Teaching With Data In The Principles Of Macroeconomics Course

Economic data play an important role in the study of macroeconomics. Teaching with data through interactive classes can engage students more fully in the learning process. Although the pedagogy of teaching with data has been widely applied in the undergraduate science classroom, its extension to the economics classroom is rarely discussed. This paper attempts to fill in this paucity in the literature by discussing two examples of integrating economic data in a principles of macroeconomics course

Is Optimum Currency Area Feasible In East Asia? A Regional Study On Mainland China And Hong Kong

This paper evaluates the possibility of forming a common currency area in Mainland China and Hong Kong using five economic indices that are used as criterion for the optimality of a currency area in the literature and finds mixed results. The higher product diversification in Mainland China, low correlations in real output growth, money growth, nominal interest rate and real interest rate, dissimilarity of industry structures and inflation rates do not support the formation of a currency union between the two regions. However, the analysis of degrees of openness is in favor of Hong Kong forming a monetary union with Mainland China

The Application Of Documented Problem Solving In College Introductory Statistics Courses

Introductory statistics is an important part of the undergraduate curriculum in business and economics education. A pedagogical method, documented problem solving, is applied in the undergraduate statistics course. This assessment method actively engages students in learning via reflecting their thinking process that helps stimulate metacognition and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Effects of direct injection timing of ethanol fuel on engine knock and lean burn in a port injection gasoline engine

Ethanol is a promising alternative fuel for internal combustion engines due to its renewable feature. To make the use of ethanol fuel more effective and efficient, ethanol direct injection plus gasoline port injection (EDI + GPI) has been investigated in recent years. By directly injecting ethanol into the engine, the advantages of ethanol fuel such as high latent heat of vaporization, fast laminar flame speed, wide flammability and better low temperature combustion stability can be well utilized to enhance engine anti-knock ability and improve lean burn performance. For an engine equipped with direct injection (DI) system, start of injection (SOI) timing is an important control parameter which directly affects the engine performance. This paper reports the investigation to the effect of ethanol fuel SOI timing on knock mitigation and lean burn. Experiments were conducted on a 250 cc single cylinder spark ignition (SI) engine equipped with EDI + GPI system. Ethanol fuel SOI timing before and after the inlet valve closing, defined as early and late injection timings (EEDI and LEDI) were investigated in engine conditions at knock limited spark advance (KLSA) and lean burn limit. The experimental results showed that LEDI was effective on suppressing engine knock and permitting more advanced spark timing. EEDI was less effective than LEDI on mitigating knock due to the increased heat transfer from cylinder wall to gases. The mixture quality may be deteriorated in LEDI conditions which resulted in low engine efficiency and high emissions. Volumetric efficiency was increased and combustion duration was reduced in EEDI conditions. The combined effects of improved volumetric efficiency, reduced combustion duration and moderately advanced spark timing resulted in increased engine thermal efficiency in EEDI conditions. In lean burn, EEDI was more effective on extending lean burn limit. The maximum lambda achieved in EEDI condition was 1.29 when ethanol energy ratio (EER) was 24% and SOI timing was 290 CAD BTDC. LEDI only slightly increased lean burn limit which was just over stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (AFR). In EEDI conditions, IMEP was greater and combustion stability (COV) was better than that in LEDI conditions. The emissions in EEDI conditions were also lower than that in LEDI conditions. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Exploring Determinants Of U.S. Household Debt

The fast growing household debt in the U.S. has become a concern to the general public and policy makers. This paper attempts to explore the factors influencing the U.S. household indebtedness using quarterly data over the period of 1980-2010 and controlling for the time series issues. The estimated results show that the unemployment rate, interest rate, disposable personal income per capita, share of retiring population, and educational attainment are negatively associated with the household debt, while housing prices, consumer confidence, and the share of working-age population are positively related to the household borrowing

The Effect of Mergers & Acquisitions and Greenfield FDI on Income Inequality

This paper investigates the differential effects of cross-border mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and greenfield investment on income distribution within the host country. Using a sample of 93 countries from 1990-2009, our results show that M&As have an insignificant impact on income inequality, while greenfield investment exhibits a significantly positive effect on income disparity

Determinants Of Economic Growth: Evidence From American Countries

This paper explores determinants of economic growth using variables from traditional Solow model and recent empirical studies. The study covers data on American countries during the period 1995-2006.  The estimates show that per capita, GDP growth is positively related to capital expenditure, primary completion rate and trade openness and the relationship is statistically significant. Furthermore, population growth rate and investment in research and development have positive impacts on economic growth, yet the effects are not significant

Preliminary investigation to combustion in a SI engine with direct ethanol injection and port gasoline injection (EDI+GPI)

Ethanol fuel, as a renewable fuel can play an important role in addressing the critical issue of energy resources if it is used in a proper way. Ethanol direct injection plus gasoline port injection (EDI+GPI) is such a new way to enable substantial improvement in engine efficiency and emission reduction in spark ignition engines. This paper reports our preliminary investigation to the combustion and emissions in this new dual fuel injection system. Experiments were conducted on a single-cylinder spark ignition engine equipped with EDI+GPI. In the experiments, the ethanol/gasoline volumetric percentage (EVP) was varied from 0% (gasoline fuel only) to 71%. Mass burnt fraction and indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) were calculated from the measured cylinder pressure for analysing the combustion process. The variance of IMEP, reduced with the increased EVP, showed that the combustion stability was improved by the direct injection of ethanol fuel. The effect of EVP on initial, early and major combustion time periods showed that ethanol fuel's higher combustion velocity and low ignition energy might contribute to accelerating the flame propagating, shortening the combustion periods and reducing the combustion temperature when EVP was less than 48%. However further increase of EVP when it was over 48% resulted in a negative effect on combustion which might be caused by the ethanol fuel's over cooling effect. Hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emission increased and nitric oxide emission decreased with the increase of EVP