Profit and Cost in "Modern" Post-Marxian Profit Theory: A Case Study from Varian's "Intermediate Microeconomics"

In this paper, I examine the treatment of competitive profit of professor Varian in his textbook on Microeconomics, as a representative of the “modern” post-Marxian view on competitive profit. I show how, on the one hand, Varian defines profit as the surplus of revenues over cost and, thus, as a part of the value of commodities that is not any cost. On the other hand, however, Varian defines profit as a cost, namely, as the opportunity cost of capital, so that, in competitive conditions, the profit or income of capital is determined by the opportunity cost of capital. I argue that this second definition contradicts the first and that it is based on an incoherent conception of opportunity cost.

The Comovement between Monetary and Fiscal Policy Instruments during the Post-War Period in the U.S.

This paper empirically studies the dynamic relationship between monetary and fiscal policies by analyzing the comovements between the Fed funds rate and the primary deficit/output ratio. Simple economic thinking establishes that a negative correlation between Fed rate and deficit arises whenever the two policy authorities share a common stabilization objective. However, when budget balancing concerns lead to a drastic deficit reduction the Fed may reduce the Fed rate in order to smooth the impact of fiscal policy, which results in a positive correlation between these two policy instruments. The empirical results show (i) a significant negative comovement between Fed rate and deficit and (ii) that deficit and output gap Granger-cause the Fed funds rate during the post-Volcker era, but the opposite is not true.

Markov Switching Risk Premium and the term structure of interest rates. Empirical evidence from US post-war interest rates

This paper considers the basic present value model of interest rates under rational expectations with two additional features. First, following McCallum (1994), the model assumes a policy reaction function where changes in the short-term interest rate are determined by the long-short spread. Second, the short-term interest rate and the risk premium processes are characterized by a Markov regime-switching model. Using US post-war interest rate data, this paper finds evidence that a two-regime switching model fits the data better than the basic model. The estimation results also show the presence of two alternative states displaying quite different features.

The changing behaviour of the term structure of post-war US

Using U.S. interest rate data covering the period 1950:1-1992:7, this paper tests the rational expectations model of the term structure of interest rates. We show evidence that the rational expectations model of the term structure is supported by the data during the seventies and a period lasting from the mid-eighties to the end of the sample. However, during the …fties, sixties and a period that covers most of the Volcker’s office term (from September 1979 to April 1986) the term structure model is rejected by the data. Moreover, wefind evidence of regime changes in the short-term rate process and the term structure of interest rates. These regime switches roughly coincide with changes in the Federal Reserve chairman. The switches in monetary policy taking place when the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve changes therefore seem to play an important role in characterizing the term structure of interest rates.

Switching Regimes in the Term Structure of Interest Rates During U.S. Post-War: A case for the Lucas proof equilibrium?

Published as an article in: Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, 2004, vol. 8, issue 1, pages 5.

Adenylate Cyclase Toxin Promotes Internalisation of Integrins and Raft Components and Decreases Macrophage Adhesion Capacity

10 p.

Role of Monoubiquitylation on the Control of IκBα Degradation and NF-κB Activity

9 p.

A predictive model of the export behaviour of small and medium sized firms: an application to the case of Castilla-La Mancha

[EN] Based on an extensive theoretical review, the aim of this paper is to carry out a closer examination of the differences between exporters according to their commitment to the international market. Once the main disparities are identified by means of a non-parametric test, a logistic analysis based upon data collected from small and medium sized manufacturing firms is conducted in order to construct a classificatory model.

Internationalisation, multilingualism and English-medium instruction: the teacher's perspective

[EN]In the newEuropean higher education space, Universities in Europe are exhorted to cultivate and develop multilingualism. The European Commission’s 2004–2006 action plan for promoting language learning and diversity speaks of the need to build an environment which is favourable to languages. Yet reality indicates that it is English which reigns supreme and has become the main foreign language used as means of instruction at European universities. Internationalisation has played a key role in this process, becoming one of the main drivers of the linguistic hegemony exerted by English. In this paper we examine the opinions of teaching staff involved in English-medium instruction, from pedagogical ecologyof-language and personal viewpoints. Data were gathered using group discussion. The study was conducted at a multilingual Spanish university where majority (Spanish), minority (Basque) and foreign (English) languages coexist, resulting in some unavoidable linguistic strains. The implications for English-medium instruction are discussed at the end of this paper.

Influence of nutrient intake on antioxidant capacity, muscle damage and white blood cell count in female soccer players

11 p.

Dynamics of pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in healthy children attending a day care center in northern Spain. Influence of detection techniques on the results

8 p.

