Unit Root Tests of Canadian Poverty Measures

This note examines the non-stationarity property of a most widely used Canadian poverty measure, low income cut-off, for Canada and for each of its ten provinces using various unit root tests which started gaining popularity since the early 1980s. Most test results indicate that the Canadian poverty rates for the period of 1980 to 2003 are non-stationary. Therefore it is quite reasonable and appropriate to model the Canadian poverty rates as an I(1) process in the empirical studies on poverty issues in Canada.

Is the Size Distribution of Income in Canada a Random Walk?

Several recent studies have investigated whether the size distribution of income in the United States follows a random walk meaning that it has a unit root, with mixed results. In this paper, we investigate the same issue using Canadian national and provincial income inequality data. The investigation is conducted using three different unit root tests. The results suggest modeling the Gini coefficients for Canada and for most provinces as an I(1) is quite reasonable.

Cloning and Comparative Studies of Seaweed Trehalose-6-Phosphate Synthase Genes

The full-length cDNA sequence (3219 base pairs) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene of Porphyra yezoensis (PyTPS) was isolated by RACE-PCR and deposited in GenBank (NCBI) with the accession number AY729671. PyTPS encodes a protein of 908 amino acids before a stop codon, and has a calculated molecular mass of 101,591 Daltons. The PyTPS protein consists of a TPS domain in the N-terminus and a putative TPP domain at the C-terminus. Homology alignment for PyTPS and the TPS proteins from bacteria, yeast and higher plants indicated that the most closely related sequences to PyTPS were those from higher plants (OsTPS and AtTPS5), whereas the most distant sequence to PyTPS was from bacteria (EcOtsAB). Based on the identified sequence of the PyTPS gene, PCR primers were designed and used to amplify the TPS genes from nine other seaweed species. Sequences of the nine obtained TPS genes were deposited in GenBank (NCBI). All 10 TPS genes encoded peptides of 908 amino acids and the sequences were highly conserved both in nucleotide composition (>94%) and in amino acid composition (>96%). Unlike the TPS genes from some other plants, there was no intron in any of the 10 isolated seaweed TPS genes

A modification of Silber’s algorithm to derive bounds on Gini’s concentration ratio from grouped observations

Silber (1990) devised an algorithm to derive the bounds of Gini’s concentration ratio from grouped data, which does not require information on the limits of the income brackets, the group mean incomes, or the overall mean income. In the case of the upper bound, Silber’s algorithm entails determining the coordinates of the points of intersection of the tangents to the Lorenz Curve (LC) at the observed points, which are then used in conjunction with the G-matrix operator. In this note we derive modified coordinates of the points of intersection of the tangents to the LC at the observed points assuming that there is information on the limits of the income brackets and full or sparse information on mean incomes. We also show that if the modified coordinates are incorporated into Silber’s algorithm, the resulting estimate of the upper bound is identical to estimates of the upper bound proposed by Gastwirth, Fuller, and Ogwang

Effects of government expenditure on private investment: Canadian empirical evidence

Fiscal policy, crowding-out effect, unit root test, cointegration, error-correction model, C22, E62,

China's changing exports : causes and consequences; final technical report

The impacts of renminbi (Chinese currency) appreciation were found to vary depending on whether firms were tightly integrated into global value chains (GVCs) where lead firms are instrumental in determining the distribution of currency appreciation’s costs and benefits and whether, in the case of foreign-owned and joint venture lead firms, the chain was internally centralized or governed as independent profit centres. Findings showed strong evidence of firms engaging in industrial upgrading in response to currency appreciation and other pressures, as well as evidence of multilevel state policy designed to spatially reconfigure the “strategic coupling” of local assets to facilitate industrial upgrading

Multiple challenges, complex impacts and responses, uncertain futures : a case study of exporters in Jiangsu province, China

