Product differentiation and foreign trade in CGE models of small economies

In recent years, two classes of computable general equilibrium (CGE) trade models have been used to investigate external sector policies: single country and and multicountry trade models. The authors examine the treatment of exports and imports in recent single country CGE models of small economies. They present a simple, one sector analytical model that captures the major features of the multi sector counterpart used in applied models. They show that applying the same assumption about product differentiation to imports as to exports gives rise to a well behaved, price taking economy and normally shaped offer curves. They illustrate the one-sector model with a numerical example which shows the implications of the choice of weights used as a proxy for the domestic price index in computations of real exchange rate indices. The model also shows the role of foreign trade elasticities in the popular Australian model, with traded and nontraded goods. Trade substitution elasticities on the import side play a crucial role in determining the direction of change in real exchange rate during terms of trade perturbations.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Stabilization,Macroeconomic Management

Productivity and externalities : models of export led growth

In developing countries, industrialization for successful export-led growth has been associated with rapid structural change and growth in productivity. Standard neoclassical growth models have difficulty explaining this change in performance. This paper has developed a simple analytical model incorporating export externalities that capture the large increases in the share of trade and total factor productivity that are associated with export-led growth. It also has developed a second model that breaks growth into its various components, which includes the effects of: (a) factor accumulation; (b) moving factors from areas of low productivity to area of high productivity; (c) exporting heavy and light manufactures; and (d) importing capital goods. The paper implements the second model with data from an archetypal semi-industrial country. The model accounts for the higher total factor productivity growth observed in countries pursuing export-led growth strategies. It also captures the pattern of structural change that such countries experience.Banks&Banking Reform,Achieving Shared Growth,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Growth

Voluntary temporary abstinence from alcohol during “Dry January” and subsequent alcohol use

Objective: Temporary abstinence from alcohol may convey physiological benefits and enhance well-being. The aim of this study was to address a lack of information about: (1) correlates of successful completion of a planned period of abstinence, and (2) how success or failure in planned abstinence affects subsequent alcohol consumption. Methods: 857 British adults (249 men, 608 women) participating in the “Dry January” alcohol abstinence challenge completed a baseline questionnaire, a one-month follow-up questionnaire, and a 6-month follow-up questionnaire. Key variables assessed at baseline included measures of alcohol consumption and drink refusal self-efficacy (DRSE). Results: In bivariate analysis, success during Dry January was predicted by measures of more moderate alcohol consumption and greater social DRSE. Multivariate analyses revealed that success during Dry January was best predicted by a lower frequency of drunkenness in the month prior to Dry January. Structural Equation Modelling revealed that participation in Dry January was related to reductions in alcohol consumption and increases in DRSE among all respondents at 6-month follow-up, regardless of success, but these changes were more likely among people who successfully completed the challenge. Conclusions: The findings suggest that participation in abstinence challenges such as “Dry January” may be associated with changes toward healthier drinking and greater DRSE, and is unlikely to result in undesirable “rebound effects”: very few people reported increased alcohol consumption following a period of voluntary abstinence

The Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz)

We present a new catalogue, the Imperial IRAS-FSC Redshift Catalogue (IIFSCz), of 60,303 galaxies selected at 60 micron from the IRAS Faint Source Catalogue (FSC). The IIFSCz consists of accurate position, optical, near-infrared and/or radio identifications, spectroscopic redshift (if available) or photometric redshift (if possible), predicted far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) fluxes ranging from 12 to 1380 micron based upon the best-fit infrared template. About 55% of the galaxies in the IIFSCz have spectroscopic redshifts and a further 20% have photometric redshifts obtained through either the training set or the template-fitting method. For S(60)>0.36 Jy, the 90% completeness limit of the FSC, 90% of the sources have either spectroscopic or photometric redshifts. Scientific applications of the IIFSCz include validation of current and forthcoming infrared and submm/mm surveys such as AKARI, Planck and Herschel, follow-up studies of rare source populations, large-scale structure and galaxy bias, local multiwavelength luminosity functions and source counts. The catalogue is publicly available from http://astro.imperial.ac.uk/~mrr/fss/Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Revised on 23/04/09. The catalogue has been revised to correct the fluxes of extended sources. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Embedding of global attractors and their dynamics

Using shape theory and the concept of cellularity, we show that if $A$ is the global attractor associated with a dissipative partial differential equation in a real Hilbert space $H$ and the set $A-A$ has finite Assouad dimension $d$, then there is an ordinary differential equation in ${\mathbb R}^{m+1}$, with $m >d$, that has unique solutions and reproduces the dynamics on $A$. Moreover, the dynamical system generated by this new ordinary differential equation has a global attractor $X$ arbitrarily close to $LA$, where $L$ is a homeomorphism from $A$ into ${\mathbb R}^{m+1}$

New Relations for Coefficients of Fractional Parentage--the Redmond Recursion Formula with Seniority

We find a relationship between coefficients of fractional parentage (cfp) obtained on the one hand from the principal parent method and on the other hand from a seniority classification. We apply this to the Redmond recursion formula which relates $n \to n+1$ cfp's to $n-1 \to n$ cfp's where the principal parent classification is used. We transform this to the seniority scheme. Our formula differs from the Redmond formula inasmuch as we have a sum over the possible seniorities for the $n \to n+1$ cfp's, whereas Redmond has only one term.Comment: RevTex4, 17 pages; added Appendix A, with proof for the new relation; corrected Eqs.(26),(38), and (39

Small linearly equivalent GG-sets and a construction of Beaulieu

Two $G$-sets ($G$ a finite group) are called linearly equivalent over a commutative ring $k$ if the permutation representations $k[X]$ and $k[Y]$ are isomorphic as modules over the group algebra $kG$. Pairs of linearly equivalent non-isomorphic $G$-sets have applications in number theory and geometry. We characterize the groups $G$ for which such pairs exist for any field, and give a simple construction of these pairs. If $k$ is \Q, these are precisely the non-cyclic groups. For any non-cyclic group, we prove that there exist $G$-sets which are non-isomorphic and \lineq over \Q, of cardinality \leq 3(#G)/2. Also, we investigate a construction of P. Beaulieu which allows us to construct pairs of transitive linearly equivalent $S_n$-sets from arbitrary $G$-sets for an arbitrary group $G$. We show that this construction works over all fields and use it construct, for each finite set \mc P of primes, $S_n$-sets linearly equivalent over a field $k$ if and only if the characteristic of $k$ lies in \mc P.Comment: v2: fixed proof of Lemma 2.