Impacto de las políticas crediticias de la banca en los resultados ex post : una aproximación desde las teorías económicas del ciclo crediticio

[ES]Este trabajo se centra en el análisis de la relación entre las políticas crediticias de las entidades de crédito y el comportamiento de las mismas ex post. Se hace una revisión de la teoría que justifica que los mercados crediticios pueden estar sujetos, en determinadas circunstancias, a un componente endógeno más elevado de lo que, en general, se atribuye. Se plantea como hipótesis de trabajo la existencia de una relación entre la intensidad en el crecimiento de la cartera crediticia de los bancos en las fases de expansión crediticia y su comportamiento ex post. Los resultados preliminares presentados confirman la hipótesis de que las entidades que más desvían su crecimiento crediticio respecto del crecimiento del PIB nominal, están sujetas a un peor comportamiento en cuanto a la evolución posterior de sus beneficios, rentabilidades e insolvencias.

Explorando la relación entre políticas crediticias y resultados de la banca española ex-post

© Este trabajo está licenciado bajo la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Itzulpen automatikorako tresnen egokitzapena euskararako: post-edizioa, ebaluazioa eta aurre-edizioa

Proiektu honetan zehar Itzulpen Automatikoa eta horren inguruko tresnen inguruan jorratu da. Lengoaia Naturalaren Prozesamendua eta itzulpen automatikoa ikasi eta aztertu egin dira ikuspuntu zabal batetik. Itzulpen automatiko orokorraz eta horren aplikazio mota desberdinetatik gain, bestelako kontzeptuak ere tratatu dira, hala nola, itzulpenean laguntzeko tresnak, itzulpen automatikoaren ebaluazioa eta itzulpen automatikorako testuen aurre-edizioa eta post-edizioa. Ikasketa- eta aztertze-prozesu horretaz gain, erlazionatuta dauden tresnak erabili edota moldatu egin dira euskararako itzulpen automatikoan barne. Hiru atal nagusi nabarmendu daitezke: Lehenengo, OmegaT, itzulpenean laguntzeko softwarea, moldatu da Matxin euskararako itzultzaile automatikoa gehituz. Gainera, IXA Taldearen eta Euskal Wikipediaren arteko kolaborazio-lanean, Wikipediako artikuluak eskuratu, itzuli eta igotzeko aukera egokitu zaio OmegaT-ri eta horren erabilera sustatu da Euskal Wikipediako komunitatean eta UPV/EHUko Informatikako ikasle eta irakaslegoaren artean. Bestalde, lan honetaz baliatuz, OmegaT-k sortzen dituen itzulpen-memoriak, Matxin-en itzulpenen gaineko post-edizioan oinarrituak, eskuratzeko modu bat egin da, horiekin Matxin-en funtzionamendua hobetu ahal izateko. Ondoren, Asiya programan integratu egin da euskara. Asiya-k itzulpen automatikoaren ebaluazio eta meta-ebaluazioak egin ditzakeen aplikazioa da. Hainbat metrika aztertu dira euskara aztertzeko balio ote duten begiratzeko. Besteen artean, lau metrikari euskara gehitzeko saiakera egin nahi izan da IXA Taldeko euskarazko testuen analizatzaile batek eskainitako informazio sintaktikoa gehituz, baina bi metrika soilik egokitu ahal izan dira. Azkenik, DiSeg esaldi-segmentatzailea erabili egin da gaztelerazko corpus baten gainean esaldi luzeak banatzeko. Aurre-edizio hori eta gero itzuli egin dira eta Asiya erabiliz emaitzen ebaluazioa eta konparazioa egin dira, esaldi laburragoekin itzulpen automatiko eraginkorragoa lortzen oten den aztertzeko.

Running Pace Decrease during a Marathon Is Positively Related to Blood Markers of Muscle Damage

Background: Completing a marathon is one of the most challenging sports activities, yet the source of running fatigue during this event is not completely understood. The aim of this investigation was to determine the cause(s) of running fatigue during a marathon in warm weather. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recruited 40 amateur runners (34 men and 6 women) for the study. Before the race, body core temperature, body mass, leg muscle power output during a countermovement jump, and blood samples were obtained. During the marathon (27 uC; 27% relative humidity) running fatigue was measured as the pace reduction from the first 5-km to the end of the race. Within 3 min after the marathon, the same pre-exercise variables were obtained. Results: Marathoners reduced their running pace from 3.5 6 0.4 m/s after 5-km to 2.9 6 0.6 m/s at the end of the race (P,0.05), although the running fatigue experienced by the marathoners was uneven. Marathoners with greater running fatigue (. 15% pace reduction) had elevated post-race myoglobin (1318 6 1411 v 623 6 391 mg L21; P,0.05), lactate dehydrogenase (687 6 151 v 583 6 117 U L21; P,0.05), and creatine kinase (564 6 469 v 363 6 158 U L21; P = 0.07) in comparison with marathoners that preserved their running pace reasonably well throughout the race. However, they did not differ in their body mass change (23.1 6 1.0 v 23.0 6 1.0%; P = 0.60) or post-race body temperature (38.7 6 0.7 v 38.9 6 0.9 uC; P = 0.35). Conclusions/Significance: Running pace decline during a marathon was positively related with muscle breakdown blood markers. To elucidate if muscle damage during a marathon is related to mechanistic or metabolic factors requires further investigation.