Implications of monetary union for catching-up member states

We examine the implications of monetary union for macroeconomic stabilisation in catching up participating countries. We allow member states’supply conditions to differ inside the union, especially with regard to sectoral characteristics. Sectoral productivity shocks on balance hamper the stabilisation properties of a currency union. In the face of aggregate supply disturbances, the stabilisation costs of renouncing monetary autonomy diminish with a flatter output-inflation tradeoff and - barring idiosyncratic shocks - with a larger reference country size, more homogeneous supply slopes and a higher preference for price stability. JEL Classification: E52, E58, F33, F40Balassa-Samuelson Effect, Exchange Rates, monetary union, price stability

Themed issue on selected papers SEG2015: part II

This themed issue of Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment ‘SEG-2015-Part II’, presents papers selected from extended abstracts submitted to the Symposium on Energy Geotechnics (SEG-2015) held in the Civil Engineering School of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, between June 2nd and 4th, 2015. This symposium SEG-2015 was the first event organized by the Technical Committee TC308 of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, which will have continuity in the next symposium SEG-2018 to be held in the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland). The first issue ‘SEG-2015-Part I’ appeared just before the 1st International Conference on Energy Geotechnics (ICEG-2016), which was held in Kiel (Germany) at the end of August 2016. The second volume ‘SEG-2015-Part II’ on December 2016 will thus close a first cycle of successful conferences and publications along this initial stage of TC308.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Oil price shocks and real GDP growth: empirical evidence for some OECD countries

This paper assesses empirically the effects of oil price shocks on the real economic activity of the main industrialised countries. Multivariate VAR analysis is carried out using both linear and nonlinear models. The latter category includes three approaches employed in the literature, namely, the asymmetric, scaled and net specifications. We find evidence of a non-linear impact of oil prices on real GDP. In particular, oil price increases are found to have an impact on GDP growth of a larger magnitude than that of oil price declines, with the latter being statistically insignificant in most cases. Among oil importing countries, oil price increases are found to have a negative impact on economic activity in all cases but Japan. Moreover, the effect of oil shocks on GDP growth differs between the two oil exporting countries in our sample, with the UK being negatively affected by an oil price increase and Norway benefiting from it. JEL Classification: E32, Q43Macroeconomic fluctuations, Non-linear models, Oil price shock

A new Megatheriinae skull (Xenarthra, Tardigrada) from the pliocene of northern venezuela – Implications for a giant sloth dispersal to central and North America

A skull of a ground sloth from the Pliocene San Gregorio Formation documents a northern neotropical occurrence of a megatheriine that addresses issues on intraspecific variation and biogeography. The new specimen is broadly similar in size and morphology to that of Proeremotherium eljebe from the underlying Codore Formation in the Urumaco Sequence, differing in several features such as a longer basicranial area and a more posteriorly projected basioccipital between the condyles. The living sloths species of Bradypus and Choloepus do not have unequivocal anatomical features that indicate sexual dimorphism. Nevertheless, fossil sloths may have shown such dimorphism, and speculations on this subject are part of the considerations that can be made when allocating fragmentary fossils (e.g., in the new skull the presence of a long sagittal crest could indicate a male individual and the absence of an extended crest in Proeremotherium eljebe a female one). We speculate that as early as the late middle Miocene, two main lines of Megatheriinae had clearly separated in two geographic areas, one in the rising Andean area and one at low latitudes on the lowlands of central and northern South America.Fil: Carlini, Alfredo Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento Científico de Paleontología de Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Brandoni, Diego. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, Rodolfo. Museo Paleontológico de la Alcaldia de Urumaco; VenezuelaFil: Sánchez Villagra, Marcelo R.. Universitat Zurich; Suiz

On the development of the chondrocranium and the histological anatomy of the head in perinatal stages of marsupial mammals

An overview of the literature on the chondrocranium of marsupial mammals reveals a relative conservatism in shape and structures. We document the histological cranial anatomy of individuals representing Monodelphis domestica, Dromiciops gliroides, Perameles sp. and Macropus eugenii. The marsupial chondrocranium is generally characterized by the great breadth of the lamina basalis, absence of pila metoptica and large otic capsules. Its most anterior portion (cupula nasi anterior) is robust, and anterior to it there are well-developed tactile sensory structures, functionally important in the neonate. Investigations of ossification centers at and around the nasal septum are needed to trace the presence of certain bones (e.g., mesethmoid, parasphenoid) across marsupial taxa. In many adult marsupials, the tympanic floor is formed by at least three bones: alisphenoid (alisphenoid tympanic process), ectotympanic and petrosal (rostral and caudal tympanic processes); the squamosal also contributes in some diprotodontians. The presence of an entotympanic in marsupials has not been convincingly demonstrated. The tubal element surrounding the auditory tube in most marsupials is fibrous connective tissue rather than cartilage; the latter is the case in most placentals recorded to date. However, we detected fibrocartilage in a late juvenile of Dromiciops, and a similar tissue has been reported for Tarsipes. Contradictory reports on the presence of the tegmen tympani can be found in the literature. We describe a small tegmen tympani in Macropus. Several heterochronic shifts in the timing of development of the chondocranium and associated structures (e.g., nerves, muscles) and in the ossification sequence have been interpreted as largely being influenced by functional requirements related to the altriciality of the newborn marsupial during early postnatal life. Comparative studies of chondocranial development of mammals can benefit from a solid phylogenetic framework, research on non-classical model organisms, and integration with imaging and sectional data derived from computer-tomography.Fil: Sánchez Villagra, Marcelo R.. Universitat Zurich; SuizaFil: Forasiepi, Analia Marta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentin

Monetary stabilisation in a currency union of small open economies

This paper studies stabilisation policies in a multi-country currency union of small open economies. It abstracts from key factors favouring currency union formation, such as reduced transaction costs and enhanced credibility, which are exogenous to the factors studied here. Demand-side shocks hamper monetary union stabilisation unless members face identical output-inflation tradeoffs and their business cycles are perfectly synchronised. Under supply shocks, welfare implications from joining a currency union are less clear cut. In particular, when these shocks are common across participating countries a tradeoff arises whereby the latter benefit if they are relatively open but are at a disadvantage in case they are of small size. Monetary-fiscal interaction leads to a free rider problem, with area-wide supply shocks eliciting higher interest rate variability. Compared with the case of real wage rigidity, increased real wage flexibility mitigates the free rider problem. Higher trade union decentralisation overall favours a currency union. The present multi-country currency union setup should not be seen as an attempt at settling the sharp differences that exist in the literature. Our model could be modified in order to derive results that are valid in more realistic environments. These include the analysis of public debt considerations in the case of fiscal policies, and both institutional and (further) macroeconomic aspects in the area of wage determination