Unveiling Special Policy Regime, Judgment And Taylor Rules In Tunisia

Given limited research on monetary policy rules in revolutionary countries, this paper challenges the suitability of the Taylor rule in characterizing the monetary policy behavior of the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT), especially in turbulent times.More specifically, we investigate the possibility that the Taylor rule should be formulated as a threshold process and examine the validity of such nonlinear Taylor rule as a robust rule for conducting monetary policy in Tunisia.Using quarterly data from 1998:Q4 to 2013:Q4 to analyze the movement of nominal short-term interest rate of the BCT, we find that the nonlinear Taylor rule improves its performance with the advent of special events providing thus a better description of the Tunisian interest rate setting.  In particular, our results show that the adoption of an appropriate nonlinear approach leads to a reduction in the errors of 150 basis points in 1999 and 2009, and 60 basis points in 2011, relative to the linear approach

Review of Azade Seyhan, Writing Outside the Nation.

Azade Seyhan,Writing Outside the Nation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 189 pp. ISBN 0691050988

Review of Azade Seyhan, Writing Outside the Nation.

Azade Seyhan,Writing Outside the Nation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 189 pp. ISBN 0691050988

State, institutional and symbolic violence against women: the struggle since the «Arab spring» and the contribution of Arab women cartoonists

Este artículo analiza los cambios que se han producido en Túnez en el debate público sobre la violencia contra las mujeres, comparando la situación que había antes y después de la «Primavera árabe» en diciembre de 2010. Da las claves de los hechos posteriores a diciembre de 2010 y explora cómo estos influyeron en el debate público. El artículo analiza diversas viñetas de cuatro mujeres dedicadas al humor gráfico, una de Túnez y las otras tres de otros países árabes, que están dedicadas a denunciar la violencia contra las mujeres. Argumenta que el humor puede ayudar a denunciar dicha violencia, y que los movimientos de mujeres en el mundo árabe deben hacer más esfuerzos para incluir a las mujeres marginadas en sus luchas.This paper traces changes in Tunisian public discussion of violence against women, comparing the situation before and after the start of the «Arab spring» in December 2010. It highlights key events following December 2010 and explores how these influenced public discussion. The paper concludes by looking at several cartoons from four women cartoonists, one from Tunisia, three from other countries in the Arab world, that address issues of violence against women. It suggests that humor may help denounce violence against women, and argues that the women’s movements in the Arab world must do more to include marginalized women in their struggles

Celibate women, the construction of identity, Karama (dignity), and the "Arab Spring"

"Studies of the 'Arab Spring' have tended to focus on the economic and political needs of youth, but have not addressed socio-psychological needs such as an unfulfilled desire for marriage and its social consequences. This article discusses the case of celibate women in Tunisia who, because of the high rate of youth unemployment and its social consequences, find it difficult to accomplish the rites of passage that would take them from childhood to adulthood and allow full integration into the community. In order to gain control over the self in a social context that was dominated by a dictatorial state, they have chosen a form of asceticism, wearing the hijab, reading the Qur'an, practicing daily fasting, and re-negotiating hudud - that is moral boundaries and legal limits that have long been a subject of wide debate and of social reforms; at the same time, they support women's rights as expressed in Tunisia's Personal Status Code. Particular attention is paid in this article to the political discourse after 2011 and efforts to construct a 'moral personality.'" (author's abstract)"Untersuchungen über den 'Arabischen Frühling“ tendieren dazu, die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Bedürfnisse Jugendlicher zu fokussieren, adressieren jedoch nicht ihre sozialpsychologischen Bedürfnisse, wie etwa den unerfüllten Heiratswunsch und dessen soziale Konsequenzen. Der Beitrag diskutiert den Fall zölibatär lebender Frauen in Tunesien, für die es aufgrund der hohen Jugendarbeitslosigkeit und daraus folgender Probleme schwierig ist, Übergangsrituale zu durchlaufen, die sie von der Kindheit ins Erwachsenendasein geleiten und ihnen die vollständige Integration in die Gemeinschaft ermöglichen würden. Um in ihrer durch den diktatorischen Staat dominierten Lebenswelt dennoch Selbstkontrolle zu erlangen, haben sie für sich eine Form der asketischen Lebensführung gewählt, indem sie den hijab tragen, den Koran lesen, das tägliche Fasten praktizieren und die hudud neu verhandeln - also die moralischen und rechtlichen Grenzen, die schon lang Gegenstand breiter Debatten und sozialer Reformen sind; gleichzeitig unterstützen sie die Frauenrechte, so wie sie in Tunesiens Familienrecht verankert sind. Der Beitrag widmet sich besonders dem hierauf bezogenen politischen Diskurs im ‚Arabischen Frühling‘ seit 2011 und dem Bemühen, eine 'moralische Persönlichkeit' zu entwickeln." (Autorenreferat

Comparative study of kinetics isomerization of substituted polyacetylene (Cl, F, Br and I): Semi empirical RM1 study

AbstractThe newly semi empirical RM1 was used to investigate the interconversions of substituted (F, Cl, Br and I) polyacetylene conformers in the vapor phase. The rates of this geometrical isomerization have been measured and the Arrhenius parameters evaluated. In the case of unsubstituted polyacetylene as the reference, the Arrhenius parameters obtained are A1 = 1.73. 1012 s−1 and Ea = 0.40 kcal mol−1. The values of the equilibrium constant for the reaction have also been determined at various temperatures between 300 and 1000 K, and the value of the energy change calculated. The results also suggest that the straightforward kinetics characterizes the majority of substituted polyacetylene isomerizations above 300 K. The isomerization energies are positive, and the barrier heights ΔEbarrier are expected to be sensitive for the magnitude of halogen effects. According to geometry features the cis→trans isomerization in the gas phase is found to be influenced by the size and electronic character of substituted halogens

Semi empirical and Ab initio methods for calculation of polarizability (α) and the hyperpolarizability (β) of substituted polyacetylene chain

AbstractWe report accurate Ab initio studies of dipole polarizabilities and the first static hyperpolarizabilities (β) of polyacetylene with a number of substituents at the end part of the linear system. Geometries of all molecules were optimized at the Hartree–Fock level with the 6-311G++(d,p) basis set. The results indicate that for the NO2-П-Y systems we find group polarizabilities in the order N(Et)2>NBr2>N(Me)2>NHMe>PH2>NHNH2>SH>Br∼BH2∼CHO∼NHOH∼NH2>CN∼CH3∼Cl>NF2∼OCH3∼OH>H∼F. The study reveals inverse relationship between the Egap and first static hyperpolarizabilities. Compounds with the N(Et)2, NHNH2, N(Me)2, NHMe, NHOH, NH2 and OH end parts have large β values. A poor agreement results between the Ab initio and the AM1 values which give a correlation coefficient of 0.88

Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities, Growth Policies and Externalities in Developing Countries

In the developing countries, development policies have generated an uneven development. The economic activities are unevenly distributed and regional disparities are becoming increasingly noticeable. The role of growth policies is decisive in bridging spatial inequalities and enabling less-favored regions to catch up on their economic backwardness. The objective of this article is to clarify the stakes and levers of local growth policies in the current context of the developing countries and to understand the relationship between externalities and agglomeration of firms in order to influence the parameters of externalities and to allow a better distribution of economic activities in space. Keywords: Firm; Growth; Agglomeration Economies; Policy Makin