Does Modern Econometrics replicate the Phillips Curve?

This paper reexamines the existence of a long-run relationship between wages and unemployment in the U.K., with data over the period 1860-1913 used by A.W. Phillips to derive the well-known Phillips Curve. Using Johansen's maximum likelihood method of testing for cointegration, a long-run inverse relationship is indeed depicted between the rate of inflation and the unemployment rate. However, the main impact of deviations from this long-run equilibrium is on the unemployment rate rather than the rate of inflation.Phillips Curve; long-run equilibrium; cointegration

An Employment Equation for Belgium

Economic theory considers economic growth and wage costs as crucial determinants in the process of job creation. In this paper, we try to quantify the relationship that exists between these variables in Belgium. Our objective being mainly the use of the empirical model for forecasting purposes, we use a V AR model to enable us to apply statistical tools to test some possible constraints within a loose model. We analyse the relationship at three levels: one national and two sectoral.Employment growth, long-run equilibrium, VAR model

Chocs asymétriques et persistance du chômage : Wallonie et Flandre comparées

L'objectif de cette étude est de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes responsables de la hausse et de la persistance du chômage, en particulier le contraste Wallonie-Flandre. Ce travail prolonge des travaux antérieurs en intégrant simultanément dans l'analyse la dimension spatiale et le niveau de qualification. On peut de cette façon examiner les conséquences de chocs asymétriques (régions/qualifications) sur les taux de chômage et d'emplois vacants d'équilibre. L'analyse fait apparaître en Wallonie un accroissement continu des disparités de situation entre régions et niveaux de qualification qui peut s'expliquer par le déclin des vieilles industries et le développement des technologies nouvelles. Les disparités ainsi crées sont d'autant plus importantes que les coûts du travail s'adaptent peu; elles semblent également avoir été amplifiées par la faiblesse de l'investissement en capital physique et en capital humain

Demand-Supply Interactions and Unemployment Dynamics: Can there be Path Dependency ? The Case of Belgium, 1955-1994

The proportion of capacity-constrained firms in European economies remains today fairly small, which suggests that capacity shortages cannot be the direct and single cause of unemployment persistence. Inferring from this observation that low investment rates play no role in explaining the persistence of high unemployment rates may however fail to take into account the relationship between demand expectations, capital accumulation and real rigidities. The objective of this paper, is to show how a continuum of excess-supply equilibria can be obtained, in models with real rigidities, similar to those traditionally used to analyse the determinants of equilibrium unemployment (the NAIRU), provided one takes explicitly into account the effect of a ``capital gap" on wage formation, and the relationship between capital accumulation and demand expectations. Such a persistence mechanism might contribute to explain why current unemployment rates seem to depend so much on past history, and why there is no simple explanation that applies equally well to all European countries. The results obtained from an empirical analysis of Belgian post-war data are compatible with such a scenario.Equilibrium unemployment; NAIRU; capital shortage; hysteresis; cointegration

Comment la croissance économique et le coût salarial déterminent-ils l'emploi en Belgique ?

La croissance économique et le coût salarial sont considérés par la théorie économique comme des déterminants importants de la création d’emplois. Dans ce numéro de Regards économiques, nous essayons de quantifier le lien qui existe en Belgique entre ces trois variables.

Criticism of the Translation of the "Heteroglossia" Style of Novel In Three Persian Translations of the Novel "Post-e Shabaneh"

