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Sample records for trade elasticities estimation

  1. Estimating the elasticity of trade: the trade share approach

    OpenAIRE

    Mauro Lanati

    2013-01-01

    Recent theoretical work on international trade emphasizes the importance of trade elasticity as the fundamental statistic needed to conduct welfare analysis. Eaton and Kortum (2002) proposed a two-step method to estimate this parameter, where exporter fixed effects are regressed on proxies for technology and wages. Within the same Ricardian model of trade, the trade share provides an alternative source of identication for the elasticity of trade. Following Santos Silva and Tenreyro (2006) bot...

  2. Bilateral Trade Elasticity of Serbia: Is There a J-Curve Effect?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Safet Kurtovic

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available We assess the bilateral elasticity effect of real exchange rate depreciation on the export and import demand functions of Serbia and its nine leading trade partners. Analysing quarterly data for the 2004-2015 period, we find the presence of a J-curve effect in the cases of Germany, Austria and Croatia. In contrast, we find that the Marshall-Lerner conditions are fulfilled in the case of bilateral trade with Austria. Finally, in our estimates the elasticity to income has a greater impact on the export and import demand functions than the elasticity to the exchange rate. JEL Classification: F14, F31, F32

  3. Lhe law of diminishing elasticity of demand in Harrod’s trade cycle

    OpenAIRE

    Michaël Assous; Olivier Bruno; Muriel Dal-Pont

    2014-01-01

    In The Trade Cycle, Roy Harrod [1936a] propounded the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand. The present paper tries to clarify the precise role Harrod assigned to this law in his The Trade Cycle Theory. We discuss the micro and macro foundations of the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand and argue that it explains one of the main mechanisms that stabilize the economy during the trade cycle. In addition, we highlight how the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand allowed Harrod to micr...

  4. Econometric estimation of Armington elasticities for selected agricultural products in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abiodun Ogundeji

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Price transmission behaviour is used to model the impacts of different trade regimes; if this behaviour is not modelled correctly, the trade impacts can be either under- or overestimated.  Due to the lack of elasticities of substitution pertaining to selected imported and domestically produced agricultural products in South Africa, ‘Armington’ elasticities, using quarterly data from 1995-2006 and three different models, based on the time series properties of the data, are estimated in this paper.  Considering the long-run elasticity results, soyabeans (whether broken or not and meat of bovine animals (frozen are the most sensitive import products, followed by maize, meat of bovine animals (fresh or chilled, sunflower seeds, and wheat and meslin. Regarding the short-run elasticity, soyabeans are the most sensitive import product, followed by meat of bovine animals (fresh or chilled; meat of swine (fresh, chilled or frozen is the least sensitive import product.

  5. Market power, inelastic income elasticity of demand, and terms of trade

    OpenAIRE

    Kujal, Praveen; Michelitsch, Roland

    1996-01-01

    The "Theory of Unequal Exchange" predicts that terms of trade for the producer of primary commodities worsen over time given the low income elasticity of demand for primary product exports and the market power of the industrialized countries. We set up a laboratory economy to test the influence of market power and low income elasticity of demand on trade. An experimental

  6. The Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand in Harrod’s Trade Cycle (1936)

    OpenAIRE

    Michaël Assous; Olivier Bruno; Muriel Dal-Pont Legrand

    2015-01-01

    In The Trade Cycle, Roy Harrod [1936a] propounded the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand. The present paper tries to clarify the precise role Harrod assigned to this law in order to understand his trade cycle theory. We discuss the micro and macro foundations of the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand and how, according to Harrod, it explains one of the main mechanisms that stabilize the economy during the trade cycle. In addition, we show how the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Dem...

  7. Trade-off of Elastic Structure and Q in Interpretations of Seismic Attenuation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Wubing; Morozov, Igor B.

    2017-10-01

    The quality factor Q is an important phenomenological parameter measured from seismic or laboratory seismic data and representing wave-energy dissipation rate. However, depending on the types of measurements and models or assumptions about the elastic structure, several types of Qs exist, such as intrinsic and scattering Qs, coda Q, and apparent Qs observed from wavefield fluctuations. We consider three general types of elastic structures that are commonly encountered in seismology: (1) shapes and dimensions of rock specimens in laboratory studies, (2) geometric spreading or scattering in body-, surface- and coda-wave studies, and (3) reflectivity on fine layering in reflection seismic studies. For each of these types, the measured Q strongly trades off with the (inherently limited) knowledge about the respective elastic structure. For the third of the above types, the trade-off is examined quantitatively in this paper. For a layered sequence of reflectors (e.g., an oil or gas reservoir or a hydrothermal zone), reflection amplitudes and phases vary with frequency, which is analogous to a reflection from a contrast in attenuation. We demonstrate a quantitative equivalence between phase-shifted reflections from anelastic zones and reflections from elastic layering. Reflections from the top of an elastic layer followed by weaker reflections from its bottom can appear as resulting from a low Q within or above this layer. This apparent Q can be frequency-independent or -dependent, according to the pattern of thin layering. Due to the layering, the interpreted Q can be positive or negative, and it can depend on source-receiver offsets. Therefore, estimating Q values from frequency-dependent or phase-shifted reflection amplitudes always requires additional geologic or rock-physics constraints, such as sparseness and/or randomness of reflectors, the absence of attenuation in certain layers, or specific physical mechanisms of attenuation. Similar conclusions about the

  8. Estimation of Import and Export demand Functions Using Bilateral Trade Data ___ the case of Pakistan

    OpenAIRE

    Jahanzaib Haider; Muhammad Afzal; Farah Riaz

    2011-01-01

    We estimated the import and export elasticities of Pakistan trade with traditional trade partners and some Asian countries to see the dynamics of Pakistan trade from 1973 to 2008. OLS results suggest that income is the principal determinant of exports and imports. Pakistan exports are cointegrated with Japan and USA while the imports are cointegrated with UAE and USA. Pakistan imports and exports are cointegrated with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but not with India and China. Income and exchange ...

  9. Estimating Price Elasticity using Market-Level Appliance Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujita, K. Sydny [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2015-08-04

    This report provides and update to and expansion upon our 2008 LBNL report “An Analysis of the Price Elasticity of Demand for Appliances,” in which we estimated an average relative price elasticity of -0.34 for major household appliances (Dale and Fujita 2008). Consumer responsiveness to price change is a key component of energy efficiency policy analysis; these policies influence consumer purchases through price both explicitly and implicitly. However, few studies address appliance demand elasticity in the U.S. market and public data sources are generally insufficient for rigorous estimation. Therefore, analysts have relied on a small set of outdated papers focused on limited appliance types, assuming long-term elasticities estimated for other durables (e.g., vehicles) decades ago are applicable to current and future appliance purchasing behavior. We aim to partially rectify this problem in the context of appliance efficiency standards by revisiting our previous analysis, utilizing data released over the last ten years and identifying additional estimates of durable goods price elasticities in the literature. Reviewing the literature, we find the following ranges of market-level price elasticities: -0.14 to -0.42 for appliances; -0.30 to -1.28 for automobiles; -0.47 to -2.55 for other durable goods. Brand price elasticities are substantially higher for these product groups, with most estimates -2.0 or more elastic. Using market-level shipments, sales value, and efficiency level data for 1989-2009, we run various iterations of a log-log regression model, arriving at a recommended range of short run appliance price elasticity between -0.4 and -0.5, with a default value of -0.45.

  10. Interparameter trade-off quantification and reduction in isotropic-elastic full-waveform inversion: synthetic experiments and Hussar land data set application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Wenyong; Geng, Yu; Innanen, Kristopher A.

    2018-05-01

    The problem of inverting for multiple physical parameters in the subsurface using seismic full-waveform inversion (FWI) is complicated by interparameter trade-off arising from inherent ambiguities between different physical parameters. Parameter resolution is often characterized using scattering radiation patterns, but these neglect some important aspects of interparameter trade-off. More general analysis and mitigation of interparameter trade-off in isotropic-elastic FWI is possible through judiciously chosen multiparameter Hessian matrix-vector products. We show that products of multiparameter Hessian off-diagonal blocks with model perturbation vectors, referred to as interparameter contamination kernels, are central to the approach. We apply the multiparameter Hessian to various vectors designed to provide information regarding the strengths and characteristics of interparameter contamination, both locally and within the whole volume. With numerical experiments, we observe that S-wave velocity perturbations introduce strong contaminations into density and phase-reversed contaminations into P-wave velocity, but themselves experience only limited contaminations from other parameters. Based on these findings, we introduce a novel strategy to mitigate the influence of interparameter trade-off with approximate contamination kernels. Furthermore, we recommend that the local spatial and interparameter trade-off of the inverted models be quantified using extended multiparameter point spread functions (EMPSFs) obtained with pre-conditioned conjugate-gradient algorithm. Compared to traditional point spread functions, the EMPSFs appear to provide more accurate measurements for resolution analysis, by de-blurring the estimations, scaling magnitudes and mitigating interparameter contamination. Approximate eigenvalue volumes constructed with stochastic probing approach are proposed to evaluate the resolution of the inverted models within the whole model. With a synthetic

  11. Numerical estimate of fracture parameters under elastic and elastic-plastic conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soba, Alejandro; Denis, Alicia C.

    2003-01-01

    The importance of the stress intensity factor K in the elastic fracture analysis is well known. In this work three methods are developed to estimate the parameter K I , corresponding to the normal loading mode, employing the finite elements method. The elastic-plastic condition is also analyzed, where the line integral J is the relevant parameter. Two cases of interest are studied: sample with a crack in its center and tubes with internal pressure. (author)

  12. Automatic estimation of elasticity parameters in breast tissue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skerl, Katrin; Cochran, Sandy; Evans, Andrew

    2014-03-01

    Shear wave elastography (SWE), a novel ultrasound imaging technique, can provide unique information about cancerous tissue. To estimate elasticity parameters, a region of interest (ROI) is manually positioned over the stiffest part of the shear wave image (SWI). The aim of this work is to estimate the elasticity parameters i.e. mean elasticity, maximal elasticity and standard deviation, fully automatically. Ultrasonic SWI of a breast elastography phantom and breast tissue in vivo were acquired using the Aixplorer system (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France). First, the SWI within the ultrasonic B-mode image was detected using MATLAB then the elasticity values were extracted. The ROI was automatically positioned over the stiffest part of the SWI and the elasticity parameters were calculated. Finally all values were saved in a spreadsheet which also contains the patient's study ID. This spreadsheet is easily available for physicians and clinical staff for further evaluation and so increase efficiency. Therewith the efficiency is increased. This algorithm simplifies the handling, especially for the performance and evaluation of clinical trials. The SWE processing method allows physicians easy access to the elasticity parameters of the examinations from their own and other institutions. This reduces clinical time and effort and simplifies evaluation of data in clinical trials. Furthermore, reproducibility will be improved.

  13. Forest biomass and Armington elasticities in Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lundmark, Robert; Shahrammehr, Shima

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide estimated Armington elasticities for selected European countries and for three forest biomass commodities of main interest in many energy models: roundwood, chips and particles and wood residues. The Armington elasticity is based on the assumption that a specific forest biomass commodity is differentiated by its origin. The statistically significant estimated Armington elasticities range from 0.52 for roundwood in Hungary to approximately 4.53 for roundwood in Estonia. On average, the statistically significant Armington elasticity for chips and particles over all countries is 1.7 and for wood residues and roundwood 1.3 and 1.5, respectively. These elasticities can provide benchmark values for simulation models trying to assess trade patterns of forest biomass commodities and energy policy effects for European countries or for the EU as a whole.

  14. An econometric method for estimating the tax elasticity and the impact on revenues of discretionary tax measures : applied to Malawi and Mauritius

    OpenAIRE

    Ehdaie, Jaber

    1990-01-01

    This paper develops an econometric technique that deals with shortcomings of existing methods for estimating the tax elasticity and the impact on revenues of discretionary tax measures. This model highlights the roles that discretionary tax measures and economic growth play in effecting the shift from the taxation of international trade to the taxation of domestic transactions. The objective of this study is twofold: first, to develop an econometric method of estimating built-in tax elasticit...

  15. Estimating the own-price elasticity of demand for irrigation water in the Musi catchment of India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidson, Brian; Hellegers, Petra

    2011-10-01

    SummaryAs irrigation water is an input into a production process, its demand must be 'derived'. According to theory, a derived demand schedule should be downward sloping and dependent on the outputs produced from it, the prices of other inputs and the price of the water itself. Problems arise when an attempt is made to estimate the demand for irrigation water and the resulting own-price elasticity of demand, as the uses to which water is put are spatially, temporarily and geographically diverse. Because water is not generally freely traded, what normally passes for an estimate of the own-price elasticity of demand for irrigation water is usually a well argued assumption or an estimate that is derived from a simulation model of a hypothesized producer. Such approaches tend to provide an inadequate explanation of what is an extremely complex and important relationship. An adequate explanation of the relationship between the price and the quantity demanded of water should be one that not only accords with the theoretical expectations, but also accounts for the diversity of products produced from water (which includes the management practices of farmers), the seasons in which it is used and over the region within which it is used. The objective in this article is to present a method of estimating the demand curve for irrigation water. The method uses actual field data which is collated using the Residual Method to determine the value of the marginal product of water deployed over a wide range of crops, seasons and regions. These values of the marginal products, all which must lie of the input demand schedule for water, are then ordered from the highest value to the lowest. Then, the amount of irrigation water used for each product, in each season and in each region is cumulatively summed over the range of uses according to the order of the values of the marginal products. This data, once ordered, is then used to econometrically estimate the demand schedule from which

  16. Resolvent estimates in homogenisation of periodic problems of fractional elasticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cherednichenko, Kirill; Waurick, Marcus

    2018-03-01

    We provide operator-norm convergence estimates for solutions to a time-dependent equation of fractional elasticity in one spatial dimension, with rapidly oscillating coefficients that represent the material properties of a viscoelastic composite medium. Assuming periodicity in the coefficients, we prove operator-norm convergence estimates for an operator fibre decomposition obtained by applying to the original fractional elasticity problem the Fourier-Laplace transform in time and Gelfand transform in space. We obtain estimates on each fibre that are uniform in the quasimomentum of the decomposition and in the period of oscillations of the coefficients as well as quadratic with respect to the spectral variable. On the basis of these uniform estimates we derive operator-norm-type convergence estimates for the original fractional elasticity problem, for a class of sufficiently smooth densities of applied forces.

  17. In search of a corrected prescription drug elasticity estimate: a meta-regression approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gemmill, Marin C; Costa-Font, Joan; McGuire, Alistair

    2007-06-01

    An understanding of the relationship between cost sharing and drug consumption depends on consistent and unbiased price elasticity estimates. However, there is wide heterogeneity among studies, which constrains the applicability of elasticity estimates for empirical purposes and policy simulation. This paper attempts to provide a corrected measure of the drug price elasticity by employing meta-regression analysis (MRA). The results indicate that the elasticity estimates are significantly different from zero, and the corrected elasticity is -0.209 when the results are made robust to heteroskedasticity and clustering of observations. Elasticity values are higher when the study was published in an economic journal, when the study employed a greater number of observations, and when the study used aggregate data. Elasticity estimates are lower when the institutional setting was a tax-based health insurance system.

  18. Estimating elasticity for residential electricity demand in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, G; Zheng, X; Song, F

    2012-01-01

    Residential demand for electricity is estimated for China using a unique household level dataset. Household electricity demand is specified as a function of local electricity price, household income, and a number of social-economic variables at household level. We find that the residential demand for electricity responds rather sensitively to its own price in China, which implies that there is significant potential to use the price instrument to conserve electricity consumption. Electricity elasticities across different heterogeneous household groups (e.g., rich versus poor and rural versus urban) are also estimated. The results show that the high income group is more price elastic than the low income group, while rural families are more price elastic than urban families. These results have important policy implications for designing an increasing block tariff.

  19. The consistent estimation of income elasticity of environmental amenities in Uruguay

    OpenAIRE

    Daniel Miles; Andrés Pereyra; Máximo Rossi

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we are concerned with the estimation of income elasticities of environmental amenities. The novelty is the application of econometric methods that take into account the problem of measurement errors when estimating these elasticities, which is common in microeconomic data and is not usually considered in the applied literature related to this issue. Our aim is to discuss whether measurement errors have significant effects on income elasticities. Data from the { Expenditure Budge...

  20. Estimating elasticities of demand for natural gas in the European household sector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nilsen, Odd Bjarte; Asche, Frank; Tveteras, Ragnar

    2005-12-15

    This paper analyzes the residential natural gas demand in 12 European countries using a dynamic loglinear demand model, which allows for country-specific elasticity estimates in the short-run and long run. The explanatory variables include a heating degree days index, real prices of natural gas, light fuel oil, electricity, and real private income per capita. Our data set is a country panel with annual observations from 1978 to 2002. Short panel data sets like this represents a challenge for econometric estimation, as standard estimators often provide implausible estimates of elasticities. The demand model is estimated using both homogeneous and heterogeneous estimators, with a particular focus on the shrinkage estimator (an empirical Bayes estimator). The shrinkage short-run own-price and income elasticity tend to be very inelastic, but with greater long-run responsiveness. We provide support for employing a heterogeneous estimator such as the shrinkage estimator. But the empirical results also motivate a further scrutiny of its properties. We also consider the problem of reporting t-statistics of shrinkage estimators in the empirical Bayes (EB) framework and the problem of using the delta method to approximate the elasticities. The delta method biases upward the t-statistics of the shrinkage elasticities. An alternative approach, the bootstrap sampling methods obtained more reliable confidence intervals. We call into question - is the traditional way of constructing confidence intervals or t-statistics of the shrinkage estimator to naive. (Author)

  1. The wage elasticity of labour supply: A synthesis of empirical estimates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Evers (Michiel); R.A. de Mooij (Ruud); D. Vuuren (Daniel)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractThis paper performs a meta-analysis of empirical estimates of uncompensated labour supply elasticities. For the Netherlands, we find that an elasticity of 0.5 for women and 0.1 for men is a good reflection of what the literature reveals. The elasticity for men hardly differs between

  2. Estimating petroleum products demand elasticities in Nigeria. A multivariate cointegration approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwayemi, Akin; Adenikinju, Adeola; Babatunde, M. Adetunji

    2010-01-01

    This paper formulates and estimates petroleum products demand functions in Nigeria at both aggregative and product level for the period 1977 to 2006 using multivariate cointegration approach. The estimated short and long-run price and income elasticities confirm conventional wisdom that energy consumption responds positively to changes in GDP and negatively to changes in energy price. However, the price and income elasticities of demand varied according to product type. Kerosene and gasoline have relatively high short-run income and price elasticities compared to diesel. Overall, the results show petroleum products to be price and income inelastic. (author)

  3. Estimating petroleum products demand elasticities in Nigeria. A multivariate cointegration approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Iwayemi, Akin; Adenikinju, Adeola; Babatunde, M. Adetunji [Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan (Nigeria)

    2010-01-15

    This paper formulates and estimates petroleum products demand functions in Nigeria at both aggregative and product level for the period 1977 to 2006 using multivariate cointegration approach. The estimated short and long-run price and income elasticities confirm conventional wisdom that energy consumption responds positively to changes in GDP and negatively to changes in energy price. However, the price and income elasticities of demand varied according to product type. Kerosene and gasoline have relatively high short-run income and price elasticities compared to diesel. Overall, the results show petroleum products to be price and income inelastic. (author)

  4. Own-wage labor supply elasticities: variation across time and estimation methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olivier Bargain

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract There is a huge variation in the size of labor supply elasticities in the literature, which hampers policy analysis. While recent studies show that preference heterogeneity across countries explains little of this variation, we focus on two other important features: observation period and estimation method. We start with a thorough survey of existing evidence for both Western Europe and the USA, over a long period and from different empirical approaches. Then, our meta-analysis attempts to disentangle the role of time changes and estimation methods. We highlight the key role of time changes, documenting the incredible fall in labor supply elasticities since the 1980s not only for the USA but also in the EU. In contrast, we find no compelling evidence that the choice of estimation method explains variation in elasticity estimates. From our analysis, we derive important guidelines for policy simulations.

  5. Price elasticity estimates for tobacco products in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    John, Rijo M

    2008-05-01

    The tax base of tobacco in India is heavily dependent on about 14% of tobacco users, who smoke cigarettes. Non-cigarette tobacco products accounting for 85% of the tobacco consumption contributes only 15% of the total tobacco taxes. Though taxation is an important tool to regulate consumption of tobacco, there have been no estimates of price elasticities for different tobacco products in India to date, which can guide tax policy on tobacco. This paper, for the first time in India, examines the price elasticity of demand for bidis, cigarettes and leaf tobacco at the national level using a representative cross-section of households. This study found that own-price elasticity estimates of different tobacco products in India ranged between -0.4 to -0.9, with bidis (an indigenous hand-rolled smoked tobacco preparation in India) and leaf tobacco having elasticities close to unity. Cigarettes were the least price elastic of all. With some assumptions, it is shown that the tax on bidis can be increased to Rs. 100 per 1000 sticks compared with the current Rs. 14 and the tax on an average cigarette can be increased to Rs. 3.5 per stick without any fear of losing revenue. The paper argues that the current system of taxing cigarettes in India based on the presence of filters and the length of cigarettes has no justification on health grounds, and should be abolished, if reducing tobacco consumption and the consequent disease burden is one of the objectives of tobacco taxation policy. It also argues that attempts to regulate tobacco use without effecting significant tax increases on bidis may not produce desired results.

  6. Hybrid Simulation Modeling to Estimate U.S. Energy Elasticities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baylin-Stern, Adam C.

