Liquidity and fire sales

A “fire sale” occurs when the owner of a good offers it for sale at a price strictly below the price that some buyers would willingly pay for the good. He does so because the advantage of the quick sale made possible by the lower price outweighs the higher price that other potential buyers would pay, given the likely delay in locating these buyers in the latter case. Fire sales can occur only in illiquid markets. This paper generalizes earlier treatments of illiquid markets by assuming that the asset can be offered for sale at any time, rather than only after its owner loses his capacity to operate it profitably. Also, it specifies that profitability follows a random walk.Liquidity (Economics) ; Econometric models

Assessing the Economic Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on the Washington Economy: A General Equilibrium Approach

Washington voters passed Initiative Measure No. 688 on November 3, 1998. This bill increased Washington’s minimum wage to $5.70 on January 1, 1999.and to$6.50 on January 1, 2000. The Initiative required that future annual changes in Washington’s minimum wage be indexed to inflation in the BLS Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). As of 2005, Washington had the highest minimum wage in the nation at $7.35 per hour. Eleven other states have minimum wages above the Federal minimum wage of$5.15 per hour; however, Oregon is the only other state with an inflation-indexed minimum wage, which was $7.05 per hour in 2004. A computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Washington economy was used to examine the economic impact of increases in Washington’s minimum wage. Results from the short-run model indicated that a five percent increase in Washington’s minimum wage would cause a loss of 1909 minimum wage jobs (2.5 percent of baseline minimum wage jobs) but the wage bill for minimum wage workers would increase by$22.61 million (2.38 percent of the baseline minimum wage bill). The loss in the total wage and capital bill for the state economy was $14.04 million. The predicted change in gross state product was roughly 0.007 percent. Tracing the impact of increases in the minimum wage across the size distribution of household income, low income households in Washington experienced an increase in welfare and there was a slight decrease in welfare for high income households.Washington's minimum wage, the Washington CGE model, Two-level CES production functions, elasticity of labor-capital substitution, welfare change

Smart FRP Composite Sandwich Bridge Decks in Cold Regions

INE/AUTC 12.0

The industrialization of Sao Paulo (Brazil) recent trends and problems

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe State of Sao Paulo has become the most highly industrialized area in Latin America. This developnent is of comparatively recent origin, occurring almost wholly since 1900 and principally since 1930 and has been the result of many factors in the history of the state. The industrialization of the state, in spite of the many and serious problems confronting it, is progressing. Living standards in urban areas have been generally increasing and industrial efficiency has undoubtedly improved. The solution of many of the problems confronting industrialization is being carried out and progress is being made towards the attainment of a stable and prosperous industrial economy. [TRUNCATED