Investment Prices and Exchange Rates: Some Basic Facts

This paper documents four basic facts about investment goods and investment prices. First, investment has a very significant nontradable component in the form of construction services. Second, distributions services (wholesaling, retailing, and transportation) are much less important for investment than for consumption. Third, the import content of investment is much larger than that of consumption. Finally, in the aftermath of three large devaluations, the rate of exchange rate pass-through is, perhaps not surprisingly, highest for imported equipment and lowest for construction services.

Distribution Costs and Real Exchange Rate Dynamics During Exchange-Rate-Based-Stabilizations

This paper studies the role played by the distribution sector in shaping the behavior of the real exchange rate during exchange-rate-based-stabilizations. We use data for the U.S. and Argentina to document the importance of distribution margins in retail prices and disaggregated price data to study price dynamics in the aftermath of Argentina's 1991 Convertibility plan. Distribution services require local labor and land so they drive a natural wedge between retail prices in different countries. We study in detail the impact of introducing a distribution sector in an otherwise standard model of exchange-rate-based-stabilizations. We show that this simple extension improves dramatically the ability of the model to rationalize observed real exchange rate dynamics.

Is Mercosur an optimum currency area?

We find that generalized purchasing power parity does not hold for Mercosur, and thus that the South American trade group does not constitute an optimum currency area. We also find that the role of the United States cannot be neglected in the region, and that high short run volatility of real exchange rates is accompanied by slow adjustment processes of between 2 and 16 years (PPP puzzle).generalized purchasing power parity; optimum currency area; Mercosur; PPP puzzle

Is Mercosur an optimum currency area? An assessment using generalized purchasing power parity

We consider the cointegration approach of generalized purchasing power parity to show that a necessary condition for Mercosur to be an optimum currency area is met. Yet there are still large cross-country differences as to cast doubt on the success of either monetary union or official dollarization. The PPP puzzle is also found to occur in Mercosur.

Impacts of a liberalization in the USA market for Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice: why Florida´s producers are so afraid?

This study aims at examining the resource allocation and welfare implications of the reduction of barriers in the United States market for Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) imported from Brazil. The present paper is organized as follows: section 2 presents an overview of the main features of the market and current trade regime for orange juice, as well as the possible impacts of liberalization within FTAA and with the European Union; section 3 describes the partial equilibrium model of imperfect substitute goods used to estimate the impact of trade liberalization in the United States, on prices and quantities and on welfare; in section 4 two possible scenarios for liberalization are designed using the large country model. The last section summarizes the main conclusions.Commercial liberalization, reduction of trade barriers, partial equilibrium models, frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ)., Agribusiness, F13,

Volatiles and refratories in solar analogs: no terrestial planet connection

We have analysed very high-quality HARPS and UVES spectra of 95 solar analogs, 24 hosting planets and 71 without detected planets, to search for any possible signature of terrestial planets in the chemical abundances of volatile and refractory elements with respect to the solar abundances. We demonstrate that stars with and without planets in this sample show similar mean abundance ratios, in particular, a sub-sample of 14 planet-host and 14 "single" solar analogs in the metallicity range 0.14<[Fe/H]<0.36. In addition, two of the planetary systems in this sub-sample, containing each of them a super-Earth-like planet with masses in the range ~ 7-11 Earth masses, have different volatile-to-refratory abundance ratios to what would be expected from the presence of a terrestial planets. Finally, we check that after removing the Galactic chemical evolution effects any possible difference in mean abundances, with respect to solar values, of refratory and volatile elements practically dissappears.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 276th IAU Symposium "The Astrophysics of Planetary Systems

Governança ambiental e cooperação intergovernamental no Brasil : lições de Visconde de Mauá

O tema deste trabalho é a governança ambiental, analisada na perspectiva municipal a partir do estudo exploratório de um assentamento de pequeno porte dotado de valioso patrimônio ambiental. A pesquisa explora as possibilidades e limites da ação municipal no Brasil, contribuindo para a qualificação do papel da cooperação na governança ambiental à luz do federalismo ambiental brasileiro. Os atores principais do caso em estudo são três municípios - Resende, Itatiaia e Bocaina de Minas, duas Unidades da federação, Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais, e a União. Os resultados evidenciam uma complexa rede de interdependências entre esferas estatais e atores da sociedade civil cuja participação tem sido estratégica. A instância municipal tem um papel insubstituível na proteção ambiental, restrito por grandes limitações se desempenhado de forma isolada. É imprescindível a cooperação intergovernamental horizontal que, por sua vez, depende em certa medida da cooperação dos Municípios com Estados e União, incluindo ademais atores da sociedade civil. O reconhecimento dos vínculos de interdependência e do papel cumprido por atores da sociedade civil local é condição essencial para a construção de arranjo para a governança ambiental.This study analyses the environmental governance from local government perspective, applying a case study to discuss environmental impacts in a Brazilian small town endowed with valuable environmental assets. It explores the boundaries of municipal responsibilities in environmental protection, shedding light on the role of cooperation in environmental governance and taking into account Brazilian environmental federalism. The main actors in this case are the municipalities Resende, Itatiaia and Bocaina de Minas, two states, Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais, and the Brazilian Federal Government. Findings uncover a complex network of interdependence among state and non-state actors. Local governments have unique responsibilities and resources for local environmental protection, which would be severely limited if managed in isolation from other actors. Horizontal cooperation among local governments is crucial, as well as vertical cooperation among municipalities, state and federal government, including civil society stakeholders. The recognition of those linkages among the main actors is the first step to build an innovative governance arrangement