    This paper demonstrates how an U.S. application of CIMS, a technologically explicit and behaviourally realistic energy-economy simulation model which includes macro-economic feedbacks, can be used to derive estimates of elasticity of substitution (ESUB) and autonomous energy efficiency index (AEEI) parameters. The ability of economies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depends on the potential for households and industry to decrease overall energy usage, and move from higher to lower emissions fuels. Energy economists commonly refer to ESUB estimates to understand the degree of responsiveness of various sectors of an economy, and use estimates to inform computable general equilibrium models used to study climate policies. Using CIMS, I have generated a set of future, 'pseudo-data' based on a series of simulations in which I vary energy and capital input prices over a wide range. I then used this data set to estimate the parameters for transcendental logarithmic production functions using regression techniques. From the production function parameter estimates, I calculated an array of elasticity of substitution values between input pairs. Additionally, this paper demonstrates how CIMS can be used to calculate price-independent changes in energy-efficiency in the form of the AEEI, by comparing energy consumption between technologically frozen and 'business as usual' simulations. The paper concludes with some ideas for model and methodological improvement, and how these might figure into future work in the estimation of ESUBs from CIMS. Keywords: Elasticity of substitution; hybrid energy-economy model; translog; autonomous energy efficiency index; rebound effect; fuel switching.

  7. Multiparameter Elastic Full Waveform Inversion With Facies Constraints

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Zhendong

    2017-08-17

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) aims fully benefit from all the data characteristics to estimate the parameters describing the assumed physics of the subsurface. However, current efforts to utilize full waveform inversion as a tool beyond acoustic imaging applications, for example in reservoir analysis, faces inherent challenges related to the limited resolution and the potential trade-off between the elastic model parameters. Adding rock physics constraints does help to mitigate these issues, but current approaches to add such constraints are based on including them as a priori knowledge mostly valid around the well or as a boundary condition for the whole area. Since certain rock formations inside the Earth admit consistent elastic properties and relative values of elastic and anisotropic parameters (facies), utilizing such localized facies information in FWI can improve the resolution of inverted parameters. We propose a novel confidence map based approach to utilize the facies-based constraints in both isotropic and anisotropic elastic FWI. We invert for such a confidence map using Bayesian theory, in which the confidence map is updated at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and a prior information. The numerical examples show that the proposed method can reduce the trade-offs and also can improve the resolution of the inverted elastic and anisotropic properties.

  8. Estimation of effective elastic constants for grid plate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Kuriyama, Masaaki; Okumura, Yoshikazu

    1980-07-01

    This article contains a method of estimation for the effective elastic constants of a grid plate, which is a flat perforated plate with pipes for cooling. The elastic constants of the grid plate are formulated for two symmetric axes. In the case of using OFCu(E 0 = 12500 kg/mm 2 , ν 0 = 0.34) as the material of the grid, the results are given as follows. E sub(L) = 3180 kg/mm 2 , E sub(T) = 3860 kg/mm 2 upsilon sub(LT) = 0.12, upsilon sub(TL) = 0.15 (author)

  9. Two-Sided Estimates of Thermo-elastic Characteristics of Dispersed Inclusion Composites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. S. Zarubin

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The composites, dispersion-reinforced with inclusions from high-strength and high-modulus materials are widely used in technology. Nanostructure elements can perform the role of such inclusions as well. Possible applications of such composites in heat-stressed structures under heavy mechanical and thermal influences significantly depend on a complex of thermo-mechanical characteristics including the values of the moduli of elasticity and coefficient of linear thermal expansion. There are different approaches to construction of mathematical models that allow calculating dependences to estimate elastic characteristics of composites. Relation between thermoelastic properties of matrix and inclusions of the composite with its temperature coefficient of linear expansion is studied in less detail. Thus, attention has been insufficient in estimating a degree of reliability and a possible error of derived dependencies.A dual variation formulation of the problem of thermo-elasticity in a non-uniform solids simulating the properties and structure of the composite with dispersed inclusions, makes it possible to define two-sided limits of possible values of the volume elasticity modulus, shear modulus, and coefficient of linear thermal expansion of such composite. These limits allow us to estimate the maximum possible error, if to take a half-sum of the limit values of these parameters as the thermoelastic characteristics of the composite. Implementing this approach to find possible errors, arising when using one or another calculating dependency, improves reliability of predicted thermo-elastic characteristics as applied to existing and promising composites.

  10. 78 FR 50481 - Request for Public Comments Regarding the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-19

    ... barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services, and U.S. foreign direct investment for inclusion in the NTE... affecting U.S. exports of goods and services, U.S. foreign direct investment, and protection of intellectual... National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade...

  11. Estimation of parameters of constant elasticity of substitution production functional model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahaboob, B.; Venkateswarlu, B.; Sankar, J. Ravi

    2017-11-01

    Nonlinear model building has become an increasing important powerful tool in mathematical economics. In recent years the popularity of applications of nonlinear models has dramatically been rising up. Several researchers in econometrics are very often interested in the inferential aspects of nonlinear regression models [6]. The present research study gives a distinct method of estimation of more complicated and highly nonlinear model viz Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) production functional model. Henningen et.al [5] proposed three solutions to avoid serious problems when estimating CES functions in 2012 and they are i) removing discontinuities by using the limits of the CES function and its derivative. ii) Circumventing large rounding errors by local linear approximations iii) Handling ill-behaved objective functions by a multi-dimensional grid search. Joel Chongeh et.al [7] discussed the estimation of the impact of capital and labour inputs to the gris output agri-food products using constant elasticity of substitution production function in Tanzanian context. Pol Antras [8] presented new estimates of the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour using data from the private sector of the U.S. economy for the period 1948-1998.

  12. Healthcare Coinsurance Elasticity Coefficient Estimation Using Monthly Cross-sectional, Time-series Claims Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scoggins, John F; Weinberg, Daniel A

    2017-06-01

    Published estimates of the healthcare coinsurance elasticity coefficient have typically relied on annual observations of individual healthcare expenditures even though health plan membership and expenditures are traditionally reported in monthly units and several studies have stressed the need for demand models to recognize the episodic nature of healthcare. Summing individual healthcare expenditures into annual observations complicates two common challenges of statistical inference, heteroscedasticity, and regressor endogeneity. This paper estimates the elasticity coefficient using a monthly panel data model that addresses the heteroscedasticity and endogeneity problems with relative ease. Healthcare claims data from employees of King County, Washington, during 2005 to 2011 were used to estimate the mean point elasticity coefficient: -0.314 (0.015 standard error) to -0.145 (0.015 standard error) depending on model specification. These estimates bracket the -0.2 point estimate (range: -0.22 to -0.17) derived from the famous Rand Health Insurance Experiment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Multigene Genetic Programming for Estimation of Elastic Modulus of Concrete

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Mohammadi Bayazidi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new multigene genetic programming (MGGP approach for estimation of elastic modulus of concrete. The MGGP technique models the elastic modulus behavior by integrating the capabilities of standard genetic programming and classical regression. The main aim is to derive precise relationships between the tangent elastic moduli of normal and high strength concrete and the corresponding compressive strength values. Another important contribution of this study is to develop a generalized prediction model for the elastic moduli of both normal and high strength concrete. Numerous concrete compressive strength test results are obtained from the literature to develop the models. A comprehensive comparative study is conducted to verify the performance of the models. The proposed models perform superior to the existing traditional models, as well as those derived using other powerful soft computing tools.

  14. Estimation of macroscopic elastic characteristics for hierarchical anisotropic solids based on probabilistic approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smolina, Irina Yu.

    2015-10-01

    Mechanical properties of a cable are of great importance in design and strength calculation of flexible cables. The problem of determination of elastic properties and rigidity characteristics of a cable modeled by anisotropic helical elastic rod is considered. These characteristics are calculated indirectly by means of the parameters received from statistical processing of experimental data. These parameters are considered as random quantities. With taking into account probable nature of these parameters the formulas for estimation of the macroscopic elastic moduli of a cable are obtained. The calculating expressions for macroscopic flexural rigidity, shear rigidity and torsion rigidity using the macroscopic elastic characteristics obtained before are presented. Statistical estimations of the rigidity characteristics of some cable grades are adduced. A comparison with those characteristics received on the basis of deterministic approach is given.

  15. Visco-piezo-elastic parameter estimation in laminated plate structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Araujo, A. L.; Mota Soares, C. M.; Herskovits, J.

    2009-01-01

    A parameter estimation technique is presented in this article, for identification of elastic, piezoelectric and viscoelastic properties of active laminated composite plates with surface-bonded piezoelectric patches. The inverse method presented uses experimental data in the form of a set of measu...

  16. Censored Quantile Instrumental Variable Estimates of the Price Elasticity of Expenditure on Medical Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kowalski, Amanda

    2016-01-02

    Efforts to control medical care costs depend critically on how individuals respond to prices. I estimate the price elasticity of expenditure on medical care using a censored quantile instrumental variable (CQIV) estimator. CQIV allows estimates to vary across the conditional expenditure distribution, relaxes traditional censored model assumptions, and addresses endogeneity with an instrumental variable. My instrumental variable strategy uses a family member's injury to induce variation in an individual's own price. Across the conditional deciles of the expenditure distribution, I find elasticities that vary from -0.76 to -1.49, which are an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates.

  17. Estimating the price elasticity of beer: meta-analysis of data with heterogeneity, dependence, and publication bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Jon P

    2014-01-01

    Precise estimates of price elasticities are important for alcohol tax policy. Using meta-analysis, this paper corrects average beer elasticities for heterogeneity, dependence, and publication selection bias. A sample of 191 estimates is obtained from 114 primary studies. Simple and weighted means are reported. Dependence is addressed by restricting number of estimates per study, author-restricted samples, and author-specific variables. Publication bias is addressed using funnel graph, trim-and-fill, and Egger's intercept model. Heterogeneity and selection bias are examined jointly in meta-regressions containing moderator variables for econometric methodology, primary data, and precision of estimates. Results for fixed- and random-effects regressions are reported. Country-specific effects and sample time periods are unimportant, but several methodology variables help explain the dispersion of estimates. In models that correct for selection bias and heterogeneity, the average beer price elasticity is about -0.20, which is less elastic by 50% compared to values commonly used in alcohol tax policy simulations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Price elasticity of demand for crude oil: estimates for 23 countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cooper, J.C.B.

    2003-01-01

    This paper uses a multiple regression model derived from an adaptation of Nerlove's partial adjustment model to estimate both the short-run and long-run elasticities of demand for crude oil in 23 countries. The estimates so obtained confirm that the demand for crude oil internationally is highly insensitive to changes in price. (author)

  19. A Scale Elasticity Measure for Directional Distance Function and its Dual: Theory and DEA Estimation

    OpenAIRE

    Valentin Zelenyuk

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we focus on scale elasticity measure based on directional distance function for multi-output-multi-input technologies, explore its fundamental properties and show its equivalence with the input oriented and output oriented scale elasticity measures. We also establish duality relationship between the scale elasticity measure based on the directional distance function with scale elasticity measure based on the profit function. Finally, we discuss the estimation issues of the scale...

  20. Revenue, welfare and trade effects of European Union Free Trade Agreement on South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kore M.A. Guei

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Using the partial equilibrium WITS-SMART Simulation model to assess the impact of liberalisation under the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA of a free trade area between the European Union and South Africa. The identification of the impact of such agreement allows for trade policy negotiation adjustment that can be beneficial for South Africa. Aim: The aim of the study is to estimate and discuss the impact of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA with the European Union and South Africa. More specifically, the study intends to estimate the impact of revenue, welfare, imports, exports, trade creation and to come up with policies options for South Africa that can be used in negotiations and policy formulations. Setting: The study used international trade data (2012 available in the WITS-SMART model to assess bilateral trade agreement between the European Union and South Africa. Methods: To identify the impact on revenue, welfare, imports, exports and trade creation, the study simulated an FTA (0% tariff rate for all goods exchanged between the European Union and South Africa. Also, the elasticity of substitution used for the simulation model was 99%. Results: The findings of the study reveal that total trade effects in South Africa are likely to surge by US$ 1.036 billion with a total welfare valued at US$ 134 million. Dismantling tariffs on all European Union (EU goods would be beneficial to consumers through net trade creation. Total trade creation would be US$ 782 million. However, South African producers are likely to contribute a trade diversion of US$ 254 million which has a negative impact on consumer welfare. The country might also experience a revenue loss amounting to US$ 562 million because of the removal of tariffs. In trade, the country’s exports and imports to the EU are expected to increase by US$ 12.419 million and US$ 1.266 million, respectively. Conclusion: The European Union–South Africa FTA would

  1. Demand, supply, and trade analysis for the fifth ECE/FAO European timber trends study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baudin, A.

    1996-01-01

    For this study, supply is explained using prices and costs; separate supply models are estimated for export supply, and supply to domestic markets. Using this approach, elasticities can vary by market (for supply equations) and by source of supply (for demand equations). In addition, substitution behaviour in both consumption and production can be examined. For the 9 countries that are smaller markets for forest products in Europe, a model of total demand (apparent consumption) was estimated using gross domestic product and price as explanatory factors. For these countries, a time-series, cross-section approach was used to estimate elasticities; countries were grouped by per capita income. For all countries, estimated elasticities are generally consistent with those reported in previous TTS, and those reported in the scientific literature. Because trade is modeled, additional information is available regarding the outlook for European forest products consumption, and demand on European forests. Where complete data sets were available, results generally indicate that there is substitution in consumption between imports and domestic production, for most products, in most countries. In addition, import elasticities often are higher than elasticities estimated for consumption from domestic sources. Substitution between exports and domestic markets is also evident in export supply equations. 10 refs, 21 tabs

  2. Testing and estimating time-varying elasticities of Swiss gasoline demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neto, David

    2012-01-01

    This paper is intended to test and estimate time-varying elasticities for gasoline demand in Switzerland. For this purpose, a smooth time-varying cointegrating parameters model is investigated in order to describe smooth mutations of the Swiss gasoline demand. The methodology, based on Chebyshev polynomials, is rigorously outlined. Our empirical finding states that the time-invariance assumption does not hold for long-run price and income elasticities. Furthermore they highlight that gasoline demand passed through some periods of sensitivity and non sensitivity with respect to the price. Our empirical statements are of great importance to assess the performance of a gasoline tax as an instrument for CO 2 reduction policy. Indeed, such an instrument can contribute to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases only if the demand is not fully inelastic with respect to the price. Our results suggest that such a carbon-tax would not be always suitable since the price elasticity is found not stable over time and not always significant.

  3. Dynamic Estimation on Output Elasticity of Highway Capital Stock in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, W. J.; Zuo, Q. L.; Bai, Y. F.

    2017-12-01

    By using the Perpetual Inventory Method to calculate the capital stock of highway in China from 1988 to 2016, the paper builds the State Space Model based on Translog Production Function, according to the Ridge Regression and Kalman Filter Method, the dynamic estimation results of output elasticity are measured continuously and analyzed. The conclusions show that: Firstly, China’s growth speed on highway industry capital stock are divided into three stages which are respectively from 1988 to 2000, from 2001 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016, during which shows steady growth, between which reflect rapid growth; Secondly, the output elasticity of highway capital stock, being between 0.154 and 0.248, is slightly larger than the output elasticity of human input factor, lower than the output elasticity of the technical level, shows positive effect on transport economy and rises steadily, but the output efficiency is low on the whole; Thirdly, around the year of 2010, the scale pay on highway industry begins to highlight the characteristic of increase.

  4. Multiparameter elastic full waveform inversion with facies-based constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhen-dong; Alkhalifah, Tariq; Naeini, Ehsan Zabihi; Sun, Bingbing

    2018-06-01

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) incorporates all the data characteristics to estimate the parameters described by the assumed physics of the subsurface. However, current efforts to utilize FWI beyond improved acoustic imaging, like in reservoir delineation, faces inherent challenges related to the limited resolution and the potential trade-off between the elastic model parameters. Some anisotropic parameters are insufficiently updated because of their minor contributions to the surface collected data. Adding rock physics constraints to the inversion helps mitigate such limited sensitivity, but current approaches to add such constraints are based on including them as a priori knowledge mostly valid around the well or as a global constraint for the whole area. Since similar rock formations inside the Earth admit consistent elastic properties and relative values of elasticity and anisotropy parameters (this enables us to define them as a seismic facies), utilizing such localized facies information in FWI can improve the resolution of inverted parameters. We propose a novel approach to use facies-based constraints in both isotropic and anisotropic elastic FWI. We invert for such facies using Bayesian theory and update them at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and a priori information. We take the uncertainties of the estimated parameters (approximated by radiation patterns) into consideration and improve the quality of estimated facies maps. Four numerical examples corresponding to different acquisition, physical assumptions and model circumstances are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  5. Multiparameter Elastic Full Waveform Inversion with Facies-based Constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhen-dong; Alkhalifah, Tariq; Naeini, Ehsan Zabihi; Sun, Bingbing

    2018-03-01

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) incorporates all the data characteristics to estimate the parameters described by the assumed physics of the subsurface. However, current efforts to utilize full waveform inversion beyond improved acoustic imaging, like in reservoir delineation, faces inherent challenges related to the limited resolution and the potential trade-off between the elastic model parameters. Some anisotropic parameters are insufficiently updated because of their minor contributions to the surface collected data. Adding rock physics constraints to the inversion helps mitigate such limited sensitivity, but current approaches to add such constraints are based on including them as a priori knowledge mostly valid around the well or as a global constraint for the whole area. Since similar rock formations inside the Earth admit consistent elastic properties and relative values of elasticity and anisotropy parameters (this enables us to define them as a seismic facies), utilizing such localized facies information in FWI can improve the resolution of inverted parameters. We propose a novel approach to use facies-based constraints in both isotropic and anisotropic elastic FWI. We invert for such facies using Bayesian theory and update them at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and a prior information. We take the uncertainties of the estimated parameters (approximated by radiation patterns) into consideration and improve the quality of estimated facies maps. Four numerical examples corresponding to different acquisition, physical assumptions and model circumstances are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  6. Multiparameter Elastic Full Waveform Inversion with Facies-based Constraints

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Zhendong

    2018-03-20

    Full waveform inversion (FWI) incorporates all the data characteristics to estimate the parameters described by the assumed physics of the subsurface. However, current efforts to utilize full waveform inversion beyond improved acoustic imaging, like in reservoir delineation, faces inherent challenges related to the limited resolution and the potential trade-off between the elastic model parameters. Some anisotropic parameters are insufficiently updated because of their minor contributions to the surface collected data. Adding rock physics constraints to the inversion helps mitigate such limited sensitivity, but current approaches to add such constraints are based on including them as a priori knowledge mostly valid around the well or as a global constraint for the whole area. Since similar rock formations inside the Earth admit consistent elastic properties and relative values of elasticity and anisotropy parameters (this enables us to define them as a seismic facies), utilizing such localized facies information in FWI can improve the resolution of inverted parameters. We propose a novel approach to use facies-based constraints in both isotropic and anisotropic elastic FWI. We invert for such facies using Bayesian theory and update them at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and a prior information. We take the uncertainties of the estimated parameters (approximated by radiation patterns) into consideration and improve the quality of estimated facies maps. Four numerical examples corresponding to different acquisition, physical assumptions and model circumstances are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  7. Systematic feasibility analysis of a quantitative elasticity estimation for breast anatomy using supine/prone patient postures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasse, Katelyn; Neylon, John; Sheng, Ke; Santhanam, Anand P

    2016-03-01

    Breast elastography is a critical tool for improving the targeted radiotherapy treatment of breast tumors. Current breast radiotherapy imaging protocols only involve prone and supine CT scans. There is a lack of knowledge on the quantitative accuracy with which breast elasticity can be systematically measured using only prone and supine CT datasets. The purpose of this paper is to describe a quantitative elasticity estimation technique for breast anatomy using only these supine/prone patient postures. Using biomechanical, high-resolution breast geometry obtained from CT scans, a systematic assessment was performed in order to determine the feasibility of this methodology for clinically relevant elasticity distributions. A model-guided inverse analysis approach is presented in this paper. A graphics processing unit (GPU)-based linear elastic biomechanical model was employed as a forward model for the inverse analysis with the breast geometry in a prone position. The elasticity estimation was performed using a gradient-based iterative optimization scheme and a fast-simulated annealing (FSA) algorithm. Numerical studies were conducted to systematically analyze the feasibility of elasticity estimation. For simulating gravity-induced breast deformation, the breast geometry was anchored at its base, resembling the chest-wall/breast tissue interface. Ground-truth elasticity distributions were assigned to the model, representing tumor presence within breast tissue. Model geometry resolution was varied to estimate its influence on convergence of the system. A priori information was approximated and utilized to record the effect on time and accuracy of convergence. The role of the FSA process was also recorded. A novel error metric that combined elasticity and displacement error was used to quantify the systematic feasibility study. For the authors' purposes, convergence was set to be obtained when each voxel of tissue was within 1 mm of ground-truth deformation. The authors

  8. New Estimates of Labour Supply Elasticities for Married Women in Canada 1996–2005

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dostie, Benoit; Kromann, Lene

    2013-01-01

    In this article, we estimate income and substitution labour supply and participation elasticities for Canadian married women using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics 1996–2005. We use the Canadian Tax and Credit Simulator (CTaCS) and detailed information on the structure of income...... that public policies now have, on average, less scope for influencing hours of work than 10 years ago. However, the quantile results show that wives working fewer hours per week are more sensitive to changes in their own or spouses' wages.......In this article, we estimate income and substitution labour supply and participation elasticities for Canadian married women using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics 1996–2005. We use the Canadian Tax and Credit Simulator (CTaCS) and detailed information on the structure of income...... in the estimation procedure, and quantify biases caused by using average tax rates instead of marginal tax rates. Finally, because marginal tax rates vary significantly over the sample, we use quantile regressions to compare elasticities at different points of the hours distribution. Overall, our results show...

  9. Is the Armington Elasticity Really Constant across Importers?

    OpenAIRE

    Yilmazkuday, Hakan

    2009-01-01

    This paper shows that the Armington elasticity, which refers to both the elasticity of substitution across goods and the price elasticity of demand under the assumption of a large number of varieties, systematically changes from one importer country to another in an international trade context. Then a natural question to ask is "What determines the Armington elasticity?" The answer comes from the distinction between the elasticity of demand with respect to the destination price (i.e., the Arm...

