Unit root and cointegration tests for cross-sectionally correlated panels. Estimating regional production functions

This paper employs recently developed non stationary panel methodologies that assume some cross-section dependence to estimate the production function for Italian regions in the industrial sector over the period 1970-1998. The analysis consists in three steps. First, unit root tests for cross-sectionally dependent panels are used. Second, the existence of a co-integrating relationship among value added, physical capital and human capital-augmented labor is investigated. The Dynamic OLS (DOLS) and Fully modified (FMOLS) estimators developed by Pedroni (1996, 2000, 2001) and the Panel Dynamic OLS (PDOLS) estimator proposed by Mark and Sul (2003)are then used to estimate the long run relationship between the variables considered.panel cointegration; cross-section dependence; production function

Unit root and cointegration tests for cross-sectionally correlated panels - Estimating regional production functions

There is a plethora of studies of regional production functions using stationary panel data. Only some recent works consider non-stationary panel data. All of them assume the hypothesis of cross-section independence. Here, we claim that the independence assumption is too strong when regional data are used. In this paper, the cross-section independence assumption is released and cross-sectional dependence is assumed. First, unit roots and cointegration properties of the panel dataset are properly investigated by using newly developed tests for cross-sectionally dependent panels. Second, dynamic OLS (DOLS) and recent regression models for cross-sectionally correlated panels are used to estimate the cointegrated relationship between value added, physical and human capital, for Italian regions over the period 1970-1998.

Agri-food exports and the enlarged european union

This paper explores agri-food export dynamics in New Member States (NMS) and Old Member States (OMS) of the European Union during the enlargement process. A quality-oriented survey is conducted by developing an original analytical framework which combines information from trade similarity analysis with elements from the sophistication literature. Country and sector specific features seem to emerge, revealing a more complex picture than that produced by aggregated trade analysis. While for some NMS agri-food exports, patterns converge towards OMS with regard to size, competitiveness and quality improvement process, for other NMS, a low-quality trap seems to prevail.Agri-food sector, export dynamics, EU enlargement, quality upgrading

Bayesian nonparametric panel Markov-switching GARCH models

This paper introduces a new model for panel data with Markov-switching GARCH effects. The model incorporates a series-specific hidden Markov chain process that drives the GARCH parameters. To cope with the high-dimensionality of the parameter space, the paper exploits the cross-sectional clustering of the series by first assuming a soft parameter pooling through a hierarchical prior distribution with two-step procedure, and then introducing clustering effects in the parameter space through a nonparametric prior distribution. The model and the proposed inference are evaluated through a simulation experiment. The results suggest that the inference is able to recover the true value of the parameters and the number of groups in each regime. An empirical application to 78 assets of the SP&100 index from $6^{th}$ January 2000 to $3^{rd}$ October 2020 is also carried out by using a two-regime Markov switching GARCH model. The findings shows the presence of 2 and 3 clusters among the constituents in the first and second regime, respectively

Bayesian nonparametric panel Markov-switching GARCH models

This article proposes Bayesian nonparametric inference for panel Markov-switching GARCH models. The model incorporates series-specific hidden Markov chain processes that drive the GARCH parameters. To cope with the high-dimensionality of the parameter space, the article assumes soft parameter pooling through a hierarchical prior distribution and introduces cross sectional clustering through a Bayesian nonparametric prior distribution. An MCMC posterior approximation algorithm is developed and its efficiency is studied in simulations under alternative settings. An empirical application to financial returns data in the United States is offered with a portfolio performance exercise based on forecasts. A comparison shows that the Bayesian nonparametric panel Markov-switching GARCH model provides good forecasting performances and economic gains in optimal asset allocation

On the role of dependence in sticky price and sticky information Phillips curve: Modelling and forecasting

Understanding the role of sticky price and sticky information for inflation dynamics is a key issue in economics. The literature has treated the two forms of stickiness as independent. This paper proposes a new dual stickiness Phillips curve based on dependence among the events of setting prices and updating information. Using US data over the period 1947Q1–2020Q1, the new model is scrutinized against a dual stickiness model without dependence, a pure sticky price model, and a pure sticky information model, through in- and out-of-sample analyses. The results show: (i) the new model outperforms the model without dependence in-sample; (ii) the dual stickiness models perform similarly out-of-sample; and (iii) the pure sticky models yield the worst forecasts. The results have some implications for policy makers and practitioners. A policy maker may consider the new model given its performance in- and out-of-sample, while a practitioner may prefer the model without dependence, given its lesser complexity and its competitive forecasting performance