Desenvolvimento e aplicações de um simulador dinamico para processos de adsorção em leito movel simulado

Orientador: Sergio Persio RavagnaniTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia QuimicaResumo: Processos de adsorção vêm tendo importância crescente na indústria de processamento químico e petroquímico, bem como em áreas como biotecnologia, farmacêutica e química fma. Dentre esses processos, o de adsorção em Leito Móvel Simulado (LMS) tem destaque para diversas aplicações onde a separação é muito difícil, por fazer uso da operação em contracorrente. Este trabalho objetiva o desenvolvimento de um modelo e de um programa computacional para a simulação dinâmica do comportamento de uma unidade de adsorção em Leito Móvel Simulado e sua aplicação em diversas situações práticas. O desenvolvimento do modelo de LMS parte do modelo de uma coluna de adsorção multicomponente em leito fixo que leva em conta as cinéticas de transferência de massa interna e externa à partícula de absorvente. A descrição dos fenômenos envolve um sistema de equações diferenciais parciais onde as concentrações dos componentes intra e extra-partícula são funções da posição na coluna e do tempo. O sistema foi resolvido numericamente usando o método de colocação ortogonal para a discretização da solução ao longo do comprimento da coluna e diferenças finitas para o cálculo da solução no tempo. Foram desenvolvidos modelos e programas para a condição ideal do LMS, sem a existência de zona morta entre os leitos, e mais dois modelos alternativos para levar em conta a existência de zona morta e do atraso na mudança dos leitos, analisando a influência destes fatores no desempenho da unidade por comparação com o modelo ideal de LMS. Critérios de convergência numérica e de estabelecimento do estado estacionário cíc1ico foram adotados. O programa e o modelo foram testados para diferentes sistemas disponíveis na literatura. Foi buscado um entendimento do processo de LMS pela sua utilização em estudos de sensibilidade para predizer os efeitos das variáveis de operação no desempenho do LMS, com aplicações em projeto e otimização de unidades. Os resultados obtidos foram satisfatórios, reproduzindo bem dados experimentais disponíveis e prestando-se como ferramenta de projeto de novas unidades. A abordagem proposta de usar um modelo de coluna de adsorção em leito fixo como ponto de partida para a modelagem do processo de Leito Móvel Simulado mostrou-se apropriada, resultando num modelo rigoroso que tem aplicações em diversas situações práticas. A partir do modelo obtido abrem-se portas para novas investigações, tais como a otimização energética de uma unidade completa de LMS e o treinamento de redes neuraisAbstract: Adsorption processes are becoming increasingly important in the chemical and petrochemical industries, as well as in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and fine chemistry. Among these processes the 8imulated Moving Bed (8MB) adsorption process is specially important when separation is difficult, as it makes use of coutercurrent operation. The objective of this work is to develop a computational model for the dynamic simulation of a 8imulated Moving Bed adsorption unit and its application on several practical situations. In this work the development of an 8MB mo deI starts from a multicomponent fixed bed adsorption column model and takes into account internal and externaJ. Mass transfer coefficients in the adsorbent particle. Phenomena description involves a system of partial differential equations in which concentrations inside and outside adsorbent particle deppends on time and column length. The system is solved numerically by the orthogonal collocation method along column length and finite differences to calculate solution through time. Three versions of the model have been developed. The first is the ideal situation where there is no dead volume between adsorption beds. The other two take into account dead volume and a delay in shifting positions of beds inlet/outlet, respectivelly. Programs were evaluated and some mIes were created concerning numerical convergence and cyclic steady state. Programs and models were evaluated for several different systems available in literature. The 8MB performance was evaluated in sensitivity studies to predict the effects of operational variables, with applications in design and optimization case studies. The results show the mo deI is reliable in reproducing experimental data and as a tool for process design. The use of a fixed bed adsorption eolumn mode! as starting point to simulate the Simulated Moving Bed adsorption unit has shown to be a suitable approaeh. A rigorous model was obtained with applieations in several praetieal situations. This model ean be used in new investigations like energy integration of an 5MB unit and neural network trainingDoutoradoCiencia e Tecnologia de MateriaisDoutor em Engenharia Químic

Processos Interculturais de Identidade Religiosa: o mundo Fulni-ô

Apoiando-se no pano de fundo geopolítico e histórico do Nordeste, brasileiro o autor desvenda a complexa gramática inter-religiosa que envolve o mundo indígena Fulni-ô e o contexto amplo do catolicismo popular, cristianismo oficial e diversas outras religiões mundiais, como judaísmo, islamismo, budismo e bahaísmo. Sugere amplificar a matriz inter-religiosa restrita ao plano ideológico etnocêntrico numa inflexão transubjetiva e transcultural

Distribution Costs and Real Exchange Rate Dynamics During Exchange-Rate-Based Stabilizations

This paper studies the role played by the distribution sector in shaping the behavior of the real exchange rate during exchange-rate-based stabilizations. We use data for the U.S. and Argentina to document the importance of distribution margins in retail prices and disaggregated price data to study price dynamics in the aftermath of Argentina's 1991 Convertibility plan. Distribution services require local labor and land so they drive a natural wedge between retail prices in different countries. We study in detail the impact of introducing a distribution sector in an otherwise standard model of exchange-rate-based stabilizations. We show that this simple extension improves dramatically the ability of the model to rationalize observed real exchange rate dynamics.Real Exchange Rate, Distribution, Inflation, Stabilization, Fixed Exchange Rates