Galaxies in Present-day Clusters: Evolutionary Constraints from Their Distributions and Kinematics

We discuss evidence in local, present-day clusters of galaxies (from the ENACS survey) about the way in which those clusters have evolved and about the evolutionary relationships between the galaxies of different morphological types in them. This evidence is complementary to that obtained from the study of clusters at intermediate and high redshifts. We argue that the spatial distribution and the kinematics of the various types of galaxies in and outside substructures support the following picture. The ELLIPTICAL AND S0 GALAXIES have been around for a long time and have obtained an isotropic velocity distribution. The spatial distribution and kinematics of the EARLY SPIRALS are consistent with the idea that many of their kind have transformed into an S0, but that they have survived, most likely because of their velocities. The distribution and kinematics of the LATE SPIRALS are consistent with a picture in which they have been accreted fairly recently. They have mildly radial orbits and hardly populate the central regions, most likely because they suffer tidal disruption. Finally, the distribution and kinematics of the GALAXIES IN SUBSTRUCTURES, when taken at face value, imply tangential velocity anisotropy for these galaxies, but this result may be (partly) due to the procedure by which these galaxies are selected. A first attempt to take the effects of selection into account shows that isotropic (or even mildly radial) orbits of subcluster galaxies cannot be excluded.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the IAU colloquium No. 195: "Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters: intense life in the suburbs", A. Diaferio ed. (invited contribution

CAP Reform in the Light of the WTO Doha Round Negotiations

Our paper focuses on the question: how the measures of June 2003 agreement can help the EU to meet the new WTO commitments. As decoupling of direct payments and WTO classification of the new payments seem to be one of the most important questions from the point of view of WTO negotiations, our analysis focuses mainly on the Single Farm Payment (SFP). We assesses the decoupled nature of the single farm payment (SFP) based on WTO and OECD criteria. We conclude that the SFP meets not only the current WTO (design based) criteria of decoupling, but can also be qualified as effective fully decoupled system using the OECD terminology.CAP reform, WTO, decoupling, International Relations/Trade, Q17, Q18, F13, F15,

Declining "Common" Agricultural Policy? CAP Reform of 2003 and Its National Implementation in the Member States

This paper focuses on the basic element of the 2003 CAP reform process: on the single farm payment and its national implementation models. We examine possible economic impacts (production distorting effects, redistribution, restructuring, resource allocation and effects on land market) of the basic SFP models. In sum, we can say that the 2003 CAP reform and the new support provide an opportunity to overcome some of the difficulties the CAP faces with. However, the wide range of national diversities threatens the principle of the single market, and transparency and operation of the common market organizations. As there is a wide range of possible constructions member states can decide for, the common nature of the CAP gets more and more questionable.CAP reform, decoupling, single farm payment, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q17, Q18, F13, F15,

The Language Effect in International Trade: A Meta-Analysis

Gravity models of international trade have been frequently applied to estimate the impact of common (official or spoken) language on bilateral trade. This study provides a meta-analysis based on 701 language effects collected from 81 academic articles. On average, a common (official or spoken) language increases trade flows directly by 44%.common language, gravity, international trade, trade costs

CAP UNDER FIRE: THE BUDGETARY REVIEW AND THE CAP

During the process of the budgetary review the CAP faces its greatest challenge of its history: not only the (common) financing of the CAP, but the future of the CAP itself is at stake. It is obvious that the reform steps implemented so far – even though they have several forward-looking elements – do not result in a CAP sustainable on the long run. Further changes are inevitable. Basing our analysis on the theories of fiscal federalism and other political economy approaches, we try to answer the following questions. Is common financing of a reformed CAP justified? Can national co-financing be extended? Is it justified to keep the system of commonly financed direct payments?European Union, Common Agricultural Policy, fiscal federalism, budget review, Agricultural and Food Policy, F15, F36, H41, H50, Q18,

Specific Human Capital, Trade, and the Wealth of Nations

We develop a general equilibrium model of trade with endogenous human capital acquisition in job specific skills and imperfectly observable skills. We show that even if there are no ex-ante fundamental differences between countries there may be equilibria under international trade with specialization in production and cross-country differences in standards of living. In particular, this may happen even if there is a unique equilibrium under autharchy; protectionism may in this case be a welfare enhancing policy for the poor country. In an asymmetric equilibrium, the country with a relatively skilled labor force will specialize in production of goods that are intensive in skilled labor. Incentives to invest in human capital depend on aggregate investments within the country and the relative factor prices. We show that incentives to invest in human capital are strictly decreasing in aggregate investments in the other country. Hence, our model has in common with many other approaches that externalities are central. Furthermore, as in most macro-oriented research on the topic, differences in standard of living are generated by differences in human capital accumulation. However, contrary to most previous work we provide explicit micro-foundations for the externalities: what distinguishes our model from most of the previous literature is that we assume that human capital investments are imperfectly observable. The external effects are derived from what we view as a rather natural informational problem and will as a consequence of barriers to labor mobility be local to the country where labor can move freely within.