Stock Returns and Inflation: Some New Evidence

Using aggregate and industry-wise monthly UK data over a period of 44 years we examine the long run relationship between stock return index (St) and retail price index (Pt) in a VAR framework. Univariate tests confirm Pt as I(2); nevertheless pairs of St and Pt are co-integrated and share common I(1) trend. There is no evidence of shared I(2) trend. We find evidence of shifts in the co- integrating ranks and parameters, and accounting for these shifts improved estimates’ precision. The long run price elasticity of return index is consistently above unity, a finding that stands in sharp contrast to the existing ones. Overall our results suggest that tax-paying stock investors are fully insulated against inflation in the long run

The impact of varying statutory arrangements on spatial data sharing and access in regional NRM bodies

Spatial information plays an important role in many social, environmental and economic decisions and increasingly acknowledged as a national resource essential for wider societal and environmental benefits. Natural Resource Management is one area where spatial information can be used for improved planning and decision making processes. In Australia, state government organisations are the custodians of spatial information necessary for natural resource management and regional NRM bodies are responsible to regional delivery of NRM activities. The access and sharing of spatial information between government agencies and regional NRM bodies is therefore as an important issue for improving natural resource management outcomes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the current status of spatial information access, sharing and use with varying statutory arrangements and its impacts on spatial data infrastructure (SDI) development in catchment management sector in Australia. Further, it critically examined whether any trends and significant variations exist due to different institutional arrangements (statutory versus non-statutory) or not. A survey method was used to collect primary data from 56 regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies responsible for catchment management in Australia. Descriptive statistics method was used to show the similarities and differences between statutory and non-statutory arrangements. The key factors which influence sharing and access to spatial information are also explored. The results show the current statutory and administrative arrangements and regional focus for natural resource management is reasonable from a spatial information management perspective and provides an opportunity for building SDI at the catchment scale. However, effective institutional arrangements should align catchment SDI development activities with sub-national and national SDI development activities to address catchment management issues. We found minor differences in spatial information access, use and sharing due to varying institutional environment (statutory versus non-statutory). The non-statutory group appears to be more flexible and self-sufficient whilst statutory regional NRM bodies may lack flexibility in their spatial information management practices. We found spatial information access, use and sharing has significant impacts on spatial data infrastructure development in catchment management sector in Australia

Complex magnetism of lanthanide intermetallics unravelled

We explain a profound complexity of magnetic interactions of some technologically relevant gadolinium intermetallics using an ab-initio electronic structure theory which includes disordered local moments and strong $f$-electron correlations. The theory correctly finds GdZn and GdCd to be simple ferromagnets and predicts a remarkably large increase of Curie temperature with pressure of +1.5 K kbar$^{-1}$ for GdCd confirmed by our experimental measurements of +1.6 K kbar$^{-1}$. Moreover we find the origin of a ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic competition in GdMg manifested by non-collinear, canted magnetic order at low temperatures. Replacing 35\% of the Mg atoms with Zn removes this transition in excellent agreement with longstanding experimental data.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Investors Activism and the Gains from Takeover Deals

We examine whether activists add value to the shareholders of targets and their acquirers. Several findings emerge. First, acquirers of targets that have activists outperform acquirers of other targets in both the short and long term. Second, the premium received by the shareholders of targets is not affected by activism. Third, superior gains achieved by the acquirers of targets with activists are driven by non-cash deals, while the average target benefits more from cash deals

Temperature dependent carrier lifetime studies on Ti-doped multicrystalline silicon

Carrier lifetimemeasurements were performed on deliberately Ti-doped multicrystalline silicon wafers using a temperature controlled photoconductance device. The dominant recombination center was found to be the double-donor level associated with interstitial titanium. The interstitial Ti concentrations in multicrystalline silicon wafers were determined by measuring the Shockley–Read–Hall time constant for holes and using the known values of the thermal velocity and capture cross section for holes of the double-donor level at different temperatures. The measured values of the Ti concentration were then used to determine the electron capture cross section of the double-donor level over the temperature range of 140–270 °C via the measured values of the Shockley–Read–Hall time constant for electrons and the known thermal velocity. Multiphonon emission was found to be the most likely capture mechanism for this temperature range for electron capture into the double-donor level of Ti in silicon. The effective segregation coefficient for Ti was estimated by fitting Scheil’s equation to the measured values of the Ti concentrations and their respective vertical positions in the ingot. If all Ti were present as the interstitial double-donor, a lower limit of 1.8×10⁻⁶ can be ascribed to the segregation coefficient, which is very close to the equilibrium value.This work was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant between the Australian National University, SierraTherm Production Furnaces, and SunPower Corporation. D.H.M. is supported by an Australian Research Council fellowship

Maize in Nepal: Production Systems, Constraints, and Priorities for Research

Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Phase stability analysis in Fe-Pt and Co-Pt alloy systems: An augmented space study

We have studied the problem of phase stability in Fe-Pt and Co-Pt alloy systems. We have used the orbital peeling technique in the conjunction of augmented space recursion based on the tight binding linear orbital method as the method for the calculation of pair interaction energies. In particular, we have generalized our earlier technique to take into account of magnetic effects for the cases where the magnetic transition is higher than the order disorder chemical transition temperature as in the case of Co$_3$Pt. Our theoretical results obtained within this framework successfully reproduce the experimentally observed trends.Comment: 17 pages, 9 Figures. Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics : Condensed Matte