Sensitivity of Tariffs and Quotas: A Signaling Game

In a model with cost-based informational asymmetry and trade policy determined endogenously, we show that tariffs and import-quotas have different sensitivities to the signal sent by the private agents to the home government. Specifically, the optimal quota is shown to be more sensitive than the optimal tariff as measured in terms of the reduction in equilibrium import-volume caused by the change in the government's perception about the true cost of the domestic firm. Consequently, signaling distortion is larger in the quota regime than in the tariff regime. Non-equivalence between the two policy tools follows from this difference in their sensitivities. The model is benchmarked so that under complete information tariffs and quotas are equivalent.Trade Policy, Singnaling

The effect of different industrialized building system (IBS) construction methods compared to the conventional method on occupational safety and health (OSH) industry risks in construction

The construction industry is known for the hazardous physical working conditions and high risk of accidents because of the nature of the workplace activities. It is one of the most dangerous business sectors compared to the other industries. The accident cases in construction industry contribute to the rises statistics of accidents in Malaysia. Therefore, IBS construction has been suggested to replace the many initiatives that could be implemented to improve OSH performance due to frequent accidents as a substitute for the traditional construction methods. Improving the performance of the construction industry has pushed forward the need for innovation and adopting new construction methods and technologies in the industry. This study aims to analyze and validate the impact of major activities of the IBS construction method which are prefabricated steel framing system, prefabricated timber framing system and formwork system. This study involved a field observation to on-site that use these 3 types of IBS as a residential building construction method. The data was collected through interviews with the safety and health officers, other than observed the operations involved in each type of IBS method to determine the major activities and OSH risks associated throughout the construction process of the IBS. Next, the activities and the risks involved in each activity were tabulated before it was analyzed and validated with the competent professionals. The findings revealed that the major activities in the prefabricated timber framing system and formwork system have low risk compared to the conventional method. Meanwhile, majority of the activities involved in the prefabricated steel framing system has high risk compared to the conventional method. Moreover, 2 methods have introduced new activities which are prefabricated steel framing system (2 new activities) and prefabricated timber framing system (4 new activities). Therefore, this study offered a better understanding of the risk/hazard of IBS construction method and the effect the IBS towards safety and health

Boundary Layer Flow Due To A Moving Flat Plate In Micropolar Fluid

The mathematical model for a boundary layer flow due to a moving flat plate in micropolar fluid is discussed. The plate is moving continuously in the positive x-direction with a constant velocity. The governing boundary-layer equations are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. Numerical results presented include the reduced velocity profiles, gyration component profiles and the development of wall shear stress. The results obtained, when the material parameter K = 0 (Newtonian fluid) showed excellent agreement with those for viscous fluids. Further, the wall shear stress increases with increasing K. For fixed K, the wall shear, stress decreases and the gyration component increases with increasing values of n, in the range 0>n>1 where n is a ratio of the gyration vector component and the fluid shear stress at the wall

Road Safety Analysis on Commuting Route: Ipoh to UTP

There are several routes of Ipoh-UTP trip for UTP staffs commuting to work. This research considers two major groups of staffs which are the academician, administration and support staffs. However, they tend to choose the routes that suit their personal concern very well. Alternatives of the routes and elements such as distance, travelling time, fuel consumption, ease of driving and facilities located along the road are the factors affect the decision making. During decision making process, a set of alternatives representing the possible choices is evaluated. The objectives to be achieved drive the screening of possible alternatives and determine their overall evaluation. The criteria are the yardstick for the objectives and specify the degree to which each alternative matches the objectives. By using Multiple Criteria Decision Making Method (MCDM) specifically under Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA), the attributes performance and preference of decision makers are combined to establish the overall merits of each option and highlight the best solution. The most popular routes identified were through the Ipoh-Jalan Lahat-UTP, Ipoh-Falim-UTP, Ipoh-Simpang Pulai-UTP and Ipoh-Bandar Botani-UTP. The road safety element of the most preferred route will be investigated by analyzing the accident trend along the route. The outcome of the project would be a rank of routes from the most preferred to least preferred one for UTP staff commuting to work and accident mitigation actions proposal to the local authority to improve the safety of the most preferred route

Synthesis and Characterization of New Chelating Resins Containing Thiourea as the Functional Group

A senes of chelating resins, derived from a macroreticular styrenedivinylbenzene (2%) copolymer beads grafted with various spacer from propylene groups (-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂)n (n=1, 2, 4) and containing thiourea as chelating function, have been synthesized in a four-step reaction sequence. The steps began by the reaction of diethyl malonate with a spacer (ethylene groups), followed with the attachment of the arm group to the polymer. The polymer was then hydrolyzed and converted to its polychloride acid derivatives and followed by the attachment of the thiourea functional group to produce the new chelating resins. The reaction of diethyl malonate with the spacer has been monitored by using nuclear magnetic. resonance analysis. Meanwhile, the presence of all the functional groups has been deduced by infrared spectroscopy. Due to the insolubility of the backbone resin, the presence or absence of certain bands expected for particular functional groups in their infrared spectra was used to monitor the success of the grafting process. The C, H, N and S elemental analyses data were used to estimate the degree of conversion in each and every step of the reactions and the surface morphology was studied by using scanning electron microscopy. The complexation behavior of these resins was investigated towards Hg(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions in aqueous solutions by the batch equilibration technique. The influence of pH on adsorption capacity was also examined. The adsorption values for metal ions' intake followed the order Hg(II) > Cu(II) > Pb(II). Polymers can be regenerated by washing with the mixture solution of hydrochloric acid and an aqueous solution of thiourea by using the column method