Foreign Bank Entry and Business Volatility: Evidence from U.S. States and Other Countries

Theory suggests that bank integration (financial integration generally) can magnify or dampen the business cycles, depending on the importance of shocks to firm collateral versus shocks to the banking sector. In this paper, we show empirically that bank integration across U.S. states over the late 1970s and 1980 dampened economic volatility within states. Internationally, however, we find that foreign bank integration, which advanced widely during the 1990s, has been either unrelated to volatility of firm investment spending or positively related to that volatility. The results suggest the possibility that business spending may become more volatile as countries open their banking sectors to foreign entry.

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Parallel Observations of the Planetary Nebula M94-20

The planetary nebula M94--20 in the Large Magellanic Cloud was serendipitously observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Hubble Space Telescope Archival Pure Parallel Program. We present spatially resolved imaging and spectral data of the nebula and compare them with ground based data, including detection of several emission lines from the nebula and the detection of the central star. We find the total H alpha + [NII] flux = 7.3e-15 erg s^-1 cm^-2 and we estimate the magnitude of the central star to be m_V = 26.0 +/- 0.2. Many other H alpha sources have been found in M31, M33 and NGC 205 as well. We discuss the use of the parallel observations as a versatile tool for planetary nebula surveys and for other fields of astronomical research.Comment: Latex, 14 pages, 2 JPEG figures, 2 tables. PASP Research Note, June 1999, in pres

Bank Integration and Business Volatility

We investigate how bank migration across state lines over the last quarter century has affected the size and covariance of business fluctuations across states. Starting with a two-state version of the unit banking model in Holmstrom and Tirole (1997), we conclude that the theoretical effect of integration on business fluctuations is ambiguous because integration dampens the impact of bank capital shocks but amplifies the impact of firm collateral shocks. The net effect empirically seems stabilizing, however, as we find fluctuations in employment growth within states falls as integration rises, especially when we instrument for the level of integration and control for employment composition within states. Integration also weakens the link between bank capital growth within states and growth in state employment and bank lending.

Statutory protection of freshwater flora and fauna

The aim of this paper is to summarize the present legislation aimed at protecting freshwater species in Britain, and briefly to review its effectiveness. Some areas have been deliberately omitted, such as fisheries legislation designed to conserve stocks, and the statutory protection of birds associated with fresh waters which forms a large subject area in its own right

Boundary element modelling and full scale measurement of the acoustic performance of outdoor noise barriers

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 12/11/1999.The performance of various designs of outdoor noise barrier has been investigated using numerical modelling and full scale experiments. The numerical modelling has been performed using a two-dimensional boundary element method. The model has been extended to allow the efficient simulation of barrier arrangements on ground having two distinct impedance values and cross-sections incorporating cuttings. It has been reported previously that the performance of a plane screen can be enhanced by adding a device to the top of the barrier to induce destructive interference. Full scale modelling and boundary element simulations have been performed on one such commercially available device. It has been shown that, taking the height increase into account, the major contribution to the improved performance is the presence of two diffracting edges rather than any interference effects generated. It is known that the performance of a single barrier is degraded following the introduction of a barrier on the opposite side of a source. Boundary element simulations of such parallel arrangements have been performed. Modifications have been proposed to reduce the over-estimation of multiple reflections within the model, together with a method for converting predictions to the equivalent point source values. Sound absorptive, tilted and median barriers have been shown to be effective in reducing the degradation. A multiple-edge barrier configuration is known to offer improved screening performance over a plane screen. Reported in-situ measurements have suggested the behaviour to be influenced by site geometry. Boundary element calculations have been performed to identify a more efficient variant of the device. The results suggest the addition of an inclined base panel to be most effective. The boundary element model has been used to investigate the effect of shape and surface treatment upon railway noise barriers. The model has been adapted to allow the use of dipole sources characteristic of railway noise. The cross-section of the rolling stock has been shown to affect the performance of rigid barriers. If the upper edges are coincident, the results suggest that simple absorptive barriers provide better screening than tilted designs. The addition of multiple edges further enhances performance.EPSRC; Transport Research Laborator

