Financial markets and the current account: emerging Europe versus emerging Asia

Financial globalisation has been associated with divergent current account patterns in emerging market economies. While countries in emerging Asia have been running sizeable current account surpluses, countries in emerging Europe have been facing large current account deficits. In this paper we test for the relevance of financial market characteristics in explaining divergent current account patterns in emerging Europe and emerging Asia based on the assumption that both regions constitute two different convergence clubs with the euro area and the US representing the core, respectively. In line with the theoretical literature, we find that better developed and more integrated financial markets increase emerging markets´ ability to borrow abroad. The degree of financial integration within the convergence clubs as well as the extent of reserve accumulation are found to be the most significant factors to explain divergent current account patterns in emerging Europe and emerging Asia. We conclude that the overall character of integration matters for the pattern of current account developments in catching-up economies. --real convergence,economic integration,saving and investment,current account developments,financial markets,emerging market economies

Real convergence, financial markets, and the current account - Emerging Europe versus emerging Asia

This paper examines the relevance of financial market characteristics for explaining the catching-up process in Europe and Asia. Global financial integration has been associated with divergent patterns of real convergence and the current account in emerging markets. While countries in emerging Asia have been running sizeable current account surpluses, countries in emerging Europe have been facing large current account deficits. In this paper we test for the relevance of financial market characteristics in explaining this divergence in the catching-up process in Europe and Asia. We assume that the two regions constitute distinct convergence clubs, with the euro area and the United States respectively at their core. In line with the theoretical literature, we find that better developed and more integrated financial markets increase emerging markets´ ability to borrow abroad. Moreover, the degree of financial integration within the convergence clubs - as opposed to the state of financial integration in the global economy - and the extent of reserve accumulation are significant factors in explaining the divergent patterns of real convergence and the current account in the regions under review.real convergence, economic integration, saving and investment, current account developments, financial markets, emerging market economies, Real convergence, financial markets, and the current account - Emerging Europe versus emerging Asia, Economic Papers

Interaction effects in a microscopic quantum wire model with strong spin-orbit interaction

We investigate the effect of strong interactions on the spectral properties of quantum wires with strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction in a magnetic field, using a combination of Matrix Product State and bosonization techniques. Quantum wires with strong Rashba spin-orbit interaction and magnetic field exhibit a partial gap in one-half of the conducting modes. Such systems have attracted wide-spread experimental and theoretical attention due to their unusual physical properties, among which are spin-dependent transport, or a topological superconducting phase when under the proximity effect of an s-wave superconductor. As a microscopic model for the quantum wire we study an extended Hubbard model with spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman field. We obtain spin resolved spectral densities from the real-time evolution of excitations, and calculate the phase diagram. We find that interactions increase the pseudo gap at $k = 0$ and thus also enhance the Majorana-supporting phase and stabilize the helical spin order. Furthermore, we calculate the optical conductivity and compare it with the low energy spiral Luttinger Liquid result, obtained from field theoretical calculations. With interactions, the optical conductivity is dominated by an excotic excitation of a bound soliton-antisoliton pair known as a breather state. We visualize the oscillating motion of the breather state, which could provide the route to their experimental detection in e.g. cold atom experiments

Der österreichische Wein

Die Diplomarbeit zeichnet die Geschichte des österreichischen Weinbaus von 1945 bis 2005 nach und analysiert die Imageentwicklung des heimischen Weins innerhalb dieses Zeitraums. Einführend werden die Weinbaugebiete, die klimatischen Gegebenheiten und Sortenhinweise veranschaulicht sowie die aktuellen Produktionszahlen und die historischen Fakten dargelegt. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass der Wein in der österreichischen Gesellschaft ein Phänomen darstellt. Dies ist anhand einer Zeitschriftenanalyse belegt, wobei die Fachzeitschrift Der Winzer und das Magazin Konsument die Grundlage bilden. Dabei werden insbesondere drei Themenbereiche fokussiert, die den Diskurs rund um den Wein verdeutlichen: Wein und der Begriff Qualität, das Verkosten und Bewerten von Wein sowie Wein und Gesundheit. Die Debatte rund um diese wiederkehrenden Fragestellungen dokumentiert deren inhaltliche Veränderung. Für den Wein bedeutet es, dass sein Image moderner, seine Darstellung dem Zeitgeist entsprechend inszeniert wird. Der Weinskandal von 1985 zeigt sich als besonders einschneidend in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Imagewandel von Wein. Denn die Maßnahmen zu seiner Imagekorrektur werden in erster Linie in den darauffolgenden Jahren getätigt. Motor dafür ist die die 1986 gegründete Österreich Wein Marketing. Der Qualitätsbegriff, auch schon vor 1985 bedeutend, erfährt jetzt noch mehr Relevanz, Verkostungen und Prämierungen nehmen zu und Wein als gesundheitsförderndes Genussmittel wird propagiert. Die kontinuierliche Qualitätsarbeit der Winzer und die Imagewerbung in der Zeitspanne von 1985 bis 2005 haben auch im Ausland wieder für positive Resonanzen gesorgt. Heute ist österreichischer Wein ein hoch angesehenes Produkt.The thesis is an introduction to wine growing in Austria, its history between the years 1945-2005 and the change of image viniculture has gone through during that time period. Specific wine growing areas will be introduced as well as climatic conditions and descriptions of various vine types in connection to historic facts. The phenomenal growth of significance of wine in the society will be discussed based on an analysis of the magazines Der Winzer and its counterpart Konsument. Three recurring topics that steadily lead to open discussions about the image of wine will herewith be considered: Wine and the meaning of quality, tasting and judging wine as well as wine and health. Reoccurring questions about these topics will be documented and analysed. For wine itself that means how its public placement and image is projected in a modern way. The wine scandal of 1985 shows itself as a significant event during the change of the image of wine. Measures toward a correction of the image of wine are being taken in the following years especially by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, founded in 1986. Quality, also relevant before 1985, tasting and judging of wine as well as its relevance to health issues were being talked about. The continuous great work of Austrian wine makers and marketing measures between 1986 and 2005, have resulted in positive response from all over the world. Today Austrian wine is a highly appreciated and well known product

