World Food Prices after WTO Foundation: Deterministic and Non-deterministic Factors

This paper develops a two-step method to estimate the influence of non-deterministic factors in production on food prices, and finds that non-deterministic factors of wheat production do significantly affect both wheat and corn prices in the world and, however, those of corn do not.Non-Deterministic Factors, World Food Prices, WTO, Demand and Price Analysis,

Long-run neutrality of money supply for food prices in Germany with policy effects

Using a modified Fisher-Seater model with consideration of policy impacts, this paper attempts to tests the long-run neutrality of money supply on food prices in Germany after the launching of the Eurozone. The main findings include: (1) we can not reject the super neutrality of money for aggregated food prices; (2) However, staple food and its derived products – meat- are very sensitive to money supply, and their prices can increase to be much higher than money growth rate, perhaps due to speculative effects and demand effects; (3) Fresh or perishable products are usually less sensitive to money growth; (4) Most products decreased their prices after the launching of decoupling policy in Europe in 2003. The results can explain the links between money supply and food prices in a long run and also give insightful implications for the ongoing reform of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) in Europe.money supply, German food prices, CAP, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance,

Dzyaloshinskii-Moryia interaction at an antiferromagnetic interface: first-principles study of FeIr bilayers on Rh(001)

We study the magnetic interactions in atomic layers of Fe and 5d transition-metals such as Os, Ir, and Pt on the (001) surface of Rh using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. For both stackings of the 5d-Fe bilayer on Rh(001) we observe a transition from an antiferromagnetic to a ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor exchange interaction upon 5d band filling. In the sandwich structure 5d/Fe/Rh(001) the nearest neighbor exchange is significantly reduced. For FeIr bilayers on Rh(001) we consider spin spiral states in order to determine exchange constants beyond nearest neighbors. By including spin-orbit coupling we obtain the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). The magnetic interactions in Fe/Ir/Rh(001) are similar to those of Fe/Ir(001) for which an atomic scale spin lattice has been predicted. However, small deviations between both systems remain due to the different lattice constants and the Rh vs. Ir surface layers. This leads to slightly different exchange constants and DMI and the easy magnetization direction switches from out-of-plane for Fe/Ir(001) to in-plane for Fe/Ir/Rh(001). Therefore a fine tuning of magnetic interactions is possible by using single 5d transition-metal layers which may allow to tailor antiferromagnetic skyrmions in this type of ultrathin films. In the sandwich structure Ir/Fe/Rh(001) we find a strong exchange frustration due to strong hybridization of the Fe layer with both Ir and Rh which drastically reduces the nearest-neighbor exchange. The energy contribution from the DMI becomes extremely large and DMI beyond nearest neighbors cannot be neglected. We attribute the large DMI to the low coordination of the Ir layer at the surface. We demonstrate that higher- order exchange interactions are significant in both systems which may be crucial for the magnetic ground state

iDataCool: HPC with Hot-Water Cooling and Energy Reuse

iDataCool is an HPC architecture jointly developed by the University of Regensburg and the IBM Research and Development Lab B\"oblingen. It is based on IBM's iDataPlex platform, whose air-cooling solution was replaced by a custom water-cooling solution that allows for cooling water temperatures of 70C/158F. The system is coupled to an adsorption chiller by InvenSor that operates efficiently at these temperatures. Thus a significant portion of the energy spent on HPC can be recovered in the form of chilled water, which can then be used to cool other parts of the computing center. We describe the architecture of iDataCool and present benchmarks of the cooling performance and the energy (reuse) efficiency.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, proceedings of ISC 201

Implications of Web 2.0 for financial institutions: Be a driver, not a passenger

Web 2.0 heralds a new era of communication with a massive increase in information supply and where news, opinion and services flow directly from user to user. Financial institutions can take advantage if they stay abreast of this development. However, any Web 2.0 presence of a financial institution must be authentic and consistent with the institution’s brand and corporate culture. To leverage the potential, the need for an immaculate reputation and the right type of brand is becoming ever more important.information- and communication technology; ICT technology; P2P; Web 2.0; banking; blog; virtual worlds; wiki; lending; e-business; e-commerce; B2C-e-commerce; internet; e-payments