Fish stock study on the Ridge of Santa Croce

Il presente studio è stato finalizzato alla caratterizzazione del Dosso di Santa Croce (Golfo di Trieste – Alto Adriatico) in termini di morfobatimetria e di distribuzione dei banchi di pesce presenti in questa zona. A tal fine è stato utilizzato un “echosounder” che permette, tramite riflessione degli impulsi acustici inviati, di individuare banchi di pecse o plankon, valutandone la relativa taglia, stimare abbondanza e densità dei medesimi organismi, studiarne il comportamento e le dinamiche migratorie e mappare il fondale. Lo strumento ha permesso, nel presente lavoro, di valutare in maniera semplice la densità e l’abbondanza relative dei banchi di pesce, ma la conversione in valori assoluti è stata resa difficoltosa dall’impossibilità di prelevare specie nell’area, sottoposta a protezione. Pertanto uno strumento utile da utilizzare in abbinamento all’echosounder sembrerebbe poter essere il “visual census” (campionamento visivo) per valutare le specie presenti nei banchi

Prvi nalaz plavog raka Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae) u vodama pokrajine Abruzzi, srednji Jadran

For the first time, one female individual of blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, a species native to the western Atlantic coasts, is reported from Abruzzi waters (central Adriatic Sea). This species has widely invaded European Atlantic coasts and several areas of the Mediterranean, probably brought by ballast waters; yet, it has not settled in the study area.Po prvi put, jedinka ženke plavog raka Callinectes sapidus rathbun, 1896 vrste koja potječe sa zapadne obale atlantika, zabilježena je u vodama pokrajine abruzzi (srednji Jadran). Ova vrsta je uvelike najezdila europske obale atlantika i nekoliko područja u mediteranu, donešena vjerojatno balastnim vodama; ipak, još se nije u potpunosti nastanila u istraživanom području

Performance analysis of the Argentinian Meteorological Radar Radio Frequency Interference filter

A novel Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) filter is on the features list of the processor upgrade for the Argentinian Meteorological Radar (RMA). The Argentinian network of weather radars: Sistema Nacional de Radares Meteorológicos (SINARAME) is composed by 15 C-band weather radars, 12 of which are RMA units. Almost all the SINARAME radars suffer from RFI contamination because C-band radars operate in the same frequency band as Radio Local Area Network (RLAN) and Wireless Area Network (WLAN). This research presents the work conducted as part of the validation process of the software update for the RMA processor, before the release and upgrade of the SINARAME network. Weather-only signals (I/Q time series), were collected from an RFI-free RMA site in the north of Argentina and chosen as the reference dataset. RFI-only signals were collected from some of the most heavily RFI-contaminated sites, using the RMA radars as a receive-only antenna. The RFI-only signals were numerically combined, at the I/Q level, with the weather-only signals, thus generating a new set of real-world weather data contaminated with real RFI signals. The overall impact of contamination on data quality and the suppression capabilities of the filter was tested by applying the RFI filter to the artificially contaminated dataset and comparing the results with the reference (RFI-free) dataset. Finally, a collection of several hours of I/Q data recorded from different RMA sites were processed, to study the RFI filter performance under different weather conditions and levels of contamination. The results show that after tuning the filter parameters to the scanning strategy RFI contamination is greatly reduced without eliminating hydrometeors echoes for all the study cases

Light-Induced Charge Accumulation in PTCDI/Pentacene/Ag(111) Heterojunctions

The incorporation of singlet fission (SF) chromophores in solar cells is expected to bring significant increases in the power conversion efficiency thanks to multiexciton generation. However, efficient charge generation in the device is determined by the energy level alignment (ELA) between the active materials, which should favor exciton transport and separation under illumination. By combining ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and optical differential reflectance measurements, we determine the ELA in a prototypical SF heterojunction between pentacene (Pc) and perylene-tetracarboxylic-diimide (PTCDI) grown on Ag(111). Time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on such a system reveals light-induced modifications of the ELA; by measuring the transient shift of the core level photoemission lines we observe an accumulation of long-lived holes in the PTCDI within the first hundred picoseconds after the optical pump