  10. Estimation of Single-Crystal Elastic Constants of Polycrystalline Materials from Back-Scattered Grain Noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haldipur, P.; Margetan, F. J.; Thompson, R. B.

    2006-01-01

    Single-crystal elastic stiffness constants are important input parameters for many calculations in material science. There are well established methods to measure these constants using single-crystal specimens, but such specimens are not always readily available. The ultrasonic properties of metal polycrystals, such as velocity, attenuation, and backscattered grain noise characteristics, depend in part on the single-crystal elastic constants. In this work we consider the estimation of elastic constants from UT measurements and grain-sizing data. We confine ourselves to a class of particularly simple polycrystalline microstructures, found in some jet-engine Nickel alloys, which are single-phase, cubic, equiaxed, and untextured. In past work we described a method to estimate the single-crystal elastic constants from measured ultrasonic velocity and attenuation data accompanied by metallographic analysis of grain size. However, that methodology assumes that all attenuation is due to grain scattering, and thus is not valid if appreciable absorption is present. In this work we describe an alternative approach which uses backscattered grain noise data in place of attenuation data. Efforts to validate the method using a pure copper specimen are discussed, and new results for two jet-engine Nickel alloys are presented

  11. Is Nigerian Growth Trade-Led?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismail Adigun Olayemi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Nigeria is currently in recession, a situation described as induced by decreases in oil output and export, caused by the bombings of oil pipelines in its Niger Delta region, and the unanticipated decline in its value of exports and currency, resulting from the decline in oil prices. With the export value decline, somersaulting to growth, could it then be that Nigerian economic growth is trade constrained? How important is export to growth?. This study investigates these, its invention balances in its methodology. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the above, this paper employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL and the Thirlwall's Law of balance of payment led growth, using a combination of annual (1981–2016 and quarterly (2000Q1–2016Q4 data to ensure robustness. This combination not only allows for comparison but also ensures the reflection of the current government's trade decisions and trade activities; these are missing in other studies. Findings: Using the Wald F-Statistic, Economic growth is found to be equal to export growth rate divided by income elasticity of import, the estimated income elasticity of import which is greater than 100% or elastic reflects over dependence on import both in the short and long run, implying that Nigeria imports more than it earns. Exchange rate and terms of trade are insignificant especially in the long run. The study calls for monitoring of import contents; the government needs to enforce its recent directives to stop importation of some products that are already being produced within with higher quality and adequate export promotion strategies should be formulated and enforced. Research limitations/implications: The data span is restricted by data availability, the study could as well confirm its results with monthly data for robustness and better confidence, but most of the variables are reported annually and quarterly only. Originality/value: Many studies have confirmed the

  12. Trade and energy consumption in the Middle East

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadorsky, Perry

    2011-01-01

    Over the past 30 years many economies have experienced large increases in economic trade, income and energy consumption. This brings up an interesting question. How do increases in trade affect energy consumption? This study uses panel cointegration data estimation techniques to examine the impact of trade on energy consumption in a sample of 8 Middle Eastern countries covering the period 1980 to 2007. Short-run dynamics show Granger causality from exports to energy consumption, and a bi-directional feedback relationship between imports and energy consumption. Long run elasticities estimated from FMOLS show that a 1% increase in per capita exports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.11% while a one percent increase in per capita imports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.04%. These results are important in establishing that increased trade affects energy demand in the Middle East in both the short and long-run. This has implications for energy policy and environmental policy. - Research Highlights: → Trade affects energy consumption in Middle Eastern economies. → Short-run causality runs from exports to energy consumption. → There is a short-run feedback relationship between energy consumption and imports. → In the long-run a 1% increase in per capita exports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.11%. → In the long-run a 1% increase in per capita imports increases per capita energy consumption by 0.04%.

  13. Study of the method to estimate the hydraulic characteristics in rock masses by using elastic wave

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katsu, Kenta; Ohnishi, Yuzo; Nishiyama, Satoshi; Yano, Takao; Ando, Kenichi; Yoshimura, Kimitaka

    2008-01-01

    In the area of radioactive waste repository, estimating radionuclide migration through the rock mass is an important factor for assessment of the repository. The purpose of this study is to develop a method to estimate hydraulic characteristics of rock masses by using elastic wave velocity dispersion. This method is based on dynamics poroelastic relations such as Biot and BISQ theories. These theories indicate relations between velocity dispersion and hydraulic characteristics. In order to verify the validity of these theories in crystalline rocks, we performed laboratory experiments. The results of experiments show the dependency of elastic wave velocity on its frequency. To test the applicability of this method to real rock masses, we performed in-situ experiment for tuff rock masses. The results of in-situ experiment show the possibility as a practical method to estimate the hydraulic characteristics by using elastic wave velocity dispersion. (author)

  14. Option Price Estimations and Speculative Trading In Knowledge Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ovidiu TURCOANE

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Derivatives market has known an enormous and continuous development from the late 1970s, thanks to the most celebrated Black-Scholes-Merton formula. The impact on global economy is also tremendous, but due to the high leverage of speculative option trading there is a perpetual danger of economic collapse. This paper gives a short description of knowledge society and proposes methods for option price estimation based on implied volatility, skewness and kurtosis. ‘Free-lunch’ is hardly achievable if one predicts the option price using the knowledgeable information from the market and there is almost impossible to speculate, rather than to hedge, when trading option.

  15. Evaluating Bounds and Estimators for Constants of Random Polycrystals Composed of Orthotropic Elastic Materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berryman, J. G.

    2012-03-01

    While the well-known Voigt and Reuss (VR) bounds, and the Voigt-Reuss-Hill (VRH) elastic constant estimators for random polycrystals are all straightforwardly calculated once the elastic constants of anisotropic crystals are known, the Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) bounds and related self-consistent (SC) estimators for the same constants are, by comparison, more difficult to compute. Recent work has shown how to simplify (to some extent) these harder to compute HS bounds and SC estimators. An overview and analysis of a subsampling of these results is presented here with the main point being to show whether or not this extra work (i.e., in calculating both the HS bounds and the SC estimates) does provide added value since, in particular, the VRH estimators often do not fall within the HS bounds, while the SC estimators (for good reasons) have always been found to do so. The quantitative differences between the SC and the VRH estimators in the eight cases considered are often quite small however, being on the order of ±1%. These quantitative results hold true even though these polycrystal Voigt-Reuss-Hill estimators more typically (but not always) fall outside the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, while the self-consistent estimators always fall inside (or on the boundaries of) these same bounds.

  16. Panel estimation for CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and urbanization of newly industrialized countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharif Hossain, Md.

    2011-01-01

    This paper empirically examines the dynamic causal relationships between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and urbanization for the panel of newly industrialized countries (NIC) using the time series data for the period 1971-2007. Using four different panel unit root tests it is found that all panel variables are integrated of order 1. From the Johansen Fisher panel cointegration test it is found that there is a cointegration vector among the variables. The Granger causality test results support that there is no evidence of long-run causal relationship, but there is unidirectional short-run causal relationship from economic growth and trade openness to carbon dioxide emissions, from economic growth to energy consumption, from trade openness to economic growth, from urbanization to economic growth and from trade openness to urbanization. It is found that the long-run elasticity of carbon dioxide emissions with respect to energy consumption (1.2189) is higher than short run elasticity of 0.5984. This indicates that over time higher energy consumption in the newly industrialized countries gives rise to more carbon dioxide emissions as a result our environment will be polluted more. But in respect of economic growth, trade openness and urbanization the environmental quality is found to be normal good in the long-run. - Highlights: → Dynamic causal relationships are conducted for different panel variables of NIC. → Test results support only existence of unidirectional short-run causal relationships. → Environment will be polluted more due to energy consumption in the long-run. → But environmental quality is found to be normally good in respect of other variables. → NIC should use solar energy as the substitute of oil to control CO 2 emissions.

  17. Validation of an elastic registration technique to estimate anatomical lung modification in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Tomotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faggiano, Elena; Cattaneo, Giovanni M; Ciavarro, Cristina; Dell'Oca, Italo; Persano, Diego; Calandrino, Riccardo; Rizzo, Giovanna

    2011-01-01

    The study of lung parenchyma anatomical modification is useful to estimate dose discrepancies during the radiation treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients. We propose and validate a method, based on free-form deformation and mutual information, to elastically register planning kVCT with daily MVCT images, to estimate lung parenchyma modification during Tomotherapy. We analyzed 15 registrations between the planning kVCT and 3 MVCT images for each of the 5 NSCLC patients. Image registration accuracy was evaluated by visual inspection and, quantitatively, by Correlation Coefficients (CC) and Target Registration Errors (TRE). Finally, a lung volume correspondence analysis was performed to specifically evaluate registration accuracy in lungs. Results showed that elastic registration was always satisfactory, both qualitatively and quantitatively: TRE after elastic registration (average value of 3.6 mm) remained comparable and often smaller than voxel resolution. Lung volume variations were well estimated by elastic registration (average volume and centroid errors of 1.78% and 0.87 mm, respectively). Our results demonstrate that this method is able to estimate lung deformations in thorax MVCT, with an accuracy within 3.6 mm comparable or smaller than the voxel dimension of the kVCT and MVCT images. It could be used to estimate lung parenchyma dose variations in thoracic Tomotherapy

  18. A method for estimation of elasticities in metabolic networks using steady state and dynamic metabolomics data and linlog kinetics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Gulik Walter M

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Dynamic modeling of metabolic reaction networks under in vivo conditions is a crucial step in order to obtain a better understanding of the (disfunctioning of living cells. So far dynamic metabolic models generally have been based on mechanistic rate equations which often contain so many parameters that their identifiability from experimental data forms a serious problem. Recently, approximative rate equations, based on the linear logarithmic (linlog format have been proposed as a suitable alternative with fewer parameters. Results In this paper we present a method for estimation of the kinetic model parameters, which are equal to the elasticities defined in Metabolic Control Analysis, from metabolite data obtained from dynamic as well as steady state perturbations, using the linlog kinetic format. Additionally, we address the question of parameter identifiability from dynamic perturbation data in the presence of noise. The method is illustrated using metabolite data generated with a dynamic model of the glycolytic pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on mechanistic rate equations. Elasticities are estimated from the generated data, which define the complete linlog kinetic model of the glycolysis. The effect of data noise on the accuracy of the estimated elasticities is presented. Finally, identifiable subset of parameters is determined using information on the standard deviations of the estimated elasticities through Monte Carlo (MC simulations. Conclusion The parameter estimation within the linlog kinetic framework as presented here allows the determination of the elasticities directly from experimental data from typical dynamic and/or steady state experiments. These elasticities allow the reconstruction of the full kinetic model of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the determination of the control coefficients. MC simulations revealed that certain elasticities are potentially unidentifiable from dynamic data only

  19. Application Service Program (ASP) Price Elasticities

    OpenAIRE

    Hong Jaeweon; Cho Wanwoo; Jang Ho; Kwak Youngsik

    2010-01-01

    Although the price elasticities for off-line industry are well documented in academic field, the report of price elasticities for on-line to a given brand or industry in practice have beenrelatively rare. The researcher aims to try to full this gap by applying a price response function to Home Trading System’s on-line transaction data for the first time in Korean securities market. The different price elasticities among seven brands were found from -0.819 to -1.811. These results suggested th...

  20. Environmentally damaging electricity trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Billette de Villemeur, Etienne; Pineau, Pierre-Olivier

    2010-01-01

    Electricity trade across regions is often considered welfare enhancing. We show in this paper that this should be reconsidered if environmental externalities are taken into account. We consider two cases where trade is beneficial, before accounting for environmental damages: first, when two regions with the same technology display some demand heterogeneity; second when one region endowed with hydropower arbitrages with its 'thermal' neighbor. Our results show that under reasonable demand and supply elasticities, trade comes with an additional environmental cost. This calls for integrating environmental externalities into market reforms when redesigning the electricity sector. Two North American applications illustrate our results: trade between Pennsylvania and New York, and trade between hydro-rich Quebec and New York.

  1. Gravity with Intermediate Goods Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sujin Jang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper derives the gravity equation with intermediate goods trade. We extend a standard monopolistic competition model to incorporate intermediate goods trade, and show that the gravity equation with intermediates trade is identical to the one without it except in that gross output should be used as the output measure instead of value added. We also show that the output elasticity of trade is significantly underestimated when value added is used as the output measure. This implies that with the conventional gravity equation, the contribution of output growth can be substantially underestimated and the role of trade costs reduction can be exaggerated in explaining trade expansion, as we demonstrate for the case of Korea's trade growth between 1995 and 2007.

  2. Environmentally damaging electricity trade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Billette de Villemeur, Etienne [Toulouse School of Economics (IDEI and GREMAQ) (France); Pineau, Pierre-Olivier [HEC Montreal (Canada)

    2010-03-15

    Electricity trade across regions is often considered welfare enhancing. We show in this paper that this should be reconsidered if environmental externalities are taken into account. We consider two cases where trade is beneficial, before accounting for environmental damages: first, when two regions with the same technology display some demand heterogeneity; second when one region endowed with hydropower arbitrages with its ''thermal'' neighbor. Our results show that under reasonable demand and supply elasticities, trade comes with an additional environmental cost. This calls for integrating environmental externalities into market reforms when redesigning the electricity sector. Two North American applications illustrate our results: trade between Pennsylvania and New York, and trade between hydro-rich Quebec and New York. (author)

  3. Estimate of elastic pole contributions to K+→π+γγ

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eeg, J.O.

    The elastic part of the amplitude for K + →π + γγ is considered and related to the finite self energy for K + and π + by means of Ward identities. The partial rate GAMMA(K + →π + γγ/GAMMA(K + →all) is estimated to be of the order 10 -6 to 10 -9 and cannot necessarily be neglected compared to other contributions. (Auth.)

  4. Uncertainty analysis for effluent trading planning using a Bayesian estimation-based simulation-optimization modeling approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, J L; Li, Y P; Huang, G H; Baetz, B W; Liu, J

    2017-06-01

    In this study, a Bayesian estimation-based simulation-optimization modeling approach (BESMA) is developed for identifying effluent trading strategies. BESMA incorporates nutrient fate modeling with soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), Bayesian estimation, and probabilistic-possibilistic interval programming with fuzzy random coefficients (PPI-FRC) within a general framework. Based on the water quality protocols provided by SWAT, posterior distributions of parameters can be analyzed through Bayesian estimation; stochastic characteristic of nutrient loading can be investigated which provides the inputs for the decision making. PPI-FRC can address multiple uncertainties in the form of intervals with fuzzy random boundaries and the associated system risk through incorporating the concept of possibility and necessity measures. The possibility and necessity measures are suitable for optimistic and pessimistic decision making, respectively. BESMA is applied to a real case of effluent trading planning in the Xiangxihe watershed, China. A number of decision alternatives can be obtained under different trading ratios and treatment rates. The results can not only facilitate identification of optimal effluent-trading schemes, but also gain insight into the effects of trading ratio and treatment rate on decision making. The results also reveal that decision maker's preference towards risk would affect decision alternatives on trading scheme as well as system benefit. Compared with the conventional optimization methods, it is proved that BESMA is advantageous in (i) dealing with multiple uncertainties associated with randomness and fuzziness in effluent-trading planning within a multi-source, multi-reach and multi-period context; (ii) reflecting uncertainties existing in nutrient transport behaviors to improve the accuracy in water quality prediction; and (iii) supporting pessimistic and optimistic decision making for effluent trading as well as promoting diversity of decision

  5. Noninvasive Vascular Displacement Estimation for Relative Elastic Modulus Reconstruction in Transversal Imaging Planes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris L. de Korte

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Atherosclerotic plaque rupture can initiate stroke or myocardial infarction. Lipid-rich plaques with thin fibrous caps have a higher risk to rupture than fibrotic plaques. Elastic moduli differ for lipid-rich and fibrous tissue and can be reconstructed using tissue displacements estimated from intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency (RF data acquisitions. This study investigated if modulus reconstruction is possible for noninvasive RF acquisitions of vessels in transverse imaging planes using an iterative 2D cross-correlation based displacement estimation algorithm. Furthermore, since it is known that displacements can be improved by compounding of displacements estimated at various beam steering angles, we compared the performance of the modulus reconstruction with and without compounding. For the comparison, simulated and experimental RF data were generated of various vessel-mimicking phantoms. Reconstruction errors were less than 10%, which seems adequate for distinguishing lipid-rich from fibrous tissue. Compounding outperformed single-angle reconstruction: the interquartile range of the reconstructed moduli for the various homogeneous phantom layers was approximately two times smaller. Additionally, the estimated lateral displacements were a factor of 2–3 better matched to the displacements corresponding to the reconstructed modulus distribution. Thus, noninvasive elastic modulus reconstruction is possible for transverse vessel cross sections using this cross-correlation method and is more accurate with compounding.

  6. What determines the sensitivity of the real exchange rate in Colombia to a terms of trade shock?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parra-Alvarez, Juan Carlos; Mahadeva, Lavan

    2012-01-01

    We show that the sensitivity of the real exchange rate to terms of trade shocks is greater the lower the elasticity of final and derived demand between domestic and imported items. We develop a novel Kalman filter-based method to estimate these key parameters for Colombia, taking account of prefe...... the sensitivity of the Colombian economy to external shocks....

  7. What is the appropriate counterfactual when estimating effects of multilateral trade policy reform?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Anderson, Kym; Jensen, Hans Grinsted; Nelgen, Signe

    2016-01-01

    the counterfactual price distortions in 2030 are shown to be much larger in the case where agricultural protection grows endogenously than in the case assuming no policy changes over the projection period. This suggests the traditional way of estimating effects of a multilateral agricultural trade agreement may...... of the DDA’s possible effects thus requires first modelling the world economy to 2030 and, in that process, projecting what trade-related policies might be by then without a DDA. Typically, modelers assume the counterfactual policy regime to be a ‘business-as-usual’ projection assuming the status quo. Yet we...... by projecting the world economy to 2030 using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model with those two alternative policy regimes and then simulating a move to global free trade (the maximum benefit from a multilateral trade reform) in each of those two cases. The welfare effects of removing...

  8. New estimates of elasticity of demand for healthcare in rural China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Zhongliang; Su, Yanfang; Gao, Jianmin; Xu, Ling; Zhang, Yaoguang

    2011-12-01

    Only limited empirical studies reported own-price elasticity of demand for health care in rural China. Neither research on income elasticity of demand for health care nor cross-price elasticity of demand for inpatient versus outpatient services in rural China has been reported. However, elasticity of demand is informative to evaluate current policy and to guide further policy making. Our study contributes to the literature by estimating three elasticities (i.e., own-price elasticity, cross-price elasticity, and income elasticity of demand for health care based on nationwide-representative data. We aim to answer three empirical questions with regard to health expenditure in rural China: (1) Which service is more sensitive to price change, outpatient or inpatient service? (2) Is outpatient service a substitute or complement to inpatient service? and (3) Does demand for inpatient services grow faster than demand for outpatient services with income growth? Based on data from a National Health Services Survey, a Probit regression model with probability of outpatient visit and probability of inpatient visit as dependent variables and a zero-truncated negative binomial regression model with outpatient visits as dependent variable were constructed to isolate the effects of price and income on demand for health care. Both pooled and separated regressions for 2003 and 2008 were conducted with tests of robustness. Own-price elasticities of demand for first outpatient visit, outpatient visits among users and first inpatient visit are -0.519 [95% confidence interval (-0.703, -0.336)], -0.547 [95% confidence interval (-0.747, -0.347)] and -0.372 [95% confidence interval (-0.517, -0.226)], respectively. Cross-price elasticities of demand for first outpatient visit, outpatient visits among users and first inpatient visit are 0.073 [95% confidence interval (-0.176, 0.322)], 0.308 [95% confidence interval (0.087, 0.528)], and 0.059 [95% confidence interval (-0.085, 0

  9. The Skill Bias of World Trade

    OpenAIRE

    Paolo Epifani; Gino Gancia

    2004-01-01

    We argue that, with an elasticity of substitution in consumption greater than one and higher scale economies in the skill-intensive sectors, the entire volume of world trade matters for wage inequality. This implies that trade intergration, even among identical countries, is likely to increase the skill premium. This result can also explain the increase in skill premia in developing countries that have experienced drastic trade liberalizations. Further, we argue that evidence of a falling rel...

