Materials processing in space: A survey of referred open literature publications

Over 190 reports published in the open literature by workers in the materials processing in space program are listed according to year as well as alphabetically by author. Thirty five reports submitted for publication are also cited. Supported either directly or indirectly by NASA, the research generally pertains to the influence (or lack of influence) of gravity on processes involved in crystal growth, solidification, fluid transport, containerless phenomena, and various separation techniques of interest to the biomedical community. Studies of the possibilities of using the high vacuum in the wake of orbiting vehicles for performing processes involving large heat loads and evolution of gases are also included

A Gravity Model Approach to Estimating Prospective Trade Gains in the EU Accession and Associated Countries

Examining the trade prospects for the new European Union (EU) member states and the EU associated partner countries is an important issue in the context of European eastward enlargement and greater economic integration with its immediate neighbours. An out-ofsample approach to projecting trade volumes for twenty countries of interest is adopted using a gravity equation for a panel data set of bilateral export flows from twelve EU countries to twenty OECD trading partners over the 1992-2003 period. The potential trade volumes are calculated from a gravity model of new trade theory (NTT) determinants. The selected twenty countries’ prospects for further trade integration vis-à-vis the EU can be gauged by expressing the trade volume projections as a ratio of actual trade volumes for each pair of countries. The projected trade ratios for the ten new member states are found to be multiples of actual 2003 levels, indicating that trade expansion looks set to continue. Near unity values, however, are more frequent among the Mediterranean countries, indicating fewer opportunities for further trade integration with the EU.Panel data, Gravity model, Trade integration

Financial liberalisation in India and a new test of the complementarity hypothesis

This paper reappraises the financial repression hypothesis for India in the light of the partial liberalisation of the financial sector in the early 1990s, using for the first time, state-of-art multivariate cointegration and vector error correction models (VECM). From this robust test we find that for the Indian economy over the sample period 1951-1999 money and capital are complementary, suggesting that higher real interest rates will raise the demand for money and lead to higher levels of investment. Furthermore, testing for a structural break in the early 1990s – to coincide with the liberalisation of the financial sector in India – suggests that these reforms have not significantly changed the complementary relationship between money and capital. The policy implication is that further financial liberalisation is required in India, to enhance investment and economic growth

Human Capital and Spatial Heterogeneity in the Iberian Countries’ Regional Growth and Convergence

Human capital is believed to be an important conditioning factor in explaining the convergence and the speed of convergence of regional economies, although it is usually excluded from the estimated models due to a lack of consistent data. In contrast this paper, using a newly constructed series on human capital at the NUTS III level for Portugal, evaluates the role of human capital on the speed of convergence using a spatial econometric methodology, for a sample of Iberian NUTS III regions over the period 1991-2006. This is the first study to consider human capital effects at the NUTS III level and the results show convergence, both absolute and conditional, occurs mainly in the peripheral group of regions, while human capital plays a positive role only in the club of the richest regions, in contrast with an insignificant effect in the periphery. There is also evidence of important regional spillovers between the regions and evidence of the importance of EU regional policy in enhancing the convergence of the NUTS III regions.Regional growth, beta-convergence, Human Capital, Spatial Effects

The Location of Foreign Direct Investment in the Central and Eastern European Countries: A Mixed Logit and Multilevel Data Approach

This paper uses the Mixed logit (ML) model and a novel three-level dataset to examine the factors explaining 1,108 foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions into 13 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) over an eleven-year period between 1997 and 2007. The ML model approach is superior to other discrete choice methods in that it allows for random taste variation, unrestricted substitution patterns and correlation in unobserved factors over time. The highly significant empirical results, based on a general underlying economic model of imperfect competition, show that the responsiveness of the probabilities of choices to invest in a particular country in CEE to country-level variables differs both across sectors and across firms of different sizes and profitability. The results generalise previous studies that used only country-level data or only industry- and firm-level data to give a more accurate explanation of the firm-specific investment location decisions.Mixed logit model, random parameters, foreign direct investment, multi-level data, Halton draws

Regional Growth and Convergence: The Role of Human Capital in the Portuguese Regions

Potentially one of the most important determinants of regional economic growth and convergence is human capital, although due to a lack of data this factor is frequently omitted from econometric studies. In contrast, this paper constructs three measures of human capital at the NUTS III regional level for Portugal for the period 1991-2008 and then includes these variables in regional growth regressions. The results show that both secondary and higher levels of education have a significant positive effect on regional growth rates which may be regarded as supportive of Portuguese education policy, which over the last three decades has attempted to raise the regional human capital by locating higher education institutions across the country.Human capital, Regional convergence, GMM

The Latent Heterogeneity in Investment Location Choices of Multinational Enterprises

The heterogeneity of investing firms is an important determinant of the distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions. This paper, for the first time, explicitly allows for firms’ heterogeneity by using a latent class discrete choice model and a new multi-level data set to examine over 1100 individual firm FDI-location decisions over an 11-year period. The highly significant empirical results show that the responsiveness of the probabilities of choices to invest in a particular country location to country-level variables differs both across sectors and across firms of different sizes and profitability. Therefore, controlling for investing firms’ heterogeneity is important if robust estimates are to be obtained.d.Latent Class model, firm heterogeneity, foreign direct investment, multi-level data

The Location of Foreign Direct Investment in the Central and Eastern European Countries: A Nested Logit and Multilevel Data Approach

This paper generalizes the existing empirical literature on the determinants of the location of FDI, using a nested logit (NL) model and a novel three-level dataset to examine the factors explaining 1,108 foreign investment location decisions into 13 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) between 1997 and 2007. The NL model relaxes the multinomial logit model assumption of independence of identically distributed error terms and allows for testing if national boundaries affect the investment location choices of MNEs in the CEECs. In contrast to the existing empirical literature on the investment location choices, the Heteroskedastic Extreme Value model is used as a tool to reveal an appropriate nesting structure. The highly significant empirical results, based on a general underlying economic model of imperfect competition, show that the responsiveness of FDI in the CEECs to country-level variables differs both across sectors and across firms of different sizes and profitability. Hence the results of previous studies that used only country-level data or only industry- and firm-level data may be misleading.Nested logit model, foreign direct investment, multi-level data, heteroskedastic extreme value model

Terms of Trade Shocks and Economic Performance Under Different Exchange Rate Regimes

The impact of terms of trade shocks on a country’s output and price level are, according to economic theory, expected to vary according to the de facto exchange rate regime. This paper tests this hypothesis how terms of trade shocks impact on 22 African countries, which operate different de facto exchange rate regimes, using a structural VAR with long-run restrictions, over the period from 1980 to 2007. The empirical findings support the view that the exchange rate regime matters as to how countries respond to exogenous external shocks like terms of trade shocks, in that output variation is greater for countries with fixed regimes, while for flexible regime countries real exchange rate variation reduces the need for output variability.Terms of Trade, Exchange Rate Regimes, Structural VARs

An investigation into the sources of fluctuation in real and nominal wage rates in eight EU countries: A structural VAR approach

This paper uses the SVAR approach to assess the degree of labor market flexibility –measured as the responsiveness of real and nominal wages to permanent and temporary shocks - in eight EU member states (France, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) with a view to assessing their suitability for Euro-area membership. It is found that for Hungary and the Czech Republic real wages are more responsive to real (permanent) shocks than some current members of the Euro zone, such as Italy. On the other hand, in Poland and Slovakia, real wage flexibility seems to be extremely low, making higher unemployment more likely than other EU countries and early euro-area membership unadvisable