The International Wealth Effect: A Global Error-Correcting Analysis

This paper analyzes the empirical link between asset prices, consumption and the trade balance using a global macroeconometric model developed by Pesaran, Schuermann, and Weiner (2004). The model is estimated for 29 countries with quarterly data over the period 1981Q1 - 2006Q4. Motivated by increasing international financial and real integration, and pronounced cycles in stock and housing prices, we employ generalized impulse response functions for a group of five of the world''s most industrialized countries and show that shocks to asset prices transmit into consumption decisions and subsequently into the trade balance. We refer to this transmission channel as the international wealth effect and find it to be present in the US, UK and, to a lesser extent, in France, but absent in Japan and Germany.macroeconomics ;

Reducing polarization-dependent loss of silicon-on-insulator fiber to chip grating couplers

For many telecommunication applications, low polarization-dependent loss (PDL) operation is mandatory. On the silicon-on-insulator photonic wire platform, this can be achieved using polarization diversity configurations. However, as we show here, when using two-dimensional grating couplers for near vertical fiber input and output, the low PDL bandwidth is limited. We propose and demonstrate the use of a phase shifter in one of the arms of the polarization diversity circuit to effectively reduce PDL (0.15-dB PDL is shown) and increase the low PDL bandwidth

Remittances and Financial Openness

Remittances have greatly increased during recent years, becoming an important and reliable source of funds for many developing countries. Therefore, there is a strong incentive for receiving countries to attract more remittances, especially through formal channels that turn to be either less expensive or less risky. One way of doing so is to increase their financial openness, but this policy option might generate additional costs in terms of macroeconomic volatility. In this paper we investigate the link between remittance receipts and financial openness. We develop a small model and statistically test for the existence of such a relationship with a sample of 66 mostly developing countries from 1980-2005. Empirically we use a dynamic generalized ordered logit model to deal with the categorical nature of the financial openness policy. We apply a two-step method akin to two stage least squares to deal with the endogeneity of remittances and potential measurement errors. We find a strong positive statistical and economic effect of remittances on financial openness.remittances, financial openness, government policy

Fiscal Policy and Monetary Integration in Europe: An Update

By distinguishing between discretionary and non-discretionary fiscal policy, this paper analyses the stability of fiscal rules for EMU countries before and after the Maastricht Treaty. Using both Instrumental Variables and GMM techniques, it turns out that discretionary fiscal policy remains procyclical after 1992. This result contradicts the previous findings of Galí and Perotti (2003). It also appears that fiscal rules differ between large and small countries: especially large countries follow a procyclical discretionary policy. Furthermore, the paper shows that discretionary fiscal policy does exhibit different behaviour facing supply or demand constraints. The procyclical discretionary policy is followed mainly during upswings, when supply constraints are prevalent. Finally, there is no support for the presence of a ‘fatigue effect’ in fiscal discipline.macroeconomics ;

The utility of vertical farming for urban renewal: an integrated business model for profitable and sustainable vegetation production

The global population growth rate is increasing exponentially and is expected to reach nine billion people by 2050. This accelerated population growth and associated increase in food demand, coupled with the trend of decreasing productive agricultural land, present a calamitous food security risk for future generations. The ensuing expansion of agricultural land to supply this food demand leads to irreversible environmental damage including encroachment, climate change and biodiversity extinction. Moreover, rapid urbanisation of the aforementioned over-populace leads to mass unemployment in many major cities and widespread suburbanisation. The concurrence of the latter and former trends creates pockets of urban brown space, unutilised and dilapidated areas that have various consequences. Vertical farming is a system of cultivating crops or food products in buildings, tall structures or vertically inclined surfaces. If applied correctly this method results in substantial increases in crop yield, environmental benefits and reduced pressure on agricultural land. The research problem in this study was to establish how the vertical farming business model can be integrated with urban renewal of brown space to enable profitable and sustainable vegetation production. In order to achieve this objective the following research process was followed: Identification of the factors pertinent for the examination of urban gentrification, vertical farming and business model implementation through the literature review; Identification of approaches for integrating vertical farming applications with urban renewal activities and collective insights from the review of relevant literature; Development of a semi-structured interview guide from the literature review, to determine the extent of perceived utility of vertical farming for revitalisation and to gain valuable insights into strategies for integrating the model; Conducting an empirical study consisting of face-to-face interviews with subject matter experts and/or individuals with experience in the case scope, that were selected through purposive sampling as defined in the research methodology chapter; and Amalgamation and synthesis of the results to develop a proposed integrated model that can be used for urban renewal to create businesses that not only gentrify the urban brown space but that are profitable and provide sustainable development value to the city where it is based. The empirical results obtained from the interviews with respondents were analysed and included in the conceptual framework developed from the examination of secondary data sources. This led to the development of the integrated business model for urban renewal and achievement of the research objectives. The main findings from the research centred on customer segmentation strategy, distribution channels and gentrification through key partnerships. The intricacies of the integrated model and its application are discussed in detail in this research paper