  10. Estimating Trade Effects of the Competitive Devaluation Policy in East Asia’s Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yana Valeryevna Dyomina

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines the competitive devaluation policy effects on the East Asia’s trade for the period of 2000–2011. The author obtained quantitative estimation of the currency policy trade effects with the help of panel data regression analysis (using export and import data of the following countries: China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The article includes investigation of the following foreign trade flows: total, intra-regional and out- of-regional exports and imports of merchandise. The study reflects the fact that the competitive devaluation policy of ASEAN+3 countries negatively affects the out-of-regional exports and imports, as well as the total imports. Simultaneously such exchange rate policy measures have no effect on intra-regional trade

  11. Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selvaraj, Sakthivel; Srivastava, Swati; Karan, Anup

    2015-12-09

    The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the pattern of price elasticity of three major tobacco products (bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco) by economic groups of population based on household monthly per capita consumption expenditure in India and (2) assess the effect of tax increases on tobacco consumption and revenue across expenditure groups. Data from the 2011-2012 nationally representative Consumer Expenditure Survey from 101,662 Indian households were used. Households which consumed any tobacco or alcohol product were retained in final models. The study draws theoretical frameworks from a model using the augmented utility function of consumer behaviour, with a two-stage two-equation system of unit values and budget shares. Primary outcome measures were price elasticity of demand for different tobacco products for three hierarchical economic groups of population and change in tax revenue due to changes in tax structure. We finally estimated price elasticity of demand for bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco and effects of changes in their tax rates on demand for these tobacco products and tax revenue. Own price elasticities for bidi were highest in the poorest group (-0.4328) and lowest in the richest group (-0.0815). Cigarette own price elasticities were -0.832 in the poorest group and -0.2645 in the richest group. Leaf tobacco elasticities were highest in the poorest (-0.557) and middle (-0.4537) groups. Poorer group elasticities were the highest, indicating that poorer consumers are more price responsive. Elasticity estimates show positive distributional effects of uniform bidi and cigarette taxation on the poorest consumers, as their consumption is affected the most due to increases in taxation. Leaf tobacco also displayed moderate elasticities in poor and middle tertiles, suggesting that tax increases may result in a trade-off between consumption decline and revenue generation. A broad spectrum rise in tax rates across all products is critical for

  12. Income Elasticity Literature Review | Science Inventory | US ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Following advice from the SAB Council, when estimating the economic value of reductions in air pollution-related mortality and morbidity risk, EPA accounts for the effect of personal income on the willingness to pay to reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes. These income growth adjustment factors are calculated using a combination of income elasticity estimates and income growth projections, both of which have remained essentially unchanged since 1999. These income elasticity estimates vary according to the severity of illness. EPA recently received advice from the SAB regarding the range of income elasticities to apply as well as the research standards to use when selecting income elasticity estimates. Following this advice, EPA consulted with a contractor to update its income elasticity and income growth projections, and generate new income growth adjustment factors. The SAB would evaluate the income elasticity estimates identified in the EPA-provided literature review, determining the extent to which these estimates are appropriate to use in human health benefits assessments.

  13. Elastic thickness estimates at northeast passive margin of North America and its implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, R. T. Ratheesh; Maji, Tanmay K.; Kandpal, Suresh Ch; Sengupta, D.; Nair, Rajesh R.

    2011-06-01

    Global estimates of the elastic thickness (Te) of the structure of passive continental margins show wide and varying results owing to the use of different methodologies. Earlier estimates of the elastic thickness of the North Atlantic passive continental margins that used flexural modelling yielded a Te value of ~20-100 km. Here, we compare these estimates with the Te value obtained using orthonormalized Hermite multitaper recovered isostatic coherence functions. We discuss how Te is correlated with heat flow distribution and depth of necking. The E-W segment in the southern study region comprising Nova Scotia and the Southern Grand Banks show low Te values, while the zones comprising the NE-SW zones, viz., Western Greenland, Labrador, Orphan Basin and the Northern Grand Bank show comparatively high Te values. As expected, Te broadly reflects the depth of the 200-400°C isotherm below the weak surface sediment layer at the time of loading, and at the margins most of the loading occurred during rifting. We infer that these low Te measurements indicate Te frozen into the lithosphere. This could be due to the passive nature of the margin when the loads were emplaced during the continental break-up process at high temperature gradients.

  14. Estimation of Gasoline Price Elasticities of Demand for Automobile Fuel Efficiency in Korea: A Hedonic Approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Sung Tae [Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul (Korea); Lee, Myunghun [Keimyung University, Taegu (Korea)

    2001-03-01

    This paper estimates the gasoline price elasticities of demand for automobile fuel efficiency in Korea to examine indirectly whether the government policy of raising fuel prices is effective in inducing less consumption of fuel, relying on a hedonic technique developed by Atkinson and Halvorsen (1984). One of the advantages of this technique is that the data for a single year, without involving variation in the price of gasoline, is sufficient in implementing this study. Moreover, this technique enables us to circumvent the multicollinearity problem, which had reduced reliability of the results in previous hedonic studies. The estimated elasticities of demand for fuel efficiency with respect to the price of gasoline, on average, is 0.42. (author). 30 refs., 3 tabs.

  15. Short Term Electric Production Technology Switching Under Carbon Cap and Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donald F. Larson

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This study examines fuel switching in electricity production following the introduction of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS for greenhouse gas emissions. A short-run restricted cost equation is estimated with carbon permits, high-carbon fuels, and low carbon fuels as variable inputs. Shadow values and substitution elasticities for carbon-free energy resources from nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable sources are imputed from the cost equation. The empirical analysis examines 12 European countries using monthly data on fuel use, prices, and electricity generation during the first phase of the European Emissions Trading System. Despite low emission permit prices, this study finds statistically significant substitution between fossil fuels and carbon free sources of energy for electric power production. Significant substitution between fossil fuels and nuclear energy also was found. Still, while 18 of the 20 substitution elasticities are statistically significant, they are all less than unity, consistent with limited substitution. Overall, these results suggest that prices for carbon emission permits relative to prices for carbon and carbon free sources of energy do matter but that electric power producers have limited operational flexibility in the short-run to satisfy greenhouse gas emission limits.

  16. The scattering potential of partial derivative wavefields in 3-D elastic orthorhombic media: an inversion prospective

    KAUST Repository

    Oh, Ju-Won

    2016-07-04

    Multiparameter full waveform inversion (FWI) applied to an elastic orthorhombic model description of the subsurface requires in theory a nine-parameter representation of each pixel of the model. Even with optimal acquisition on the Earth surface that includes large offsets, full azimuth, and multicomponent sensors, the potential for trade-off between the elastic orthorhombic parameters are large. The first step to understanding such trade-off is analysing the scattering potential of each parameter, and specifically, its scattering radiation patterns. We investigate such radiation patterns for diffraction and for scattering from a horizontal reflector considering a background isotropic model. The radiation patterns show considerable potential for trade-off between the parameters and the potentially limited resolution in their recovery. The radiation patterns of C11, C22, and C33 are well separated so that we expect to recover these parameters with limited trade-offs. However, the resolution of their recovery represented by recovered range of model wavenumbers varies between these parameters. We can only invert for the short wavelength components (reflection) of C33 while we can mainly invert for the long wavelength components (transmission) of the elastic coefficients C11 and C22 if we have large enough offsets. The elastic coefficients C13, C23, and C12 suffer from strong trade-offs with C55, C44, and C66, respectively. The trade-offs between C13 and C55, as well as C23 and C44, can be partially mitigated if we acquire P–SV and SV–SV waves. However, to reduce the trade-offs between C12 and C66, we require credible SH–SH waves. The analytical radiation patterns of the elastic constants are supported by numerical gradients of these parameters.

  17. The elasticity of demand for gasoline in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia; Zeng, Jieyin

    2013-01-01

    This paper estimates the price and income elasticities of demand for gasoline in China. Our estimates of the intermediate-run price elasticity of gasoline demand range between −0.497 and −0.196, and our estimates of the intermediate-run income elasticity of gasoline demand range between 1.01 and 1.05. We also extend previous studies to estimate the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) elasticity and obtain a range from −0.882 to −0.579. - highlights: • The price elasticity of demand for gasoline in China is between −0.497 and −0.196. • The income elasticity of demand for gasoline in China is between 1.01 and 1.05. • The price elasticity of demand for VMT in China is between −0.882 and −0.579

  18. Internal strain estimation for quantification of human heel pad elastic modulus: A phantom study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holst, Karen; Liebgott, Hervé; Wilhjelm, Jens E; Nikolov, Svetoslav; Torp-Pedersen, Søren T; Delachartre, Philippe; Jensen, Jørgen A

    2013-02-01

    Shock absorption is the most important function of the human heel pad. However, changes in heel pad elasticity, as seen in e.g. long-distance runners, diabetes patients, and victims of Falanga torture are affecting this function, often in a painful manner. Assessment of heel pad elasticity is usually based on one or a few strain measurements obtained by an external load-deformation system. The aim of this study was to develop a technique for quantitative measurements of heel pad elastic modulus based on several internal strain measures from within the heel pad by use of ultrasound images. Nine heel phantoms were manufactured featuring a combination of three heel pad stiffnesses and three heel pad thicknesses to model the normal human variation. Each phantom was tested in an indentation system comprising a 7MHz linear array ultrasound transducer, working as the indentor, and a connected load cell. Load-compression data and ultrasound B-mode images were simultaneously acquired in 19 compression steps of 0.1mm each. The internal tissue displacement was for each step calculated by a phase-based cross-correlation technique and internal strain maps were derived from these displacement maps. Elastic moduli were found from the resulting stress-strain curves. The elastic moduli made it possible to distinguish eight of nine phantoms from each other according to the manufactured stiffness and showed very little dependence of the thickness. Mean elastic moduli for the three soft, the three medium, and the three hard phantoms were 89kPa, 153kPa, and 168kPa, respectively. The combination of ultrasound images and force measurements provided an effective way of assessing the elastic properties of the heel pad due to the internal strain estimation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Price elasticity of tobacco products among economic classes in India, 2011–2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selvaraj, Sakthivel; Srivastava, Swati; Karan, Anup

    2015-01-01

    Objectives The objectives of this study are to: (1) examine the pattern of price elasticity of three major tobacco products (bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco) by economic groups of population based on household monthly per capita consumption expenditure in India and (2) assess the effect of tax increases on tobacco consumption and revenue across expenditure groups. Setting Data from the 2011–2012 nationally representative Consumer Expenditure Survey from 101 662 Indian households were used. Participants Households which consumed any tobacco or alcohol product were retained in final models. Primary outcome measures The study draws theoretical frameworks from a model using the augmented utility function of consumer behaviour, with a two-stage two-equation system of unit values and budget shares. Primary outcome measures were price elasticity of demand for different tobacco products for three hierarchical economic groups of population and change in tax revenue due to changes in tax structure. We finally estimated price elasticity of demand for bidi, cigarette and leaf tobacco and effects of changes in their tax rates on demand for these tobacco products and tax revenue. Results Own price elasticities for bidi were highest in the poorest group (−0.4328) and lowest in the richest group (−0.0815). Cigarette own price elasticities were −0.832 in the poorest group and −0.2645 in the richest group. Leaf tobacco elasticities were highest in the poorest (−0.557) and middle (−0.4537) groups. Conclusions Poorer group elasticities were the highest, indicating that poorer consumers are more price responsive. Elasticity estimates show positive distributional effects of uniform bidi and cigarette taxation on the poorest consumers, as their consumption is affected the most due to increases in taxation. Leaf tobacco also displayed moderate elasticities in poor and middle tertiles, suggesting that tax increases may result in a trade-off between consumption decline and

  20. GMM Estimator: An Application to Intraindustry Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuno Carlos Leitão

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the determinants of intraindustry trade (IIT, horizontal IIT (HIIT, and Vertical IIT (VIIT in the automobile industry in Portugal. The trade in this sector between Portugal and the European Union (EU-27 was examined, between 1995 and 2008, using a dynamic panel data. We apply the GMM system to solve the problems of serial correlation and the endogeneity of some explanatory variables. The findings are consistent with the literature. The difference between per capita incomes and factor endowments present a positive sign. These results are according to Heckscher-Ohlin predictions. The economic dimension has a positive impact on trade. A negative effect of the distance on bilateral trade was expected and the results confirm this, underlining the importance of neighbour partnerships for all trade.

  1. International trade in services: A scoping study of services trade and estimates of benefits from services trade liberalisation

    OpenAIRE

    Ballingall, John; Stephenson, John

    2005-01-01

    This is a scoping study. It summarises the dynamics of services trade in the world economy and discusses some of the benefits of services trade liberalisation from a qualitative and quantitative view point. We place particular emphasis on the role and interests of developing and least developed countries in world services trade. The study also provides an overview of services trade in the New Zealand economy, and, in places, highlights aspects of services trade where New Zealand’s interests m...

  2. Estimation of fracture parameters using elastic full-waveform inversion

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Zhendong

    2017-08-17

    Current methodologies to characterize fractures at the reservoir scale have serious limitations in spatial resolution and suffer from uncertainties in the inverted parameters. Here, we propose to estimate the spatial distribution and physical properties of fractures using full-waveform inversion (FWI) of multicomponent surface seismic data. An effective orthorhombic medium with five clusters of vertical fractures distributed in a checkboard fashion is used to test the algorithm. A shape regularization term is added to the objective function to improve the estimation of the fracture azimuth, which is otherwise poorly constrained. The cracks are assumed to be penny-shaped to reduce the nonuniqueness in the inverted fracture weaknesses and achieve a faster convergence. To better understand the inversion results, we analyze the radiation patterns induced by the perturbations in the fracture weaknesses and orientation. Due to the high-resolution potential of elastic FWI, the developed algorithm can recover the spatial fracture distribution and identify localized “sweet spots” of intense fracturing. However, the fracture azimuth can be resolved only using long-offset data.

  3. Estimating the price elasticity of expenditure for prescription drugs in the presence of non-linear price schedules: an illustration from Quebec, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Contoyannis, Paul; Hurley, Jeremiah; Grootendorst, Paul; Jeon, Sung-Hee; Tamblyn, Robyn

    2005-09-01

    The price elasticity of demand for prescription drugs is a crucial parameter of interest in designing pharmaceutical benefit plans. Estimating the elasticity using micro-data, however, is challenging because insurance coverage that includes deductibles, co-insurance provisions and maximum expenditure limits create a non-linear price schedule, making price endogenous (a function of drug consumption). In this paper we exploit an exogenous change in cost-sharing within the Quebec (Canada) public Pharmacare program to estimate the price elasticity of expenditure for drugs using IV methods. This approach corrects for the endogeneity of price and incorporates the concept of a 'rational' consumer who factors into consumption decisions the price they expect to face at the margin given their expected needs. The IV method is adapted from an approach developed in the public finance literature used to estimate income responses to changes in tax schedules. The instrument is based on the price an individual would face under the new cost-sharing policy if their consumption remained at the pre-policy level. Our preferred specification leads to expenditure elasticities that are in the low range of previous estimates (between -0.12 and -0.16). Naïve OLS estimates are between 1 and 4 times these magnitudes. (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Income Elasticity of Environmental Amenities

    OpenAIRE

    Daniel Miles; Andrés Pereyra; Máximo Rossi

    2000-01-01

    In this paper we are concerned with the estimation of income elasticities of environmental amenities. The novelty is the application of econometric methods that take into account the problem of measurement errors when estimating these elasticities, which are common in microeconomic data and are not usually considered in the applied literature related with this issue. Our aim is to discuss whether the measurement error has signi…cant e¤ects on the elasticities. Data from the Expenditure Budget...

  5. A Spatial-Filtering Zero-Inflated Approach to the Estimation of the Gravity Model of Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodolfo Metulini

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Nonlinear estimation of the gravity model with Poisson-type regression methods has become popular for modelling international trade flows, because it permits a better accounting for zero flows and extreme values in the distribution tail. Nevertheless, as trade flows are not independent from each other due to spatial and network autocorrelation, these methods may lead to biased parameter estimates. To overcome this problem, eigenvector spatial filtering (ESF variants of the Poisson/negative binomial specifications have been proposed in the literature on gravity modelling of trade. However, no specific treatment has been developed for cases in which many zero flows are present. This paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, by employing a stepwise selection criterion for spatial filters that is based on robust (sandwich p-values and does not require likelihood-based indicators. In this respect, we develop an ad hoc backward stepwise function in R. Second, using this function, we select a reduced set of spatial filters that properly accounts for importer-side and exporter-side specific spatial effects, as well as network effects, both at the count and the logit processes of zero-inflated methods. Applying this estimation strategy to a cross-section of bilateral trade flows between a set of 64 countries for the year 2000, we find that our specification outperforms the benchmark models in terms of model fitting, both considering the AIC and in predicting zero (and small flows.

  6. A rational approach to estimating the surgical demand elasticity needed to guide manpower reallocation during contagious outbreaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsao, Hsiao-Mei; Sun, Ying-Chou; Liou, Der-Ming

    2015-01-01

    Emerging infectious diseases continue to pose serious threats to global public health. So far, however, few published study has addressed the need for manpower reallocation needed in hospitals when such a serious contagious outbreak occurs. To quantify the demand elasticity of the major surgery types in order to guide future manpower reallocation during contagious outbreaks. Based on a nationwide research database in Taiwan, we extracted the monthly volumes of major surgery types for the period 1998-2003, which covered the SARS period, in order to carry out a time series analysis. The demand elasticity of each surgery type was then estimated by autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) analysis. During the study period, the surgical volumes of most selected surgery types either increased or remained steady. We categorized these surgery types into low-, moderate- and high-elastic groups according to their demand elasticity. Appendectomy, 'open reduction of fracture with internal fixation' and 'free skin graft' were in the low demand elasticity group. Transurethral prostatectomy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) were in the high demand elasticity group. The manpower of the departments carrying out the surgeries with low demand elasticity should be maintained during outbreaks. In contrast, departments in charge of surgeries mainly with high demand elasticity, like urology departments, may be in a position to have part of their staff reallocated. Taking advantage of the demand variation during the SARS period in 2003, we adopted the concept of demand elasticity and used a time series approach to figure out an effective index of demand elasticity for various types of surgery that could be used as a rational reference to carry out manpower reallocation during contagious outbreak situations.

  7. Estimating price elasticities when there is smuggling: the sensitivity of smoking to price in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Jonathan; Sen, Anindya; Stabile, Mark

    2003-09-01

    A central parameter for evaluating tax policies is the price elasticity of demand for cigarettes. But in many countries this parameter is difficult to estimate reliably due to widespread smuggling, which significantly biases estimates using legal sales data. An excellent example is Canada, where widespread smuggling in the early 1990s, in response to large tax increases, biases upwards the response of legal cigarette sales to price. We surmount this problem through two approaches: excluding the provinces and years where smuggling was greatest; and using household level expenditure data on smoking. These two approaches yield a tightly estimated elasticity in the range of -0.45 to -0.47. We also show that the sensitivity of smoking to price is much larger among lower income Canadians. In the context of recent behavioral models of smoking, whereby higher taxes reduce unwanted smoking among price sensitive populations, this finding suggests that cigarette taxes may not be as regressive as previously suggested. Finally, we show that price increases on cigarettes do not increase, and may actually decrease, consumption of alcohol; as a result, smuggling of cigarettes may have raised consumption of alcohol as well.

  8. Swedish industry and Kyoto - An assessment of the effects of the European CO2 emission trading system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braennlund, Runar; Lundgren, Tommy

    2007-01-01

    We assess the effects on Swedish industry input demands and output of different climate policy scenarios connected to energy policy induced by the Kyoto protocol. We use a unique dataset containing firm-level data on outputs and inputs between 1991 and 2001 to estimate a factor demand model, which we use to simulate different policy scenarios. Sector-specific estimation suggests that the proposed quadratic profit function specification exhibits properties and robustness that are consistent with economic theory; that is, all own-price elasticities are negative and all output elasticities are positive. Furthermore, the elasticities show that the input demands are, in most cases, relatively inelastic. Simulation of the model for six different policy scenarios reveal that effects on the Swedish base industry of a EU-level permit-trading system depends on (i) the removal or maintenance of the current CO 2 tax, (ii) the price of permits, and (iii) the future price of electricity. Our analysis shows that changes in electricity price may be more important than the price of permits for some sectors. (author)

  9. Elasticity in Elastics-An in-vitro study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamisetty, Supradeep Kumar; Nimagadda, Chakrapani; Begam, Madhoom Ponnachi; Nalamotu, Raghuveer; Srivastav, Trilok; Gs, Shwetha

    2014-04-01

    Orthodontic tooth movement results from application of forces to teeth. Elastics in orthodontics have been used both intra-orally and extra- orally to a great effect. Their use, combined with good patient co-operation provides the clinician with the ability to correct both anteroposterior and vertical discrepancies. Force decay over a period of time is a major problem in the clinical usage of latex elastics and synthetic elastomers. This loss of force makes it difficult for the clinician to determine the actual force transmitted to the dentition. It's the intent of the clinician to maintain optimal force values over desired period of time. The majority of the orthodontic elastics on the market are latex elastics. Since the early 1990s, synthetic products have been offered in the market for latex-sensitive patients and are sold as nonlatex elastics. There is limited information on the risk that latex elastics may pose to patients. Some have estimated that 0.12-6% of the general population and 6.2% of dental professionals have hypersensitivity to latex protein. There are some reported cases of adverse reactions to latex in the orthodontic population but these are very limited to date. Although the risk is not yet clear, it would still be inadvisable to prescribe latex elastics to a patient with a known latex allergy. To compare the in-vitro performance of latex and non latex elastics. Samples of 0.25 inch, latex and non latex elastics (light, medium, heavy elastics) were obtained from three manufacturers (Forestadent, GAC, Glenroe) and a sample size of ten elastics per group was tested. The properties tested included cross sectional area, internal diameter, initial force generated by the elastics, breaking force and the force relaxation for the different types of elastics. Force relaxation testing involved stretching the elastics to three times marketed internal diameter (19.05 mm) and measuring force level at intervals over a period of 48 hours. The data were

  10. Estimates of price and income elasticity in Greece. Greek debt crisis transforming cigarettes into a luxury good: an econometric approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarantilis, Filippos; Athanasakis, Kostas; Zavras, Dimitris; Vozikis, Athanassios; Kyriopoulos, Ioannis

    2015-01-01

    Objective During the past decades, smoking prevalence in Greece was estimated to be near or over 40%. Following a sharp fall in cigarette consumption, as shown in current data, our objective is to assess smokers’ sensitivity to cigarette price and consumer income changes as well as to project health benefits of an additional tax increase. Methods Cigarette consumption was considered as the dependent variable, with Weighted Average Price as a proxy for cigarette price, gross domestic product as a proxy for consumers’ income and dummy variables reflecting smoking restrictions and antismoking campaigns. Values were computed to natural logarithms and regression was performed. Then, four scenarios of tax increase were distinguished in order to calculate potential health benefits. Results Short-run price elasticity is estimated at −0.441 and short-run income elasticity is estimated at 1.040. Antismoking campaigns were found to have a statistically significant impact on consumption. Results indicate that, depending on the level of tax increase, annual per capita consumption could fall by at least 209.83 cigarettes; tax revenue could rise by more than €0.74 billion, while smokers could be reduced by up to 530 568 and at least 465 smoking-related deaths could be averted. Conclusions Price elasticity estimates are similar to previous studies in Greece, while income elasticity estimates are far greater. With cigarettes regarded as a luxury good, a great opportunity is presented for decisionmakers to counter smoking. Increased taxation, along with focused antismoking campaigns, law reinforcement (to ensure compliance with smoking bans) and intensive control for smuggling could invoke a massive blow to the tobacco epidemic in Greece. PMID:25564137

  11. Cointegration analysis on trading behavior in four SELECTED asean countries BEFORE MONETARY CRISIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Budi Prawoto

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to analyze Indonesian position among the trading behavior in four selected ASEAN countries (according to their import-and-export products using cointegration analysis. The demands for export and import are estimated before the monetary crisis erupted (1963 – 1995 using the dynamic OLS (DOLS method. The Johansen Maximum Likelihood (JML approach is also employed to compare the results obtained. The results show that foreign income has a significant impact on export demand, suggesting that foreign disturbance in the form of economic activities is likely to be transmitted to these countries. The Marshall Lerner conditions are easily met for the cases of Malaysia and Thailand (DOLS and JML. For Indonesia and the Philippines, the sum of the price elasticities of export and import demand are less than unity. This can be explained by the J-curve, in which the currency depreciations will first worsen the trade balance before it improves, and it takes a long time to affect the trade balance.

