Cloudy_3D, a new pseudo-3D photoionization code

We developed a new quick pseudo-3D photoionization code based on Cloudy (G. Ferland) and IDL (RSI) tools. The code is running the 1D photoionization code Cloudy various times, changing at each run the input parameters (e.g. inner radius, density law) according to an angular law describing the morphology of the object. Then a cube is generated by interpolating the outputs of Cloudy. In each cell of the cube, the physical conditions (electron temperature and density, ionic fractions) and the emissivities of lines are determined. Associated tools (VISNEB and VELNEB_3D) are used to rotate the nebula and to compute surface brightness maps and emission line profiles, given a velocity law and taking into account the effect of the thermal broadening and eventually the turbulence. Integrated emission line profiles are computed, given aperture shapes and positions (seeing and instrumental width effects are included). The main advantage of this tool is the short time needed to compute a model (a few tens minutes).Comment: To appear in Proc. IAU Symp. 234, Planetary Nebulae in Our Galaxy and Beyond (3-7 Apr 2006), eds. M.J. Barlow & R.H. Mendez (Cambridge Univ. Press

Does a country need a promotion agency to attract foreign direct investment : a small analytical model applied to 58 countries

Establishing an investment promotion agency has become a central part of most countries'development strategies. Today there are more than 150 investment promotion agencies worldwide. Yet very little is known about what these agencies have been really doing, notably in emerging countries, and whether they have been effective in influencing investors'decisions. Using data from a new survey on 58 countries, Morisset shows that greater investment promotion is associated with higher cross-country foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, on top of the influence of the country's investment climate and market size. But this result has to be qualified on several counts. First, the effectiveness of the agency depends on the country's environment in which it operates. An agency in a poor investment climate is less effective at attracting investment. Second, the scope of activities that an agency undertakes influences its performance. Morisset's empirical analysis indicates that agencies devoting more resources on policy advocacy are more effective because such activity is not only beneficial to foreign investors but also to domestic investors. In contrast, investment generation or targeting strategies appear expensive and risky, especially in countries with poor investment climates. Finally, certain internal characteristics of the agencies are associated with greater effectiveness. The agencies that have established reporting mechanisms to the country's highest policymakers (the president or prime minister) or to the private sector have been systematically more efficient at attracting foreign direct investment. Such institutional links are crucial because they contribute to strengthen the government's commitment as well as reinforce the agency's credibility and visibility in the business community.Decentralization,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Foreign Direct Investment,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,ICT Policy and Strategies

Does financial liberalization really improve private investment in developing countries?

Assuming that liquidity constraints exist in most developing countries, the majority of analysts believe that increasing real interest rates will raise the volume of lending and hence private investment. The author, focusing on the demand for capital goods, argues that the positive effect on the domestic credit market may be offset by the negative effect of a portfolio shift from capital goods and public bonds into monetary assets. The author also demonstrates that a policy of financial liberalization could increase the public sector's demand for domestic credit, thus limiting the funds available to the private sector. This crowdingout does not result from a change in the government's behavior but from a shift in the portfolio of private agents. Higher demand for bank deposits reduces the private sector's willingness to hold government bonds, so the public sector must finance a given budget deficit with more domestic credit. Simulations for Argentina for 1961 - 1982 suggest that the low response of private investors to changes in interest rate policy in those 20 years was attributable not to the low values of interest elasticities but to the interaction of the mechanisms allowed for in the model, which tends to neutralize the impact of such policies. The author concludes that the effect of changes in interest rate policy on the demand for capital goods is weak in Argentina and might affect the quality of private investment more than its quantity.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Macroeconomic Management

A new helicostat from SNIAS helicopter division

The Helicostat was described as a helicopter in which the vehicle weight is nullified by two balloons arranged in a catamaran fashion. Development of such a vehicle is discussed, and various uses for these helicopters are summarized

Aerospatiale is ready to develop a convertiplane with tethering rotors

Information on the recent study of the convertiplane is reported. The convertiplane was designed to replace the conventional helicopter. Its speed is much faster than that of the helicopter, it uses less fuel, and can carry up to five passengers. The discovery of the convertiplane was brought about because the helicopter is handicapped by its slow speed and can carry only a few passengers

Unfair trade? Empirical evidence in world commodity markets over te past 25 years

Since the 1970s, commodity prices have fallen in international markets at the same time that consumer pries have risen. The price of coffee declined 18 percent on world markets between 1975 and 1993, for example, but the consumer price for it increased 240 percent in the United States. Explanations for such diverging patterns remain largely unexplored in current economic literature. The author examines the spreads between international and domestic commodity prices, explains why they have increased, and analyzes their implications for commodity-exporting countries. He finds that the spreads have increased dramatically because of the asymmetric response of domestic consumer prices to movements in world prices. In all major consumer markets, decreases in world commodity prices have systematically been transmitted to domestic consumer prices much less than have increases. This may have cost commodity-exporting countries more than $100 billion a year because it has limited the expansion of demand for commodities in these markets. The asymmetric response, which has been attributed to trade restrictions and rising processing costs, appears to be caused largely by the behavior of international trading companies. Many of these companies are large enough to dominate most commodity markets. Surprisingly, although mainstream economists have suggested imperfect competition in international trade at both the producer and the consumer levels, they have not yet pointed it out at the intermediary level. Free trade requires that all players sing the same tune : competition. The author recommends a special effort to understand the determinants of consumer prices and the role of intermediaries at both wholesale and retail levels -starting with the collection of information about the activities of international trading companies. This effort would require the involvement of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, because they have the resources to undertake such an operation worldwide. Only a better understanding of how these companies operate will remove the suspicion of unfair trade in international commodity markets.Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Labor Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Consumption

Foreign direct investment in Africa : policies also matter

Africa has not succeeded in attracting much foreign direct investment in the past few decades. When countries did attract multinational companies, it was principally because of their (abundant) natural resources and the size of their domestic market. Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and South Africa have traditionally been the main recipients of foreign direct investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the author shows that a few Sub-Saharan countries have generated interest among international investors by improving their business environment. In the 1990s, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, and Senegal attracted substantial foreign direct investment--more so than countries with bigger domestic markets (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, and Kenya) and greater natural resources (Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe). Mali and Mozambique, which improved their business climate spectacularly in the 1990s, did so with a few strategic actions: liberalizing trade, launching an attractive privatization program, modernizing mining and investment codes, adopting international agreements on foreign direct investment, developing a few priority projects that had multiplier effects on other investment projects, and mounting an image-building effort in which political figures such as the nation's president participated. These actions are similar to those associated with the success of other small countries with limited natural resources, such as Ireland and Singapore about 20 years ago.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Governance Indicators,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Foreign Direct Investment