Essays On Hysteresis In Trade And Exchange Rate Pass-through

Chapter 1 of this thesis derives the long run general equilibrium of a home economy in a two-country overlapping generations model where agents\u27 participation in production and the exchange rate are endogenous. We find that the presence of multiple equilibria is crucial for the existence of hysteresis defined as a change in the market structure of import or export markets, e.g. a change in the number of incumbent producers. With the presence of a positive network externality, the model will guarantee the possibility of hysteresis, i.e. multiple equilibria. Moreover, welfare is unambiguously increasing in the number of producers.;Chapter 2 applies the model developed in Chapter 1 to study exchange rate pass-through issues under different exogenous shocks. I addition, we discuss the hysteresis effects of temporary tariff protection. Exchange rate pass-through will generally be complete (incomplete) with (without) the entry or exit of foreign firms. Numerical examples are constructed to illustrate the predictions of the model. These examples demonstrate how hysteresis emerges and the related equilibrium responses of export prices, and the exchange rate.;Chapter 3 extends Chapter 1 by introducing the government into the model. We also study the impacts of a monetary shock to the economy. Similarly, the monetary shock (a shock to monetary growth rate) can cause hysteresis in this economy. We also construct numerical examples to compare the case of a monetary shock with the case of a real shock.;Chapter 4 contains an empirical test of Baldwin\u27s hypothesis of hysteresis by using data on Canadian exports. We estimate the markup coefficient for the exports of each of five industries and test the hypothesis that hysteresis is present by examining the stability of these markup coefficients. Since we cannot reject the null hypothesis that the markup coefficient is stable for each industry, we find no evidence of hysteresis related to the exports of these Canadian industries

Perceived Importance of Success Factors of Firms Practicing E-Logistics in Supply Chain: An Exploratory Study on Extranet

One way to enhance the success of supply chain is through the adoption of e-logistics. Much literature discusss the success stories of supply chain, it is however lacked of the determination of its success factors in the e-logistics environment. Extranet is considered as an enabler/system that could enrich the betterment of service quality in e-logistics. This paper identifies four success factors influencing to the success of Extranet; namely the quality of system, information, service and work performance. Furthermore, the analysis on its significant decision variables in each success factor through the concept of SERVQUAL is also presented

UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER TRUST IN SOCIAL COMMERCE WEBSITES

The social commerce represents a new form of electronic commerce mediated by social networking sites. It provides companies with competitive tools for online promotion, and it also assists consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions based on the sharing of experiences from other consumers. Trust is important in social commerce environment as it serves as a foundation for consumers to evaluate product information from companies as well as from other consumers. However, extant literature still lacks clear understanding of the nature of trust in social commerce. This study sets out to understand trust development in social commerce websites. Specifically, based on trust transference theory, we develop a research model to examine how consumer trust in social commerce impacts their trust in the company and their electronic word of mouth intention. In addition, we also examine how customers’ prior transaction experience with a company could impact their social commerce trust development and serve as a mediator in the trust transfer process. The research model is empirically examined using a survey method consisting of 375 users of a social commerce website. This study contributes to the conceptual and empirical understanding of trust in social commerce. The academic and practical implications of this study are also discussed

「強強互攻」設定下中國網絡耽美小説中的性別形象與關係想像——以巫哲《三伏》為例

攻受是中國網絡耽美文學的核心設定之一，攻受的劃分基於戀愛雙方的性愛體位，插入方為攻，被插入方為受。中國網絡耽美文學中的攻受更代表着作者及讀者對角色形象、以至相處模式的期望。攻受明確的中國網絡耽美文學相當常見，但亦存在部分例外，如「互攻」。本文以巫哲《三伏》為研究對象，分析在「強強互攻」的設定下，小說所呈現的性别形象及關係想像。 文章分作三部分，第一部分探討強強互攻的意義，第二部分分析《三伏》中的性別形象想像，第三部分從性與事業兩方面探索《三伏》中的性別關係想像。筆者認為，《三伏》通過「強強互攻」的設定模糊攻受身份的邊界，以消解角色間的權力關係及對立，並重塑了性别形象的想像

The worse eye revisited: Evaluating the impact of asymmetric peripheral vision loss on everyday function

In instances of asymmetric peripheral vision loss (e.g., glaucoma), binocular performance on simple psychophysical tasks (e.g., static threshold perimetry) is well-predicted by the better seeing eye alone. This suggests that peripheral vision is largely ‘better-eye limited’. In the present study, we examine whether this also holds true for real-world tasks, or whether even a degraded fellow eye contributes important information for tasks of daily living. Twelve normally-sighted adults performed an everyday visually-guided action (finding a mobile phone) in a virtual-reality domestic environment, while levels of peripheral vision loss were independently manipulated in each eye (gaze-contingent blur). The results showed that even when vision in the better eye was held constant, participants were significantly slower to locate the target, and made significantly more head- and eye-movements, as peripheral vision loss in the worse eye increased. A purely unilateral peripheral impairment increased response times by up to 25%, although the effect of bilateral vision loss was much greater (>200%). These findings indicate that even a degraded visual field still contributes important information for performing everyday visually-guided actions. This may have clinical implications for how patients with visual field loss are managed or prioritized, and for our understanding of how binocular information in the periphery is integrated

Multi-stable dissipative structures pinned to dual hot spots

We analyze the formation of one-dimensional localized patterns in a nonlinear dissipative medium including a set of two narrow "hot spots" (HSs), which carry the linear gain, local potential, cubic self-interaction, and cubic loss, while the linear loss acts in the host medium. This system can be realized, as a spatial-domain one, in optics, and also in Bose-Einstein condensates of quasi-particles in solid-state settings. Recently, exact solutions were found for localized modes pinned to the single HS represented by the delta-function. The present paper reports analytical and numerical solutions for coexisting two- and multi-peak modes, which may be symmetric or antisymmetric with respect to the underlying HS pair. Stability of the modes is explored through simulations of their perturbed evolution. The sign of the cubic nonlinearity plays a crucial role: in the case of the self-focusing, only the fundamental symmetric and antisymmetric modes, with two local peaks tacked to the HSs, and no additional peaks between them, may be stable. In this case, all the higher-order multi-peak modes, being unstable, evolve into the fundamental ones. Stability regions for the fundamental modes are reported. A more interesting situation is found in the case of the self-defocusing cubic nonlinearity, with the HS pair giving rise to a multi-stability, with up to eight coexisting stable multi-peak patterns, symmetric and antisymmetric ones. The system without the self-interaction, the nonlinearity 2 being represented only by the local cubic loss, is investigated too. This case is similar to those with the self-focusing or defocusing nonlinearity, if the linear potential of the HS is, respectively, attractive or repulsive. An additional feature of the former setting is the coexistence of the stable fundamental modes with robust breathers.Comment: Phys. Rev. E, in pres