  12. Foreign trade elasticities in centre-periphery models of growth and development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Philip Thirlwall

    1983-09-01

    Full Text Available The Author looks at the difference in growth rates among countries and argues that they can be traced to the strength of the balance of payments position, determined largely by the propensity to export relative to the propensity to import. Relative growth performance, thus, can be understood by looking to income elasticities of demand for exports and imports. This insight into the process of income determination in open economies, found in Harrod as well as in the literature on economic development, is developed through so-called centre-periphery models of growth and development. However, their essential conclusions were already contained in the early classic papers. The author concentrates on three of them (prebisch, seers, kaldor to argue that a country’s growth rate relative to another’s can be approximated by the ratio of its income elasticity of demand for exports to its income elasticity of demand for imports.

  13. Swedish Industry and Kyoto. An Assessment of the Effects of the European CO2 Emission Permit Trading System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braennlund, Runar; Lundgren, Tommy

    2005-01-01

    We assess the effects on Swedish industry input and output demands of different climate policy scenarios connected to energy policy induced by the Kyoto protocol. A unique data set containing firm level data on outputs and inputs during the years 1991-2001 is used to estimate a factor demand model, which is then simulated for different policy scenarios. Sector specific estimation suggests that the proposed quadratic profit function specification exhibit properties and robustness that are consistent with economic theory; that is, all own-price elasticities are negative and all output elasticities are positive. Furthermore, the elasticities show that the input demands are, in most cases, relatively inelastic. Simulation of the model for 6 different policy scenarios reveal that the effects on Swedish base industry of a EU level permit trade system is dependent on (i) removal or no removal of current CO 2 tax, (ii) the established price of permits, and (iii) what will happen to the electricity price. Our analysis show that changes in electricity price may be more important than the price of permits for some sectors

  14. Brazilian sawn wood price and income elasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rommel Noce

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This study estimated the sawn wood demand price and income elasticity. Specifically it was estimated the priceelasticity of sawn wood, the cross price elasticity of wood panels and the income elasticity of Brazilian GDP. A log-log model withcorrection through outline of the mobile average (MA(1 was used, adjusted for the period of 1971 to 2006, which showed to bestable, with satisfactory significance levels. It was observed that sawn wood demand is inelastic in relation to price and elastic inrelation to income.

  15. Estimating Price Elasticity of Demand for Motor Fuel in the Transport Sectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Vasilyevna Mazurova

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Modeling of long-term forecasts of prices and demand on regional energy markets requires accounting for the future changes in the interactions between the greater economy and its energy sector, along with the possible emergence of new factors and specific regional features determining those interactions. The proposed approach allows the study of a correlation between demand and prices for motor fuel, taking into account the competition of energy carriers, the dynamics of energy prices, resource constraints, the use of new technologies and the uncertainty of input data. The main feature of the proposed approach is the combined estimation of the price elasticity of demand for motor fuel with optimization of fuel supply in the region. Thus the author determined elasticity of demand based on the comparison of economic efficiency of the use of different fuels. The study includes results of experimental calculations and forecasted price according to demand for motor fuel in freight transportation for the expected development conditions of the Far Eastern federal district

  16. Estimates of price and income elasticity in Greece. Greek debt crisis transforming cigarettes into a luxury good: an econometric approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarantilis, Filippos; Athanasakis, Kostas; Zavras, Dimitris; Vozikis, Athanassios; Kyriopoulos, Ioannis

    2015-01-05

    During the past decades, smoking prevalence in Greece was estimated to be near or over 40%. Following a sharp fall in cigarette consumption, as shown in current data, our objective is to assess smokers' sensitivity to cigarette price and consumer income changes as well as to project health benefits of an additional tax increase. Cigarette consumption was considered as the dependent variable, with Weighted Average Price as a proxy for cigarette price, gross domestic product as a proxy for consumers' income and dummy variables reflecting smoking restrictions and antismoking campaigns. Values were computed to natural logarithms and regression was performed. Then, four scenarios of tax increase were distinguished in order to calculate potential health benefits. Short-run price elasticity is estimated at -0.441 and short-run income elasticity is estimated at 1.040. Antismoking campaigns were found to have a statistically significant impact on consumption. Results indicate that, depending on the level of tax increase, annual per capita consumption could fall by at least 209.83 cigarettes; tax revenue could rise by more than €0.74 billion, while smokers could be reduced by up to 530 568 and at least 465 smoking-related deaths could be averted. Price elasticity estimates are similar to previous studies in Greece, while income elasticity estimates are far greater. With cigarettes regarded as a luxury good, a great opportunity is presented for decisionmakers to counter smoking. Increased taxation, along with focused antismoking campaigns, law reinforcement (to ensure compliance with smoking bans) and intensive control for smuggling could invoke a massive blow to the tobacco epidemic in Greece. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  17. Facies Constrained Elastic Full Waveform Inversion

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Z.

    2017-05-26

    Current efforts to utilize full waveform inversion (FWI) as a tool beyond acoustic imaging applications, for example for reservoir analysis, face inherent limitations on resolution and also on the potential trade-off between elastic model parameters. Adding rock physics constraints does help to mitigate these issues. However, current approaches to add such constraints are based on averaged type rock physics regularization terms. Since the true earth model consists of different facies, averaging over those facies naturally leads to smoothed models. To overcome this, we propose a novel way to utilize facies based constraints in elastic FWI. A so-called confidence map is calculated and updated at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and the prior information. The numerical example shows that the proposed method can reduce the cross-talks and also can improve the resolution of inverted elastic properties.

  18. Facies Constrained Elastic Full Waveform Inversion

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Z.; Zabihi Naeini, E.; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2017-01-01

    Current efforts to utilize full waveform inversion (FWI) as a tool beyond acoustic imaging applications, for example for reservoir analysis, face inherent limitations on resolution and also on the potential trade-off between elastic model parameters. Adding rock physics constraints does help to mitigate these issues. However, current approaches to add such constraints are based on averaged type rock physics regularization terms. Since the true earth model consists of different facies, averaging over those facies naturally leads to smoothed models. To overcome this, we propose a novel way to utilize facies based constraints in elastic FWI. A so-called confidence map is calculated and updated at each iteration of the inversion using both the inverted models and the prior information. The numerical example shows that the proposed method can reduce the cross-talks and also can improve the resolution of inverted elastic properties.

  19. Estimating the effects of China's Accession to the World Trade Organisation

    OpenAIRE

    Yin Hua Mai; Mark Horridge; Frances Perkins

    2003-01-01

    Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) marks a new era in China's economic reform. In this new era, state capital will lose its dominance of pillar industries such as iron and steel, automobile, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metal, insurance, telecommunication, banking, wholesale, and utilities. This study uses a computable general equilibrium model of China to estimate the economic benefits from China opening its pillar industries to private foreign and domestic capital. The study ant...

  20. Growth-induced axial buckling of a slender elastic filament embedded in an isotropic elastic matrix

    KAUST Repository

    O'Keeffe, Stephen G.

    2013-11-01

    We investigate the problem of an axially loaded, isotropic, slender cylinder embedded in a soft, isotropic, outer elastic matrix. The cylinder undergoes uniform axial growth, whilst both the cylinder and the surrounding elastic matrix are confined between two rigid plates, so that this growth results in axial compression of the cylinder. We use two different modelling approaches to estimate the critical axial growth (that is, the amount of axial growth the cylinder is able to sustain before it buckles) and buckling wavelength of the cylinder. The first approach treats the filament and surrounding matrix as a single 3-dimensional elastic body undergoing large deformations, whilst the second approach treats the filament as a planar, elastic rod embedded in an infinite elastic foundation. By comparing the results of these two approaches, we obtain an estimate of the foundation modulus parameter, which characterises the strength of the foundation, in terms of the geometric and material properties of the system. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. International Trade, Pollution Accumulation and Sustainable Growth: A VAR Estimation from the Pearl River Delta Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Hui; Tian, Lu

    2018-03-01

    In order to investigate international trade influence in the regional environment. This paper constructs a vector auto-regression (VAR) model and estimates the equations with the environment and trade data of the Pearl River Delta Region. The major mechanisms to the lag are discussed and the fit simulation of the environmental change by the international impulse is given. The result shows that impulse of pollution-intensive export deteriorates the environment continuously and impulse of such import improves it. These effects on the environment are insignificantly correlated with contemporary regional income but significantly correlative to early-stage trade feature. To a typical trade-dependent economy, both export and import have hysteresis influence in the regional environment. The lagged impulse will change environmental development in the turning point, maximal pollution level and convergence.

  2. Contrasting academic and tobacco industry estimates of illicit cigarette trade: evidence from Warsaw, Poland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoklosa, Michal; Ross, Hana

    2014-05-01

    To compare two different methods for estimating the size of the illicit cigarette market with each other and to contrast the estimates obtained by these two methods with the results of an industry-commissioned study. We used two observational methods: collection of data from packs in smokers' personal possession, and collection of data from packs discarded on streets. The data were obtained in Warsaw, Poland in September 2011 and October 2011. We used tests of independence to compare the results based on the two methods, and to contrast those with the estimate from the industry-commissioned discarded pack collection conducted in September 2011. We found that the proportions of cigarette packs classified as not intended for the Polish market estimated by our two methods were not statistically different. These estimates were 14.6% (95% CI 10.8% to 19.4%) using the survey data (N=400) and 15.6% (95% CI 13.2% to 18.4%) using the discarded pack data (N=754). The industry estimate (22.9%) was higher by nearly a half compared with our estimates, and this difference is statistically significant. Our findings are consistent with previous evidence of the tobacco industry exaggerating the scope of illicit trade and with the general pattern of the industry manipulating evidence to mislead the debate on tobacco control policy in many countries. Collaboration between governments and the tobacco industry to estimate tobacco tax avoidance and evasion is likely to produce upward-biased estimates of illicit cigarette trade. If governments are presented with industry estimates, they should strictly require a disclosure of all methodological details and data used in generating these estimates, and should seek advice from independent experts. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  3. Adaptive order search and tangent-weighted trade-off for motion estimation in H.264

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Srinivas Bachu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Motion estimation and compensation play a major role in video compression to reduce the temporal redundancies of the input videos. A variety of block search patterns have been developed for matching the blocks with reduced computational complexity, without affecting the visual quality. In this paper, block motion estimation is achieved through integrating the square as well as the hexagonal search patterns with adaptive order. The proposed algorithm is called, AOSH (Adaptive Order Square Hexagonal Search algorithm, and it finds the best matching block with a reduced number of search points. The searching function is formulated as a trade-off criterion here. Hence, the tangent-weighted function is newly developed to evaluate the matching point. The proposed AOSH search algorithm and the tangent-weighted trade-off criterion are effectively applied to the block estimation process to enhance the visual quality and the compression performance. The proposed method is validated using three videos namely, football, garden and tennis. The quantitative performance of the proposed method and the existing methods is analysed using the Structural SImilarity Index (SSIM and the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR. The results prove that the proposed method offers good visual quality than the existing methods. Keywords: Block motion estimation, Square search, Hexagon search, H.264, Video coding

  4. The scattering potential of partial derivative wavefields in 3-D elastic orthorhombic media: an inversion prospective

    KAUST Repository

    Oh, Juwon; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2016-01-01

    that includes large offsets, full azimuth, and multicomponent sensors, the potential for trade-off between the elastic orthorhombic parameters are large. The first step to understanding such trade-off is analysing the scattering potential of each parameter

  5. The effects of competing trade regimes on bilateral trade flows: case of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Predrag Bjelić

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of competing trade regimes on Serbian trade with its most significant (traditional partners, like European Union and CEFTA 2006 signatories, and other untraditional trade partners with favourable trade regime, like the USA. To this end, gravity model with bilateral and time effects is estimated by Hausman-Taylor AR(1 instrumental variable estimator, using panel data on bilateral trade between Serbia and its main trade partners during the period 2001-2010. The results indicate that overall level of development and difference in factor endowments stimulate Serbia’s exports, which is in accordance with theoretical foundation that inter-industry trade is predominant in exports of less developed countries. Moreover, competing trade regimes appear as important determinant of Serbia’s trade relations, whereas additional liberalization of trade regime with the USA as untraditional trade partner, even asymmetrical to Serbia’s favour, cannot divert trade flows from traditional partners in the long-run. This could mean that distance plays more prominent role in bilateral trade than the degree of liberalization of trade regimes in case of Serbia. The result could be due to the contemporaneous effects of trade preferences granted to Serbia by the EU and other CEFTA 2006 signatories, main trading partners of Serbia.

  6. Synthesizing Econometric Evidence: The Case of Demand Elasticity Estimates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCicca, Philip; Kenkel, Don

    2015-06-01

    Econometric estimates of the responsiveness of health-related consumer demand to higher prices are often key ingredients for risk policy analysis. We review the potential advantages and challenges of synthesizing econometric evidence on the price-responsiveness of consumer demand. We draw on examples of research on consumer demand for health-related goods, especially cigarettes. We argue that the overarching goal of research synthesis in this context is to provide policy-relevant evidence for broad-brush conclusions. We propose three main criteria to select among research synthesis methods. We discuss how in principle and in current practice synthesis of research on the price-elasticity of smoking meets our proposed criteria. Our analysis of current practice also contributes to academic research on the specific policy question of the effectiveness of higher cigarette prices to reduce smoking. Although we point out challenges and limitations, we believe more work on research synthesis in this area will be productive and important. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  7. Dampak Bea Keluar Kakao Indonesia terhadap Country Market Power di Pasar Biji Kakao Amerika Serikat dan Terms of Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ari Harsanti

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available As the world’s third-largest cocoa beans producer, Indonesia is expected to have a comparative advantage and to become cocoa beans price reference. This research investigates market power of Indonesia cocoa beans export for the United State market as an impact of an export tax. Five cocoa beans exporting countries namely Cote d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ghana, Dominica Rep and Nigeria are calculated their market power as Indonesia’s competitors by estimating residual demand elasticity with two stage least square method. The results show that Indonesia’s market power suffered after imposing the export tax. Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana get advantages from this export restriction. The effect of export tax on welfare is analyzed by calculating terms of trade. The gain from cocoa beans trade depicts a declining terms of trade for dealing with the international cocoa beans market.

  8. The implications of selective attrition for estimates of intergenerational elasticity of family income.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoeni, Robert F; Wiemers, Emily E

    2015-09-01

    Numerous studies have estimated a high intergenerational correlation in economic status. Such studies do not typically attend to potential biases that may arise due to survey attrition. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics - the data source most commonly used in prior studies - we demonstrate that attrition is particularly high for low-income adult children with low-income parents and particularly low for high-income adult children with high-income parents. Because of this pattern of attrition, intergenerational upward mobility has been overstated for low-income families and downward mobility has been understated for high-income families. The bias among low-income families is greater than the bias among high-income families implying that intergenerational elasticity in family income is higher than previous estimates with the Panel Study of Income Dynamics would suggest.

  9. Parallel trade, pharmaceutical innovation, and intellectual property rights

    OpenAIRE

    Tabata, Ken; Shinkai, Tetsuya; Tanaka, Satoru; Okamura, Makoto

    2005-01-01

    This paper examines how the parallel trade influences the pharmaceutical innovation and welfare. We consider the case where one monopolist in the home potentially sells in the both domestic and foreign markets with different price elasticities of demand. As relevant in the pharmaceutical context, the price of a good sold in the foreign country is determined by the negotiation between the firm and the foreign government. When the parallel trade is allowed, this negotiated foreign price also be...

  10. Ultrasound estimation and FE analysis of elastic modulus of Kelvin foam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Nohyu; Yang, Seung Yong

    2016-01-01

    The elastic modulus of a 3D-printed Kelvin foam plate is investigated by measuring the acoustic wave velocity of 1 MHz ultrasound. An isotropic tetrakaidecahedron foam with 3 mm unit cell is designed and printed layer upon layer to fabricate a Kelvin foam plate of 14 mm thickness with a 3D CAD/printer using ABS plastic. The Kelvin foam plate is completely filled with paraffin wax for impedance matching, so that the acoustic wave may propagate through the porous foam plate. The acoustic wave velocity of the foam plate is measured using the time-of-flight (TOF) method and is used to calculate the elastic modulus of the Kelvin foam plate based on acousto-elasticity. Finite element method (FEM) and micromechanics is applied to the Kelvin foam plate to calculate the theoretical elastic modulus using a non-isotropic tetrakaidecahedron model. The predicted elastic modulus of the Kelvin foam plate from FEM and micromechanics model is similar, which is only 3-4% of the bulk material. The experimental value of the elastic modulus from the ultrasonic method is approximately twice as that of the numerical and theoretical methods because of the flexural deformation of the cell edges neglected in the ultrasonic method

  11. Ultrasound estimation and FE analysis of elastic modulus of Kelvin foam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Nohyu; Yang, Seung Yong [School of Mechatronics Engineering, Korea University of Technology and Education, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-02-15

    The elastic modulus of a 3D-printed Kelvin foam plate is investigated by measuring the acoustic wave velocity of 1 MHz ultrasound. An isotropic tetrakaidecahedron foam with 3 mm unit cell is designed and printed layer upon layer to fabricate a Kelvin foam plate of 14 mm thickness with a 3D CAD/printer using ABS plastic. The Kelvin foam plate is completely filled with paraffin wax for impedance matching, so that the acoustic wave may propagate through the porous foam plate. The acoustic wave velocity of the foam plate is measured using the time-of-flight (TOF) method and is used to calculate the elastic modulus of the Kelvin foam plate based on acousto-elasticity. Finite element method (FEM) and micromechanics is applied to the Kelvin foam plate to calculate the theoretical elastic modulus using a non-isotropic tetrakaidecahedron model. The predicted elastic modulus of the Kelvin foam plate from FEM and micromechanics model is similar, which is only 3-4% of the bulk material. The experimental value of the elastic modulus from the ultrasonic method is approximately twice as that of the numerical and theoretical methods because of the flexural deformation of the cell edges neglected in the ultrasonic method.

  12. Multi-stage full waveform inversion strategy for 2D elastic VTI media

    KAUST Repository

    Oh, Juwon

    2015-08-19

    One of the most important issues in the multi-parametric full waveform inversion (FWI) is to find an optimal parameterization, which helps us recover the subsurface anisotropic parameters as well as seismic velocities, with minimal tradeoff. As a result, we analyze three different parameterizations for elastic VTI media in terms of the influence of the S-waves on the gradient direction for c13, the spatial coverage of gradient direction and the degree of trade-offs between the parameters. Based on the dependency results, we design a multi-stage elastic VTI FWI strategy to enhance both the spatial coverage of the FWI and the robustness to the trade-offs among the parameters as well as FWI for the c13 structure.

  13. Shear Elasticity and Shear Viscosity Imaging in Soft Tissue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yiqun

    In this thesis, a new approach is introduced that provides estimates of shear elasticity and shear viscosity using time-domain measurements of shear waves in viscoelastic media. Simulations of shear wave particle displacements induced by an acoustic radiation force are accelerated significantly by a GPU. The acoustic radiation force is first calculated using the fast near field method (FNM) and the angular spectrum approach (ASA). The shear waves induced by the acoustic radiation force are then simulated in elastic and viscoelastic media using Green's functions. A parallel algorithm is developed to perform these calculations on a GPU, where the shear wave particle displacements at different observation points are calculated in parallel. The resulting speed increase enables rapid evaluation of shear waves at discrete points, in 2D planes, and for push beams with different spatial samplings and for different values of the f-number (f/#). The results of these simulations show that push beams with smaller f/# require a higher spatial sampling rate. The significant amount of acceleration achieved by this approach suggests that shear wave simulations with the Green's function approach are ideally suited for high-performance GPUs. Shear wave elasticity imaging determines the mechanical parameters of soft tissue by analyzing measured shear waves induced by an acoustic radiation force. To estimate the shear elasticity value, the widely used time-of-flight method calculates the correlation between shear wave particle velocities at adjacent lateral observation points. Although this method provides accurate estimates of the shear elasticity in purely elastic media, our experience suggests that the time-of-flight (TOF) method consistently overestimates the shear elasticity values in viscoelastic media because the combined effects of diffraction, attenuation, and dispersion are not considered. To address this problem, we have developed an approach that directly accounts for all

  14. In vivo areal modulus of elasticity estimation of the human tympanic membrane system: modelling of middle ear mechanical function in normal young and aged ears

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gaihede, Michael Lyhne; Donghua, Liao; Gregersen, H.