All three of these factors – renminbi appreciation, rising labour costs and slower global trade growth – have posed significant challenges to China’s exporters. The slowing down of global growth presents a serious challenge. This analysis focuses primarily on exporting firms. Both policy initiatives and market pressures are leading to a geographical restructuring, with the state actively involved in facilitating a new ‘strategic coupling’ based on revisions to the 'location assets' caused by changes in prices and exchange rates. The export destination composition of Jiangsu’s exports from 2007 to 2015 are also considered

Identification of Sensitive Parameters for Deformation of Asphalt Concrete Face Rockfill Dam of Pumped Storage Power Station

Pumped storage power station (PSPS) is an important clean energy project that plays an important role in ensuring the economical, safe, and stable operation of power systems and alleviating the contradiction of peak load regulation. Deformation analysis of the built and under construction PSPS dam was an important process of dam design and operation, which was of great significance to ensure the safe operation of hydraulic structures in the reservoir site. Nevertheless, there were many parameters involved in the model for analyzing dam deformation, which brings a large workload to the inversion and application of model parameters. In this study, the asphalt concrete face rockfill dam (ACFRD) of a PSPS in Ningxia, China, was taken as an example, a dam deformation 3D finite element analysis model based on the Duncan–Chang E-B model was constructed, and the orthogonal test method was used. The model parameters of the main rockfill zone, secondary rockfill zone, and reservoir bottom backfill zone were taken as factors for the sensitivity analysis of horizontal displacement of dam H, vertical displacement u, and asphalt concrete face tensile strain ε. The results showed that initial bulk modulus base Kb, damage ratio Rf, and initial elastic modulus base K had a relatively higher sensitivity and had significant impacts on the calculation results, while internal friction angle φ, fraction angle reduction φ, bulk modulus index m, and elastic modulus index n had a relatively lower sensitivity, which had no significant impact on the calculation results. Therefore, when using the Duncan–Chang E-B model to analyze the deformations of a PSPS dam and asphalt concrete face, Kb, Rf, and K should be the focus. Parameters with a low sensitivity could be determined by engineering analogy so as to achieve the purpose of improving calculation efficiency under the premise of ensuring calculation accuracy. Meanwhile, these parameters should also be strictly controlled during construction. The results of this study could provide a reference for the design and safety assessment of ACFRD in PSPS

Identification of Sensitive Parameters for Deformation of Asphalt Concrete Face Rockfill Dam of Pumped Storage Power Station

Pumped storage power station (PSPS) is an important clean energy project that plays an important role in ensuring the economical, safe, and stable operation of power systems and alleviating the contradiction of peak load regulation. Deformation analysis of the built and under construction PSPS dam was an important process of dam design and operation, which was of great significance to ensure the safe operation of hydraulic structures in the reservoir site. Nevertheless, there were many parameters involved in the model for analyzing dam deformation, which brings a large workload to the inversion and application of model parameters. In this study, the asphalt concrete face rockfill dam (ACFRD) of a PSPS in Ningxia, China, was taken as an example, a dam deformation 3D finite element analysis model based on the Duncan–Chang E-B model was constructed, and the orthogonal test method was used. The model parameters of the main rockfill zone, secondary rockfill zone, and reservoir bottom backfill zone were taken as factors for the sensitivity analysis of horizontal displacement of dam H, vertical displacement u, and asphalt concrete face tensile strain ε. The results showed that initial bulk modulus base Kb, damage ratio Rf, and initial elastic modulus base K had a relatively higher sensitivity and had significant impacts on the calculation results, while internal friction angle φ, fraction angle reduction φ, bulk modulus index m, and elastic modulus index n had a relatively lower sensitivity, which had no significant impact on the calculation results. Therefore, when using the Duncan–Chang E-B model to analyze the deformations of a PSPS dam and asphalt concrete face, Kb, Rf, and K should be the focus. Parameters with a low sensitivity could be determined by engineering analogy so as to achieve the purpose of improving calculation efficiency under the premise of ensuring calculation accuracy. Meanwhile, these parameters should also be strictly controlled during construction. The results of this study could provide a reference for the design and safety assessment of ACFRD in PSPS