Time-Varying forward Bias and the Volatility of Risk Premium: a Monetary Explanation

Forward exchange rate unbiassedness is rejected for international exchange markets. This paper proposes a stochastic general equilibrium model which generates substantial variability in the magnitude of predictable excess returns. Simulation exercises suggest that high persistency in the monetary policy produces greater bias in the estimated slope coefficient in the regression of the change in the logarithm of the spot exchange rate on the forward premium. Also, our model suggest that the nature of the transmission between monetary shocks can explain the excess return puzzle. Empirical evidence for the US-UK exchange rate according to our theoretical results is provided.La insesgadez del tipo de cambio forward es rechazada para los mercados cambiarios internacionales. Este trabajo propone un modelo de equilibrio general dinámico y estocástico que genera variabilidad suficiente en las magnitudes de los excesos de rendimientos predecibles. Los ejercicios de simulación realizados sugieren que una alta persistencia de la política monetaria produce un mayor sesgo en el coeficiente estimado de la pendiente de la regresión entre la primera diferencia del logaritmo del tipo de cambio spot sobre la prima forward. Además, nuestro modelo sugiere que la naturaleza de la transmisión entre shocks monetarios puede explicar la paradoja del exceso de rendimiento. Por último, proporcionamos evidencia empírica de acuerdo con nuestros resultados teóricos para el tipo de cambio entre EEUU y Reino Unido.

The New Market Effect on Return and Volatility of Spanish Sector Indexes

Recently (April 2000), the New Market index began to be computed in the Spanish Stock Exchange as a relevant indicator of the new technological firms’ behavior in the Spanish economy. This paper provides empirical evidence about the relationships between the return and volatility of Spanish sector indexes and the New Market index volatility. Using GARCH methodology, empirical results reveal a positive significant impact on the financial, industrial and utilities sector volatility, that is, high volatility in New Market tend to increase volatility in the other sectors. On the other hand, only statistical effect is detected on return of industrial sector, suggesting that only this sector require a risk premium when shocks in the technological sector increase the global market risk.Desde abril del 2000 el índice del llamado Nuevo Mercado empezó a contabilizarse en la Bolsa española como un indicador relevante del comportamiento de las empresas tecnológicas en la economía española. Este trabajo proporciona evidencia empírica sobre las relaciones entre el rendimiento y la volatilidad de los índices bursátiles sectoriales españoles y la volatilidad del índice bursátil del Nuevo Mercado. Utilizando la metodología GARCH, los resultados empíricos revelan un impacto significativo importante sobre la volatilidad de los índices de los sectores financiero e industrial, es decir, la alta volatilidad del Nuevo Mercado tiende a incrementar la volatilidad en los otros sectores. Por otro lado, sólo se detecta un efecto significativo sobre el rendimiento del sector industrial, sugiriendo que sólo este sector precisa de una prima de riesgo cuando los shocks en el sector tecnológico incrementan el riesgo de todo el mercado.

IACME and Mathematics Education International Organizations in Latin America

The evolution of the Inter-American Committee on Mathematics Education (IACME) as a network of regional and international cooperation will be described, as well as -with less detail- the Latin American Committee on Educational Mathematics (CLAME) and the Ibero-American Federation of Educational Mathematics (FISEM), and the Mathematics Education Network for Central America and Caribbean (REDUMATE). Emphasis will be placed on the overall meaning of their academic and organizational evolution. In particular, the relationships of IACME with the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) and the international community of Mathematics Education will be analyzed. Some perspectives will be considered

Transistor-Level Synthesis of Pipeline Analog-to-Digital Converters Using a Design-Space Reduction Algorithm

A novel transistor-level synthesis procedure for pipeline ADCs is presented. This procedure is able to directly map high-level converter specifications onto transistor sizes and biasing conditions. It is based on the combination of behavioral models for performance evaluation, optimization routines to minimize the power and area consumption of the circuit solution, and an algorithm to efficiently constraint the converter design space. This algorithm precludes the cost of lengthy bottom-up verifications and speeds up the synthesis task. The approach is herein demonstrated via the design of a 0.13 μm CMOS 10 bits@60 MS/s pipeline ADC with energy consumption per conversion of only 0.54 pJ@1 MHz, making it one of the most energy-efficient 10-bit video-rate pipeline ADCs reported to date. The computational cost of this design is of only 25 min of CPU time, and includes the evaluation of 13 different pipeline architectures potentially feasible for the targeted specifications. The optimum design derived from the synthesis procedure has been fine tuned to support PVT variations, laid out together with other auxiliary blocks, and fabricated. The experimental results show a power consumption of 23 [email protected] V and an effective resolution of 9.47-bit@1 MHz. Bearing in mind that no specific power reduction strategy has been applied; the mentioned results confirm the reliability of the proposed approach.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-08447Junta de Andalucía TIC-0281

