bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EVALUATING DEVELOPMENT IN SMALL SUBNATIONAL AREAS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Authors: Kituuka Stephen E. , King'oriah George K.
Published: October 2007

This paper focuses on problems of measuring and evaluating development for small subnational areas in a developing country. It has been stressed that the core of the problem is a lack of suitable tools to do the job, due to conditions of underdevelopment. Paucity of conventional economic data lead to difficulty in the computation of aggregates for gross domestic product (GDP) and most similar measures. The gap the paper hopes to bridge is the need to define “development” in quantitative terms for small subnational spatial areas with deficient data bases and traditional societies, against the paradox of the non‐quantitative nature of development. Despite the staggering diversity of physical, ecological, political and socio‐economic attributes in such areas, it is possible to formulate sufficient proxy indicators for evaluating development using physical, structural, demographic and socio‐economic variables. This paper demonstrates that construction of a multivariate Composite Spatial Development Value Index (CSDVI) goes a long way in solving the problem of economic development evaluation under these data ‐ deficient conditions arising from underdevelopment.
DESCRIBING URBAN STRUCTURE: A Factor Analysis of Los Angeles*
Authors: Heikkila Eric J.
Published: October 2007

Our practical knowledge of cities is based on an implicit understanding of how socio‐economic attributes and land use activities are bundled up into characteristic “places.” Despite this practical imperative, the regional science literature does poorly in describing, yet alone explaining, the spatial structure of large, complex metropolitan areas. It is argued that concise descriptive tools are a prerequisite for evaluating or assessing competing urban theories. Factor analysis is applied to Los Angeles data and its general usefulness as a descriptive tool is assessed. As a descriptive tool factor analysis offers several attractive features; it is quantitative yet qualitative, interpretive yet empirical, numerical yet visual.
COMPOSITE AREA LINKED SYSTEM FOR PROPERTY TAX REFORM IN INDIA*
Authors: Kapoor R.M. , Ghosh P.K.
Published: October 2007

In India, property tax is presently levied on the basis of the rent‐based rateable valuation system. Various official Commissions and Committees and professional experts have, over the last four decades, commented upon the inadequacies of this system, which, among other things, are the absence of an open market in land and rental transactions, the non‐availablility of professionally trained valuers and the subjective nature of assessments in a corruption‐prone administrative environment. As to the direction of future reforms, there have been two schools of thought ‐ one, advocating for amendment of current rent control laws; and the other, favoring a new system of local taxation, delinked both from the capital value and rental value systems which are difficult to administer in India. This paper highlights the findings of a policy‐oriented research study commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development for the design and evaluation of such a system.
TAXES AND SPECULATIVE BEHAVIOR IN LAND AND REAL ESTATE MARKETS
Authors: Case Karl E.
Published: October 2007

Land and real estate speculation are common in many countries, and attempts to control them vary in both style and scope. This paper addresses the effectiveness of several approaches to discouraging land and real estate speculation, concluding that land holding taxes, short term gains taxes, and transaction taxes have all proven to be relatively unsuccessful methods of control. The paper discusses housing price booms and busts in the United States, and describes attempts to control speculation, notably the Vermont Land Gains Tax, the Taiwan Land Value Increment Tax, and the Real Property Gains Tax of Japan.
THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EXPORTS IN DETERMINING LEVELS OF REGIONAL OUTPUT AND INCOME: A Model and Empirical Evidence from Kenya
Authors: Lewis Blane D.
Published: October 2007

Exports have long been assumed by many to be the most important variable in driving regional growth, although factors such as government expenditure, investment demand, and remittances, among others, have also been recognized as significant. In addition, supply‐side constraints to the promotion of regional growth and development have recently received increased attention in the literature. This paper evaluates the relative importance of exports, investment demand, and remittances, as well as supply‐constrained agricultural production, in determining levels of regional output, value added, and household income in a single region in Kenya. The analysis is based on a mixed endogenous/ exogenous model derived from a social accounting matrix (SAM) which allows for incorporation of both demand and supply‐side considerations. The paper finds that exports are, in fact, the most important factor in explaining regional output and wage income in the region studied, although not overwhelmingly so. In addition, the analysis demonstrates the importance of supply‐constrained agricultural production as a determinant of income at the household level.
THE DESIGN OF MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
Authors: Ferguson Bruce W.
Published: October 2007

