New technologies and productivity growth in the euro area

This paper provides an overview of the currently available evidence on the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) for developments in productivity growth in the euro area. On the basis of the available data, there is evidence of an increased contribution of ICT to economic growth both in terms of production and investment in the second half of the 1990s. However, there is little, if any, evidence of significant positive spillover effects from the use of ICT to overall productivity growth. This implies that there is no reason to believe that potential output growth in the euro area has increased significantly in recent years on account of new technologies JEL Classification: E22, L63, L86, O3, O47average labour productivity, capital stock, euro area, growth accounting, Information and communication technologies, measurement issues, sectoral developments

Food and energy prices, government subsidies and fiscal balances in south Mediterranean countries

Just before the global crisis soaring commodity prices pushed up inflation significantly, not least in EU neighbour countries at the Mediterranean. These price shocks affected public finances in the southern Mediterranean region, notably via government subsidies. Partly due to lags in the transmission of commodity prices into prices for final users the subsidies burden continued to be felt, despite the price falls registered in the wake of the credit crisis. We show that downward price rigidities play a role. Recently, commodity price pressures have re-emerged. We focus on food prices and analyse recent developments in food inflation in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territories, Syria and Tunisia in comparison with other middle income economies. Subsidies on food and fuel are quantified per country for the period 2002-2010. The incremental government subsidies entail an estimated deterioration of the government balances of up to more than 2% of GDP in 2008 and, for most countries only slight improvements in the global recession year 2009. Ensuing longer-term challenges for public finances remain as inflation rises on the back of higher global economic growth. As recent events in Tunisia and Egypt illustrate, these can have important political implications. Finally, the paper discusses some options that can lead to more efficient government spending, even in the event of sharp swings in prices of basic necessities.food prices; energy prices; inflation; public finances; government subsidies

Food and Energy Prices, Government Subsidies and Fiscal Balances in South Mediterranean Countries

Working paper, focusing on the impact of soaring commodity prices, notably for food and energy on the economy and public finances of Mediterranean neighbour countries of the EU. Just before the global crisis soaring commodity prices pushed up inflation significantly, not least in EU neighbour countries at the Mediterranean. These price shocks affected public finances in the southern Mediterranean region, notably via government subsidies. Partly due to lags in the transmission of commodity prices into prices for final users the subsidies burden continued to be felt, despite the price falls registered in the wake of the credit crisis. We show that downward price rigidities play a role. Recently, commodity price pressures have re-emerged. We focus on food prices and analyse recent developments in food inflation in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territories, Syria and Tunisia in comparison with other middle income economies. Subsidies on food and fuel are quantified per country for the period 2002-2010. The incremental government subsidies entail an estimated deterioration of the government balances of up to more than 2% of GDP in 2008 and, for most countries only slight improvements in the global recession year 2009. Ensuing longer-term challenges for public finances remain as inflation rises on the back of higher global economic growth. As recent events in Tunisia illustrate, these can have important political implications. Finally, the paper discusses some options that can lead to more efficient government spending, even in the event of sharp swings in prices of basic necessities.

Design methods for some dose-response models

A recently described design method for one-parameter biomedical models such as limiting or serial dilution assays is generalized to two-parameter models for which the dose-response relationship can be expressed as a linear regression model with parameters α (intercept) and β (slope). Design formulae are proposed for three different cases in which prior information about the unknown regression parameters α and β is available (α known, β known and neither known, respectively). A suitable transformation of the two-parameter model enables the direct application of the one-parameter design method to the first two cases, while the third needs more advanced considerations. Two experimental designs, taken from the literature, are reproduced as closely as possible using the methods described, thus showing under which circumstances these designs are suitable