A Unified Framework for Using Micro-Data to Compare Dynamic Wage and Price Setting Models

This paper develops a statistical framework of steady-state identities which enable us to match the distributions of durations found in the micro-data to generalized Taylor and Calvo models of time-dependent pricing. We illustrate the approach with the UK micro CPI data for 2006-2009, and employ the pricing models in a simple macromodel. We find that the Generalized Taylor Economy generates a hump shaped response function, whilst the Generalized Calvo does not.price-spell, steady state, hazard rate, Calvo, Taylor

An exploratory survey of current practice in the medical device industry

This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Purpose – This study seeks to examine the extent to which mainstream tools and strategies are applied in the medical devices sector, which is highly fragmented and contains a high percentage of small companies, and to determine if company size impacts on manufacturing strategy selection. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed and disseminated through a number of channels. Responses were received from 38 companies in the UK and Ireland, describing 68 products taken to market in the past five years. Findings – Because of the limited scope of the survey, the findings are indicative rather than conclusive, and interesting trends have emerged. New to the world products were much more likely to exceed company expectations of market success compared to derivative products. It was found that the majority of these innovative products were developed by small companies. Large companies appear to favour minor upgrades over major upgrades even though these prove – on the data presented – to be less successful overall. Practical implications – These results provide those engaged in this sector with comparative information and some insights for further improvement. The reported trends with respect to company size and product complexity (or degree of novelty) are particularly illuminating. Academically, this sets some expected trends on a firmer footing and unearths one or two unexpected findings. Originality/value – It is believed that this is the largest survey of determinants of success in UK medical device companies and it provides a comparison with other sectors

Misleading Regressions with Constructed Variables.

It is common practice to examine empirical models in which one of the regressors is constructed as the weighted average or sum of a set of series that includes the dependent variable. Examples include models relating money and wealth, consumption and income and regional and national unemployment. In this paper we show that biased results are likely to be generated by such models and that the identified bias is distinct from the more familiar simultaneous equation bias. The theoretical arguments are illustrated with simulation experiments and as a practical example we consider the relationship between regional and national unemployment in Australia.REGRESSION ANALYSIS ; ESTIMATOR ; EMPLOYMENT ; REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Temperament Police: The Truth, the Ground Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

The tuning system of a keyboard instrument is chosen so that frequently used musical intervals sound as consonant as possible. Temperament refers to the compromise arising from the fact that not all intervals can be maximally consonant simultaneously. Recent work showed that it is possible to estimate temperament from audio recordings with no prior knowledge of the musical score, using a conservative (high precision, low recall) automatic transcription algorithm followed by frequency estimation using quadratic interpolation and bias correction from the log magnitude spectrum. In this paper we develop a harpsichord-specific transcription system to analyse over 500 recordings of solo harpsichord music for which the temperament is specified on the CD sleeve notes. We compare the measured temperaments with the annotations and discuss the differences between temperament as a theoretical construct and as a practical issue for professional performers and tuners. The implications are that ground truth is not always scientific truth, and that content-based analysis has an important role in the study of historical performance practice. 1

Trends and Cycles in Australian State and Territory Unemployment Rates.

This paper has as its subject matter the behaviour of state unemployment rates over time. Arguments are presented which suggest that the common approach which entails regressing state or regional rate of unemployment on the national rate is not likely to yield much useful knowledge. As a positive contribution to the literature, this paper focuses on two things: first, the behaviour over time in the dispersion of state unemployment rates and their relationship with the business cycle and; second, tests for the presence of common trends and/or common cycles in the state unemployment rates. The results suggest that there is a case which can be made for regional policy in Australia.REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ; UNEMPLOYMENT ; BUSINESS CYCLES

Active vibration isolator for flexible bodies Patent

Vibration control of flexible bodies in steady accelerating environmen