Municipal Development Funds (MDFs) have become the preferred means of many donors and, increasingly, national governments for the finance of urban infrastructure. This article assesses their performance and design based on extensive data collection on ten MDFs and recommends changes. MDFs have two overall goals: credit and development. The greatest appeal of MDFs as credit providers is that they can wholesale funds for a wide variety of small urban infrastructure project to many local governments. However, they have largely failed to move toward market principles, and, too often, have succeeded in building infrastructure without strategically promoting local development. In this context, donors have focus sed on gearing MDFs to promoting local development ‐ improving project appraisal, rationalizing the inter‐governmental transfer system, establishing capital budgeting and fiscal planning, distributing funds among regions and municipal‐size categories, and promoting community participation. But MDFs have also produced uneven results in achieving these goals. At bottom, MDFs have failed to connect with local demand. Local governments often have little idea what local people ‐ particularly poor communities ‐ want and need. Not surprisingly, they often fail to accept or repay charges for MDF projects. The best hope for improving MDFs lies in relating these funds closer to local people's preferences. Means to this end include: involving neighborhood associations and households in project selection; relying on project revenues rather than transfers as the main guarantee and source for loan repayment; using commercial financial institutions to underwrite, disburse, and collect loans; and hiring community development staff at the MDF.
THE REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF U.S. BUSINESS SERVICES GROWTH, 1977–1987: EVIDENCE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Authors: Esparza Adrian , Krmenec Andrew J.
Published: October 2007

Regional analysts and policy makers have long struggled with problems arising from the uneven development of industrial systems. Most efforts have focused on manufacturing even though the business services sector continues to gain importance as a source of employment. This paper provides rigorous analyses of the regional organization of business services employment growth in the United States and discusses some implications of regionalism for the development of industrial policy. The analyses use chi‐square goodness‐of‐fit tests and spatial statistics to examine regional structure. State‐level employment data in ten business service industries for two periods, 1977–1982 and 1982–1987, are used in the analyses. The results show that although employment growth varies across the United States, it does not exhibit consistent regional organization. Instead, growth is organized more around metropolitan complexes. The lack of regional organization suggests that industrial policy should focus on the urban concentration of growth, telecommunications infrastructure and urban‐rural linkages.
MULTIPLER EFFECTS AND STRUCTURAL CHANGE: APPLYING ECONOMIC BASE ANALYSIS TO SMALL ECONOMIES
Authors: Mulligan Gordon F.
Published: October 2007

Multiplier models (economic base, input‐output, Keynesian) implicitly assume that pre‐impact and post‐impact interindustry transaction patterns are, for all practical purposes, identical. However, in very small regional economies this assumption is invariably violated because the economy undergoes a structural transformation during the impact process. That is, the economy often clearly shifts away from one functional type (e.g., service‐oriented) toward another functional type (e.g., manufacturing‐oriented) during the economic impact. Using marginal economic base analysis this paper outlines a model for predicting small‐area impacts that captures not only the traditional multiplier effect but other effects related to (i) employment‐based structural shifts and (ii) nonemployment‐based contextual shifts. Algebraic and numerical derivations are given for the expected employment shifts in a hypothetical impacted economy. All numerical results follow from an earlier statistical analysis of the Arizona Community Data Set (ACDS).
THE IMPACT OF RURAL OUTMIGRATION ON REGION OF ORIGIN IN KOREA*
Authors: Lee Bun Song , Phillips Joseph M.
Published: October 2007

To assess the impact of rural outmigration on regions of origin, this paper borrows from international trade theory to develop a model of rural‐to‐urban migration. Borrowing from theories of nontraded goods and Dutch Disease, a model is developed for application to Korea. The model finds that rural outmigration can be detrimental to the rural sector when outmigration reduces farm profitability and triggers deterioration in the rural service sector. Farm profitability falls because of rising labor costs that cannot be passed on to consumers. The rural service sector falters when outmigration reduces market demand while raising input costs. County (kun) level Korean census data are used to test the model.
TOPOGRAPHY AND SPATIAL POPULATION DUALISM IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1933–1990)*
Authors: Dendrinos Dimitrios S. , Zhang Jiang , Qian Zhen‐Chao
Published: October 2007

Looking at half a century of available data, a sharp spatial dualism is observed in the regional population distribution of the People's Republic of China. The vast share of the PRC's population is located in the Eastern and South‐Eastem regions. Two topographical variables related to accessibility, distance from the eastern seaboard and elevation, seem to be at the core of this dualism. Their isolated and combined effects upon die spatial distribution of the PRC's population are examined for the period 1933–1990. It is documented that the population concentration in certain regions of the PRC is not so much because of their proximity to the seaboard, but because of their low elevation, especially in the eastern part of the nation. Also documented is a result indicating that in time the combined effects of these impedances on the regional population distribution in the PRC is linearly declining. Although policy issues are touched upon only slightly, the quantified linkages can be insightful to the PRC's efforts to more evenly distribute population over space (a demographic based policy), while still favoring the Eastern Seaboard (an economics based policy).
THE PROSPECT FOR PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN URBAN MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS IN NIGERIA
Authors: Agbola Tunde
Published: October 2007

This paper analyzes the current state of public services provision in Nigeria, as well as the perceived ability for such services to be delivered, managed, and maintained by the private and public sectors. The results of an extensive survey conducted in three cities suggest that to a great extent the state has abdicated its responsibility to provide public services, while at the same time the market system has failed to fill the gap. A re‐allocation of functions between private and state organizations, as well as considerably less government interference are necessary to realize more efficient and effective delivery of essential services to the Nigerian public.
THE DETERMINANTS OF CAPITAL INTENSITY IN FOREIGN‐OWNED MANUFACTURING ACROSS U.S. REGIONS
Authors: Williams Martin , Scaperlanda Anthony
Published: October 2007

