International capital mobility in an era of globalisation: adding a political dimension to the 'Feldstein–Horioka Puzzle'

The debate about the scope of feasible policy-making in an era of globalisation continues to be set within the context of an assumption that national capital markets are now perfectly integrated at the international level. However, the empirical evidence on international capital mobility contradicts such an assumption. As a consequence, a significant puzzle remains. Why is it, in a world in which the observed pattern of capital flows is indicative of a far from globalised reality, that public policy continues to be constructed in line with more extreme variants of the globalisation hypothesis? I attempt to solve this puzzle by arguing that ideas about global capital market integration have an independent causal impact on political outcomes which extends beyond that which can be attributed to the extent of their actual integration

PRIVATE SAVINGS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: ARE THERE TERMS OF TRADE SHOCKS?

The paper examines the impact of terms of trade shocks on private savings in the transition economies after accounting for the effect of other determinants. Economic agents in the transition economies are subject to tight credit constraints which are more pronounced during bad state of nature. Thus, adverse shocks to commodity prices in the world market can force them to reduce savings by a larger amount than they would otherwise have. Empirical analysis using a dynamic panel model and data from twenty one transition economies confirm that most of the determinants of savings identified in the literature also apply to the transition economies. Favorable movements in both the permanent and transitory components of the terms of trade have a significant positive impact on private savings with transitory movements having a larger impact than the permanent component. This reflects the lack of access to foreign borrowing that many of the transition economies have faced during the last decade. Although the impact of terms of trade shocks are found to be asymmetric, the magnitude of the impact appears to be small. The results are robust for alternative estimators, determinants, and country groupings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39958/3/wp572.pd

Anorgasmia in women

This article reports on the etiology and treatment of anorgasmia. Etiological factors include childhood and adolescent experiences, current individual attitudes, and lifestyle factors, as well as the quality and dynamics of past and present committed relationships. It is important to assess the nature of each of the previously mentioned factors in determining the nature of the orgasmic dysfunction as well as assisting in the development of a treatment plan. Treatment approaches for anorgasmia need to address individual factors (e.g., performance anxiety, poor body image) as well as interpersonal problems. A systemic treatment framework would appear to be the most useful approach to treat this sexual dysfunction, as this type of strategy identifies and treats the difficulties experienced by the anorgasmic woman within the total context of her life. Of course, this approach necessitates the involvement of the partner in therapy, and treatment is unlikely to be effective unless the problems experienced by both the woman and her partner are addressed. Limitations of past research in terms of inadequate evaluation of treatment, low sample sizes, and poorly defined interventions are discussed. Finally, directions for future research to advance our understanding of the most effective treatments for anorgasmia are considered. <br /

Political Regimes and Sovereign Credit Risk in Europe, 1750-1913

This article uses a new panel data set to perform a statistical analysis of political regimes and sovereign credit risk in Europe from 1750 to 1913. Old Regime polities typically suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. By the start of World War I, however, many such countries had centralized institutions and limited government. Panel regressions indicate that centralized and?or limited regimes were associated with significant improvements in credit risk relative to fragmented and absolutist ones. Structural break tests also reveal close relationships between major turning points in yield series and political transformations

Stellar coronal astronomy - a review

Coronal astronomy is by now a fairly mature discipline, with a quarter century having gone by since the detection of the first stellar X-ray coronal source (Capella), and having benefitted from a series of major orbiting observing facilities. Several observational characteristics of coronal X-ray and EUV emission have been solidly established through extensive observations, and are by now common, almost text-book, knowledge. At the same time the implications of coronal astronomy for broader astrophysical questions (e.g. Galactic structure, stellar formation, stellar structure, etc.) have become appreciated. The interpretation of stellar coronal properties is however still often open to debate, and will need qualitatively new observational data to book further progress. In the present review we try to recapitulate our view on the status of the field at the beginning of a new era, in which the high sensitivity and the high spectral resolution provided by Chandra and XMM-Newton will address new questions which were not accessible before.Comment: Space Science Reviews, in press, 132 pages (full paper available at ftp://astro.esa.int/pub/ffavata/Papers/ssr-preprint.pdf