According to Bakhtin's theory, the novel as a literary type, appropriate to the spirit of the age and human society, has dialogical relations in linguistic dimensions. A conversational visual novel is the result of the entanglement of languages emerging from the characters, each of them with a different worldview, social and cultural level, is present in the novel and interacts with each other. The novel "Post-e Shabaneh" in a multi-voiced world, with the depiction of different sounds, has the heteroglossia feature, and the language of each character in each part of the novel interacts with other languages. This heteroglossia can be seen in the language, tone, and form of the novel, and its translation is very important, and this article will analyze this feature. The novel "Post-e Shabaneh" is a Persian translation of the Arabic novel "Barid Al-Layl" by Hoda Barakat. The present article tries to criticize its Persian translations with a descriptive-analytical method in order to find out how translators dealt with the heteroglossia feature of the novel in the translations. There have been three translations of this work by Hamidreza Mohajerani, Mansoureh Ahmadi Jafari, and Soha Banouni and published under the title "Post-e Shabaneh". In the study of more than 60 samples of translations in multiple languages manifested in the tone and language of the character and the double-voiced discourse, it seems that each of the translators has been successful in translating the heteroglossia feature to some extent. Banouni has performed poorly in this field and has often not provided an acceptable translation.Keywords: Novel Translation, Heteroglossia, Post-e Shabaneh, Hoda.Introduction The Arabic novel "Barid Al-Layl" by Hoda Barakat is the winner of the 2019 Arabic Booker Prize, and due to its importance in the contemporary Arabic novel, it is also translated into Persian under the title "Post-e Shabaneh" by three translators (Hamidreza Mohajerani, Mansoureh Ahmadi Jafari and Saha Banouni). By explaining this feature of the novel, this article is trying to examine with what components it is possible to translate the heteroglossia style of the novel and whether the translations of this work have been able to reflect this important feature in the style of the novel. Because a good translation of a novel is not a translation of words and sentences, but a translation of all the narrative, stylistic, and linguistic aspects of the novel; the present article tries to criticize the translations of the novel "Post-e Shabaneh" by Hoda Barakat, focusing on its "heteroglossia" feature. Therefore, this article examines the characters' utterances in accordance with the characterization, the interaction of the novel with other literary types, and the interaction of the speech styles of hybridization, polemic, parody, and stylization.The current research aims to answer the following questions:In what components can the feature of heteroglossia in the novel "Post-e Shabaneh" be studied and evaluated?Which of the translators has presented a more successful translation of the heteroglossia feature of the mentioned novel? The hypotheses are as follows:According to the narrative style of the letter in the first part and the self-talk of the characters in the last two parts, the novel "Post-e Shabaneh" has put the speech of the story characters in conversational interaction with other sounds and has established heteroglossia in the language of the characters according to the type of each character. Also, heteroglossia can be seen in the interaction of the language of the novel with other literary and non-literary types in the language of the characters, as well as double-voiced discourse in the interaction of speech styles such as hybridization, polemic, parody, and stylistics.In the examination of the double-voiced discourse of the novel, it seems that the translators have not provided a suitable translation and the interference of sounds and correspondence or correlation or contrast in the desired double-voiced discourse have not been considered.Literature ReviewIn analyzing the feature of heteroglossia in the novel, the following points can be mentioned:Akbarizadeh et al. (2014) in the article Heteroglossia Effects in the Novel Things We Left Unsaid, investigated the double-voiced discourse between the female writer and the characters and narrator's language and the language of literary and non-literary genres, and by studying the three levels of multilingualism in Pirzad's novel for women, they analyzed different elements in the creation of an inconsistent language system in the discourse of the novel.Baloo and his colleagues (2016) in the article Bakhtinian Polyphony and Heteroglossia and Their Presentation in the Novel Sangesabor, besides the polyphonic feature of this novel, paid attention to heteroglossia feature, and while enumerating the characteristics of the sounds of the text manifested in the characters, they also dealt with the conversational relationships between them and enumerated the aspects of parody and consonance between them.Professor Mohammadi and his colleague (2016) in an article entitled Multilingualism and Polyphony: Post-modernism Features in "Possible Night" (Shab-e Momken) Novel, while enumerating the novel's postmodern characteristics, pointed out multilingualism and listed the use of English and French alongside Persian as well as the use of colloquial language and the use of words different from the official language by the characters as manifestations of multilingualism.MethodologyIn order to understand a novel, it is important to pay attention to its linguistic and stylistic layers. Also, it is necessary to discover and understand the different language varieties that have emerged according to linguistic rules. The novel "Post-e Shabaneh" is a Persian translation of the Arabic novel "Barid Al-Layl" by Hoda Barakat. This article tries to criticize the Persian translations of Hamidreza Mohajerani, Mansoureh Ahmadi Jafari, and Soha Banouni with a descriptive-analytical method and library tools in order to understand how the heteroglossia feature of this novel is translated.ConclusionAccording to the analysis of the discourse of the novel "Post-e Shabaneh" by Hoda Barakat; in confirmation of the first hypothesis, it can be found that the words of the characters in the novel in the official language of the letters are appropriate for each character as well as the specific time and place of writing.Heteroglossia can be seen in the language of the characters, in the mixing of the language of religion, popular culture and science in the words of the characters. The double-voiced discourse is arranged in relation to the voice of the hypothetical addressee of each letter, as well as the voice of the society and the ruling presuppositions and taboos. Where another voice has an objective embodiment in the speech of the speaker, we are faced with a hybrid discourse. However, when another voice is implicitly considered during the speech, or the speaker's voice is consistent with another voice, it is the stylistic double-voiced speech, or it is in contrast with the other, and the representation is contradictory. It is very important to pay attention to the interference of sounds in speech and translators should consider the type of personality, insight, and social level of the person as well as another voice, to represent the double-voiced speech and translate the multiple voices and choose the appropriate interpretations and words. Among more than 60 selected samples, some of which were mentioned in a small part of the article, it was observed that the second hypothesis is somewhat true and the translators tried to translate these heteroglossias in an experimental way and were successful to some extent