This paper empirically tests hypothesized influences on the capital intensity of foreign direct investment (FDI) among the 48 contiguous United States. A theoretical profit maximizing model of the firm is developed linking capital intensity to traditional variables (the prices of labor and capital services); the model also takes account of the price of energy, agglomeration effects, educational levels, the importance of labor unions, and state and local public capital. The main focus is on the effects of public capital on the capital intensity of FDI. Public capital is disaggregated as follows: highway, sewer and water, and other (primarily buildings). The operational model defines FDI as the 1986 gross value of property, plant, and equipment of manufacturing affiliates of firms with headquarters in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Findings are reported both for total manufacturing and for manufacturing disaggregated into five industry groups. Generally, the results emphasize that highway infrastructure and sewer and water public capital act as powerful incentives to attract capital‐intensive FDI across the 48 contiguous United States.
AN EVALUATION OF BOTSWANA'S STRATEGIES TO REGULARIZE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
Authors: Mosha A.C.
Published: October 2007

The government of Botswana has adopted simple but workable strategies to tackle the entire problem of informal settlements that have arisen in the urban areas due to fast urbanization. Through a two‐pronged strategy of self help squatter upgrading and site and services program, low income persons have been provided with serviced land, security of tenure, and help to build their own shelter. Also provided is social, economic and line infrastructure. Today self help urban housing accommodates more than 60% of Botswana's urban population. To enable replicability and sutainability of this program, the principles of cost recovery, cross subsidy and affordability have been introduced.
PRIVATIZED HOUSING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONDOMINIUMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: THE CASES OF POLAND, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, AND ROMANIA
Authors: Banks Christopher , O'Leary Sheila , Rabenhorst Carol
Published: October 2007

This paper looks at the housing sector reform in Central and Eastern Europe and examines the progress to date in housing privatization and policies aimed at improving the management and condition of the existing housing stock through the establishment and operation of the condominium form of ownership. The paper compares and analyzes approaches taken in four countries with regard to four issues: (I) the legal framework and implementation strategies; (2) the role of local government housing strategies in supporting the development of viable condominium associations; (3) property management of privatized housing; and (4) financing rehabilitation and capital repair projects for condominiums. Findings include the need for a clear legal framework, competition in the property management market, more supportive local government policies, and public sector support in tackling rehabilitation finance issues.
IMPACTS OF ECONOMIC REFORM ON RURAL‐URBAN WELFARE: A GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM FRAMEWORK
Authors: Azis Iwan J.
Published: October 2007

This paper demonstrates how economic reform undertaken in a developing country will impact not only macroeconomic variables but also income distribution between different household groups, particularly between rural and urban households. Unlike the well‐known link to macroeconomic variables, the path connecting economic reform with income of rural‐urban households is more equivocal and thus demands an inquisition. The CGE model constructed in this study is designed to serve such a purpose. When applied to the Indonesian case, both the static and dynamic simulations indicate that the post‐reform progress in the country's macroeconomic condition is likely accompanied by worsening—albeit slightly—household income distribution between income groups. The non agricultural sector appears to be the major beneficiary of the reform. From the dynamic simulation, a worsening distribution is also found between rural and urban areas. However, results of both simulations also show that improved poverty conditions are likely achieved following the reform.
FLEXIBLE COST FUNCTION ESTIMATES FOR A GAS AND FUEL CORPORATION IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Kinugasa Tatsuo
Published: October 2007

This paper reviews and empirically tests the available evidence concerning economies of scale and technological change at Australian Gas Limited of New South Wales (AGL). a gas and fuel corporation. Since energy corporations are considered to need scale economies, they are regulated 'n both developed and developing countries. In keeping with the trend of deregulation stemming from the beginning of the 1980s in Western countries, many kinds of public corporations have been privatized and deregulated. Energy corporations are not an exceptional case, but very little evidence on this industry has been reported so far. From empirical tests, it is shown in a trans‐log‐type cost function that AGL has scale economies. the degree of which increased after the corporation changed its energy source from coal oil to liquid natural gas. Moreover, from the results of the trans‐log cost function including technological change, a Hicksian neutral type technical progress exists. In a Hicksian non‐neutral type, stock‐intensive technical progress exists. while labor productivity deterioates. Energy productivity is not significant.
CHINA'S REGIONAL INEQUALITY AND RELATED LONG‐TERM POLICIES
Authors: Zheng Xiao‐Ping
Published: October 2007

This paper presents a simple model to study the reasons for China's regional inequality and proposes a few long‐term policies for solving the problem. Based on an empirical estimation, it is shown that the great regional inequality of the recent years is caused by high disparities m investment between the provincial capital, in population growth and in regional relative price indices. It is argued that such regional inequality could be reduced in the long term by adjusting China's coastal‐favorite regional development strategy, by partially relaxing strict regulations on inter‐regional migration, and by driving further forward the transformation towards a mature market economy.
INTERNAL MIGRATION IN TURKEY, 1965–1985: TEST OF CONFLICTING FINDINGS IN THE LITERATURE
Authors: Gedik Ayse
Published: October 2007

The purpose of this paper is to bring new insights to some of the conflicting findings in the migration literature about developing countries by using detailed analyses of Turkish migration data. The possible reasons behind inconsistencies in the findings are explained in terms of spatial and temporal characteristics of the data, and by national macro factors (mainly the level of urbanization and the characteristics of the urban systems). Tested were rural out‐migration and push factors; changes in the size of rural‐to‐urban and urban‐to‐rural return migration; the effect of distance; and the share and effect of rural‐to‐urban migration in the urban growth and in the unbalanced population distribution in developing countries.
Book Review
Authors: Slaven A.
Published: October 2007

R. H. Campbell and J. B. A. Dow. Source Book of Scottish Economic and Social History.
PRIVATE GOOD, EXTERNALITY, PUBLIC GOOD*
Authors: Evans Alan W.
Published: October 2007

In two recent investigations into the economic problems of externality the authors have noted in passing that the welfare or optimality conditions in the case of a consumption externality seemed identical with the welfare conditions in the case of public goods as originally stated by Samuelson.1 The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the welfare conditions for a public good are a special case of the welfare conditions for a consumption externality where a public good is defined as a good ‘which all enjoy in common in the sense that each individual's consumption of such a good leads to no subtraction from any other individual's consumption of that good’ (Samuelson [4]). Since the welfare conditions for a private good are also a special case of the welfare conditions for a consumption externality, it follows that we have a range of externality with the pure private good and the pure public good as polar cases.
PUBLIC SECTOR AND WHITE COLLAR BARGAINING
Authors: Johnston T. L.
Published: October 2007

White‐collar workers have come to occupy a strategic place in both the economic and the institutional working of the labour market.…
University of Laneaster
Authors: Townsend Harry
Published: October 2007

L. J. White, The Automobile Industry since 1945, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,

C. K. Rowley, Steel and Public Policy. London: McGraw‐Hill, 1971

J. B. Heath (ed.), Department of Trade and Industry, International Conference on monopolies, mergers and restrictive practices, Papers and reports, Cambridge. 1969. London:

C. F. Pratten, Economies of Scale in Manufacturing Industry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971

A. Singh. Takeovers, their relevance to the stock market and the theory of the firm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971

D. Coombes, State Enterprise. Business or Politics? London: Allen & Unwin, 1971
MONEY AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY: A REVIEW ARTICLE
Authors: Wood GeoffreyE.
Published: October 2007

1. RONDO CAMERON (Editor), Banking and Economic Development; Some Lessons of History (Oxford University Press, 1972)

2. PETER COFFEY AND JOHN R. PRESLEY, European Monetary Integration (Mamillan, 1971)

3. PAUL DAVIDSON, Money and the Real World (Macmillan, 1972)

4. PAUL EINZIG, A Textbook on Monetary Policy (Macmillan, 1972,)

5. D. E. MOGGRIDGE, British Monetary Policy 1922–1931: The Norman Conquest of $4.86 (Cambridge University Press, 1972)
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS: A REVIEW ARTICLE
Authors: Robson Peter
Published: October 2007

Book reviewed in this article:

H. MYINT, Economic Theory and the Underdeveloped Countries (Oxford University Press, London 1971)

P. T. BAUER, Dissent on Development

A. P. THIRLWALL, Growth and Development with special reference to developing economies

G. RANIS (ed.), The Gap between Rich and Poor Nations (Proceedings of a Conference held by the International Economic Association)

B. WARDS, J. D. RUNNALS AND I‐. D'ANJOU (eds.), The Widening Gap

L. G. REYNOLDS, The Three Worlds of Economics

B. BALASSA AND ASSOCIATES, The Structure of Protection in Developing Countries

G. L. HICKS AND G. McNICOLL, Trade and Growth in the Philippines
THE LONG RUN PHILLIPS CURVE AND THE GOVERNMENT BUDGET CONSTRAINT
Authors: PEMBERTON JAMES
Published: October 2007

This paper considers the proposition that the long run Phillips Curve is vertical except in special cases. It argues that this proposition cannot be sustained once the implications of the government budget constraint are considered. It is then a matter for government policy choice whether the long run Phillips Curve is vertical or non‐vertical, and neither case can be considered more general than the other.
USER‐FRIENDLY ECONOMETRIC SOFTWARE: A REVIEW
Authors: Roberts Colin J.
Published: October 2007

Economics Department, University of Edinburgh

Micro TSP Version 5.0. Program by David M. Lilien, User's manual by Robert E. Hall and David M. Lilien.

PC ECOS Version 1.2. Program and manual by Chris Birchenhall and Jon Stewart, London: McGraw‐Hill, 1986

LINREG. Program and manual by William H. Greene, New York (528 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, USA). 1986
PRIVATISATION, COMPETITION AND REGULATION IN THE SCOTTISH ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY†
Authors: Littlechild S. C.
Published: October 2007

Abstract

This paper analyses the experience of the privatised electricity industry in Scotland. The retention of vertical integration in Scotland has led to a number of different features in the regulation of the industry in Scotland and England and Wales. It has also led to a different pattern of development of competition. Although regulation and price competition appear to have operated to the benefit of consumers thus far, the Scottish system is as yet untested in its ability to cope with significant new entry.
THE REAL BALANCE EFFECT AND STABILITY ANALYSIS IN CLASSICAL MONETARY THEORY
Authors: Mizen Paul , Presley John R.
Published: October 2007

Abstract

The paper investigates the use of the real balance effect mechanism by Dennis Robertson in Money (1922), Banking Policy and the Price Level (1926) and subsequently in his Lectures On Economic Principles (1957‐59). The Paper draws on the correspondence between Robertson and Don Patinking during the period 1951‐56. It was Patinkin's opinion that Robertson never used the real balance effect as a mechanism to bring the disequilibriated monetary sector back to a new equilibrium; this paper shows that these conclusions are crucially dependent on the interpretation of what constitutes ‘stability analysis’.
THE TRANSITION TO EMU
Authors: Goodhart C. A. E.
Published: October 2007

Abstract

This paper examines the problems of the transition to EMU, on the assumption that stage 3 of the EMU process begins in 1999. A number of issues are addressed, ranging from the attachment to national countries to problems of fiscal adjustment in the final path to EMU, and I suggest that the Maastricht fiscal criteria may turn out to be more flexible than many commentators suggest. Other problems relate to the possibility of a final parity realignment between the participants of EMU, and the relationship between those countries joining EMU, and the excluded countries. Finally, the paper concludes that there is no need to rush quickly from stage 3A to stage 3A to stage 3B of the EMU process until public and political support for the introduction of the Euro is built up.
TECHNOLOGICAL EPOCHS AND BRITISH INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, 1700–1992
Authors: Greasley David , Oxley Les
Published: October 2007

Abstract

This paper presents results on the persistence of British industrial production using the Cochrane (1988) measure, based upon the spectral density at zero frequency, and an extended version of the Crafts‐Harley (1992) data set. Utilising results on the timing of macroeconomic epochs, consideration is given to the effects of structural breaks on measures of persistence. In addition the variance composition of production is analysed via consideration of the cycle period. The results show high persistence during the Industrial Revolution and lower levels of persistence experienced during the twentieth century. The problems of ignoring structural breaks when claculating measures of persistence are highlighted and used to explain the results of some previous studies.
INDUSTRY COST CURVES AND THE SPATIAL ORGANISATION OF PRODUCTION
Authors: Parr John B. , Swales J. K.
Published: October 2007

Abstract

The nature of production is examined for a particular class of economic activeiy at the scale of the region. Average cost conditions at the plant level are specified, from which the long‐run average cost curve of the regional industry is derived. Attention is then drawn to certain features of this curve, including the upward‐sloping form over part of its length. Consideration is also given to different types of adjustment over various time horizons. Finally, for a regional industry under unified control, long‐run equilbrium is specified for alternative forms of competition in the extraregional product market.
THE NATURAL RATE: AN ATTRACTOR FOR ACTUAL UNEMPLOYMENT, OR AN ATTRACTEE?
Authors: Cross Rod
Published: October 2007

Abstract

This article reviews the contributions of Richard Layard, Stephen Nickell and Richard Jackman, The Unemployment Crisis, Oxford U.P., 1994; and Edmund S. Phelps, Structural Slumps: The Modern Equilibrium Theory of Unemployment, Interest and Assets, Harvard U.P. 1994 to the literature on the determinants of the equilibrium rate of unemployment. The key issue is whether the doctrine of monetary neutrality, which is the hallmark of the natural rate of unemployment hypothesis investigated in the two volumes under review, is tenable with regard to equilibrium unemployment. The conclusion is that the influence of actual on equilibrium unemployment violates the neutrality axiom, and that the natural rate is as much an attractee as attractor for actual unemployment.
WAS LONDON THE CONDUCTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORCHESTRA OR JUST THE TRIANGLE PLAYER? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ASYMMETRIES IN INTEREST RATE BEHA VIOUR DURING THE CLASSICAL GOLD STANDARD, 1876–1913
Authors: Tullio Giuseppe , Wolters Jürgen
Published: October 2007

Abstract

This paper analyses the interrelationships of official and private discount rates between seven European financial centres and in particular between London, Berlin, and Paris. Looking at the days and directions of all official discount rate changes in the seven centres, pairwise leads and lags are analysed. As to private discount rates, which seem to be stationary, correlations and coherencies are measured, multivariate Granger‐causality tests are performed and impulse response functions are calculated. The paper shows that there are strong mutual feedbacks between interest rates in London, Paris, and Berlin, suggesting that the classical gold standard was a decentralized, multipolar system.
INFLATION AND SWITCHES BETWEEN SPECIE AND PAPER STANDARDS IN SWEDEN 1668 ‐ 1931: A PUBLIC FINANCE INTERPRETATION
Authors: Fregert Klas , Jonung Lars
Published: October 2007

Abstract

In this study, the recent literature on the integration of fiscal and monetary policy is used to examine the suspensions and resumptions of currency convertibility in Sweden during the period 1668–1931. We demonstrate that urgent demands for financing of war expenditures forced the Swedish Riksbank to abandon convertibility of its notes in all cases of suspensions prior to 1914. We argue that the suspension periods should be regarded as unexpected lapses into discretion from rule‐bound convertibility regimes rather than as part of an optimal ex ante public finance policy. All resumptions of convertibility, except for the resumption of 1924, implied an ex post formal devaluation. All suspensions were illegal, except in 1931 when a constitutional escape clause was invoked.
TAXES ON PAYROLL, REVENUES AND PROFITS IN THREE MODELS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Authors: Goerke Laszlo
Published: October 2007

Variations in company taxes are analysed for a right‐to‐manage model, an efficient bargaining setting and a seniority approach. Taxes cannot be shifted forward by the risk‐neutral firm. Alternative income and bargaining power are allowed to vary with taxes. Employing asymmetric Nash solution it is found that changes in a payroll, revenue or profit tax can have differing implications for labour demand curve models and efficient bargaining solutions. This distinction might provide a novel basis for empirical work. Variations in bargaining power and‐within a labour demand curve setting‐the union's objective function do not change results.
THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF A SWITCH FROM DIRECT TO INDIRECT TAXES: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT
Authors: Madsen J. , Damania D.
Published: October 2007

This paper investigates the macroeconomic effects of switching the tax burden from direct to indirect taxes in an empirical model based on 22 OECD countries. The Engle‐Yoo three step procdure is employed to estimate both the short and long run effects of such a tax switch. The results reveal that a switich from direct to indirect taxes is likely to generate efficiency gans in the short run which lead to higher levels of aggragate output. However, for the majority of countries in the sample the tax changes have no impact on the level of economic activity in the long run.
ADAM SMITH: TWO LETTERS TO HENRY BEAUFOY, MP
Authors: Raynor David R.
Published: October 2007

This article prints two hitherto unknown letters by Adam Smith to Henry Beaufoy (1750‐95), MP for Great Yarmouth, concerning legislation that beaufoy and William Pitt had promoted. In the first letter (14 November 1786) Smith comments on changes to existing customs and exicese regulations(26 Geo. III c.49 and c.59), and implicitly takes some credit for legislation concerning the hering fishery (25 Geo. III c.65, 26 Geo. III c.81, 27 Geo. III c.10). In the second letter (29 January 1787) Smith expresses considerable pessimism about the philanthropic proposals of the British Fisheries Society to build fishing villages in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Beyond the Discontinuity Paradigm: Towards a Pan‐African Church History
Authors: Hoffmann R. Joseph
Published: October 2007

The purpose of this article is to suggest: (1) That a particular model of writing African church history inherited from the historiography of European mission has influenced the way in which the trans‐African history of Christianity in Africa has been presented. It is argued that this model has encouraged an episodic view of the Christian past, through its documentary emphasis on the last two centuries. (2) That this model was both implicit and unchallenged in the theological trends of the post‐colonial period, with their programmatic emphasis on indigenization and inculturation. The work of the vast majority of African theologians, and hence of church historians outside Africa, envisaged a model of the ‘discontinuous past’ premised on the idea that Christianity was to be understood in terms of export and import or ‘early’ north African and ‘later’ southern African engagement. This model is here labelled the ‘discontinuity paradigm’. (3) That a new model for the writing of church history in Africa should be attempted. An ‘adaptive similarities’ model is proposed which sees the history of the church in Africa against the template of analogous conversion–adaptation–fissiparation movements in the earlier periods of the church’s existence. The essay proposes a pan‐African church history ‘project’ which focuses its work on constructing this model from regional church history efforts (Sundkler) and which attempts to isolate the recurrent themes and patterns of African Christianity (the thematic–chonological matrix) as interpreted within the wider African context (the geographical–cultural matrix).
Confirmation and further regional assignment of aminoacylase 1 (ACY‐1) on human chromosome 3 using a simplified detection method
Authors: VOSS R. , LERER I. , POVEY S. , SOLOMON E. , BOBROW M.
Published: October 2007

An improved method for the detection of aminoacylase‐1 (ACY‐1) is described. Data from human‐rodent interspecific hybrids confirm the assignment of ACY‐1 to human chromosome 3. The most likely site for ACY‐1 appears to be 3p21 to 3pter. The enzyme ACY‐1 hydrolyses both acetyl methionine and acetyl glutamate.
Assignment of the ǵene for F‐type phosphofructokinase to human chromosome 10 by somatic cell hybridization and specific immunoprecipitation
Authors: WEIL DOMINIQUE , COTTREAU DOMINIQUE , CONG NGUYEN VAN , REBOURCET RÉGIS , FOUBERT CHANTAL , GROSS MARIE‐SYLVIE , DREYFUS JEAN‐CLAUDE , KAHN AXEL
Published: October 2007

A method of specific immunoprecipitation of minor isozymes was developed and applied to the detection of human F‐type phosphofructokinase in man‐rodent somatic cell hybrids.

This method allowed us to assign the gene for this newly discovered isozyme of phosphofructokinase to chromosome 10.
Two‐stage computing budget allocation approach for the response surface method
Authors: Peng J. , Lee L. H. , Ng S. H.
Published: October 2007

Response surface methodology (RSM) is one of the main statistical approaches to search for an input combination that optimizes the simulation output. In the early stages of RSM, an iterative steepest ascent search procedure is frequently used. In this paper, we attempt to improve this procedure by considering a more realistic case where there are computing budget constraints, and formulate a new computing budget allocation problem to look into the important issue of allocating computing budget to the design points in the local region of experimentation. We propose a two‐stage computing budget allocation approach, which uses a limited budget to estimate the response surface in the first stage and then uses the rest of the budget to improve the lower bound of the estimated response at the center of the next design region in the second stage. Several numerical experiments are carried out to compare the two‐stage approach with the regular factorial design, which allocates budget equally to each design point. The results show that our two‐stage allocation outperforms the equal allocation, especially when the system noise is large.
Long swings in exchange rates: a stochastic control approach
Authors: Castellano Rosella , D'Ecclesia Rita L.
Published: October 2007

A regime‐switching model to describe the exchange rate dynamics is derived as solution to a stochastic control problem. We assume exchange rates evolve according to some macroeconomic variables (fundamental) whose dynamics could be described by a Brownian motion with a state‐dependent drift. The local Monetary Authority is assumed to intervene influencing the evolution of the fundamental, causing the exchange rate to switch from a depreciating to an appreciating regime (and vice versa). We assume the behaviour of the Monetary Authority can be modeled using an optimal control framework where the state variable is represented by the fundamental. The solution of the model allows the determination of an endogenous tolerance band within which the exchange rate freely fluctuates.
Productivity and costs for firms in presence of technology renewal processes
Authors: Cerqueti Roy , Rotundo Giulia
Published: October 2007

Wide empirical analyses investigated the size and growth rate distribution of business firms, providing a relevant empirical support to economic theory. We rely on such analyses and on studies on technology renewal costs and productivity, in order to draw sufficient conditions for the optimality of firms' profit with respect to time. The relationships that hold among productivity, costs of renewal and growth rates of the companies at the optimal profit time are shown, and suggestions for firms' policies are proposed.
Effect of Cannula Shape on Aortic Wall and Flow Turbulence: Hydrodynamic Study During Extracorporeal Circulation in Mock Thoracic Aorta
Authors: Minakawa Masahito , Fukuda Ikuo , Yamazaki Junichi , Fukui Kozo , Yanaoka Hideki , Inamura Takao
Published: October 2007

Abstract:  This study was designed to analyze flow pattern, velocity, and strain on the aortic wall of a glass aortic model during extracorporeal circulation, and to elucidate the characteristics of flow pattern in four aortic cannulas. Different patterns of large vortices and helical flow were made by each cannula. The high‐velocity flow (0.6 m/s) was observed in end‐hole cannula, causing high strain rate tensor (0.3~0.4 without unit) on the aortic arch. In dispersion cannula, a decreased strain rate tensor (less than 0.1) was found on the outer curvature of the aortic arch. In Soft‐flow cannula (3M Cardiovascular, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), further decreased flow velocity (0.2 m/s) and strain (less than 0.2) were observed. In Select 3D cannula (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA), a high strain (0.4~0.5) was observed along the inner curvature of the aortic arch. In conclusion, end‐hole cannula should not be used in atherosclerotic aorta. Particular attention should be paid both for selection of cannulas and cannulation site based on this result.
Chronic Acid–Base Perturbations in Hemodialysis Patients Treated with Sevelamer Hydrochloride: A Two‐year Follow‐up Study
Authors: Vlahakos Demetrios V. , Retsa Kalliopi , Kalogeropoulou Sofia , Katsoudas Spiros , Bacharaki Dimitra , Agroyannis Basil
Published: October 2007

Abstract:  Sevelamer hydrochloride (HCl) contains multiple amines that may cause a significant dietary acid load. To evaluate the impact of sevelamer on arterial blood gases, we followed two groups of stable hemodialysis patients for 24 months. The Sevelamer Group (n = 7) did not achieve the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) goals for phosporus and Ca × P product and was switched from a calcium‐based to sevelamer‐based regimen. The Calcium Group (n = 7) achieved those goals and remained on calcium salts. Following sevelamer administration, a deterioration of chronic metabolic acidosis was revealed, which lasted throughout the study. Sevelamer therapy was associated with reduced cholesterol levels, improved serum phosphate, and Ca × P product, which facilitated the management of secondary hyperparathyroidism. No significant changes in acid–base status or other parameter tested were found in the Control Group. In conclusion, sevelamer intake caused small but persistent acid–base disturbances, which did not neutralize sevelamer's beneficial effects on mineral and lipid metabolism.
Combining Dialysate and Blood Recirculation to Boost Uremic Toxin Removal: Theory and Simulation Study
Authors: Prado Manuel , Roa Laura
Published: October 2007

