Modelling interactions between farm-level structural adjustment and a regional economy: A case of the Australian rice industry

Climate change and on-going water policy reforms will likely contribute to on-farm and regional structural adjustment in Australia. This paper gathers empirical evidence of farm-level structural adjustments and integrates these with a regional equilibrium model to investigate sectoral and regional impacts of climate change and recent water use policy on rice industry. We find strong evidence of adjustments to the farming system, enabled by existing diversity in on-farm production. A further loss of water with additional pressures to adopt less intensive and larger-scale farming, will however reduce the net number of farm businesses, which may affect regional rice production. The results from a regional CGE model show impacts on the regional economy over and above the direct cost of the environmental water, although a net reduction in real economic output and real income is partially offset by gains in rest of the Australia through the reallocation or resources. There is some interest within the industry and from potential new corporate entrants in the relocation of some rice production to the north. However, strong government support would be crucial to implement such relocation.

The Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Policy in a Small Open Economy under a Flexible Exchange Rate Regime

This licentiate's thesis analyzes the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in a small open economy under a flexible exchange rate regime, assuming that the government spends exclusively on domestically produced goods. The motivation for this research comes from the observation that the literature on the new open economy macroeconomics (NOEM) has focused almost exclusively on two-country global models and the analyses of the effects of fiscal policy on small economies are almost completely ignored. This thesis aims at filling in the gap in the NOEM literature and illustrates how the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in a small open economy depend on the specification of preferences. The research method is to present two theoretical model that are extensions to the model contained in the Appendix to Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995). The first model analyzes the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy, making use of a model that exploits the idea of modelling private and government consumption as substitutes in private utility. The model offers intuitive predictions on how the effects of fiscal policy depend on the marginal rate of substitution between private and government consumption. The findings illustrate that the higher the substitutability between private and government consumption, (i) the bigger is the crowding out effect on private consumption (ii) and the smaller is the positive effect on output. The welfare analysis shows that the less fiscal policy decreases welfare the higher is the marginal rate of substitution between private and government consumption. The second model of this thesis studies how the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy depend on the elasticity of substitution between traded and nontraded goods. This model reveals that this elasticity a key variable to explain the exchange rate, current account and output response to a permanent rise in government spending. Finally, the model demonstrates that temporary changes in government spending are an effective stabilization tool when used wisely and timely in response to undesired fluctuations in output. Undesired fluctuations in output can be perfectly offset by an opposite change in government spending without causing any side-effects.

Essays on Stock Market Reactions to New Information

A functioning stock market is an essential component of a competitive economy, since it provides a mechanism for allocating the economy’s capital stock. In an ideal situation, the stock market will steer capital in a manner that maximizes the total utility of the economy. As prices of traded stocks depend on and vary with information available to investors, it is apparent that information plays a crucial role in a functioning stock market. However, even though information indisputably matters, several issues regarding how stock markets process and react to new information still remain unanswered. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the link between new information and stock market reactions. The first essay utilizes new methodological tools in order to investigate the average reaction of investors to new financial statement information. The second essay explores the behavior of different types of investors when new financial statement information is disclosed to the market. The third essay looks into the interrelation between investor size, behavior and overconfidence. The fourth essay approaches the puzzle of negative skewness in stock returns from an altogether different angle than previous studies. The first essay presents evidence of the second derivatives of some financial statement signals containing more information than the first derivatives. Further, empirical evidence also indicates that some of the investigated signals proxy risk while others contain information priced with a delay. The second essay documents different categories of investors demonstrating systematical differences in their behavior when new financial statement information arrives to the market. In addition, a theoretical model building on differences in investor overconfidence is put forward in order to explain the observed behavior. The third essay shows that investor size describes investor behavior very well. This finding is predicted by the model proposed in the second essay, and hence strengthens the model. The behavioral differences between investors of different size furthermore have significant economic implications. Finally, the fourth essay finds strong evidence of management news disclosure practices causing negative skewness in stock returns.

A New Liquid Level Sensor for Process-Control Applications

Many process-control systems are air-operated. In such an environment, it would be desirable and economical to use pneumatic sensors. Bubble-back pressure sensors perform quite satisfactorily, but in case of viscous inflammable and slurry-like liquids with a tendency to froth, this level sensor is inadequate. The method suggested in this paper utilizes a pneumatic capacitor, one boundary of which is formed by the liquid level, to modulate a fluid amplifier feedback oscillator. The absence of moving parts and economy obtained makes this method attractive for process-control applications. The system has been mathematically modeled and simulated on an IBM 360/44 digital computer. Experimental values compare fairly well with the theoretical results. For the range tested, the sensor is found to have a linear frequency variation with the liquid level Extended running in the laboratory shows that the system is very reliable. This system has been found insensitive to temperature variations of up to 15ðC.

