Estimating the Black Economy through Monetary Approach: A Case Study of Pakistan

In the recent years, the ‘black economy’ has held enormous appeal for policy makers. Presence of black economy creates critical misrepresentation of macroeconomic variables in official estimates that lead to the false determination and delusional impact of economic policies. Similarly, black economy represents the unrecorded potential of the economy vis-à-vis resource generation and mobilization. The Economy of Pakistan underwent several minor tax reforms since 1960’s. However, the tax and tariff reform of 1990’s, committed under international pressure, was the first comprehensive exercise and therefore it becomes highly desirable to gauge its impact on the black economy and tax evasion practices. This paper, with some modifications, uses the standard monetary approach to obtain the latest estimates of the size of black economy and its macroeconomic implications thereof.

Packing: A Poem

For the student planning to venture out of their home and set sail for higher studies, the busiest time of the year is in the Fall. University application season is hard, but it is harder still to pack one’s bags and leave everything familiar behind. The international student feels especially divided at a time like this: the excitement of experiencing something new and the feeling of bereavement while leaving their world behind. “Packing” speaks of the act of taking with one the things that are important, special, and worthwhile. Though it is virtually impossible to carry one’s whole world in two suitcases, it is still worth trying to fit in as much as possible

Remarks on some recent results about polynomials with restricted zeros

We point out certain flaws in two papers published in Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska Sect. A, one in 2009 and the other in 2011. We discuss in detail the validity of the results in the two papers in question

Some inequalities for polynomials and transcendental entire functions of exponential type

Let $p$ be a polynomial of degree $n$ such that $|p(z)|leq M$ ($|z|=1$). The Bernstein\u27s inequality for polynomials states that $|p^prime(z)|leq Mn$ ($|z|=1$). A polynomial $p$ of degree $n$ that satisfies the condition $p(z)equiv z^n p(1/z)$ is called a self-reciprocal polynomial. If $p$ is a self-reciprocal polynomial, then $f(z)=p({rm e}^{rm i z})$ is an entire function of exponential type $n$ such that $f(z)={rm e}^{rm i n z} f(-z)$. Thus the class of entire functions of exponential type $tau$ whose elements satisfy the condition $f(z)={rm e}^{rm i tau z} f(-z)$ is a natural generalization of the class of self-reciprocal polynomials. In this paper we present some Bernstein\u27s type inequalities for self-reciprocal polynomials and related entire functions of exponential type under certain restrictions on the location of their zeros

Application of the Euler's gamma function to a problem related to F. Carlson's uniqueness theorem

In his work on F. Carlson's uniqueness theorem for entire functions of exponential type, Q. I. Rahman [5] was led to consider an infinite integral and needed to determine the rate at which the integrand had to go to zero for the integral to converge. He had an estimate for it which he was content with, although it was not the best that could be done. In the present paper we find a result about the behaviour of the integrand at infinity, which is essentially best possible. Stirling's formula for the Euler's Gamma function plays an important role in its proof

Mediators of mechanotransduction between bone cells

Mechanical forces are known to regulate the function of tissues in the body, including bone. Bone adapts to its mechanical environment by altering its shape and increasing its size in response to increases in mechanical load associated with exercise, and by decreasing its size in response to decreases in mechanical load associated with microgravity or prolonged bed rest. Changes in bone size and shape are produced by a cooperative action of two main types of the bone cells - osteoclasts that destroy bone and osteoblasts that build bone. These cell types come from different developmental origins, and vary greatly in their characteristics, such as size, shape, and expression of receptor subtypes, which potentially may affect their responses to mechanical stimuli. The objective of this study is to compare the responses of osteoclasts and osteoblasts to mechanical stimulation. This study has allowed us to conclude the following: 1. A mediator is released from a single source cell. 2. The response to the mediator changes with distance. 3. The value of the apparent diffusion coeficient increases with distance. 4. A plausible proposed mechanism is that ATP is released and degrades to ADP. 5. Future experiments are required to confim that ATP is the mediator as suggested

Understanding competitiveness through life experiences – A strategy-as-practice approach

Practitioners learn and enact typical ways of thinking, understanding and viewing (interpreting) things in their surroundings (fields). The paper argues that by viewing competitiveness as something done by people and not a deliberate-emergent process has the potential to provide a fresh insight as to why competitive advantage is difficult to attain, maintain and plan. Therefore, it is advocated that the nature of competitiveness be explored through the practice theory lens. It is further suggested that due to the reflexive nature of practice theory, this approach allows investigation of the network of social practices, thus bridging the understanding of how social structures and human agency link together to clarify why people do what they do. In translating Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and reflexivity the research has captured the layered intersubjective and interdependent nature of (12 practitioner interviews) becoming competitive. By doing so, the intimate understanding of the way in which practitioners organise, produce and legitimise competitiveness is captured

Bayesian estimation of monetary DSGE models and testing for indeterminacy

This thesis consists of three self-contained papers on U.S. monetary policy. The first paper examines monetary policy in the early 2000s, a prolonged period of low interest rates for which the efficacy of policy is intensely debated. Through the lens of an estimated simple New Keynesian (NK) model, the paper finds that when measuring inflation using headline CPI, the Federal Reserve's response to inflation turns out to be passive, therefore implying indeterminacy. Only when measuring inflation using core PCE does monetary policy appear to have been sufficiently active to rule out indeterminacy. Faced with this dilemma, the paper finally estimates an extended model that distinguishes between core and headline inflation. Estimation results from this model decisively rule out indeterminacy and suggest that indeed the Fed has put more weight on core PCE. The second paper contrasts interest rate rules featuring fixed versus time-varying inflation target. It finds that the rule embedding time variation in inflation target empirically fits better and that the Fed has been responding strongly to the inflation gap not only in the Great Moderation period but also in the Great Inflation era. Therefore, this finding rules out self-fulfilling inflation expectations as an explanation of the high inflation episode in the 1970s. The paper also documents that changes in monetary policy have dampened most of the fluctuations in the inflation gap and contributed to the decline in its persistence and predictability. The third paper investigates the impact of commodity price fluctuations on monetary policy and estimates a NK model with an explicit role for commodity price fluctuations. It finds that the pre-Volcker period is characterized by a determinate version of the model featuring high degree of real wage rigidity In this environment, the commodity price shocks of the 1970s created a severe trade-off between inflation and output gap stabilization. Faced with this puzzle, the central bank chose to react aggressively to both inflation and output growth, but not to the output gap, thereby ruling out indeterminacy. The paper further documents that oil price shocks are no longer as inflationary as they used to be due to a decline in real wage rigidity, thereby explaining the resilience of the economy to sustained oil price hikes in the 2000s.Thesis (Ph.D.) (Research by Publication) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 201

Some Coefficient Estimates for Polynomials on the Unit Interval

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 26C05, 26C10, 30A12, 30D15, 42A05, 42C05.In this paper we present some inequalities about the moduli of the coefficients of polynomials of the form f (x) : = еn = 0nan xn, where a0, ј, an О C. They can be seen as generalizations, refinements or analogues of the famous inequality of P. L. Chebyshev, according to which |an| Ј 2n-1 if | еn = 0n an xn | Ј 1 for -1 Ј x Ј 1