Regional integration, old and new

After lying dormant for two decades, regional integration is on the rise. Recent initiatives suggest that the world trading system may be moving toward three trading blocs clustered around Japan, the European Community, and the United States. Some view this development as a move toward a less fragmented world trading system; others, as a threat to multilateralism. For a typical developing country, the issue is whether to enter into a regional integration arrangement or to choose unilateral trade liberalization. Two questions must be asked: Is a preferential approach likely to enhance economic efficiency? And are substantial benefits attainable more easily through regionalism or through unilateral trade liberalization? The authors address these issues first by reviewing past and recent regional integration arrangements. They note that recent arrangements are occurring in a more liberal trading environment than those in the past, and that developing countries are now seeking integration with developed country partners (for example, Mexico and the United States). So the context is different from past arrangements, when regional integration was viewed as an extension of import-substitution industrialization at the regional level. In a discussion of the welfare economics of preferential trading arrangements, they show that a preferential approach to trade liberalization may not increase welfare. For a small country, unilateral trade liberalization will be superior to a preferential approach unless the world divides into trading blocs with mutually high barriers - in which case, a preferential approach ensures market access. In a discussion of the welfare economics of trading blocs, they note that the move to a few trading blocs may make a cooperative solution more likely - at the same time increasing the rewards of noncooperative behavior if bargaining fails. With an empirical evaluation, the authors show that - after controlling for differences in investment - countries that integrated grew no faster than their comparator group. But human capital contributes significantly to growth, suggesting benefits from regional integration arrangements that emphasize cooperation. And there is evidence of catch-up, suggesting benefits for the least-developed members of the new wave of arrangements that emphasize North-South membership. In short, regional integration arrangements are more likely to be a stepping stone toward a freer world trading system if GATT rules are strengthened, and if developing countries enter into arrangements with developed rather than other developing countries.TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Regional Integration,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy

An Experimental Study on the Effect of a new Defrosting Strategy on the Energy Consumption of Household Refrigerators

In a previous study an experimental testing apparatus was constructed and used to measure the defrosting efficiency of different heaters working under different control strategies. Based on the results obtained two defrosting heaters (one calrod and one distributed) and two control strategies (constant power and steps mode) were selected for this study. In the original mode the power was held at 160 W for 17.0 and 19.3 min for the distributed and the calrod heaters, respectively. In the steps mode the power was gradually reduced from 160 to 20 W, and the defrost length was set to 28.5 and 22.3 min, respectively, for the distributed and calrod heaters. Energy consumption tests were carried out following the ISO and AHAM standards, using the same top-mount frost-free refrigerator. Changes were implemented in the electronic board in order to vary the power and length of the steps. A glass window was installed in the rear wall of the refrigerator to visually monitor the defrosting process. A 4.3% drop in the energy consumptions obtained applying the two standards was achieved by replacing the calrod heater and the constant power mode with the distributed heater and the steps mode. Clogging tests were also carried out, using an automatic door-opening device to check the robustness of the different defrosting systems

The "missing link": a 4-day period transiting exoplanet around OGLE-TR-111

We report the discovery of a transiting hot Jupiter around OGLE-TR-111, from our radial velocity follow-up of OGLE transiting candidates in Carina. The planet has a mass of 0.53 +- 0.11 M_J and a radius of 1.0 +0.13-0.06 R_J. Three transiting exoplanets have already been found among OGLE candidates, all with periods near 1.5 days. The planet presented here, with P=4.0 days, is the first exoplanet detected by transits with the characteristics of a "normal" hot Jupiter, as found in abundance by radial velocity surveys The radius of OGLE-TR-111b and the scarcity of hot Jupiters detected among OGLE transit candidates tend to indicate that the case of HD209458b, with a radius of 1.4 R_J, is exceptional, with most hot Jupiters being smaller.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in A&A Letter

Alternative Energy Test Method for Frost-Free Refrigerators and Freezers

This paper outlines an alternative test method to evaluate the energy consumption of frost-free refrigerators and freezers for residential applications. While the standardized methods require the refrigerating appliance to be kept running according to its onboard control system, which usually drives the refrigerator through an on-off cycling pattern, the proposed approach assesses the refrigerator energy performance in the steady-state regime, being therefore much faster and more reliable. In this procedure, the cooling capacity is matched to the cooling loads by PID-controlled electrical heaters installed within the refrigerated compartments, so that the compartment temperatures are kept at the desired standardized levels. Comparisons between the experimental results obtained using the steady-state energy (SSE) test and the standardized procedures showed that the former follows closely the trends observed for the latter

Influência dos parâmetros físicos e geométricos das edificações na carga térmica

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarnia, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica

Bolsa Família: emancipação cidadã ou incorporação econômica? Uma análise no município de Pelotas-RS. 2016

This research has the objective to analyze the Bolsa Família Program as public policy transfer income and their social, economic and political society, considering beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the program. The problem that instigated this work based on the analysis of redistributive policy actions of the Brazilian State and its ability to contribute to the construction of citizenship was, if such action to reduce social inequalities are able to stop situations of misery and poverty by entering the beneficiaries in the consumer market and / or improving their citizen condition? The hypotheses state that the Family Grant Program has the feature to incorporate a significant portion of the population to the consumer market enabling access to soft goods that enhance the quality of life, considering that the quality of life is linked to emancipation and participation, particularly of access to rights that overlap the staple food and the history of poverty and exclusion together with the Brazilian political culture limits the citizen embedding capability program. The methodology used was the quantitative and qualitative research. The main result of this research is that the Bolsa Família Program as the primary public policy of income transfer in Brazil significantly combat the social problem of hunger and extreme poverty, however, full citizenship is far from the current beneficiaries.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPESA presente pesquisa tem o objetivo analisar o Programa Bolsa Família como política pública de transferência de renda e seus impactos sociais, econômicos e políticos na sociedade, considerando beneficiários e não beneficiários do programa. O problema que instigou este trabalho fundamentado na análise de ações de políticas redistributivas do Estado brasileiro e a sua capacidade de contribuir com a construção da cidadania, foi: se tal ação de diminuição das desigualdades sociais é capaz de interromper situações de miserabilidade e pobreza inserindo os beneficiários no mercado de consumo e/ou melhorando sua condição cidadã? A primeira hipótese afirma que o Programa Bolsa Família tem a característica de incorporar uma parcela significativa da população ao mercado consumidor, possibilitando o acesso a bens não duráveis que melhoram a qualidade de vida dos beneficiários. Considerando que a qualidade de vida está ligada ao acesso a direitos que se sobreponham ao da alimentação básica, gerando emancipação, dignidade e participação dos beneficiários. E a segunda hipótese é se o histórico de miséria e exclusão aliado à cultura política brasileira limita a potencialidade de incorporação cidadã do Programa. A metodologia utilizada foi a da pesquisa quantitativa e qualitativa. O principal resultado desta pesquisa é que Programa Bolsa Família como a principal política pública de transferência de renda no Brasil combate de maneira significativa o problema social da fome e da extrema pobreza, contudo, a cidadania plena está distante dos beneficiários atuais