The macro-financial linkages modelling for the Czech economy

The contribution presents and analyze the model with financialfrictions. It is tailor-made for the Czech economy, and thus contains severalfeatures for capturing Czech stylized facts (a cascade of nominal rigidities, highopenness, real exchange rate appreciation in consumer prices etc.). Linkages between real and financial sectors are incorporated via the state non-contingent debt-contracts within the financial accelerator. Also, the model contains shocks which hit financial variables and propagate through the model into real sectors. The empirical analysis is presented via results of the Bayesian estimation.The contribution presents and analyze the model with financialfrictions. It is tailor-made for the Czech economy, and thus contains severalfeatures for capturing Czech stylized facts (a cascade of nominal rigidities, highopenness, real exchange rate appreciation in consumer prices etc.). Linkages between real and financial sectors are incorporated via the state non-contingent debt-contracts within the financial accelerator. Also, the model contains shocks which hit financial variables and propagate through the model into real sectors. The empirical analysis is presented via results of the Bayesian estimation

Novel assay for the detection of CRP protein in rabbit leukocytes using flow cytometry

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase serum protein secreted by liver hepatocytes. Besides its presence in the serum, CRP was also found on the surface of human leukocytes. However, the binding ability of CRP to rabbit leukocytes has never been previously investigated. The objective of our study was to optimize the detection of rabbit CRP binding leukocytes in order to observe the acute phase of immune response by flow cytometry after Complete Freund´s Adjuvant (CFA) administration. Blood samples were analysed using ELISA assay and flow cytometry immediately before and 2 days after the CFA administration. Significant (P<0.01) increase in the proportion of CRP+ leukocytes (up to 10%) and in their subsets (lymphocytes up to 14% and granulocytes up to 8%) were observed in samples after CFA immunization. ELISA also revealed significantly (P<0.01) higher CRP concentration in rabbit blood plasma after CFA immunization (about 3 mg/L) compared to control samples (about 1.5 mg/L) before immunization. In conclusion, the increase in level of CRP protein during the immune response in rabbits could be measured beside the ELISA also using flow cytometry via CRP binding leukocytes. This novel assay could be therefore successfully applied in further biomedical and veterinary research

Optimization of protocol for stallion semen cryopreservation

The aim of the preliminary study was to improve success of cryopreservation of stallion spermatozoa. The effect of different equilibration lengths and two techniques for freezing of stallion semen was evaluated, based on motility and viability parameters. Fresh semen was diluted with BotuCrio extender and divided into 3 groups equilibrated for 0.5h, 2h, and 4h. Subsequently, half straws of each group were cryopreserved in the vapours of the liquid nitrogen or in the automatic freezer. Results of stallion spermatozoa motility and progressive motility showed decreasing trend with increased time of equilibration. Moreover, a significant difference (p < 0.05) for the percentage of spermatozoa producing ROS was found between semen frozen in the vapours of the liquid nitrogen compared to semen cryopreserved by the automatic freezer in the same equilibration time. Nevertheless, results of this study are of preliminary character. Experiments using higher number of individuals need to be tested in order to find the best procedure for semen cryopreservation of Slovak national horse breeds

Current Christianity and Antisemitism

Tato práce pojednává o postoji vybraných "protagonistů" současného křesťanství k antisemitismu. Zaměřuje se především na křesťanké postoje, třebaže v ní nechybějí ani některé Židovské reflexe.This Thesis deals with Position of selected Members of current Christianity to Anti-semitism. It primarily focuces on Christian Positions, but Jewish Positions are not completely cut out.Katedra religionistik

The Czech Economy Model: Bayesian Quantitative Analysis of Parameters and Control of Strategies

Facilities of adaptive Bayesian identification as well as utilizing a suitably-rebuilt linearized model as a model controlled by an optimal control system will be demonstrated in this paper. Estimation of time-variant parameters was performed by mean of extended Kalman-Bucy filter with smoothing on base of rather short quarterly time series (dated from 1992, quarter I, to 1996, quarter II), that are not purged of neither seasonalities nor quick jumps due to sudden events in the Czech transitive economy during the period in question. After simultaneous verification, the quantified model was rebuilt into the form of non-linear state equations, which is suitable for applying control. ln handling the future trajectories of state and input variables (i.e. control and exogenous variables, respectively), there was the optimal control task solved as a dual problem  oj optimal control of a linearized discrete-time model (with time-variant parameters) by means of a quadratic junctional(with time-variant weights) which is to be minimized. The above procedures were applied to the Small Czech Economy's Model, where we were trying to find out some admissible input and output trajectories, which would represent up-to-date factual alternative strategies of development of the Czech economy.