The coalition government and liberal intervention: Britain’s response to the crises in Libya and Syria

This thesis is a study of the response of the Coalition government (2010-2015) to the crises in Libya and Syria. It examines the key drivers of British policy in both cases, focusing particularly on government attitudes towards the use and non-use of military force. While existing academic literature has discussed the ‘‘liberal conservative’’ approach of the Conservatives who led the Coalition, there has been very little empirical analysis of British involvement in the Libyan conflict of 2011 and even less on the government’s response to the Syrian civil war. The primary contribution of this thesis is to therefore fill this gap in our understanding of an important area of contemporary British foreign policy. This research employs a historical methodology to reconstruct the development of British policy and analyse the motivations and structural pressures that explain the decisions (and non-decisions) that were made during this period. It draws heavily on primary sources including parliamentary debates, the inquiries carried out by House of Commons committees, public statements made by Downing Street, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, in addition to statements, speeches and interviews given by key government ministers. Existing research has not yet taken advantage of the availability of these sources. In addition to providing a detailed empirical analysis of British policy toward the crises in Libya and Syria, this research also identifies a wider theme. Specifically, this thesis argues that Britain’s approach to both conflicts can be characterised by the presence of a particular world-view and a corresponding set of assumptions about the use and non-use of military force in situations of perceived humanitarian necessity. Importantly, these beliefs show strong parallels with the approach of the Blair governments and the philosophy of ‘‘liberal interventionism.’

Morphological and physiological adaptations of prosthecate bacteria to growth in low nutrient environments

Prosthecate bacteria are usually observed in oligotrophic (low nutrient) environments and have been proposed as "model" oligotrophic bacteria since they possess a number of adaptations for growth under very low nutrient conditions. This project was designed to study selected prosthecate bacteria and attempt to relate their ecology to physiological and morphological adaptations, in particular the production of a motile swarmer cell stage. Ecological investigations showed that the prosthecate bacteria were ubiquitous in the oligotrophic fresh water environments examined. A variety of morphological types were observed in populations which also included large numbers of morphologically "typical" cells, demonstrating that there exists a large variety of oligotrophic bacteria. The responses of these bacteria to increasing nutrient concentrations suggested that currently accepted definitions of oligotrophy are in need of reconsideration. Caulobacter crescentus CB1S, Hyphomicrobium X and Rhodomicrobium vanniel1i Rm5 were studied in detail in both batch and continuous culture with respect to nutrient effects on cell morphology and cell type expression. All three organisms produced elongated prosthecae with increasing nutrient stress under both carbon and phosphate—1imi ted conditions, an observation somewhat in contradiction with reports suggesting that prosthecae function as specialised phosphate uptake sites. The production of «warmer cells was enhanced under conditions of nutrient stress, supporting the proposition that swarmer cells function as specialised survival and dispersal cells. R, vannlelli was chosen for investigations into the intermediary metabolism of prosthecate bacteria with respect to adaptions to oligotrophy and differential cell type expression. Unlike other Rhodospirillaceae this organism was shown to possess an incomplete tricarboxyllc acid (TCA) cycle under anaerobic conditions broken at 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase and lacked NADH oxidase activity but these enzymes were present under aerobic conditions. Of the glyoxylate shunt enzymes, malate synthase activity was detected but isocltrate lyase was absent. The TCA cycle enzymes, Ribulose—1,5-bl«phosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase possessed similar activities and Inhibitor patterns in both swarmer and prosthecate cells and therefore the physiological adaptations of the swarmer cells remain largely unknown. This work has demonstrated the success and ubiquity of prosthecate bacteria in the oligotrophic fresh water ecoystem although it must be emphasised that there exist a large number of non-prosthecate bacteria in these environments. The roles of the prosthecae and swarmer cells in this competitiveness are as yet not fully clear but appear to be of importance in view of observed responses to nutrient limitation