Estimation of the Long-Run Food Price Equilibrium in Germany, the U.S. and Europe

In this thesis, so far insufficiently considered characteristics of long-run equilibriums in food markets are investigated. For this purpose, multivariate time series methodologies, which were developed for the estimation of long-run relationships by allowing for causality and convergence, are employed. In three essays, the proposed procedures are applied to food prices in Germany, the United States and Europe. The long-run equilibrium is defined as a state of an economic system (e.g. a market), to which the variables of the system revert as a consequence of economic mechanisms after being affected by shocks. For the analysis of a long-run equilibrium scholars usually resort to the framework of cointegration. However, the corresponding econometric tests are limited to detecting the existence of a fixed long-run equilibrium of endogenous variables. This thesis contributes to the literature by proposing alternative methodologies, which enable an estimation of long-run equilibriums and thereby allow to take further properties into account, such as causality and convergence. Exogenous shocks, like macroeconomic or policy changes, evidentially have an influence on food markets. Analyses of such relationships benefit from the procedures, which actually consider the causality structure. A well-known methodology, which measures the impact of a permanent change in the level of one variable on the level of another variable, is the long-run neutrality test of Fisher and Seater (1993). Their procedure is utilized here to investigate the influence of exogenous shocks on food prices. This empirical application is the first undertaking of this kind to be used in the literature. Furthermore, an extension of the basic framework is proposed, which considers a second exogenous variable in the relationship. However, in some markets the long-run equilibrium is not fixed. The alterations might be triggered by policy measures or changes in market characteristics (e.g. spatial modifications, transaction cost reductions or supply chain improvements). The econometric concept of convergence can be deployed in order to determine whether the market efficiency is improving or worsening. In this thesis, the test of Phillips and Sul (2007), which is by definition a quite general procedure, is utilized for this purpose. The concept of convergence, particularly the aforementioned test, has not yet been employed intensively to study the dynamics of food markets. Furthermore, this thesis makes important empirical and political contributions to the analysis of food markets. In the first case study, the impacts of money supply changes initiated by the European Central Bank and of agricultural policy modifications implemented by the European Commission on German food prices are investigated. Research into the influence of money supply on agricultural product prices has never been conducted on such a disaggregated level before. The results show that aggregated agricultural prices are neutral in the long run, whereas the effects differ for different disaggregated markets. Staple food prices in particular, are more sensitive to changes in money supply due to good storability and demand inelasticity. In contrast, animal product prices are less sensitive to money supply changes, perhaps due to larger demand elasticities and quick production adjustments. Furthermore, the policy component in the model reveals that the dynamics triggered by the EU’s decoupling policies (Mid-Term Review) increase production efficiency for specific products. In a second case study, a theoretical model, which explains the influence of money supply on food markets, is derived in order to research the long-run impact of money supply on U.S. agricultural prices over the last five decades. The results reveal that agricultural prices as a whole and most individual product prices are neutral in response to money supply in the long run. However, the prices of products with large supply elasticities with respect to money supply remain significantly below a neutral equilibrium. Hence, the producers of these commodities are particularly vulnerable to monetary policy changes. In the third case study, the unsteadiness of the long-run equilibriums of important livestock prices within the EU is analyzed. The occasional changes in the market structure result from policy measures, which are intended to offset the remaining non-tariff trade barriers, and the enlargements of the EU. Moreover, the different currencies in the market might contribute to the heterogeneity in the adjustment to a long-run equilibrium. In order to investigate these hypotheses, the single market after the important expansion of the EU to Eastern Europe in 2004 is analyzed. Including all EU countries, the results confirm that market efficiency is increasing. In a separate analysis of the new member states, their catching-up process is confirmed. Additionally, a comparison of EMU and non-EMU countries shows that the common currency significantly contributes to a further integration