Metal and Alloy Nanoparticles by Amine-Borane Reduction of Metal Salts by Solid-Phase Synthesis: Atom Economy and Green Process

A new solid state synthetic route has been developed toward metal and bimetallic alloy nanoparticles from metal salts employing amine-boranes, as the reducing agent. During the reduction, amine-borane plays a dual role: acts as a reducing agent and reduces the metal salts to their elemental form and simultaneously generates a stabilizing agent in situ which controls the growth of the particles and stabilizes them in the nanosize regime. Employing different amine-boranes with differing reducing ability (ammonia borane (AB), dimethylamine borane (DMAB), and triethylamine borane (TMAB)) was found to have a profound effect on the particle size and the size distribution. Usage of AB as the reducing agent provided the smallest possible size with best size distribution. Employment of TMAB also afforded similar results; however, when DMAB was used as the reducing agent it resulted in larger sized nanoparticles that are polydisperse too. In the AB mediated reduction, BNHx polymer generated in situ acts as a capping agent whereas, the complexing amine of the other amine-boranes (DMAB and TMAB) play the same role. Employing the solid state route described herein, monometallic Au, Ag, Cu, Pd, and Ir and bimetallic CuAg and CuAu alloy nanoparticles of <10 nm were successfully prepared. Nucleation and growth processes that control the size and the size distribution of the resulting nanoparticles have been elucidated in these systems.

La crisis de 1930 y las políticas del New Deal : un examen desde la economía y las instituciones

Resumen: La presente investigación consiste en un análisis, desde la perspectiva de la economía y las instituciones, de las políticas del New Deal, implementado por Franklin D. Roosevelt en los Estados Unidos durante la crisis económica de los años 30. Para realizar dicho análisis se presentan los elementos principales de la crisis de 1930, luego se realiza un estudio de las políticas económicas aplicadas en el contexto de un marco de gran innovación institucional, y concluye evaluando las políticas expuestas, tanto desde el enfoque de sus resultados macroeconómicos como de su desempeño institucional. De esta manera el presente documento incluye un diagnóstico histórico del contexto norteamericano en aquel entonces y resalta los aspectos que motivaron a dicha administración a la aplicación de New Deal. Finalmente, se realiza un análisis del impacto macroeconómico de las políticas aplicadas. La conclusión sintetiza las principales enseñanzas de la experiencia desde la perspectiva de política económica y del diseño de la regulación, para concluir con algunas reflexiones acerca de su posible implementación en la actualidad.

The position of a social economy in the Czech Republic at present

The Social Economy is a new phenomenon in the Czech Republic. It means the economy with its social effects that is being supported within public politics. Some analyses have been done at J.E:purkynI University in Ústí nad Labem during the last years. The topics of this research were the transformation of public administration, non-profit sector(respectively the civil mix sector), co-operatives, and social enterprises, and it is still ongoing.

Lessons from History for Transitions to a Low Carbon Economy

4 p.

The basque ecological debt: global socioecological impacts of a small open economy

4 p.

Death or taxes? The political economy of sanitation expenditure in nineteenth-century Britain

This thesis consists of three papers studying the relationship between democratic reform, expenditure on sanitation public goods and mortality in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century. During this period decisions over spending on critical public goods such as water supply and sewer systems were made by locally elected town councils, leading to extensive variation in the level of spending across the country. This dissertation uses new historical data to examine the political factors determining that variation, and the consequences for mortality rates.

The first substantive chapter describes the spread of government sanitation expenditure, and analyzes the factors that determined towns' willingness to invest. The results show the importance of towns' financial constraints, both in terms of the available tax base and access to borrowing, in limiting the level of expenditure. This suggests that greater involvement by Westminster could have been very effective in expediting sanitary investment. There is little evidence, however, that democratic reform was an important driver of greater expenditure.

