimates by IMF and WB than the 2003 estimates of IMF, based on an income-expenditure model. We argue that the shortening of the time horizon and the quantity adjustment following the dramatic shock explain why our model performs better.Palestine;macro-economic indicators;computable general equilibrium model

Introducing the indirect addilog system in a computable general equilibrium model: a case study for Palestine

A popular functional form for modeling the consumption block of a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) is the Linear Expenditure System (LES) for which the Engel curves are straight lines. To allow for more general shapes two other systems have been proposed in recent literature: An Implicitly Directly Additive Demand System (AIDADS, a generalization of LES) and the Specialized Constant Differences of Elasticities (CDE) system. To calibrate the parameters outside information on all income elasticities and all own price elasticities is needed, whereas LES only requires information on income elasticities and the Frisch parameter. In this paper we consider a special case of CDE, the Indirect Addilog System (IAS) that allows for non-straight Engel curves, whereas its outside data requirement is the same as for LES. The only disadvantage is that all cross price elasticities of a particular price are the same. In many developing countries there is hardly any information on price responses so that the AIDADS and CDE cannot be used. We propose the use of IAS rather than LES. In the empirical part we use IAS in a CGE model for Palestine and show that predictions of macro-economic indicators are remarkably close to those of IMF.Palestine;CGE model;indirect addilog system;consumption block;functional forms

Economic consequences of intifada

In 2003 the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published estimates of macro-economic indicators for 2002 of the economy of Palestine. WB used a micro-founded recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated on the 1998 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Palestine, to which shocks were applied, whereas IMF based its estimates on a macro-founded income-expenditure model relying on more recent data. It turned out that there were substantial differences: the estimate by WB of the real Gross National Income (at 1998 prices) was 25% less than the corresponding figure calculated by IMF. This huge difference is not only relevant for a full understanding of the economic consequences of the intifada, but also for the size of the international community intervention. In this paper we propose our own evaluation with the help of a static CGE model, based on the 1998 SAM and the so-called intifada shock derived from data of WB, that we constructed for the analysis of some forms of emergency assistance in a previous article. It turns out that our estimates, based on an entirely different methodology, are remarkably close to those of IMF.Palestine;macro-economic indicators;computable general equilibrium model

Estimation of income elasticities and their use in a CGE model in Palestine

A popular functional form for modeling the consumption block of a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) is the Linear Expenditure System (LES) for which the Engel curves are straight lines. The LES does not allow for the existence of inferior commodities, elastic demand and for gross substitution. To calibrate the parameters outside information on income elasticities and on the expenditure elasticity of the marginal utility of expenditure (Frisch parameter) is needed. In this paper we propose to use the Indirect Addilog System (IAS) that allows for non-straight Engel curves, inferior commodities, elastic demand and gross substitution, and for which the outside data requirement is the same as for LES. In the empirical part we estimate the income elasticities of the IAS from the 1998 Palestinian Expenditure and Consumption Survey (PECS). We replace the LES consumption block with a priori fixed income elasticities of the CGE model, that we previously constructed for Palestine based on the 1998 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), by the IAS with estimated income elasticities and perform a sensitivity analysis for the choice of the Frisch parameter. A comparison with the results obtained by the LES-model with the same income elasticities makes it possible to further clarify the importance of using a IAS to represent consumption behaviors

Economic consequences of intifada

In 2003 the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published estimates of macro-economic indicators for 2002 of the economy of Palestine. WB used a micro-founded recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated on the 1998 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of Palestine, to which shocks were applied, whereas IMF based its estimates on a macro-founded income-expenditure model relying on more recent data. It turned out that there were substantial differences: the estimate by WB of the real Gross National Income (at 1998 prices) was 25% less than the corresponding figure calculated by IMF. This huge difference is not only relevant for a full understanding of the economic consequences of the intifada, but also for the size of the international community intervention. In this paper we propose our own evaluation with the help of a static CGE model, based on the 1998 SAM and the so-called intifada shock derived from data of WB, that we constructed for the analysis of some forms of emergency assistance in a previous article. It turns out that our estimates, based on an entirely different methodology, are remarkably close to those of IMF

Introducing the indirect addilog system in a computable general equilibrium model: a case study for Palestine