    2007-01-01

    The quasi-static elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system can be described by the areal modulus of elasticity determined by a middle ear model. The response of the tympanic membrane to quasi-static pressure changes is determined by its elastic properties. Several clinical problems are r...... finite element analyses. In vivo estimates of Young's modulus in this study were a factor 2-3 smaller than previously found in vitro. No significant age-related differences were found in the elastic properties as expressed by the areal modulus....

  15. Health care demand elasticities by type of service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Randall P; Martins, Bruno; Zhu, Wenjia

    2017-09-01

    We estimate within-year price elasticities of demand for detailed health care services using an instrumental variable strategy, in which individual monthly cost shares are instrumented by employer-year-plan-month average cost shares. A specification using backward myopic prices gives more plausible and stable results than using forward myopic prices. Using 171 million person-months spanning 73 employers from 2008 to 2014, we estimate that the overall demand elasticity by backward myopic consumers is -0.44, with higher elasticities of demand for pharmaceuticals (-0.44), specialists visits (-0.32), MRIs (-0.29) and mental health/substance abuse (-0.26), and lower elasticities for prevention visits (-0.02) and emergency rooms (-0.04). Demand response is lower for children, in larger firms, among hourly waged employees, and for sicker people. Overall the method appears promising for estimating elasticities for highly disaggregated services although the approach does not work well on services that are very expensive or persistent. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. A Reevaluation of Price Elasticities for Irrigation Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howitt, Richard E.; Watson, William D.; Adams, Richard M.

    1980-08-01

    The effectiveness of pricing systems in the allocation of irrigation water is linked with the price elasticity of demand of farmers for water. Using microeconomic theory, it is shown that omission of the elasticity of demand for the crop produced leads to an inelastic bias in the demand for irrigated water. Linear programing approaches omit the product elasticity of demand and are consequently biased, whereas quadratic programing approaches to estimating derived demands for irrigation water include product demand functions. The difference between the resulting estimates are empirically demonstrated for regional derived demand functions estimated from a model of California's agricultural industry.

  17. Price and Income Elasticities of Russian Exports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernardina Algieri

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper gauges export demand elasticities for Russia using an Error Correction technique within a cointegration framework. An extended version of the Imperfect Substitutes Model has been implemented to estimate the sensitivity of Russian exports without oil components to price and to Russian and world income. Our results suggest a robust and negative long run cointegration relationship between the real effective exchange rate, defined as the weighted average of the rouble’s exchange rates versus a basket of the three currencies with the largest share in the trade turnover adjusted to incorporate inflation rate differences (the ratio of the domestic price indices to the foreign price indices, and Russian exports. An increase in exports by 24% is caused by a real depreciation by 10%. Furthermore, a 10% growth in world income leads to a 33% rise in exports. Finally, exports drop by 14% whenever a 10% increase in domestic income occurs

  18. Relationship between the Uncompensated Price Elasticity and the Income Elasticity of Demand under Conditions of Additive Preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabatelli, Lorenzo

    2016-01-01

    Income and price elasticity of demand quantify the responsiveness of markets to changes in income and in prices, respectively. Under the assumptions of utility maximization and preference independence (additive preferences), mathematical relationships between income elasticity values and the uncompensated own and cross price elasticity of demand are here derived using the differential approach to demand analysis. Key parameters are: the elasticity of the marginal utility of income, and the average budget share. The proposed method can be used to forecast the direct and indirect impact of price changes and of financial instruments of policy using available estimates of the income elasticity of demand.

  19. Cheaper by the Dozen: Using Sibling Discounts at Catholic Schools to Estimate the Price Elasticity of Private School Attendance. NBER Working Paper No. 15461

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dynarski, Susan; Gruber, Jonathan; Li, Danielle

    2009-01-01

    The effect of vouchers on sorting between private and public schools depends upon the price elasticity of demand for private schooling. Estimating this elasticity is empirically challenging because prices and quantities are jointly determined in the market for private schooling. We exploit a unique and previously undocumented source of variation…

  20. Mathematical methods in elasticity imaging

    CERN Document Server

    Ammari, Habib; Garnier, Josselin; Kang, Hyeonbae; Lee, Hyundae; Wahab, Abdul

    2015-01-01

    This book is the first to comprehensively explore elasticity imaging and examines recent, important developments in asymptotic imaging, modeling, and analysis of deterministic and stochastic elastic wave propagation phenomena. It derives the best possible functional images for small inclusions and cracks within the context of stability and resolution, and introduces a topological derivative-based imaging framework for detecting elastic inclusions in the time-harmonic regime. For imaging extended elastic inclusions, accurate optimal control methodologies are designed and the effects of uncertainties of the geometric or physical parameters on stability and resolution properties are evaluated. In particular, the book shows how localized damage to a mechanical structure affects its dynamic characteristics, and how measured eigenparameters are linked to elastic inclusion or crack location, orientation, and size. Demonstrating a novel method for identifying, locating, and estimating inclusions and cracks in elastic...

  1. The law of elasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Cesare Masin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Participants estimated the imagined elongation of a spring while they were imagining that a load was stretching the spring. This elongation turned out to be a multiplicative function of spring length and load weight-a cognitive law analogous to Hooke¿s law of elasticity. Participants also estimated the total imagined elongation of springs joined either in series or in parallel. This total elongation was longer for serial than for parallel springs, and increased proportionally to the number of serial springs and inversely proportionally to the number of parallel springs. The results suggest that participants integrated load weight with imagined elasticity rather than with spring length.

  2. Quasi-experimental taxation elasticities of US gasoline demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goel, R.K.

    1994-01-01

    Taxation elasticities provide inputs in public policy aimed at raising revenues. Using the quasi-experimental method, this paper calculates gasoline taxation elasticities for the USA over 1952-86. The medium (mean) elasticity over this period is found to be -0.075 (-0.122). However, the elasticity following the oil shock of 1973 is found to be statistically different from the pre-shock elasticity. Reasons for this change in elasticity are discussed. The implication of this analysis is that tax policies based on price elasticities, rather than on tax elasticities, might be using an inappropriate elasticity estimate and consequently misinterpreting the government's ability to raise tax revenues. (author)

  3. The Role of Exchange Rates in Korea’s Commodity Trade with China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gab-Je Jo

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I investigate the link between Korea's trade balance and the exchange rate, using both aggregated and disaggregated data. Employing the bounds testing approach to cointegration, and error-correction modeling, when I use the aggregate trade balance as a dependent variable, I find no support for the J-curve in the short-run; and also find that in the long-run, the exchange rate had a significant positive impact on the trade balance. However, in both the short and the long-run, I find that the exchange rate does not play a significant role in deterIn this paper I investigate the link between Korea's trade balance and the exchange rate, using both aggregated and disaggregated data. Employing the bounds testing approach to cointegration, and error-correction modeling, when I use the aggregate trade balance as a dependent variable, I find no support for the J-curve in the short-run; and also find that in the long-run, the exchange rate had a significant positive impact on the trade balance. However, in both the short and the long-run, I find that the exchange rate does not play a significant role in determining the bilateral trade balance between Korea and China, nor does it improve the disaggregated trade balance. This is because the exchange rate elasticity of the trade balance depends on the nature of the commodity. Especially if the commodity is an intermediate good or a raw material, the exchange rate elasticity in trade balance could be inelastic because the demand for the intermediate good is a derived demand from the final good.

  4. How Credible Are Shrinking Wage Elasticities of Married Women Labour Supply?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duo Qin

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper delves into the well-known phenomenon of shrinking wage elasticities for married women in the US over recent decades. The results of a novel model experimental approach via sample data ordering unveil considerable heterogeneity across different wage groups. Yet, surprisingly constant wage elasticity estimates are maintained within certain wage groups over time. In addition to those constant wage elasticity estimates, we find that the composition of working women into different wage groups has changed considerably, resulting in shrinking wage elasticity estimates at the aggregate level. These findings would be impossible to obtain had we not dismantled and discarded the instrumental variable estimation route.

  5. On the Specification of the Gravity Model of Trade: Zeros, Excess Zeros and Zero-Inflated Estimation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.J. Burger (Martijn); F.G. van Oort (Frank); G.J.M. Linders (Gert-Jan)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractConventional studies of bilateral trade patterns specify a log-normal gravity equation for empirical estimation. However, the log-normal gravity equation suffers from three problems: the bias created by the logarithmic transformation, the failure of the homoscedasticity assumption, and

  6. The price elasticity of electricity demand in South Australia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fan Shu; Hyndman, Rob J.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, the price elasticity of electricity demand, representing the sensitivity of customer demand to the price of electricity, has been estimated for South Australia. We first undertake a review of the scholarly literature regarding electricity price elasticity for different regions and systems. Then we perform an empirical evaluation of the historic South Australian price elasticity, focussing on the relationship between price and demand quantiles at each half-hour of the day. This work attempts to determine whether there is any variation in price sensitivity with the time of day or quantile, and to estimate the form of any relationships that might exist in South Australia. - Highlights: → We review the scholarly literature on electricity own-price elasticity for different regions and systems. → We use annual log-linear econometric models of the electricity demand to estimate the historic South Australian price elasticity. → We focus on the relationship between price and demand quantiles at each half-hour of the day. → The overall price elasticity in South Australia ranges from -0.363 to -0.428.

  7. US energy product supply elasticities. A survey and application to the US oil market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dahl, Carol; Duggan, Thomas E.

    1996-01-01

    We survey studies of simple energy supply models to find the most promising technique for developing supply elasticities in the U.S. crude oil market. The two dozen studies located include direct estimates of energy supply elasticities or cost studies from which supply or reserve elasticities can be inferred. We include all available studies for all forms of energy both primary and secondary. We find direct estimates of oil supply to obtain weak results unless depletion and price expectations are included. Oil product supply elasticities vary widely across studies but appear to be elastic. Studies that estimate reserve price elasticities by computing reserve costs appear to be the most promising for estimating reserve elasticities for fossil fuel supply. Hence we apply this technique to US oil reserves and find a reserve elasticity of 1.27

  8. Relationship between the Uncompensated Price Elasticity and the Income Elasticity of Demand under Conditions of Additive Preferences.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorenzo Sabatelli

    Full Text Available Income and price elasticity of demand quantify the responsiveness of markets to changes in income and in prices, respectively. Under the assumptions of utility maximization and preference independence (additive preferences, mathematical relationships between income elasticity values and the uncompensated own and cross price elasticity of demand are here derived using the differential approach to demand analysis. Key parameters are: the elasticity of the marginal utility of income, and the average budget share. The proposed method can be used to forecast the direct and indirect impact of price changes and of financial instruments of policy using available estimates of the income elasticity of demand.

  9. Trade Policy Preferences and the Factor Content of Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jäkel, Ina Charlotte; Smolka, Marcel

    demonstrate that the factor price changes induced by trade policy are negatively correlated with the factor content of free trade (and therefore factor abundance). Using large-scale international survey data, we test whether these predicted distributional effects are reflected in the trade policy preferences...... of workers with different labor market skills. In order to isolate the effects of factor abundance from other skill-related confounding factors, we employ a within-skill-group estimator that exploits the cross-country variation in the factor content of free trade. In line with theory, the data show......This paper provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of public opinion towards free trade, investigating cleavages both between and within countries. We study the distributional effects of trade policy in a neoclassical economy with not just two, but many input factors in production. We...

  10. Price elasticity estimation of electricity demand in France

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bourbonnais, Regis; Keppler, Jan Horst

    2013-10-01

    On request of the French Union of Electricity (UFE), the authors have carried out a series of econometric statistical tests in order to determine the price elasticity of electricity demand in France. The results obtained are all solid and realistic

  11. Regional electric power demand elasticities of Japan's industrial and commercial sectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosoe, Nobuhiro; Akiyama, Shu-ichi

    2009-01-01

    In the assessment and review of regulatory reforms in the electric power market, price elasticity is one of the most important parameters that characterize the market. However, price elasticity has seldom been estimated in Japan; instead, it has been assumed to be as small as 0.1 or 0 without proper examination of the empirical validity of such a priori assumptions. We estimated the regional power demand functions for nine regions, in order to quantify the elasticity, and found the short-run price elasticity to be 0.09-0.30 and the long-run price elasticity to be 0.12-0.56. Inter-regional comparison of our estimation results suggests that price elasticity in rural regions is larger than that in urban regions. Popular assumptions of small elasticity of 0.1, for example, could be suitable for examining Japan's aggregate power demand but not power demand functions that focus on respective regions. Furthermore, assumptions about smaller elasticity values such as 0.01 and 0 could not be supported statistically by this study.

  12. Elastic least-squares reverse time migration

    KAUST Repository

    Feng, Zongcai

    2017-03-08

    We use elastic least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) to invert for the reflectivity images of P- and S-wave impedances. Elastic LSRTMsolves the linearized elastic-wave equations for forward modeling and the adjoint equations for backpropagating the residual wavefield at each iteration. Numerical tests on synthetic data and field data reveal the advantages of elastic LSRTM over elastic reverse time migration (RTM) and acoustic LSRTM. For our examples, the elastic LSRTM images have better resolution and amplitude balancing, fewer artifacts, and less crosstalk compared with the elastic RTM images. The images are also better focused and have better reflector continuity for steeply dipping events compared to the acoustic LSRTM images. Similar to conventional leastsquares migration, elastic LSRTM also requires an accurate estimation of the P- and S-wave migration velocity models. However, the problem remains that, when there are moderate errors in the velocity model and strong multiples, LSRTMwill produce migration noise stronger than that seen in the RTM images.

  13. Elastic least-squares reverse time migration

    KAUST Repository

    Feng, Zongcai; Schuster, Gerard T.

    2017-01-01

    We use elastic least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) to invert for the reflectivity images of P- and S-wave impedances. Elastic LSRTMsolves the linearized elastic-wave equations for forward modeling and the adjoint equations for backpropagating the residual wavefield at each iteration. Numerical tests on synthetic data and field data reveal the advantages of elastic LSRTM over elastic reverse time migration (RTM) and acoustic LSRTM. For our examples, the elastic LSRTM images have better resolution and amplitude balancing, fewer artifacts, and less crosstalk compared with the elastic RTM images. The images are also better focused and have better reflector continuity for steeply dipping events compared to the acoustic LSRTM images. Similar to conventional leastsquares migration, elastic LSRTM also requires an accurate estimation of the P- and S-wave migration velocity models. However, the problem remains that, when there are moderate errors in the velocity model and strong multiples, LSRTMwill produce migration noise stronger than that seen in the RTM images.

  14. Agricultural trade and farm employment in China during 1994-2009

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhu, Jing; Zhang, Shu; Yu, Wusheng

    2013-01-01

    Purpose – This paper therefore aims at systematically estimating the agricultural trade induced farm employment effects in China. Design/methodology/approach – Using detailed agricultural trade and production data during 1994-2009, the authors estimate the “labor contents” of agricultural trade f...... employment effects do not lend support to the popular notion that increased agricultural trade would help increase farm employment and have important implications for evaluating current and future trade policy in China and elsewhere.......Purpose – This paper therefore aims at systematically estimating the agricultural trade induced farm employment effects in China. Design/methodology/approach – Using detailed agricultural trade and production data during 1994-2009, the authors estimate the “labor contents” of agricultural trade...... flows and use these estimates to compute the farm employment effects. Findings – The authors find that China's agricultural trade has indeed generally developed along its widely believed comparative advantages and disadvantages; however, the farm employment “creation” effect due to labor...

  15. The elasticity of drugs demand in Colombia’s pharmaceutical market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johanna Vásquez Velásquez

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on a dynamic specification of the AIDS model arisen from cointegration techniques, this research estimated the elasticity of the intra-molecular, brand and generic demand for three tracer conditions: essential hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia both in the non-profit and private Colombian market. The estimate of the intra-molecular demand elasticity allows us to conclude that both brand-name and generic drugs are inelastic to price changes, they are luxury goods according to expenditure elasticity and intra-molecular replacement seems to exist due to the elasticity of substitution.

  16. Price Elasticity of Alcohol Demand in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Santosh

    2017-05-01

    Using a household survey conducted in 2014, this study estimates price elasticity of demand (PED) for beer, country liquor and spirits in India. Ordinary least-square models were used to estimate the responsiveness in alcohol demand due to price change. A large number of control variables were included to adjust for potential confounding in the model. Inter-district variation in alcohol consumption is adjusted for by including district fixed effects. Alcohol prices are negatively associated with demand for alcoholic beverages. The PED ranged from -0.14 for spirits to -0.46 for country liquor. Low level of education was positively associated with spirits consumption. The magnitude of elasticity varied by rural-urban, education and gender. Results indicate that a policy mix of price controls and awareness campaigns would be most effective in tackling the adverse effects of harmful drinking in India. The demand for beer, country liquor and spirits is negatively associated with its own price. The elasticity estimates ranged from -0.14 for spirits to -0.44 for country liquor. The elasticity estimates varied by rural-urban, gender and by education levels of the drinkers. © The Author 2017. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

  17. Trade-Based Estimation of Bluefin Tuna Catches in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, 2005–2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagern, Antonius; van den Bergh, Jeroen; Sumaila, Ussif Rashid

    2013-01-01

    The Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock of Bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus (BFTE) has long been considered overfished and at risk of collapse. Although ICCAT quotas for this stock have decreased considerably over the past years, uncertainty exists about the degree of catch beyond this quota. The extent of such catch is an important piece of information in stock assessment models as well as being an indicator of the effectiveness of fisheries management. We present a model using Bluefin tuna trade data to infer actual catches. Basing our calculations on 25 countries involved in BFTE trade, we estimate that between 2005 and 2011, allowable quotas were exceeded by 44 percent. This gap between catch and quotas has slightly increased over past years, leading to estimated excess catches of 57 percent for the period between 2008 and 2011. To improve assessments, preparation and design of BFTE management, we suggest that the estimated total removals reported in this paper be included in stock assessment models for BFTE. An implication of our findings is that ICCAT member states should take stronger measures to monitor and enforce compliance with quotas. PMID:23922870

  18. Estimation of Iranian price elasticities of residential electricity demand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yeganeh Mousavi Jahromi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a study to determine demand for electricity in city of Yazd, Iran over the period of 1998-2008. Using vector error correction model (VECM based on seasonal information, the study determines that electricity has no elasticity in short term in household expenditure. Therefore, government policy on increasing price of electricity will not influence demand. However, electricity maintains elasticity over the long-term period and an increase on price of electricity could motivate consumers to reduce their consumption by purchasing energy efficient facilities. Therefore, any governmental strategy to increase price may have positive impact on economy. The study also detects a positive and meaningful relationship between temperature and electricity consumption.

  19. Embodied pollution in trade: Estimating the "environmental load displacement" of the industrial countries

    OpenAIRE

    Muradian, Roldan; O'Connor, Martin; Martinez-Alier, Joan

    2001-01-01

    The present paper sets out to aid in the development of "environmental load displacement" indicators. Developing the notion of the "environmental memory" of physical flows, we estimated embodied pollution in trade of 18 industrialized countries with a) the rest of the world and b) developing countries, from 1976 to 1994. We found that in the last years of analysis, total imports of Japan, USA and Western Europe have entailed, in general, larger air pollutant emissions than local exports. The ...

  20. Estimating the Impact of the Indo-ASEAN FreeTrade Agreement on India’s Balance of Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prof. Ranajoy Bhattacharyya

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available India signed a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN on 13th August, 2009. In this paper we analyze one aspect of the possible impacts of the FTA: that on India’s Balance of Trade. It is found that the impact of the agreement on India’s balance of trade is expected to be negative. India’s imports will rise significantly, however there will be no commensurate rise in India’s export to these countries except to Indonesia.

  1. The Law of Elasticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cocco, Alberto; Masin, Sergio Cesare

    2010-01-01

    Participants estimated the imagined elongation of a spring while they were imagining that a load was stretching the spring. This elongation turned out to be a multiplicative function of spring length and load weight--a cognitive law analogous to Hooke's law of elasticity. Participants also estimated the total imagined elongation of springs joined…

  2. Price and income elasticities of residential energy demand in Germany

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schulte, Isabella; Heindl, Peter

    2017-01-01

    We apply a quadratic expenditure system to estimate price and expenditure elasticities of residential energy demand (electricity and heating) in Germany. Using official expenditure data from 1993 to 2008, we estimate an expenditure elasticity for electricity of 0.3988 and of 0.4055 for space heating. The own price elasticity for electricity is −0.4310 and −0.5008 in the case of space heating. Disaggregation of households by expenditure and socio-economic composition reveals that the behavioural response to energy price changes is weaker (stronger) for low-income (top-income) households. There are considerable economies of scale in residential energy use but scale effects are not well approximated by the new OECD equivalence scale. Real increases in energy prices show a regressive pattern of incidence, implying that the welfare consequences of direct energy taxation are larger for low income households. The application of zero-elasticities in assessments of welfare consequences of energy taxation strongly underestimates potential welfare effects. The increase in inequality is 22% smaller when compared to the application of disaggregated price and income elasticities as estimated in this paper. - Highlights: • We estimate price, income, and expenditure elasticities for residential energy demand in Germany. • We differentiate elasticities by income groups and household type. • Electricity and space heating are necessary goods since the expenditure elasticities are smaller than unity. • Low-income households show a weaker reaction to changing prices when compared to high-income households. • Direct energy taxation has regressive effects, meaning that larger burdens fall upon low-income households.