Formation des salaires en Belgique : interactions sectorielles et performances macroéconomiques

L’article examine le rôle des interactions salariales entre secteur privé et secteur public. Les résultats empiriques sur la période 1995-2015 suggèrent clairement qu’il n’y a pas, dans la formation des salaires belges, un secteur «leader» qui imposerait systématiquement ses hausses de salaire à l’autre secteur. Les interactions salariales sectorielles privé-public sont très fortes, mais au final chaque secteur conserve une large autonomie. Les salaires du secteur privé sont en particulier nettement plus sensibles aux modifications de l’environnement macro-économique (productivité, inflation, chômage), et caractérisés par une tendance négative qu’on peut attribuer à une plus forte modération salariale

Antibacterial, physical and mechanical properties of bonding agent containing synthesized Zinc Dimethacrylate

The aim of this study includes synthesis of zinc dimethacrylate ionomer (ZDMA) by a new method, incorporate it into resin bonding and evaluate its antibacterial, physical and mechanical properties. Resin adhesives containing 0 to 5% wt of ZDMA was produced and the following tests were accomplished: A: Antibacterial test: 1.Direct contact test. 2.Material aging; in both of them the bacterial colony counting were performed. B: Physical test: 1.Degree of conversion (D.C). 2.Evaluating the amount of released Zinc ion release in aqueous medium. C: Mechanical test: 1.Compressive strength test. 2.Shear bond test (enamel and dentine separately). The obtained results were statistically analyzed using One Way ANOVA and LSD post hoc test (?=0.05). The anti-bacterial test revealed that all the ZDMA containing groups significantly reduced the amount of Streptococcus Mutans bacteria. Moreover, the D.C in all ZDMA groups was enhanced. Furthermore, ion release analysis revealed noticeable stability of Zn2+ in samples, as in the 5wt.% group it was even after nine cycle of 24h wash. On the other hand, the compressive strength was significantly reduced just in the 5% ZDMA group while the other groups were superior comparing to the control. In addition, there was no significant difference among the enamel shear bond strength of the groups. However, about the dentine shear bond strength, only the 5% ZDMA group was significantly higher than the control. Low percentages of ZDMA in adhesive could impart anti-bacterial efficacy without challenging its mechanical and physical properties