A popular functional form for modeling the consumption block of a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) is the Linear Expenditure System (LES) for which the Engel curves are straight lines. To allow for more general shapes two other systems have been proposed in recent literature: An Implicitly Directly Additive Demand System (AIDADS, a generalization of LES) and the Specialized Constant Differences of Elasticities (CDE) system. To calibrate the parameters outside information on all income elasticities and all own price elasticities is needed, whereas LES only requires information on income elasticities and the Frisch parameter. In this paper we consider a special case of CDE, the Indirect Addilog System (IAS) that allows for non-straight Engel curves, whereas its outside data requirement is the same as for LES. The only disadvantage is that all cross price elasticities of a particular price are the same. In many developing countries there is hardly any information on price responses so that the AIDADS and CDE cannot be used. We propose the use of IAS rather than LES. In the empirical part we use IAS in a CGE model for Palestine and show that predictions of macro-economic indicators are remarkably close to those of IMF

Economic consequences of intifada: a sequel

We give an assessment of the loss in the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and nominal gross national income (GNI) due to twenty- seven months of intifada. It is based on the modest growth scenario given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in their first assessment of the economic developments in 2006 in Palestine. It turns out that the assessed loss is equivalent to the GDP of 1997 and the GNI in 1999: one year on two (and a quarter). Moreover, we show that our 2004 estimates of macro figures of 2002, based on a static computable general equilibrium model, are closer to the 2007 consensus estimates by IMF and WB than the 2003 estimates of IMF, based on an income-expenditure model. We argue that the shortening of the time horizon and the quantity adjustment following the dramatic shock explain why our model performs better

WATCAT: a tale of wide-angle tailed radio galaxies

We present a catalog of 47 wide-angle tailed radio galaxies (WATs), the WATCAT; these galaxies were selected by combining observations from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Very Large Array Sky Survey (NVSS), the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST), and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and mainly built including a radio morphological classification. We included in the catalog only radio sources showing two-sided jets with two clear "warmspots" (i.e., jet knots as bright as 20% of the nucleus) lying on the opposite side of the radio core, and having classical extended emission resembling a plume beyond them. The catalog is limited to redshifts z $\leq$ 0.15, and lists only sources with radio emission extended beyond 30 kpc from the host galaxy. We found that host galaxies of WATCAT sources are all luminous (-20.5 $\gtrsim$ Mr $\gtrsim$ -23.7), red early-type galaxies with black hole masses in the range $10^8\lesssim$ M$_{\rm BH} \lesssim 10^9$ M$_\odot$. The spectroscopic classification indicates that they are all low-excitation galaxies (LEGs). Comparing WAT multifrequency properties with those of FRI and FRII radio galaxies at the same redshifts, we conclude that WATs show multifrequency properties remarkably similar to FRI radio galaxies, having radio power of typical FRIIs

YOUNG ITALIANS' MEDIA USE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS IMMIGRATION

This paper describes a study aimed at analyzing whether and how certain technologies usage practices can lead to the construction of different perceptions in relation to social phenomena. In particular, the study enquires how the evolution in the way young people get informed, can lead to different attitudes towards a phenomenon such as immigration. The work aims to understand what kind of relationship exists between different media usage types and (over)exposure to the news – made possible by the web, particularly social media – and the perception (in cognitive and evaluative terms) of the presence of immigrants in Italy. To answer these questions, an empirical research was conducted using a qualitative and quantitative approach. In particular, the quantitative study was carried through a survey on a sample of 200 subjects and illustrates how the information system, new information technologies and media consumption strongly influence the way young Italian see the world, confirming a bias between their perception and what statistical data say about the environment in which they are living

Generation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells as disease modelling of NLSDM

Neutral Lipid Storage Disease with Myopathy (NLSDM) is a rare defect of triacylglycerol metabolism, characterized by the abnormal storage of neutral lipid in organelles known as lipid droplets (LDs). The main clinical features are progressive myopathy and cardiomyopathy. The onset of NLSDM is caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the PNPLA2 gene, which encodes adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL). Despite its name, this enzyme is present in a wide variety of cell types and catalyzes the first step in triacylglycerol lipolysis and the release of fatty acids. Here, we report the derivation of NLSDM-induced pluripotent stem cells (NLSDM-iPSCs) from fibroblasts of two patients carrying different PNPLA2 mutations. The first patient was homozygous for the c.541delAC, while the second was homozygous for the c.662G>C mutation in the PNPLA2 gene. We verified that the two types of NLSDM-iPSCs possessed properties of embryonic-like stem cells and could differentiate into the three germ layers in vitro. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that iPSCs had an abnormal accumulation of triglycerides in LDs, the hallmark of NLSDM. Furthermore, NLSDM-iPSCs were deficient in long chain fatty acid lipolysis, when subjected to a pulse chase experiment with oleic acid. Collectively, these results demonstrate that NLSDM-iPSCs are a promising in vitro model to investigate disease mechanisms and screen drug compounds for NLSDM, a rare disease with few therapeutic options