  3. Price Elasticities of Food Demand: Compensated vs Uncompensated.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clements, Kenneth W; Si, Jiawei

    2016-11-01

    Two recent studies have provided a comprehensive review/summary of a large number of estimates of the price elasticity of food consumption using a meta-regression approach. In this letter, we introduce a way of removing the income effect from these elasticities to recover the compensated elasticities. Although the income effect is small, the compensated elasticities vary by income group. Both types of elasticity should possibly be considered when assessing the impact of policy changes on food consumption. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Elastic properties of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric composites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    En-Bo, Wei; Guo-Qing, Gu; Ying-Ming, Poon

    2010-01-01

    Effective elastic properties of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric composites, whose spherically anisotropic piezoelectric inclusions are embedded in an infinite non-piezoelectric matrix, are theoretically investigated. Analytical solutions for the elastic displacements and the electric potentials under a uniform external strain are derived exactly. Taking into account of the coupling effects of elasticity, permittivity and piezoelectricity, the formula is derived for estimating the effective elastic properties based on the average field theory in the dilute limit. An elastic response mechanism is revealed, in which the effective elastic properties increase as inclusion piezoelectric properties increase and inclusion dielectric properties decrease. Moreover, a piezoelectric response mechanism, of which the effective piezoelectric response vanishes due to the symmetry of spherically anisotropic composite, is also disclosed. (condensed matter: structure, thermal and mechanical properties)

  5. Effects of Free Trade Agreements on Foreign Trade: Predictions for Puerto Rico in the face of CAFTA-DR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José E. Signoret

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the effects of regional free trade agreements on international trade activity. The analysis estimates gravity models of trade that serve to assess the likely impact of CAFTA-DR on Puerto Rico and United States’ foreign trade. The estimated effects of CAFTA-DR on the US are invariably modest. For the case of Puerto Rico, the effects are of considerably larger importance, albeit still somewhat small. The inclusion of the Dominican Republic into the Agreement, however, is critical for these latter results.

  6. The real-time price elasticity of electricity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lijesen, M.G.

    2007-01-01

    The real-time price elasticity of electricity contains important information on the demand response of consumers to the volatility of peak prices. Despite the importance, empirical estimates of the real-time elasticity are hardly available. This paper provides a quantification of the real-time

  7. Subsidence estimation of breakwater built on loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation: Elastic model or elasto-plastic model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianhua Shen

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In offshore area, newly deposited Quaternary loose seabed soils are widely distributed. There are a great number of offshore structures has been built on them in the past, or will be built on them in the future due to the fact that there would be no very dense seabed soil foundation could be chosen at planed sites sometimes. However, loosely deposited seabed foundation would bring great risk to the service ability of offshore structures after construction. Currently, the understanding on wave-induced liquefaction mechanism in loose seabed foundation has been greatly improved; however, the recognition on the consolidation characteristics and settlement estimation of loose seabed foundation under offshore structures is still limited. In this study, taking a semi-coupled numerical model FSSI-CAS 2D as the tool, the consolidation and settlement of loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation under an offshore breakwater is investigated. The advanced soil constitutive model Pastor-Zienkiewics Mark III (PZIII is used to describe the quasi-static behavior of loose sandy seabed soil. The computational results show that PZIII model is capable of being used for settlement estimation problem of loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation. For loose sandy seabed foundation, elastic deformation is the dominant component in consolidation process. It is suggested that general elastic model is acceptable for subsidence estimation of offshore structures on loose seabed foundation; however, Young's modulus E must be dependent on the confining effective stress, rather than a constant in computation.

  8. Elastic Thickness Estimates for Coronae Associated with Chasmata on Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoogenboom, T.; Martin, P.; Housean, G. A.

    2005-01-01

    Coronae are large-scale circular tectonic features surrounded by annular ridges. They are generally considered unique to Venus and may offer insights into the differences in lithospheric structure or mantle convective pattern between Venus and Earth. 68% of all coronae are associated with chasmata or fracture belts. The remaining 32% are located at volcanic rises or in the plains. Chasmata are linear to arcuate troughs, with trough parallel fractures and faults which extend for 1000 s of kilometers. Estimates of the elastic thickness of the lithosphere (T(sub e)) have been calculated in a number of gravity/topography studies of Venus and for coronae specifically. None of these studies, however, have explored the dependence of T(sub e) on the tectonic history of the region, as implied from the interpretation of relative timing relationships between coronae and surrounding features. We examine the relationship between the local T(sub e) and the relative ages of coronae and chasmata with the aim of further constraining the origin and evolution of coronae and chasmata systems.

  9. Armington elasticities for energy policy modeling: Evidence from four European countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welsch, Heinz

    2008-01-01

    Elasticities of substitution among imports and competing domestic production (Armington elasticities) play an important role in computable general equilibrium (CGE) assessments of energy and climate policy. This paper provides estimates of Armington elasticities for 15 commodity groups in four European countries. Since Armington elasticities are found to be rather low on average, researchers may want to reconsider the device of using high values of Armington elasticities in CGE models to avoid unrealistic competitiveness effects or emission leakage rates associated with energy or carbon taxes or other forms of energy-related regulation. Estimated elasticities tend to be higher in the case of machinery and other investment goods than in the case of primary products, ores and chemicals, as well as consumer goods

  10. A meta-analysis on the price elasticity of energy demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Labandeira, Xavier; Labeaga, José M.; López-Otero, Xiral

    2017-01-01

    Price elasticities of energy demand have become increasingly relevant in estimating the socio-economic and environmental effects of energy policies or other events that influence the price of energy goods. Since the 1970s, a large number of academic papers have provided both short and long-term price elasticity estimates for different countries using several models, data and estimation techniques. Yet the literature offers a rather wide range of estimates for the price elasticities of demand for energy. This paper quantitatively summarizes the recent, but sizeable, empirical evidence to facilitate a sounder economic assessment of (in some cases policy-related) energy price changes. It uses meta-analysis to identify the main factors affecting short and long term elasticity results for energy, in general, as well as for specific products, i.e., electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel and heating oil. - Highlights: • An updated and wider meta-analysis on price elasticities of energy demand. • Energy goods are shown to be price inelastic both in the short and long-term. • Results are relevant for a proper design and implementation of energy policies. • Our results refer to energy, as a whole, and specific energy goods.

  11. Odhad cenové elasticity poptávky po ropě

    OpenAIRE

    Jonák, Ondřej

    2009-01-01

    Objective of this diploma thesis is estimation of price elasticity of crude oil demand. In order to calculation of such elasticity crude oil demand is estimated with econometrical methods. The choice of suitable model, which sufficiently and accurately models crude oil demand, is initial position of analysis. Consequently, crude oil demand is estimated from market data obtainable from public sources. This estimated model is verified from economic, statistic and econometric point of view. Cons...

  12. TRADE ENHANCEMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF DESSERT BANANA FRUITS AND ESTIMATES OF TRANSACTION COSTS IN OKIGWE METROPOLIS, IMO STATE NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Ogbonna Emerole

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This study on trade enhancement Characteristics of sweet (dessert banana fruit and estimation of transaction costs was conducted in Okigwe Metropolis of Imo State, Nigeria. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted in selecting 80 respondents comprising 40 dessert banana traders (panelists and 40 dessert banana consumers. Monthly trade data was collected from the respondents using pretested semi-structured questionnaire during dry season (November-April and rain season (May-October for the year 2012. Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis; with transaction costs estimated as ex ante and ex post components. Hedonic pricing regression model was used in determining buyer socioeconomic/banana attributes that influenced willingness to pay price. Fruit characteristics that significantly enhanced trade of sweet banana in descending order were taste (3.83, fruit variety (3.57, and fruit skin colour (3.50. Other significant factors were level of ripeness (3.49, availability in off-season (3.46, fruit size (3.20 and cleanliness (3.20. Mean ex-ante transaction costs for sweet banana was N77, 800.00/trader and its mean ex-post transaction cost was N25,080.00/trader. We recommended that traders should take advantage of Global Mobile System (GSM to overcome information barriers on banana trading. Government and health institutions should intensify consumer safety education, and encourage horticultural unions to heighten postharvest monitoring of stored and displayed dessert banana fruits to enforce observance of ripening standards.

  13. Heterogeneous Economic Integration Agreement Effects

    OpenAIRE

    Baier, Scott L.; Bergstrand, Jeffrey H.; Clance, Matthew W.

    2015-01-01

    Gravity equations have been used for more than 50 years to estimate ex post the partial effects of trade costs on international trade flows, and the well-known - and traditionally presumed exogenous – "trade-cost elasticity" plays a central role in computing general equilibrium trade-flow and welfare effects of trade-cost changes. This paper addresses theoretically and empirically the influence of variable and fixed export costs in explaining the likely heterogeneity in the trade-cost elast...

  14. Non-conventional provisions in regional trade agreements : do they enhance international trade?

    OpenAIRE

    Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Kimura, Fukunari; Nabeshima, Kaoru

    2011-01-01

    The scope of recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) is becoming much wider in terms of including several provisions such as competition policy or intellectual property. This paper empirically examines how far advanced, non-conventional provisions in RTAs increase trade values among RTA member countries, by estimating the gravity equation with more disaggregated indicators for RTAs. As a result, we find that the provision on competition policy has the largest impacts on trade values, followin...

  15. To trade or not to trade: Link prediction in the virtual water network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuninetti, Marta; Tamea, Stefania; Laio, Francesco; Ridolfi, Luca

    2017-12-01

    In the international trade network, links express the (temporary) presence of a commercial exchange of goods between any two countries. Given the dynamical behaviour of the trade network, where links are created and dismissed every year, predicting the link activation/deactivation is an open research question. Through the international trade network of agricultural goods, water resources are 'virtually' transferred from the country of production to the country of consumption. We propose a novel methodology for link prediction applied to the network of virtual water trade. Starting from the assumption of having links between any two countries, we estimate the associated virtual water flows by means of a gravity-law model using country and link characteristics as drivers. We consider the links with estimated flows higher than 1000 m3/year as active links, while the others as non-active links. Flows traded along estimated active links are then re-estimated using a similar but differently-calibrated gravity-law model. We were able to correctly model 84% of the existing links and 93% of the non-existing links in year 2011. It is worth to note that the predicted active links carry 99% of the global virtual water flow; hence, missed links are mainly those where a minimum volume of virtual water is exchanged. Results indicate that, over the period from 1986 to 2011, population, geographical distances between countries, and agricultural efficiency (through fertilizers use) are the major factors driving the link activation and deactivation. As opposed to other (network-based) models for link prediction, the proposed method is able to reconstruct the network architecture without any prior knowledge of the network topology, using only the nodes and links attributes; it thus represents a general method that can be applied to other networks such as food or value trade networks.

  16. Large-scale wind power integration and wholesale electricity trading benefits: Estimation via an ex post approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gil, Hugo A.; Gomez-Quiles, Catalina; Riquelme, Jesus

    2012-01-01

    The integration of large-scale wind power has brought about a series of challenges to the power industry, but at the same time a number of benefits are being realized. Among those, the ability of wind power to cause a decline in the electricity market prices has been recognized. In quantifying this effect, some models used in recent years are based on simulations of the market supply-side and the price clearing process. The accuracy of the estimates depend on the quality of the input data, the veracity of the adopted scenarios and the rigorousness of the solution technique. In this work, a series of econometric techniques based on actual ex post wind power and electricity price data are implemented for the estimation of the impact of region-wide wind power integration on the local electricity market clearing prices and the trading savings that stem from this effect. The model is applied to the case of Spain, where the estimated savings are compared against actual credit and bonus expenses to ratepayers. The implications and extent of these results for current and future renewable energy policy-making are discussed. - Highlights: ► Wholesale electricity market trading benefits by wind power are quantified. ► Actual wind power forecast-based bids and electricity price data from Spain are used. ► Different econometric tools are used and compared for improved estimation accuracy. ► Estimated benefits outweigh current credit overhead paid to wind farms in Spain. ► An economically efficient benefit surplus allocation framework is proposed.

  17. Trends in income and price elasticities of transport demand (1850–2010)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fouquet, Roger

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to estimate trends in income and price elasticities and to offer insights for the future growth in transport use, with particular emphasis on the impact of energy and technological transitions. The results indicate that income and price elasticities of passenger transport demand in the United Kingdom were very large (3.1 and −1.5, respectively) in the mid-nineteenth century, and declined since then. In 2010, long run income and price elasticity of aggregate land transport demand were estimated to be 0.8 and −0.6. These trends suggest that future elasticities related to transport demand in developed economies may decline very gradually and, in developing economies, where elasticities are often larger, they will probably decline more rapidly as the economies develop. Because of the declining trends in elasticities, future energy and technological transitions are not likely to generate the growth rates in energy consumption that occurred following transitions in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, energy and technological transitions, such as the car and the airplane, appear to have delayed and probably will delay declining trends in income and price elasticity of aggregate transport demand. - Highlights: ► Estimates trends in income and price elasticities of aggregate UK land transport demand (1850–2010). ► Income and price elasticities were very large in late 1800s and declined since then. ► In 2010, they were estimated to be 0.8 and −0.6. ► Future elasticities are likely to decline gradually in developed economies and faster in developing economies. ► Energy transitions may delay the decline in elasticities.

  18. Population and energy elasticity of tornado casualties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fricker, Tyler; Elsner, James B.; Jagger, Thomas H.

    2017-04-01

    Tornadoes are capable of catastrophic destruction and mass casualties, but there are yet no estimates of how sensitive the number of casualties are to changes in the number of people in harm's way or to changes in tornado energy. Here the relationship between tornado casualties (deaths and injuries), population, and energy dissipation is quantified using the economic concept of "elasticity." Records of casualties from individual tornadoes over the period 2007-2015 are fit to a regression model. The coefficient on the population term (population elasticity) indicates that a doubling in population increases the casualty rate by 21% [(17, 24)%, 95% credible interval]. The coefficient on the energy term (energy elasticity) indicates that a doubling in energy dissipation leads to a 33% [(30, 35)%, 95% credible interval] increase in the casualty rate. The difference in elasticity values show that on average, changes in energy dissipation have been relatively more important in explaining tornado casualties than changes in population. Assuming no changes in warning effectiveness or mitigation efforts, these elasticity estimates can be used to project changes in casualties given the known population trends and possible trends in tornado activity.

  19. Explaining Home Bias in Trade: The Role of Time Costs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inkoo Lee

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available We study how time costs, combined with elasticity of substitution across home and foreign goods, can explain the home bias puzzle in a framework of flexible prices. Using a simple two-country model, we show that introducing time costs to an otherwise standard competitive model improves its ability to rationalize home bias in trade. Our analysis suggests that home bias and corresponding incomplete risk-sharing naturally arise in the presence of time costs, even under the assumption of complete financial markets and low elasticity of substitution between home and foreign goods.

  20. Goods-Time Elasticity of Substitution in Health Production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Juan; Yagihashi, Takeshi

    2017-11-01

    We examine how inputs for health production, in particular, medical care and health-enhancing time, are combined to improve health. The estimated elasticity of substitution from a constant elasticity of substitution production function is significantly less than one for the working-age population, rejecting the unit elasticity of substitution used in previous studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Trade Facilitation Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Discriminatory or Non-discriminatory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Innwon Park

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The RTAs with trade facilitation provisions have been expected to generate a larger net trade-creating effect and complement the discriminatory feature of RTAs but have yet to be empirically proven. Recognizing the limitations of existing studies, we conducted a quantitative analysis on the effects of RTAs with and without trade facilitation provisions on both intra- and extra-bloc trade by using a modified gravity equation. We applied the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML estimation with time varying exporter and importer fixed effect method to panel data consisting of 45,770 country pairs covering 170 countries for 2000-2010. We found that the trade facilitation provisions in existing RTAs are non-discriminatory by generating more intra- and extra-bloc trade in general. In particular, we found that the trade effects of RTAs in the APEC region are much stronger than the general case covering all RTAs in the world. In addition, as we control the trade effect of a country's trade facilitation, which is ranked by the World Bank's logistic performance index, RTAs consisting of trade facilitation provisions are discriminatory for trade in final goods and non-discriminatory for trade in intermediate goods. Overall, we endeavor to "explain," instead of "hypothesizing," why most of the recent RTAs contain trade facilitation provisions, especially in light of the deepening regional interdependence through trade in parts and components under global value chains and support the necessity of multilateralizing RTAs by implementing non-discriminatory trade facilitation provisions.

  2. Regional electric power demand elasticities of Japan's industrial and commercial sectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hosoe, Nobuhiro [National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo 106-8677 (Japan); Akiyama, Shu-ichi [Kushiro Public University of Economics, 4-1-1 Ashino, Kushiro, Hokkaido 085-8585 (Japan)

    2009-11-15

    In the assessment and review of regulatory reforms in the electric power market, price elasticity is one of the most important parameters that characterize the market. However, price elasticity has seldom been estimated in Japan; instead, it has been assumed to be as small as 0.1 or 0 without proper examination of the empirical validity of such a priori assumptions. We estimated the regional power demand functions for nine regions, in order to quantify the elasticity, and found the short-run price elasticity to be 0.09-0.30 and the long-run price elasticity to be 0.12-0.56. Inter-regional comparison of our estimation results suggests that price elasticity in rural regions is larger than that in urban regions. Popular assumptions of small elasticity of 0.1, for example, could be suitable for examining Japan's aggregate power demand but not power demand functions that focus on respective regions. Furthermore, assumptions about smaller elasticity values such as 0.01 and 0 could not be supported statistically by this study. (author)

  3. Virtual land use and agricultural trade. Estimating environmental and socio-economic impacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wuertenberger, Laura; Koellner, Thomas; Binder, Claudia R.

    2006-01-01

    Liberalization has caused an increase in the global trade of goods and services. In particular, the value and physical volume of agricultural goods traded have largely increased. As the environmental and social consequences of trade are complex, they are rarely included in the national and international agricultural policies. One reason is that there is a lack of concepts and methods for assessing the environmental and social impacts of trade policies. In this paper we develop a method for quantifying and assessing the land use hidden in the export and import of agricultural goods for the case of Switzerland. For our analysis we focus on arable crops. The first methodological step of our research illustrates the spatial relationship of Switzerland with countries all over the world through the import and export of land use for arable crops. The second step links this spatial dimension with a qualitative assessment of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of agricultural land use. We applied the method to the case of wheat cultivation within Switzerland and import to Switzerland. The major problem we were confronted with was the availability of data, which had both to be reliable and available for the countries wheat is imported from. The results show that the calculation of land use is credible. In spite of the problems related with data availability, the assessment results for each indicator are in agreement with the current situation in the respective countries. In addition, the aggregation seems to accurately reflect the countries' agricultural polices. The developed method is used to estimate the overall environmental and socio-economic impacts of an increase in wheat imports to Switzerland. We argue that this method could be applied for anticipating potential impacts of trade agreements. Still, further research is required for fine-tuning of the utility functions, including a weighting procedure in the aggregation procedure. For practical applications

  4. Meta-analýza cenové elasticity poptávky po alkoholu

    OpenAIRE

    Fanta, Nicolas

    2014-01-01

    The own-price elasticity is considered to be one of the key factors describing the demand for alcohol. There have been many estimates computed by now but only a few studies tried to analyse them. The aim of this meta-analysis is to discover more about the eventual effects that publication bias might have in the alcohol-related literature. The first part describes the various types of elasticities and the methods of estimation. This study is estimating the so called true effect elasticity in o...

  5. Elastic and optical behaviour of some europium monochalcogenides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Islam, A.K.M.A.; Shahdatullah, M.S.

    1994-11-01

    A study of the elastic and optical properties of some Eu-monochalcogenides with NaCl structure has been carried out in this paper. Various anharmonic properties e.g. thermal expansion, third order elastic constants, Grueneisen parameter, and the pressure and temperature derivatives of second order elastic constants of EuS and EuO are also studied. A comparison of the calculated elastic and dielectric properties with the available experimental results and other theoretical estimates gives an indication of the applicability of the methods applied. (author). 49 refs, 3 figs, 3 tabs

  6. Growth, exchange rates and trade in Brazil: a structuralist post-Keynesian approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson H. Barbosa Filho

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a structuralist post-Keynesian analysis of trade adjustment in Brazil. Based on the concept of the balance-of-payments (BoP constraint on growth, the paper investigates the relationship between income growth and real-exchange-rate devaluation necessary to adjust trade to a foreign-exchange constraint. The main result is that, with price-inelastic and income-elastic imports and based on its trade structure in 2002, Brazil may have to compensate an additional 1% of income growth with approximately 7% of real-exchange-rate devaluation in order to keep its trade balance stable in relation to GDP in the near future. Moreover, the trade parameters of Brazil seem to be unfavorable to growth with stable trade, that is, even moderate rates of GDP expansion lead to a substantial increase of imports and, therefore, require an also substantial devaluation of the real exchange rate to avoid a deterioration of the trade balance.

  7. Growth, exchange rates and trade in Brazil: a structuralist post Keynesian approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson H. Barbosa Filho

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a structuralist post-Keynesian analysis of trade adjustment in Brazil. Based on the concept of the balance-of-payments (BoP constraint on growth, the paper investigates the relationship between income growth and real-exchange-rate devaluation necessary to adjust trade to a foreign-exchange constraint. The main result is that, with price-inelastic and income-elastic imports and based on its trade structure in 2002, Brazil may have to compensate an additional 1% of income growth with approximately 7% of real-exchange-rate devaluation in order to keep its trade balance stable in relation to GDP in the near future. Moreover, the trade parameters of Brazil seem to be unfavorable to growth with stable trade, that is, even moderate rates of GDP expansion lead to a substantial increase of imports and, therefore, require an also substantial devaluation of the real exchange rate to avoid a deterioration of the trade balance.

  8. Bounds and self-consistent estimates for elastic constants of polycrystals composed of orthorhombics or crystals with higher symmetries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berryman, James G

    2011-04-01

    Methods for computing Hashin-Shtrikman bounds and related self-consistent estimates of elastic constants for polycrystals composed of crystals having orthorhombic symmetry have been known for about three decades. However, these methods are underutilized, perhaps because of some perceived difficulties with implementing the necessary computational procedures. Several simplifications of these techniques are introduced, thereby reducing the overall computational burden, as well as the complications inherent in mapping out the Hashin-Shtrikman bounding curves. The self-consistent estimates of the effective elastic constants are very robust, involving a quickly converging iteration procedure. Once these self-consistent values are known, they may then be used to speed up the computations of the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds themselves. It is shown furthermore that the resulting orthorhombic polycrystal code can be used as well to compute both bounds and self-consistent estimates for polycrystals of higher-symmetry tetragonal, hexagonal, and cubic (but not trigonal) materials. The self-consistent results found this way are shown to be the same as those obtained using the earlier methods, specifically those methods designed specially for each individual symmetry type. But the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds found using the orthorhombic code are either the same or (more typically) tighter than those found previously for these special cases (i.e., tetragonal, hexagonal, and cubic). The improvement in the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds is presumably due to the additional degrees of freedom introduced into the available search space.

