Assessing monetary policy in Norway.

Policy; Working;

Volume and Volatility in the FX-Market: Does it matter who you are?

The relationship between volume and volatility has received much attention in the the literature of financial markets. However, due to the lack of data, few results have been presented for the foreign exchange market. Further, most studies contain only aggregate series, and can not distinguish between the impact of different instruments or participants.We study the impact of volume on volatility in the the FX-market using a unique data set of daily trading in the Swedish krona (SEK) market. The data set covers 95 per cent of worldwide SEK-trading, and is disaggregated on a number of reporting banks’ buying and selling in five different instruments on a daily basis over a period of nine years. We find that volume in general depict a positive correlation with volatility. However, the strength of the relationship depends on the instrument used and the identity of the reporting bank. In particular we find that it is the large Swedish banks that dominate the relationship. These banks are probably also the best informed banks. We interpret this is as evidence that heterogeneous expectations are important to understand the volume-volatility relationship.volume volatility relation, microstructure, exchange rates.

“Large” vs. “small” players: A closer look at the dynamics of speculative attacks

What is the role of “large players” like hedge funds and other highly leveraged institutions in speculative attacks? In recent theoretical work, large players may induce an attack by an early move, providing information to smaller agents. In contrast, many observers argue that large players are in the rear. We propose a model that allows both the large player to move early in order to induce speculation by small players, or wait so as to benefit from a high interest rate prior to the attack. Using data on net positions of “large” (foreigners) and “small” (locals) players,we find that large players moved last in three attacks on the Norwegian krone (NOK) during the1990s: The ERM-crisis of 1992, the NOK-pressure in 1997, and after the Russian moratorium in1998. In 1998 there was a contemporaneous attack on the Swedish krona (SEK) in which large players moved early. Interest rates did not increase in Sweden so there was little to gain by a delayed attack.Speculative attacks, microstructure, international finance, large players

Exploring Women’s Lived Experiences of Early Marriage in Rural Indonesia

Early marriage is still a global concern, and Indonesia ranks second behind Cambodia in the number of early marriages within the ASEAN region. Despite the spread of technology and the influence of Western media, some Indonesian families, especially those who live in rural areas, continue to practice early marriage. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the reasons behind early marriage based on the perspective of Indonesian women who were married before the age of 18. Based on a phenomenological approach, thirty women, ages 18-45, from the Madurese community in Situbondo, East Java participated in the study. Results showed that young Madurese women decided to get married for love and companionship, as well as for economic benefits and protecting the family’s honor. Participants also believed that cultural norms and values related to marriage, sexual purity, and gender expectations play a role in early marriage. Suggestions for future studies and community interventions are discussed

WSO/UV: World Space Observatory/Ultraviolet

We summarize the capabilities of the World Space Observatory (UV) Project (WSO/UV). An example of the importance of this project (with a planned launch date of 2007/8) for the study of Classical Novae is given.Comment: 4 pages, To appear in the proceeedings of the "Classical Nova Explosions" conference, eds. M. Hernanz and J. Jose, AI

Evaluation of an interactive music awareness program for cochlear implant recipients

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a prototype interactive music awareness program (IMAP) for adult cochlear implant (CI) users. An unblinded, randomized, crossover design was used. Twenty-one CI users were recruited and allocated to two groups. Group 1 received the IMAP first, followed by a retention of learning phase. Group 2 were given the IMAP after 12 weeks. Participants were instructed to undertake two half-hour sessions per week at home over 12 weeks. Both groups attended appointments at the start, halfway through, and at the end of the trial. At each appointment participants completed tests of speech perception, melodic contour identification and instrument recognition, rated the sound quality of music, and indicated their music listening habits. Sixteen participants completed the study. Following training both groups showed improved instrument recognition abilities and feedback suggests further positive impact on participants’ lives. The findings suggest that the IMAP is beneficial for music perception and in particular, improved instrument recognition

Making a Case for Engaging Adolescents in Program Decision-Making

The study discussed here examined the degree to which adolescents believe they are involved in community decision-making and examined discrepancies between adult and adolescent perceptions of common youth problems. Perceptual data were compared to adolescents\u27 self-reported behavioral data to determine if perceptions diverge from reports of actual behaviors. Results indicate that many adolescents do not believe that their thoughts are considered valuable by decision-makers. However, differences in perceptions among adults and youth suggest that adolescent perceptions should be considered. Specifically, adults were particularly aware of adolescent behaviors with observable consequences, but adolescents were more aware of internal psychological problems

On the possible existence of short-period g-mode instabilities powered by nuclear burning shells in post-AGB H-deficient (PG1159-type) stars

We present a pulsational stability analysis of hot post-AGB H-deficient pre-white dwarf stars with active He-burning shells. The stellar models employed are state-of-the-art equilibrium structures representative of PG1159 stars derived from the complete evolution of the progenitor stars. On the basis of fully nonadiabatic pulsation computations, we confirmed theoretical evidence for the existence of a separate PG1159 instability strip in the $\log T_{\rm eff} - \log g$ diagram characterized by short-period $g$-modes excited by the $\epsilon$-mechanism. This instability strip partially overlaps the already known GW Vir instability strip of intermediate/long period $g$-modes destabilized by the classical $\kappa$-mechanism acting on the partial ionization of C and/or O in the envelope of PG1159 stars. We found that PG1159 stars characterized by thick He-rich envelopes and located inside this overlapping region could exhibit both short and intermediate/long periods simultaneously. we study the particular case of VV 47, a pulsating planetary nebula nucleus that has been reported to exhibit a series of unusually short pulsation periods. We found that the long periods exhibited by VV 47 can be readily explained by the classical $\kappa$-mechanism, while the observed short-period branch below $\approx 300$ s could correspond to modes triggered by the He-burning shell through the $\epsilon$-mechanism, although more observational work is needed to confirm the reality of these short-period modes. Were the existence of short-period $g$-modes in this star convincingly confirmed by future observations, VV 47 could be the first known pulsating star in which both the $\kappa$-mechanism and the $\epsilon$-mechanism of mode driving are simultaneously operating.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. To be published in The Astrophysical Journa

New Pulsating White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables

The number of discovered non-radially pulsating white dwarfs (WDs) in cataclysmic variables (CVs) is increasing rapidly by the aid of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We performed photometric observations of two additional objects, SDSS J133941.11+484727.5 (SDSS 1339), independently discovered as a pulsator by Gansicke et al., and SDSS J151413.72+454911.9, which we identified as a CV/ZZ Ceti hybrid. In this Letter we present the results of the remote observations of these targets performed with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) during the Nordic-Baltic Research School at Moletai Observatory, and follow-up observations executed by NOT in service mode. We also present 3 candidates we found to be non-pulsating. The results of our observations show that the main pulsation frequencies agree with those found in previous CV/ZZ Ceti hybrids, but specifically for SDSS 1339 the principal period differs slightly between individual observations and also from the recent independent observation by Gansicke et al. Analysis of SDSS colour data for the small sample of pulsating and non-pulsating CV/ZZ Ceti hybrids found so far, seems to indicate that the r-i colour could be a good marker for the instability strip of this class of pulsating WDs.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter