Transmitting shocks to the economy: The contribution of interest and exchange rates and the credit channel

Understanding the transmission channels of shocks is critical for successful policy response. This paper develops a dynamic general equilibrium model to assess the relative importance of the interest rate, the exchange rate and the credit channels in transmitting shocks in an open economy. The relative contribution of each channel is determined by comparing the impulse responses when the relevant channel is suppressed with the impulse responses when all three channels are operating. The results suggest that all three channels contribute to business cycle fluctuations and the transmission of shocks to the economy. But the magnitude of the impact of the interest rate channel crucially depends on the inflation process and the structure of the economy.Transmission channels, open economy, general equilibrium model

Rent-sharing, hold-up, and manufacturing wages in Cote d'Ivoire

Labor costs in Francophone Africa are considered high by the standards of low-income countries, at least in the formal sector. Are they a brake on industrialization, or the result of successful enterprise development? Are they imposed on firms by powerful unions, or government regulations, or a by-product of good firm performance? The authors empirically analyze what determines manufacturing wages in Cote d'Ivoire, using an unbalanced panel of individual wages that allows them to control for observable firm-specific effects. They test the rent-sharing, and hold-up theories of wage determination, as well as some aspects of efficiency-wage theories. Their results lean in favor of both rent-sharing, and hold-up, suggesting that workers have some bargaining power, and that in Cote d'Ivoire workers can force renegotiation of labor contracts, in response to new investments.Economic Theory&Research,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences

Do business administration studies offer better preparation for supervisory jobs than traditional economics studies?

The question whether graduates of business administration (BA) are better prepared for supervisory jobs and have a greater chance of acquiring supervisory jobs than non-BA economics graduates, forms the central theme of the paper. In addition, special attention is given to the question whether having a supervisory job pays off, particularly with an educational background in BA. In order to answer these questions, we have used a data set that relates to the labour market position of graduates from Dutch universities at the early stages of their careers.We have found that BA graduates, despite their multidisciplinary education and the fact that they have fewer deficiencies in their education with respect to the ability for teamwork than non-BA graduates, do not have a greater chance of acquiring supervisory jobs than graduates from non-BA economics courses. We have also found that having a supervisory job pays off, regardless of the education (BA versus non-BA). Lastly, we have found that most of the skills required for managerial leadership are acquired through work and not in education. This suggests that a combination of working and learning may be more effective for developing managerial skills than a purely educational setting.Key words: business administration and non-business administration graduates, supervisory jobs, required competences, job chances, earnings.JEL classification: J 24, J 31, J 44.labour market entry and occupational careers;

SLIDES: Colorado\u27s Water Plan

Presenter: Lauren Ris, Assistant Director for Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources 23 slide

A revision of the libelluline genus Perithemis (Odonata)

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56266/1/MP021.pd

SLIDES: Colorado\u27s Water Plan

Presenter: Lauren Ris, Assistant Director for Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources 23 slide

Conflicting Cultural Values: Whale Tourism in Northern Norway

This paper examines an example of cultural conflict in the case of a whale tourism project in northern Norway. The project has caused conflict since foreign entrepreneurs and their sponsors have moved in with the explicit purpose of putting an end to whaling by various means of changing the whalers' and local people's conception about whales. It is argued in this paper that the reason behind the introduction of The project follows an increasing ideological trend in the Western world today: the non-consumptive utilization of whales. This idea rejects whales as a fishery resource in favour of developing an emotional and recreational relationship towards them and at the same time helping unemployed whalers. The entrepreneurs have thus tried to transform "the Whale" from within the traditional cultural context in northern Norway by introducing an alien image of it as something humans are only supposed to consume by non-material means. Finally, it is concluded that the entrepreneurs have not succeeded in changing either local attitudes towards whales or the economic situation for the whalers, since whaling and other coastal communities in northern Norway show a high degree of cultural resistance.Key words: tourism, whales, whaling, whale watching, Norway, cultural conflict, common property, natural resourcesCet article se penche sur un exemple de conflit culturel dans le cas d'un projet touristique aménagé dans le nord de la Norvège. Le projet a créé un conflit car les promoteurs et leurs commanditaires sont arrivés dans la région avec l'intention déclarée de mettre fin à la chasse à la baleine en tentant par divers moyens de changer la perception qu'ont les chasseurs et la population locale de la baleine. On soutient, dans cet article, que la raison pour laquelle ce projet a été introduit est la tendance idéologique de plus en plus marquée dans le monde occidental d'aujourd'hui d'utiliser la baleine à des fins de consommation non matérielle. Cette idée rejette le concept de la baleine vue comme une ressource de pêche, en faveur du développement d'une relation affective et récréative avec elle et, en même temps, d'une aide aux chasseurs au chômage. Les promoteurs ont ainsi essayé d'extraire «la baleine» de son contexte culturel traditionnel dans la Norvège septentrionale, en en introduisant une image distincte, soit quelque chose que les humains sont censés consommer par des moyens non matériels. On conclut que les promoteurs n'ont pas réussi à changer les attitudes locales envers la baleine, ni la situation économique des baleiniers, parce que les communautés baleinières et côtières affichent un degré élevé de résistance culturelle.Mots clés: tourisme, baleine, chasse à la baleine, observation des baleines, Norvège, conflit culturel, ressources en copropriété, ressources naturelle