The anger of Achilles in The Iliad and of Francis Marion Tarwater in Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away

Achilles’ anger in the Iliad acts as a catalyzer in the war’s outcome and also helps characterize Achilles himself, frustrated because, in spite of being a goddess’ son, he suffers a destiny of death. This article draws a comparison between Achilles’ wrath and the anger that fuels Tarwater in The Violent Bear It Away, Flannery O’Connor’s last novel. As with the protagonist of the Iliad, Tarwarter’s rebellion to prove that he is in total control over his own life eventually jeopardizes the order of the world around himS

Accurate Settling-Time Modeling and Design Procedures for Two-Stage Miller-Compensated Amplifiers for Switched-Capacitor Circuits

We present modeling techniques for accurate estimation of settling errors in switched-capacitor (SC) circuits built with Miller-compensated operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs). One distinctive feature of the proposal is the computation of the impact of signal levels (on both the model parameters and the model structure) as they change during transient evolution. This is achieved by using an event-driven behavioral approach that combines small- and large-signal behavioral descriptions and keeps track of the amplifier state after each clock phase. Also, SC circuits are modeled under closed-loop conditions to guarantee that the results remain close to those obtained by electrical simulation of the actual circuits. Based on these models, which can be regarded as intermediate between the more established small-signal approach and full-fledged simulations, design procedures for dimensioning SC building blocks are presented whose targets are system-level specifications (such as ENOB and SNDR) instead of OTA specifications. The proposed techniques allow to complete top-down model-based designs with 0.3-b accuracy.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TEC2006-03022Junta de Andalucía TIC-0281

Gestión del agua e integración de políticas sectoriales. Balance y situación actual en el territorio del Alto Guadiana

La integración es uno de los principios de mayor relevancia de la Directiva Marco del Agua aprobada en el año 2000. De entre sus distintas formas, la integración de las políticas sectoriales y la coordinación entre las administraciones competentes son objetivos clave para la consecución de una eficiente ordenación de los recursos hídricos en el territorio. El estudio analiza la ausencia de este paradigma durante los últimos veinticinco años en la cuenca alta del río Guadiana, territorio con graves problemas de sobreexplotación de sus acuíferos subterráneos, y describe los últimos intentos de concertación recogidos en el recientemente aprobado Plan Especial del Alto Guadiana.La integració és un dels principis de més rellevància de la Directiva Marc de l'Aigua aprovada l'any 2000. D'entre les diferents formes que presenta, la integració de les polítiques sectorials i la coordinació entre les administracions són objectius clau per a la consecució d'una ordenació eficient dels recursos hídrics al territori. L'estudi analitza l'absència d'aquest paradigma durant els últims vint-i-cinc anys a la conca alta del riu Guadiana, territori amb greus problemes de sobreexplotació pel que fa als seus aqüífers subterranis, i descriu els últims intents de concertació recollits en el recentment aprovat Pla Especial de l'Alt Guadiana.L'intégration est un des principes d'une plus grande importance de la Directive Cadre Européenne approuvée à l'année 2000. Parmi ses différentes manières, l'intégration des politiques sectorielles et la coordination entre les administrations sont plusieurs des objectives clefs pour la réalisation d'un aménagement efficace des ressources hydriques dans le territoire. L'étude analyse l'absence de ce type de paradigme pendant les dernières vingtcinq années dans le haut bassin de la rivière Guadiana, territoire avec de graves problèmes de surexploitation de ses aquifères souterrains, et décrit les dernières tentatives de concertation rassemblées dans le récemment approuvé Plan Spécial du Haut Guadiana.Integration is one of the most relevant principles in the Water Framework Directive passed in 2000. Among the various types of integration, the integration of sectorial policies and coordination between competent authorities are key objectives in efficiently regulating water resources within a territory. This study analyses the lack of this paradigm over the last twenty-five years in the upper Guadiana River basin, an area with severe problems of overuse of its underground aquifers, and describes the latest coordination attempts contained in the recently passed Special Plan for the Upper Guadiana