An empirical study of the determinants of real wages and equilibrium unemployment : the Phillips curve revisited

dissertn : Diss. Doct

Numéro 107 - novembre 2013

Il existe en Belgique un débat animé et récurrent à propos du mécanisme d'indexation quasi automatique des salaires. D'un côté, les défenseurs de celui-ci y voient un dispositif essentiel de préservation du pouvoir d'achat des travailleurs en imposant un ajustement régulier et quasiment automatique des salaires à l'évolution du coût de la vie. D'un autre côté, les opposants à l'indexation estiment qu'elle induit une croissance des coûts salariaux plus rapide en Belgique que dans les pays voisins qui sont ses principaux partenaires commerciaux et qu'elle entraîne de ce fait une dégradation de la compétitivité des entreprises belges. Bien que l'hypothèse selon laquelle l'indexation nuit à la compétitivité soit souvent évoquée, que ce soit par les acteurs politiques, les responsables patronaux, les médias et certains économistes professionnels, cette hypothèse nécessite d'être examinée de façon rigoureuse et non partisane afin que le débat puisse reposer sur un argumentaire solide. D'une part, théoriquement, considérer que l'indexation engendre inévitablement des pertes de compétitivité ne va pas nécessairement de soi. L'indexation ne constitue en effet qu'un mécanisme parmi d'autres visant à adapter les salaires à l'évolution du coût de la vie. La particularité de l'indexation est de rendre cette adaptation (quasiment) automatique alors que dans les pays où un tel mécanisme n'existe pas, cette adaptation se fait généralement dans le cadre de négociations salariales dont la fréquence est plus ou moins élevée selon les pays. Dès lors, à moins de considérer que la préservation du pouvoir d'achat n'est pas une préoccupation majeure des travailleurs dans les pays qui sont les principaux concurrents de la Belgique, il paraît peu vraisemblable que l'indexation soit un facteur systématique de détérioration de la compétitivité sur le long terme. Etant donné son caractère automatique, l'indexation risque en revanche de pénaliser la compétitivité à court terme mais l'ampleur et la persistance de l'impact dépendent de la vitesse à laquelle les salaires sont ajustés dans les pays concurrents. D'autre part, il n'existe pas à notre connaissance d'études ayant démontré formellement que l'indexation des salaires en Belgique a contribué à la dégradation passée de la compétitivité des entreprises belges. Il existe bien des études qui examinent l'impact de l'indexation sur la formation des prix et des salaires en Belgique mais l'impact sur la compétitivité n'est cependant pas directement étudié. C'est dès lors cet aspect précis que nous examinons dans ce numéro de Regards économiques. Pour déterminer empiriquement si l'indexation des salaires a nui effectivement à la compétitivité de la Belgique, la méthodologie que nous avons adoptée consiste à examiner (à l'aide de méthodes statistiques) si les hausses passées des prix du pétrole ont eu systématiquement un impact négatif sur la compétitivité belge. Le raisonnement sous-jacent est simple. Dans la mesure où une hausse des prix du pétrole (pour autant qu'elle persiste quelque temps) induit inévitablement une hausse du niveau général des prix à la consommation, de par le fait de l'indexation, les salaires augmentent également à la suite du choc pétrolier. Si l'ajustement des salaires s'avère être effectivement plus rapide en Belgique qu'à l'étranger, la compétitivité belge devrait se détériorer, du moins à court terme. Les résultats de notre analyse tendent à indiquer que l'indexation salariale n'est pas un facteur déterminant de l'évolution à long terme de la compétitivité des entreprises belges, confirmant ainsi notre point de vue théorique. En revanche, nos résultats indiquent que la compétitivité belge se détériore à court terme en cas de hausse des prix du pétrole et que cet impact persiste suffisamment longtemps pour entraîner des pertes de parts de marché