Chapter 3 analyzes the effect of extending voting rights to the poor on government public goods spending. A simple model predicts that the rich and the poor will desire lower levels of public goods expenditure than the middle class, and so extensions of the right to vote to the poor will be associated with lower spending. This prediction is tested using plausibly exogenous variation in the extent of the franchise. The results strongly support the theoretical prediction: expenditure increased following relatively small extensions of the franchise, but fell once more than approximately 50% of the adult male population held the right to vote.

Chapter 4 tests whether the sanitary expenditure was effective in combating the high mortality rates following the Industrial Revolution. The results show that increases in urban expenditure on sanitation-water supply, sewer systems and streets-was extremely effective in reducing mortality from cholera and diarrhea.

Transitions to material efficiency in the UK steel economy.

Steel production is energy intensive so already has achieved impressive levels of energy efficiency. If the emissions associated with steel must be reduced in line with the requirements of the UK Climate Change Act, demand for new steel must be reduced. The strategies of 'material efficiency' aim to achieve such a reduction, while delivering the same final services. To meet the emissions targets set into UK law, UK consumption of steel must be reduced to 30 per cent of present levels by 2050. Previous work has revealed six strategies that could contribute to this target, and this paper presents an approximate analysis of the required transition. A macro-economic analysis of steel in the UK shows that while the steel industry is relatively small, the construction and manufacturing sectors are large, and it would be politically unacceptable to pursue options that lead to a major contraction in other sectors. Alternative business models are therefore required, and these are explored through four representative products--one for each final sector with particular emphasis given to options for reducing product weight, and extending product life. Preliminary evidence on the triggers that would lead to customers preferring these options is presented and organized in order to predict required policy measures. The estimated analysis of transitions explored in this paper is used to define target questions for future research in the area.

How should governments support the emergence of new industries in leading economies?

Over the past 30 years, developed economies' approaches to supporting growth have focused on competitiveness, entrepreneurship and innovation to varying degrees. However, following the credit crisis and global recession in 2008 there has been demand for an updated narrative of growth based on the emergence of new industries. This paper provides a brief review of the available literature on how governments in leading economies can support new industries to emerge to the benefit of their national economy, discusses a number of issues for governments trying to support emerging industries, provides a framework of activities which governments considering this type of intervention should consider, and discusses the case of the regenerative medicine industry in the UK using the framework. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

From privatisation to governed nature. Old and new approaches to rural commons in Spain

Recent decades have witnessed a shift in the studies on Spanish rural commons, in line with the changes in the international literature as a whole. The focus in the 1970s was on the land privatization process referred to as disentailment (Desamortización), being considered one of the essential dimensions of the transition to capitalism. The recent revival of interest in rural commons has focused less on privatization than on the real functioning of the commons and the social relations articulated around them. A further focus of interest is the interaction between rural society and the State, mainly through the study of forestry policy and its effects on different regions. A third field of interest is the emergence of conflicts around rural commons; not only those of a distributive nature but also environmental and political ones. Accordingly, these new approaches go beyond the old image of a fatal destiny in order to profoundly analyze the environmental and social interactions of rural commons dynamics.

The Vietnam's Transition Economy and Its Fledgling Financial Markets: 1986-2003

In this paper, we analyze the context of Vietnam’s economic standings in the reform period. The first section embarks on most remarkable factors, which promote the development of financial markets are: (i) Doi Moi policies in 1986 unleash ‘productive powers’. Real GDP growth, and key economic indicators improve. The economy truly departs from the old-style command economy; (ii) FDI component is present in the economy as sine qua non; a crucial growth engine, forming part of the financial markets, planting the ‘seeds’ for its growth; and (iii) the private economy is both the result and cause of the reform. Its growth is steady. Today, it represents a powerhouse, and helps form part of the genuine financial economy. A few noteworthy points found in the next section are: (i) No evidence of financial markets existence was found before Doi Moi. The reform has generated a bulk of private-sector financial companies. New developments have roots in the 1992-amended constitution (x3.2); (ii) The need to reform the financial started with the domino collapse of credit cooperatives in early 1990s. More stress is caused by the ‘blow’ of banking deficiency in late 1990s; and (iii) Laws on SBV and credit institutions, and the launch of the stock market are bold steps. Besides, the Asian financial turmoil forces the economy to reaffirm its reform agenda. Our findings also indicate, through empirical evidences, that economic conditions have stabilized throughout the reform, thanks to the contributions of the FDI and private economic sector. Private investment flows continue to be an eminent factor that drives the economy growth.