The Czech Economy Model: Bayesian Quantitative Analysis of Parameters and Control of Strategies

Facilities of adaptive Bayesian identification as well as utilizing a suitably-rebui1t linearized model as a model controlled by an optimal control system will be demonstrated in this paper. Estimation of time-variant parameters was performed by mean of extended Kalman-Bucy fi1ter with smoothing on base of rather short quarterly time series (dated from 1992, quarter I, to 1996, quarter II), that are not purged of neither seasonalities nor quick jumps due to sudden events in the Czech transitive economy during the period in question. After simu1taneous verification, the quantified model was rebuilt into the form of non-linear state equations, which is suitable for applying control. ln handling the future trajectories of state and input variables (i.e. control and exogenous variables, respectively), there was the optimal control task solved as a dual problem of optimal control of a linearized discrete-time model (with time-variant parameters) by means of a quadratic functional (with time-variant weights) which is to be minimized. The above procedures were applied to the Small Czech Economy's Model, where we were trying to find out some admissible input and output trajectories, which would represent up-to-date factual alternative strategies of development ofthe Czech economy.

Changes in inflation dynamics under inflation targeting? Evidence from Central European countries ☆

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Many countries have implemented inflation targeting in recent decades. At the same time, the international conditions have been favorable, so it is hard to assess to what extent the success in stabilizing inflation should be attributed to good luck and to what extent to the specific policy framework. In this paper, we provide a novel look at the dynamics of inflation under inflation targeting, focusing on three Central European (CE) countries that adopted the IT regime at similar times and in similar environments. We use the framework of the open economy New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) with time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility to recover changes in price-setting and expectation formation behavior and volatility of shocks. We employ Bayesian model averaging to tackle the uncertainty in the selection of instrumental variables and to account for the possible country-specific nature of inflation dynamics. The results suggest that inflation targeting does not itself automatically trigger changes in the inflation process, and the way the framework is implemented might matter. In particular, we find rather heterogeneous evolution of intrinsic inflation persistence and volatility of inflation shocks across these countries despite the fact that all three formally introduced inflation targeting a decade ago

Labour Market Modelling within a DSGE Approach

The goal of this paper is to find a suitable way of modelling the main labour market variables in the framework of the CNB’s core DSGE model. The model selection criteria are: the predictive ability for unemployment, the change in the overall predictive ability in comparison to the baseline model and the extent of the required model change. We find that the incorporation of a modified Galí, Smets and Wouters (2011) labour market specification allows us to predict unemployment with an acceptable forecast error. At the same time it leads to a moderate improvement in the overall predictive ability of the model and requires only minor adjustments to the model structure. Thus, it should be preferred to more complicated concepts that yield a similar improvement in predictive ability. We also came to the conclusion that the concept linking unemployment and the GDP gap is promising. However, its practical application would require (additional) improvement in the accuracy of the consumption prediction. As a practical experiment, we compare the inflation pressures arising from nominal wages and the exchange rate in the baseline model and in alternative specifications. The experiment is motivated by the use of the exchange rate as an additional monetary policy instrument by the CNB since November 2013 in an environment of near-zero interest rates and growing disinflationary pressures. We find that the baseline model tends to forecast higher nominal wage growth and lower exchange rate depreciation than the models with more elaborate labour markets. Therefore, the alternative models would probably have identified an even higher need for exchange rate depreciation than the baseline model did

Changes in Inflation Dynamics under Inflation Targeting? Evidence from Central European Countries

The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel look at the evolution of inflation dynamics in selected Central European (CE) countries. We use the lens of the New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC) nested within a time-varying framework. Exploiting a time-varying regression model with stochastic volatility estimated using Bayesian techniques, we analyze both the closed and open-economy version of the NKPC. The results point to significant differences between the inflation processes in three CE countries

Inflation and the Steeplechase Between Economic Activity Variables

A sharp increase in unemployment accompanied by a relatively muted response of inflation during the Great Recession cast further doubts on the validity of the Phillips curve. With the aid of dynamic model averaging (Raftery et al., 2010), this paper aims to highlight that the existence of a systemic relation between real activity and inflation is blurred due to (i) the failure to capture inflationary pressures by means of a single measure of economic activity, and (ii) the existence of a non-linear response of inflation to the driving variable. Based on data for the U.S. and other G7 countries, our results show that the relation between economic activity and inflation is quite sturdy when one allows for more complex assessment of the former. We find that inflation responds to different measures of economic activity across time and space, and no measure of economic activity clearly dominates. The output gap is often outperformed by unemployment-related variables such as the short-term unemployment rate, the unemployment expansion gap, and the unemployment recession gap. Finally, our results confirm a weakening of the inflation–activity relationship (i.e., a flattening of the Phillips curve) in the last decades, which might be attributed to structural changes in the economy and monetary policy, that is robust both across activity measures and across countries