How competitiveness shocks affect macroeconomic performance across euro area countries

This paper considers the short-term effects of competitiveness shocks on macroeconomic performance in the euro area. Vector autoregressive models are estimated on quarterly data from 1995 to 2013 for individual countries and the whole euro area. The results show that competitiveness shocks help to explain subsequent GDP developments in most countries but have little explanatory power for the current account balance and domestic credit. These results apply for all of the competitiveness measures considered, but a non-traditional competitiveness measure accounting for quality differences fares better in some cases. The effects of the competitiveness measures vary substantially across the countries in the euro area, which likely reflects their different economic structures and institutions. This heterogeneity suggests that policy measures seeking to improve competitiveness may have very different effects on economic performance and financial stability in different countries

Migrants' choice of remittance channel: Do general payment habits play a role?

This paper investigates the determinants in migrants’ choice of payment channel when transferring money to relatives abroad. We surveyed 1,680 migrants in the Netherlands, identifying five remittance channels: bank services, money transfer operator (MTO) services, in-cash transfers via informal intermediaries, ATM cash withdrawals abroad and carrying cash when travelling back home. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to present evidence of the role played by general payment habits: migrants who regularly use internet banking for other purposes are more likely to use bank services for remittances as well. However, we also demonstrate that other important drivers exist in determining the choice of payment channels, such as personal characteristics and country-specific factors, (perceived) costs, ease of use and the availability of remittance options. Based on our findings, we suggest that financial education, cost reduction and new (mobile) remittance solutions may serve a valuable role

Longitudinal Study of an IP Geolocation Database

IP geolocation - the process of mapping network identifiers to physical locations - has myriad applications. We examine a large collection of snapshots from a popular geolocation database and take a first look at its longitudinal properties. We define metrics of IP geo-persistence, prevalence, coverage, and movement, and analyse 10 years of geolocation data at different location granularities. Across different classes of IP addresses, we find that significant location differences can exist even between successive instances of the database - a previously underappreciated source of potential error when using geolocation data: 47% of end users IP addresses move by more than 40 km in 2019. To assess the sensitivity of research results to the instance of the geo database, we reproduce prior research that depended on geolocation lookups. In this case study, which analyses geolocation database performance on routers, we demonstrate impact of these temporal effects: median distance from ground truth shifted from 167 km to 40 km when using a two months apart snapshot. Based on our findings, we make recommendations for best practices when using geolocation databases in order to best encourage reproducibility and sound measurement.Comment: Technical Report related to a paper appeared in Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference (TMA 2021

The AMC Linear Disability Score project in a population requiring residential care: psychometric properties

BACKGROUND: Currently there is a lot of interest in the flexible framework offered by item banks for measuring patient relevant outcomes, including functional status. However, there are few item banks, which have been developed to quantify functional status, as expressed by the ability to perform activities of daily life. METHOD: This paper examines the psychometric properties of the AMC Linear Disability Score (ALDS) project item bank using an item response theory model and full information factor analysis. Data were collected from 555 respondents on a total of 160 items. RESULTS: Following the analysis, 79 items remained in the item bank. The remaining 81 items were excluded because of: difficulties in presentation (1 item); low levels of variation in response pattern (28 items); significant differences in measurement characteristics for males and females or for respondents under or over 85 years old (26 items); or lack of model fit to the data at item level (26 items). CONCLUSIONS: It is conceivable that the item bank will have different measurement characteristics for other patient or demographic populations. However, these results indicate that the ALDS item bank has sound psychometric properties for respondents in residential care settings and could form a stable base for measuring functional status in a range of situations, including the implementation of computerised adaptive testing of functional status