Abstract:  Emerging concepts in renal replacement therapies such as daily hemodialysis (HD) and wearable artificial kidney (WAK) meet the challenges derived from the aging of renal disease population. The successful results of blood recirculation to improve the dialysis clearance of medium‐high uremic toxins suggest that this technique could be used both in daily HD and WAK. However, blood recirculation induces a reduction of small solutes clearance. This work analyzes the ability of a nonregenerated recirculating dialysate technique to avoid that reduction. The study uses in silico simulations with in vitro data from several commercial dialyzers and very compact dialyzer models derived from them. The resulting combined optimization system (recirculating blood‐dialysate system [RBDS]) reached low solute dialysance improvements above 100% in different scenarios. Our outcomes show the RBDS performs best with very compact dialyzers, in agreement with the requirements of daily HD and WAK.
Towards an Interdisciplinary Conceptualization of Trust: A Typological Approach
Authors: Li Peter Ping
Published: October 2007

Adopting a diversity-in-unity perspective that identifies all shared dimensions and typical delineations, both as structure-similar yet content-diverse configurations, this paper proposes an interdisciplinary conceptualization of trust with primary trust ideal-types. This conceptualization contains three components: (i) a typology of four trust dimensions related to trust conditions and trust functions; (ii) a typology of four trust delineations derived from the four trust dimensions; and (iii) a typology of four trust ideal-types built upon the first two typologies. These typologies jointly serve as a salient platform to unify the fragmented trust literature.
Study of Multimode Combustion System With Gasoline Direct Injection
Authors: Wang Zhi , Wang Jian-Xin , Shuai Shi-Jin , Wang Yan-Jun , Tian Guo-Hong , An Xin-Liang
Published: October 2007

In this paper, a multimode combustion system was developed in a gasoline direct injection engine. A two-stage fuel-injection strategy, including flexible injection timings and flexible fuel quantity, is adopted as a main means to form desired mixture in the cylinder. The combustion system can realize five combustion modes. The homogeneous charge spark ignition (HCSI) mode was used at high load to achieve high-power output density; stratified charge spark ignition (SCSI) was adopted at intermediate load to get optimum fuel economy; stratified charge compression ignition (SCCI) was introduced at transient operation between SI and CI mode. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) was utilized at part load to obtain ultralow emissions. Reformed charge compression ignition (RCCI) was imposed at low load to extend the HCCI operation range. In SI mode, the stratified concentration is formed by introducing a second fuel injection in the compression stroke. This kind of stratified mixture has a faster heat release than the homogeneous mixture and is primarily optimized to reduce the fuel consumption. In CI mode, the cam phase configurations are switched from positive valve overlap to negative valve overlap (NVO). The test results reveal that the CI combustion is featured with a high gradient pressure after ignition and has advantages in high thermal efficiency and low NOx emissions over SI combustion at part load.
Cycle Optimization and Combustion Analysis in a Low-NOx Micro-Gas Turbine
Authors: Cameretti Maria Cristina , Reale Fabrizio , Tuccillo Raffaele
Published: October 2007

The authors discuss in this paper the potential of a method for NOx suppression from power plants based on microgas turbines. The method is based on the mild combustion concept but needs to be adapted to the actual operating parameters of the microturbine, thus resulting in an effective employment of the flue gas recirculation for diluting the oxygen in the inlet air. The results are first presented on a thermodynamic basis, and some cases are then analyzed with a computational fluid dynamics simulation. Both approaches suggest good perspectives for the nitric oxide control but also highlight some disadvantages in terms of increase in carbon species.
Rotordynamic Performance of Flexure Pivot Hydrostatic Gas Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery
Authors: Zhu Xuehua , San Andrés Luis
Published: October 2007

Micro-turbomachinery demands gas bearings to ensure compactness, light weight, and extreme temperature operation. Gas bearings with large stiffness and damping, and preferably of low cost, will enable successful commercial applications. Presently, tests conducted on a small rotor supported on flexure pivot hydrostatic pad gas bearings (FPTPBs) demonstrate stable rotordynamic responses up to 100,000rpm (limit of the drive motor). Test rotor responses show the feed pressure raises the system critical speed (increase in bearing direct stiffness) while the viscous damping ratio decreases. Predictions correlate favorably with experimentally identified (synchronous) direct stiffness bearing force coefficients. Identified experimental gas bearing synchronous damping coefficients are 50% or less of the predicted magnitudes, though remaining relatively constant as the rotor speed increases. Tests without feed pressure show the rotor becomes unstable at ∼81krpm with a whirl frequency ratio of 20%. FPTPBs are mechanically complex and more expensive than cylindrical plain bearings. However, their enhanced stability characteristics and predictable rotordynamic performance makes them desirable for the envisioned oil-free applications in high speed micro-turbomachinery.