Visibility of noise in natural images

The degree of visibility of any kind of stimulus is largely determined by the background on which it is shown, a property commonly known as masking. Many psychophysical experiments have been carried out to date to understand masking of sinusoids or Gabor targets by similar maskers and by noise, and a variety of masking models have been proposed. However, these stimuli are artificial and quite simplistic compared to natural scene content. Masking models based on such experiments may not be accurate for more complex cases of masking. We investigate the visibility of noise itself as a target and use natural images as the masker. Our targets are Gaussian white noise and band-pass filtered noise of varying energy. We conducted psychophysical experiments to determine the detection threshold of these noise targets on many different types of image content and present the results here. Potential applications include image watermarking or quality assessment

Mirror Match: Reliable Feature Point Matching Without Geometric Constraints

Many algorithms have been proposed to solve the problem of matching feature points in two or more images using geometric assumptions to increase the robustness of the matching. However, these assumptions do not always hold; in particular, few methods address the problem of reliable matching in cases where it is unknown whether the images have any corresponding areas or objects in the first place. We propose two algorithms for matching feature points without the use of geometric constraints. The first relies on the fact that any match between two images should be better than all possible matches within a single image. The second algorithm extends this idea by using community structure in the similarity graph of feature points to find reliable correspondences. To evaluate the algorithms experimentally, we introduce a simple method to generate a large amount of test cases based on a set of image pairs with viewpoint changes. Our results show that the proposed algorithm is generally superior to traditional approaches in finding correct correspondences

IVIg treatment increases thrombin activation of platelets and thrombin generation in paediatric patients with immune thrombocytopenia

Clinical manifestations and laboratory parameters of haemostasis were investigated in 23 children with newly diagnosed immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) before and after intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment. ITP patients with platelet counts of less than 20 × 10$^{9}$ /L and mild bleeding symptoms, graded by a standardized bleeding score (BS), were compared with healthy children with normal platelet counts and children with chemotherapy-related thrombocytopenia. Markers of platelet activation and platelet apoptosis in the absence and presence of platelet activators were analysed by flow cytometry; thrombin generation in plasma was determined. ITP patients at diagnosis presented with increased proportions of platelets expressing CD62P and CD63 and activated caspases, and with decreased thrombin generation. Thrombin-induced activation of platelets was reduced in ITP compared with controls, while increased proportions of platelets with activated caspases were observed. Children with a higher BS had lower proportions of CD62P-expressing platelets compared with those with a lower BS. IVIg treatment increased the number of reticulated platelets, the platelet count to more than 20 × 10$^{9}$ /L and improved bleeding in all patients. Decreased thrombin-induced platelet activation, as well as thrombin generation, were ameliorated. Our results indicate that IVIg treatment helps to counteract diminished platelet function and coagulation in children with newly diagnosed ITP

Business and IT Managers’ Technological Frames Related to Cloud Computing

While cloud computing is becoming a mainstream IT sourcing option, especially large companies struggle with the internal governance of cloud and the issue of shadow IT. This study takes a technological frames perspective to contrast the knowledge and expectations that business versus IT stakeholders have regarding cloud IT. Our interview data from 20 business and IT managers display the incongruences between these two groups’ technological frames and how this relates to their governing actions: While business managers emphasize the benefits frames of cloud computing and tend to undermine IT governance, IT managers stress its threat frames and their desire to strengthen the IT governance framework. We discuss how these frame incongruences are related and how they can be resolved. This discussion contributes to the literature a stakeholder-specific view that may help understand the duality of the shadow IT phenomenon. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Pheromone-based Swarming for Position-less MAVs

Unlike existing aerial swarm systems, we aim at developing algorithms which do not require global or relative positioning information concerning agents and their neighbors. This alleviates the need for sensors which require calibration, are expensive and heavy or unusable because of environmental constraints. Rather than positioning, MAVs rely only on simple sensors (magnetic compass, speed sensor and altitude sensor) and local communication with neighbors. Our endeavor is motivated by an application whereby Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) must organize autonomously to establish a robust communication network between users located on ground. Such a system is aimed towards the rapid and easy deployment of communication networks in disaster areas