Foreign exchange and the liquidity trap

When short-term interest rates hover near zero, central banks may have difficulty offsetting downward momentum on prices and economic activity through traditional monetary-policy channels, since commercial banks have little incentive to make loans. Economists refer to this situation as a liquidity trap. Do exchange rate targets and foreign exchange operations, as some have suggested, offer a way to escape such a trap?Foreign exchange ; Liquidity (Economics) ; Economic conditions - Japan

Financing social enterprises and the demand for social investment

Social investors are supplying increasing amounts of finance to enterprises combining social and commercial objectives although these social enterprises are still more likely to seek bank finance, suggesting that social investors should focus on market gaps which are more likely to occur for smaller, younger social enterprises that lack track record and collateral. Social enterprises offer innovative ways of combining social and commercial objectives and are only slightly less likely to seek repayable finance than other SMEs, with younger social enterprises being more growth oriented and also more discouraged from borrowing. Where social enterprise borrowing takes place, it is almost three times more likely to be from commercial banks, rather than specialist social investment lenders that are more likely to invest without requiring collateral. Social investment lenders should therefore focus their offer on finance gaps left by banks, notably in earlier stage social enterprise development, rather than compete for existing commercial bank market share

Financing social ventures and the demand for social investment

There is a growing interest in social investment and the provision of loan finance to social enterprises. While there has been much discussion on the supply of finance, research on the demand has been lacking. This paper shows that 15 percent of social enterprises are seeking loan finance, with most of these borrowing from high street banks. Only one in five borrowers or 3.6 percent of all social enterprises are approaching social investors (those lenders that have a social mission), Social enterprises without assets that they can use as collateral are shown to be able to seek finance. Just under 60 percent of borrowers have unsecured finance with commercial banks providing unsecured lending to just under half of their customers. Social enterprises appear to be more successful than other types of small business in getting finance, and those more reliant on grants are more likely to succeed in getting finance, as are those with the public sector contracts as their main source of income. This research allows a clear distinction to be made between social enterprises that are not interested in loan finance, those already receiving, and those that are interested but not able to source loans, or are discouraged. Conclusions are drawn for how best to support these gaps in provision without displacing existing finance

A Conceptual Analysis of Relational Contracts in Agribusiness Supply Chains: The Case of the Sugar Industry in Swaziland

This study examines the nature of the relationship between cane growers and millers and how it affects cane growersÂ’ perceptions of the value added in the sugar supply chain. Drawing from relational exchange theory, the study utilised the perceptions of 124 smallholder cane growers in the Swaziland sugar industry. Factors measured in terms of a likert type scale were used to measure each relational construct within the miller-grower contract relationship. The unpacks the trust relationship between large agribusiness companies and smallholder out growers, and shows that relationships characterised by social factors like trust, commitment, and cooperation enhance mutual benefit and quality relationships between parties. This study found that farmers perceive an element of opportunistic behaviour and a lack of cooperation by millers and therefore have limited trust in the millers. Consequently it was also found that satisfaction by cane growers on their relationship with millers has a positive relationship with their level of trust, level of commitment, relative dependence, perception of opportunistic behaviour by millers and perceived cooperation between themselves and the millers. The results point to a number of aspects both growers and millers need to attend to which could contribute to improved relationship and in turn efficiency and returns in the sugar industry in Swaziland.Agribusiness,

Performance of a tandem-rotor/tandem-stator conical-flow compressor designed for a pressure ratio of 3

A conical-flow compressor stage with a large radius change through the rotor was tested at three values of rotor tip clearance. The stage had a tandem rotor and a tandem stator. Peak efficiency at design speed was 0.774 at a pressure ratio of 2.613. The rotor was tested without the stator, and detailed survey data were obtained for each rotor blade row. Overall peak rotor efficiency was 0.871 at a pressure ratio of 2.952

Enabling investment for the transition to a low carbon economy: government policy to finance early stage green innovation

Rapid transformation to meet the Paris 1.5oC climate target requires greater attention to be given to the role of innovative low carbon early stage businesses and the public sector’s role in addressing finance gaps for longer horizon investment requirements. As entrepreneurs require different forms of finance as their businesses grow and move up the ‘finance escalator’, we explore the role of public sector support for grant, equity, debt and new forms of crowd funding finance. These funds can enable individual sustainability focussed businesses to access finance and encourage finance into new areas through having a demonstration effect. We conclude that a finance ecosystem approach is required that ensures complementary forms of finance for low carbon investment are connected at local, national and international scales, alongside support to build entrepreneurial skills and investment readiness. There is also a need for better evidence of the role of public sector support and where there is greatest impact on climate change

Approaches to measuring the scale of the social enterprise sector in the UK

With growing interest in social enterprise in the UK, evidence on the scale of their activity is required to show their contribution to the economy. The figure of 62,000 social enterprises has been regularly based on a minimum three year rolling average of the Annual Small Business Survey between 2005 and 2007. In this paper we show that different surveys have been based upon samples drawn from widely disparate populations. The Annual Small Business Survey is shown to be dominated by private enterprises (Companies Limited by Share, Partnerships and Sole Proprietors) while other surveys such as the National Survey of Third Sector Organisations, have only looked at particular elements of civil society. By understanding the origins of each source of data, a better evidence base can be developed that draws on the different data sources. While there is still on-going debate about the definitions of social enterprise, careful presentation of data sources can allow those using the data to be clearer about what they are including or excluding. We show how different definitions of social enterprise result in widely differing estimations of the population. Estimations of social enterprise activity may be more reliable as the definitions are more consistently applied. This working paper aims to present data and seeks feedback from the social enterprise community and researchers as part of improving the evidence base

The absolute photometry of the zodiacal light

Absolute photometry of zodiacal ligh

Matched filters for coalescing binaries detection on massively parallel computers

We discuss some computational problems associated to matched filtering of experimental signals from gravitational wave interferometric detectors in a parallel-processing environment. We then specialize our discussion to the use of the APEmille and apeNEXT processors for this task. Finally, we accurately estimate the performance of an APEmille system on a computational load appropriate for the LIGO and VIRGO experiments, and extrapolate our results to apeNEXT.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure

Experimental studies of hypersonic boundary-layer transition and effects of wind tunnel disturbances

Boundary layer transition data on cones and free stream disturbance levels were measured in a hypersonic wind tunnel and Mach 8 variable density hypersonic tunnel. Transition data were obtained by using different conical models and techniques for detecting the location of transition. The disturbance levels were measured by using hot wire anemometry and pressure transducers. The transition Reynolds numbers obtained from the tests correlated well when the fluctuating pressures measured at the surface of conical models were used as a correlating parameter