Reassessing the relationship between inequality and development

We reassess the empirical relevance of the Kuznets Curve with a new inequality dataset. Using panel data estimations that account for the heterogeneity of inequality observations, we test for both the unconditional and the conditional hypothesis that includes alternative inequality determinants. We find that inequality and income levels are related in a cubic function or "tilde-pattern". This novel finding does not contradict the traditional Kuznets hypothesis, but extends it. Increasing inequality in OECD countries during recent years suggests that inequality rises at high levels of economic development. This “tilde-pattern” is robust to different inequality indicators, estimation techniques and control variables.

Economic perspectives for Central America after CAFTA; a GTAP-based analysis

Using a GTAP CGE application, we assess the main economic results of CAFTA for Central America (CA). Currently, Central America enjoys preferential access to the US market through the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). CAFTA will consolidate and augment these concessions. Meanwhile, the agreement requires widespread opening of CA markets to US imports over time. The implementation of the ATC protocol in 2005 implies increased Chinese competition for the region in the textile and apparel sectors. CAFTA will balance for this new source of competition by allowing better access for CA textiles and apparel products, while creating large opportunities for labour market improvements and FDI inflows to Central America. If these opportunities are exploited, the region has much to gain from CAFTA. However, we also find a strong sectoral readjustment from agricultural sectors to maquila-based industries, which could create important adjustment strains.

The Construction and Interpretation of Combined Cross-Section and Time-Series Inequality Datasets

The inequality dataset compiled in the 1990s by the World Bank and extended by the UN has been both widely used and strongly criticized. The criticisms raise questions about conclusions drawn from secondary inequality datasets in general. We develop techniques to deal with national and international comparability problems intrinsic to such datasets. The result is a new dataset of consistent inequality series, allowing us to explore problems of measurement error. In addition, the new data allow us to perform parametric non-1inear estimation of Lorenz curves from grouped data. This in turn al1ows us to estimate the entire income distribution; computing alternative inequality indexes and poverty estimates. Finally, we have used our broad1y comparable dataset to examine international patterns of inequality and poverty

Trade Policy and the Household Distribution of Income

We explore the relationship between import protection and the household distribution of income. We first develop a general-equilibrium mapping from tariffs to household inequality measures. This also yields predictions for linkages between tariffs, development level, and observed household inequality. Working with a new dataset, we then examine crosscountry variation in inequality with respect to import protection. Results are consistent with predictions of the factor-intensity model of trade. Regression results suggest that import protection makes income distribution worse for countries in labor-intensive diversification cones. This relationship shifts to one of falling inequality as incomes rise and we move to capital-intensive diversification cones

Household Inequality, Welfare, and the Setting of Trade Policy

We analyze general equilibrium relationships between trade policy and the household distribution of income, decomposing social welfare into real income level and variance components through Gini and Atkinson indexes. We embed these inequality-adjusted social welfare functions in a general equilibrium structure mapping from tariff protection to household inequality. This yields predictions regarding the linkages between trade protection, country characteristics and inequality in Heckscher-Ohlin and Ricardo-Viner frameworks. In addition, we can separate the efficiency and equity effects of tariffs on welfare. We then examine endogenous tariff formation when policy makers care about both equity and special interests

Faraday effect : a field theoretical point of view

We analyze the structure of the vacuum polarization tensor in the presence of a background electromagnetic field in a medium. We use various discrete symmetries and crossing symmetry to constrain the form factors obtained for the most general case. From these symmetry arguments, we show why the vacuum polarization tensor has to be even in the background field when there is no background medium. Taking then the background field to be purely magnetic, we evaluate the vacuum polarization to linear order in it. The result shows the phenomenon of Faraday rotation, i.e., the rotation of the plane of polarization of a plane polarized light passing through this background. We find that the usual expression for Faraday rotation, which is derived for a non-degenerate plasma in the non-relativistic approximation, undergoes substantial modification if the background is degenerate and/or relativistic. We give explicit expressions for Faraday rotation in completely degenerate and ultra-relativistic media.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, uses axodraw.st

Structuring with anisotropic colloids

Structure is an important factor in food. One of the ways to provide structure to foods is by using bubbles and foams. However, they need to be stabilized. One way of doing this is by covering them with microscopic rods. These rods self-assemble at the surface, yielding a stable bubble. The goal of this work is to gain a better understanding into how this self-assembly works using analytical calculations, experiments and simulations

Structuring with anisotropic colloids

Structure is an important factor in food. One of the ways to provide structure to foods is by using bubbles and foams. However, they need to be stabilized. One way of doing this is by covering them with microscopic rods. These rods self-assemble at the surface, yielding a stable bubble. The goal of this work is to gain a better understanding into how this self-assembly works using analytical calculations, experiments and simulations

Self-consistent calculation of total energies of the electron gas using many-body perturbation theory

The performance of many-body perturbation theory for calculating ground-state properties is investigated. We present fully numerical results for the electron gas in three and two dimensions in the framework of the GW approximation. The overall agreement with very accurate Monte Carlo data is excellent, even for those ranges of densities for which the GW approach is often supposed to be unsuitable. The latter seems to be due to the fulfillment of general conservation rules. These results open further prospects for accurate calculations of ground-state properties circumventing the limitations of standard density-functional theory