  9. Elastic properties of fly ash-stabilized mixes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanja Dimter

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Stabilized mixes are used in the construction of bearing layers in asphalt and concrete pavement structures. Two nondestructive methods: resonant frequency method and ultrasonic pulse velocity method, were used for estimation of elastic properties of fly ash–stabilized mixes. Stabilized mixes were designed containing sand from the river Drava and binder composed of different share of cement and fly ash. The aim of the research was to analyze the relationship between the dynamic modulus of elasticity determined by different nondestructive methods. Data showed that average value of elasticity modulus obtained by the ultrasound velocity method is lower than the values of elasticity modulus obtained by resonant frequency method. For further analysis and enhanced discussion of elastic properties of fly ash stabilized mixes, see Dimter et al. [1].

  10. Measuring the Information Content of Stock Trades.

    OpenAIRE

    Hasbrouck, Joel

    1991-01-01

    This paper suggests that the interactions of security trades and quote revisions be modeled as a vector autoregressive system. Within this framework, a trade's information effect may be meaningfully measured as the ultimate price impact of the trade innovation. Estimates for a sample of NYSE issues suggest a trade's full price impact arrives only with a protracted lag; the impact is a positive and concave function of the trade size; large trades cause the spread to widen; trades occurring in ...

  11. 48 CFR 25.406 - Israeli Trade Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Israeli Trade Act. 25.406... PROGRAMS FOREIGN ACQUISITION Trade Agreements 25.406 Israeli Trade Act. Acquisitions of supplies by most agencies are covered by the Israeli Trade Act, if the estimated value of the acquisition is $50,000 or more...

  12. Price elasticity of expenditure across health care services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duarte, Fabian

    2012-12-01

    Policymakers in countries around the world are faced with rising health care costs and are debating ways to reform health care to reduce expenditures. Estimates of price elasticity of expenditure are a key component for predicting expenditures under alternative policies. Using unique individual-level data compiled from administrative records from the Chilean private health insurance market, I estimate the price elasticity of expenditures across a variety of health care services. I find elasticities that range between zero for the most acute service (appendectomy) and -2.08 for the most elective (psychologist visit). Moreover, the results show that at least one third of the elasticity is explained by the number of visits; the rest is explained by the intensity of each visit. Finally, I find that high-income individuals are five times more price sensitive than low-income individuals and that older individuals are less price-sensitive than young individuals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. An analysis of gasoline demand elasticities at the national and local levels in Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crotte, Amado; Noland, Robert B.; Graham, Daniel J.

    2010-01-01

    The majority of evidence on gasoline demand elasticities is derived from models based on national data. Since the largest growth in population is now taking place in cities in the developing world it is important that we understand whether this national evidence is applicable to demand conditions at the local level. The aim of this paper is to estimate and compare gasoline per vehicle demand elasticities at the national and local levels in Mexico. National elasticities with respect to price, income, vehicle stock and metro fares are estimated using both a time series cointegration model and a panel GMM model for Mexican states. Estimates for Mexico City are derived by modifying national estimates according to mode shares as suggested by, and by estimating a panel Within Groups model with data aggregated by borough. Although all models agree on the sign of the elasticities the magnitudes differ greatly. Elasticities change over time and differ between the national and local levels, with smaller price responses in Mexico City. In general, price elasticities are smaller than those reported in the gasoline demand surveys, a pattern previously found in developing countries. The fact that income and vehicle stock elasticities increase over time may suggest that vehicles are being used more intensively in recent years and that Mexico City residents are purchasing larger vehicles. Elasticities with respect to metro fares are negligible, which suggests little substitution between modes. Finally, the fact that fuel efficiency elasticities are smaller than vehicle stock elasticities suggests that vehicle stock size, rather than its composition, has a larger impact on gasoline consumption in Mexico City. (author)

  14. An analysis of gasoline demand elasticities at the national and local levels in Mexico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crotte, Amado [Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport, Mexico City (Mexico); Noland, Robert B. [Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, E. J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (United States); Graham, Daniel J. [Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London (United Kingdom)

    2010-08-15

    The majority of evidence on gasoline demand elasticities is derived from models based on national data. Since the largest growth in population is now taking place in cities in the developing world it is important that we understand whether this national evidence is applicable to demand conditions at the local level. The aim of this paper is to estimate and compare gasoline per vehicle demand elasticities at the national and local levels in Mexico. National elasticities with respect to price, income, vehicle stock and metro fares are estimated using both a time series cointegration model and a panel GMM model for Mexican states. Estimates for Mexico City are derived by modifying national estimates according to mode shares as suggested by, and by estimating a panel Within Groups model with data aggregated by borough. Although all models agree on the sign of the elasticities the magnitudes differ greatly. Elasticities change over time and differ between the national and local levels, with smaller price responses in Mexico City. In general, price elasticities are smaller than those reported in the gasoline demand surveys, a pattern previously found in developing countries. The fact that income and vehicle stock elasticities increase over time may suggest that vehicles are being used more intensively in recent years and that Mexico City residents are purchasing larger vehicles. Elasticities with respect to metro fares are negligible, which suggests little substitution between modes. Finally, the fact that fuel efficiency elasticities are smaller than vehicle stock elasticities suggests that vehicle stock size, rather than its composition, has a larger impact on gasoline consumption in Mexico City. (author)

  15. A design concept of parallel elasticity extracted from biological muscles for engineered actuators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jie; Jin, Hongzhe; Iida, Fumiya; Zhao, Jie

    2016-08-23

    Series elastic actuation that takes inspiration from biological muscle-tendon units has been extensively studied and used to address the challenges (e.g. energy efficiency, robustness) existing in purely stiff robots. However, there also exists another form of passive property in biological actuation, parallel elasticity within muscles themselves, and our knowledge of it is limited: for example, there is still no general design strategy for the elasticity profile. When we look at nature, on the other hand, there seems a universal agreement in biological systems: experimental evidence has suggested that a concave-upward elasticity behaviour is exhibited within the muscles of animals. Seeking to draw possible design clues for elasticity in parallel with actuators, we use a simplified joint model to investigate the mechanisms behind this biologically universal preference of muscles. Actuation of the model is identified from general biological joints and further reduced with a specific focus on muscle elasticity aspects, for the sake of easy implementation. By examining various elasticity scenarios, one without elasticity and three with elasticity of different profiles, we find that parallel elasticity generally exerts contradictory influences on energy efficiency and disturbance rejection, due to the mechanical impedance shift thus caused. The trade-off analysis between them also reveals that concave parallel elasticity is able to achieve a more advantageous balance than linear and convex ones. It is expected that the results could contribute to our further understanding of muscle elasticity and provide a theoretical guideline on how to properly design parallel elasticity behaviours for engineering systems such as artificial actuators and robotic joints.

  16. Quantitative Estimation of the Climatic Effects of Carbon Transferred by International Trade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Ting; Dong, Wenjie; Moore, John; Yan, Qing; Song, Yi; Yang, Zhiyong; Yuan, Wenping; Chou, Jieming; Cui, Xuefeng; Yan, Xiaodong; Wei, Zhigang; Guo, Yan; Yang, Shili; Tian, Di; Lin, Pengfei; Yang, Song; Wen, Zhiping; Lin, Hui; Chen, Min; Feng, Guolin; Jiang, Yundi; Zhu, Xian; Chen, Juan; Wei, Xin; Shi, Wen; Zhang, Zhiguo; Dong, Juan; Li, Yexin; Chen, Deliang

    2016-06-22

    Carbon transfer via international trade affects the spatial pattern of global carbon emissions by redistributing emissions related to production of goods and services. It has potential impacts on attribution of the responsibility of various countries for climate change and formulation of carbon-reduction policies. However, the effect of carbon transfer on climate change has not been quantified. Here, we present a quantitative estimate of climatic impacts of carbon transfer based on a simple CO2 Impulse Response Function and three Earth System Models. The results suggest that carbon transfer leads to a migration of CO2 by 0.1-3.9 ppm or 3-9% of the rise in the global atmospheric concentrations from developed countries to developing countries during 1990-2005 and potentially reduces the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol by up to 5.3%. However, the induced atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate changes (e.g., in temperature, ocean heat content, and sea-ice) are very small and lie within observed interannual variability. Given continuous growth of transferred carbon emissions and their proportion in global total carbon emissions, the climatic effect of traded carbon is likely to become more significant in the future, highlighting the need to consider carbon transfer in future climate negotiations.

  17. Quantitative Estimation of the Climatic Effects of Carbon Transferred by International Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Ting; Dong, Wenjie; Moore, John; Yan, Qing; Song, Yi; Yang, Zhiyong; Yuan, Wenping; Chou, Jieming; Cui, Xuefeng; Yan, Xiaodong; Wei, Zhigang; Guo, Yan; Yang, Shili; Tian, Di; Lin, Pengfei; Yang, Song; Wen, Zhiping; Lin, Hui; Chen, Min; Feng, Guolin; Jiang, Yundi; Zhu, Xian; Chen, Juan; Wei, Xin; Shi, Wen; Zhang, Zhiguo; Dong, Juan; Li, Yexin; Chen, Deliang

    2016-06-01

    Carbon transfer via international trade affects the spatial pattern of global carbon emissions by redistributing emissions related to production of goods and services. It has potential impacts on attribution of the responsibility of various countries for climate change and formulation of carbon-reduction policies. However, the effect of carbon transfer on climate change has not been quantified. Here, we present a quantitative estimate of climatic impacts of carbon transfer based on a simple CO2 Impulse Response Function and three Earth System Models. The results suggest that carbon transfer leads to a migration of CO2 by 0.1-3.9 ppm or 3-9% of the rise in the global atmospheric concentrations from developed countries to developing countries during 1990-2005 and potentially reduces the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol by up to 5.3%. However, the induced atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate changes (e.g., in temperature, ocean heat content, and sea-ice) are very small and lie within observed interannual variability. Given continuous growth of transferred carbon emissions and their proportion in global total carbon emissions, the climatic effect of traded carbon is likely to become more significant in the future, highlighting the need to consider carbon transfer in future climate negotiations.

  18. Estimates of elastic plate thicknesses beneath large volcanos on Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcgovern, Patrick J.; Solomon, Sean C.

    1992-01-01

    Megellan radar imaging and topography data are now available for a number of volcanos on Venus greater than 100 km in radius. These data can be examined to reveal evidence of the flexural response of the lithosphere to the volcanic load. On Earth, flexure beneath large hotspot volcanos results in an annual topographic moat that is partially to completely filled in by sedimentation and mass wasting from the volcano's flanks. On Venus, erosion and sediment deposition are considered to be negligible at the resolution of Magellan images. Thus, it may be possible to observe evidence of flexure by the ponding of recent volcanic flows in the moat. We also might expect to find topographic signals from unfilled moats surrounding large volcanos on Venus, although these signals may be partially obscured by regional topography. Also, in the absence of sedimentation, tectonic evidence of deformation around large volcanos should be evident except where buried by very young flows. We use analytic solutions in axisymmetric geometry for deflections and stresses resulting from loading of a plate overlying an inviscid fluid. Solutions for a set of disk loads are superimposed to obtain a solution for a conical volcano. The deflection of the lithosphere produces an annular depression or moat, the extent of which can be estimated by measuring the distance from the volcano's edge to the first zero crossing or to the peak of the flexural arch. Magellan altimetry data records (ARCDRs) from data cycle 1 are processed using the GMT mapping and graphics software to produce topographic contour maps of the volcanos. We then take topographic profiles that cut across the annular and ponded flows seen on the radar images. By comparing the locations of these flows to the predicted moat locations from a range of models, we estimate the elastic plate thickness that best fits the observations, together with the uncertainty in that estimate.

  19. Estimating cross-price elasticity of e-cigarettes using a simulated demand procedure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grace, Randolph C; Kivell, Bronwyn M; Laugesen, Murray

    2015-05-01

    Our goal was to measure the cross-price elasticity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and simulated demand for tobacco cigarettes both in the presence and absence of e-cigarette availability. A sample of New Zealand smokers (N = 210) completed a Cigarette Purchase Task to indicate their demand for tobacco at a range of prices. They sampled an e-cigarette and rated it and their own-brand tobacco for favorability, and indicated how many e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes they would purchase at 0.5×, 1×, and 2× the current market price for regular cigarettes, assuming that the price of e-cigarettes remained constant. Cross-price elasticity for e-cigarettes was estimated as 0.16, and was significantly positive, indicating that e-cigarettes were partially substitutable for regular cigarettes. Simulated demand for regular cigarettes at current market prices decreased by 42.8% when e-cigarettes were available, and e-cigarettes were rated 81% as favorably as own-brand tobacco. However when cigarettes cost 2× the current market price, significantly more smokers said they would quit (50.2%) if e-cigarettes were not available than if they were available (30.0%). Results show that e-cigarettes are potentially substitutable for regular cigarettes and their availability will reduce tobacco consumption. However, e-cigarettes may discourage smokers from quitting entirely as cigarette price increases, so policy makers should consider maintaining a constant relative price differential between e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Demand for natural gas from industries in Brazil: an estimate of the price elasticity, income elasticity and forecast for 2008-2012 using VEC (Vector Error Correction) Model; Demanda por gas natural no Brasil: um estudo sobre as elasticidades preco e renda de longo prazo do segmento industrial e estimativa para o periodo de 2008-2012 usando modelo VEC (Vector Error Correction)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cabral, Renata [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Economia e Administracao; Parente, Virginia [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Inst. de Eletrotecnica e Energia

    2008-07-01

    The purpose of the present study is to estimate the long-run elasticities - manly price and income - of the demand for gas natural in the industrial category. After determining that the series under study were non-stationary, we chose to use the cointegration approach, estimating a Vector Error Correction Model (VEC Model). The obtained results show that the price elasticity for industrial sector in Brazil is higher than income elasticity. Although both of then is near to one, the price elasticity is higher that one unit while income elasticity is slightly lower. Predictions for the gas natural consumption in Brazil for industrials for 2008-2012 period are also made. (author)

  1. The Characteristics of Informed Trading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aslan, Hadiye; Easley, David; Hvidkjær, Søren

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates the linkage of microstructure, accounting, and asset pricing. We determine the relationship between firm characteristics as captured by accounting and market data and a firm's probability of private information-based trade (PIN) as estimated from trade data. This allows us...

  2. Computable general equilibrium modelling in the context of trade and environmental policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koesler, Simon Tobias

    2014-10-14

    This thesis is dedicated to the evaluation of environmental policies in the context of climate change. Its objectives are twofold. Its first part is devoted to the development of potent instruments for quantitative impact analysis of environmental policy. In this context, the main contributions include the development of a new computable general equilibrium (CGE) model which makes use of the new comprehensive and coherent World Input-Output Dataset (WIOD) and which features a detailed representation of bilateral and bisectoral trade flows. Moreover it features an investigation of input substitutability to provide modellers with adequate estimates for key elasticities as well as a discussion and amelioration of the standard base year calibration procedure of most CGE models. Building on these tools, the second part applies the improved modelling framework and studies the economic implications of environmental policy. This includes an analysis of so called rebound effects, which are triggered by energy efficiency improvements and reduce their net benefit, an investigation of how firms restructure their production processes in the presence of carbon pricing mechanisms, and an analysis of a regional maritime emission trading scheme as one of the possible options to reduce emissions of international shipping in the EU context.

  3. Computable general equilibrium modelling in the context of trade and environmental policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koesler, Simon Tobias

    2014-01-01

    This thesis is dedicated to the evaluation of environmental policies in the context of climate change. Its objectives are twofold. Its first part is devoted to the development of potent instruments for quantitative impact analysis of environmental policy. In this context, the main contributions include the development of a new computable general equilibrium (CGE) model which makes use of the new comprehensive and coherent World Input-Output Dataset (WIOD) and which features a detailed representation of bilateral and bisectoral trade flows. Moreover it features an investigation of input substitutability to provide modellers with adequate estimates for key elasticities as well as a discussion and amelioration of the standard base year calibration procedure of most CGE models. Building on these tools, the second part applies the improved modelling framework and studies the economic implications of environmental policy. This includes an analysis of so called rebound effects, which are triggered by energy efficiency improvements and reduce their net benefit, an investigation of how firms restructure their production processes in the presence of carbon pricing mechanisms, and an analysis of a regional maritime emission trading scheme as one of the possible options to reduce emissions of international shipping in the EU context.

  4. 39 CFR 3050.26 - Documentation of demand elasticities and volume forecasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Documentation of demand elasticities and volume... § 3050.26 Documentation of demand elasticities and volume forecasts. By January 20 of each year, the Postal Service shall provide econometric estimates of demand elasticity for all postal products...

  5. The Trading Potential of Eastern Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Zhen Kun; Winters, L. Alan

    1991-01-01

    This paper fits a gravity model to the trade of 76 market economies. It then applies the model to data on East European economies to estimate what their trading potential might have been, had behaved like market economies in the mid-1980s. At existing levels of national income, the liberalization of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is unlikely to affect their mutual trade and trade with developing countries, but it will increase trade with industrial counties by factors of three to thirty....

  6. Estimation of surface elasticity by the thickness change of liquid film and its correlation with foam stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lim, Jung Ryoul; Park, Jai Koo [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1996-04-30

    The relationship between foam stability and surface elasticity by the thickness change of liquid film was investigated. Foam stability was measured by draining liquid volume and decreasing gas volume as a function of time. Foam was formed by the fixed gas-injection the surfactant aqueous solution of different concentration. The used surfactants were sodium lauryl sulfate, hexadecane sulfonic acid sodium salt, and octane sulfonic acid sodium salt. Thickness of liquid film was estimated by using the volume ratio of liquid to gas in foam and surface elasticity of lamella was calculated by the surface tension and adsorbed amount. The thinning of liquid film is due to the combined effects of gravity and capillary suction, it would be ruptured at the minimum of lamella thickness which is called critical thickness. The lamella thickness of bubble which was formed at CMC(critical micelle concentration) was very thin. In the case of sodium lauryl sulfate, the thinning of lamella was continued in the range of measurement. The critical thicknesses of octane sulfonic acid sodium salt solution, hexadecane sulfonic acid sodium salt solution were determined to 0.479{approx}0.316, 0.209{approx}0.200 {mu}m, respectively. It was found that the tendency for foam stability was similar to that of lamella thickness. It was considered that foam which was formed at CMC has very high stability, and the order of foam stability for surfactant aqueous solution was sodium lauryl sulfate > hexadecane sulfonic acid sodium salt > octane sulfonic acid sodium salt. These results was considered that the lamella-rupturing was retarded by the relatively high surface elasticity of lamella. The saturated adsorption of surfactant was determined to 3.25{approx}3.04 * 10{sup -6} mol/m{sup 2} and the surface elasticity of lamella was also determined to 3{approx}56 mN/m. (author). 19 refs., 1 tab., 11 figs.

  7. Price elasticity of natural gas demand in the power generation sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McArdle, P.F.

    1990-01-01

    Today, the demand for energy by the electric generation sector is highly competitive and price-responsive. Previous estimates of the price elasticity of natural gas demand in this sector have focused primarily on data from the 1960s and 1970s. Such estimates fail to take full account of economic, regulatory, and legislative developments that have altered the structure of the electric generation market during the 1980s. Structural changes include an increased ability of utilities to choose among generating options, the increase in non-utility generators, the amending of the Fuel Use Act, and a more competitive market for electricity. An accurate estimate of price elasticity requires a refocusing on data from the post-1983 period. The purpose of this paper is to answer two questions: how price responsive (elastic) is natural gas demand in this market; and what changes in natural gas demand elasticity have occurred over time

  8. Bounds and self-consistent estimates for elastic constants of granular polycrystals composed of orthorhombics or crystal with higher symmetries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berryman, J. G.

    2011-02-01

    Methods for computing Hashin-Shtrikman bounds and related self-consistent estimates of elastic constants for polycrystals composed of crystals having orthorhombic symmetry have been known for about three decades. However, these methods are underutilized, perhaps because of some perceived difficulties with implementing the necessary computational procedures. Several simplifications of these techniques are introduced, thereby reducing the overall computational burden, as well as the complications inherent in mapping out the Hashin-Shtrikman bounding curves. The self-consistent estimates of the effective elastic constants are very robust, involving a quickly converging iteration procedure. Once these self-consistent values are known, they may then be used to speed up the computations of the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds themselves. It is shown furthermore that the resulting orthorhombic polycrystal code can be used as well to compute both bounds and self-consistent estimates for polycrystals of higher-symmetry tetragonal, hexagonal, and cubic (but not trigonal) materials. The self-consistent results found this way are shown to be the same as those obtained using the earlier methods, specifically those methods designed specially for each individual symmetry type. But the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds found using the orthorhombic code are either the same or (more typically) tighter than those found previously for these special cases (i.e., tetragonal, hexagonal, and cubic). The improvement in the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds is presumably due to the additional degrees of freedom introduced into the available search space.

  9. Examining the short-run price elasticity of gasoline demand in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brannan, Michael James

    Estimating the consumer demand response to changes in the price of gasoline has important implications regarding fuel tax policies and environmental concerns. There are reasons to believe that the short-run price elasticity of gasoline demand fluctuates due to changing structural and behavioral factors. In this paper I estimate the short-run price elasticity of gasoline demand in two time periods, from 2001 to 2006 and from 2007 to 2010. This study utilizes data at both the national and state levels to produce estimates. The short-run price elasticities range from -0.034 to -0.047 during 2001 to 2006, compared to -0.058 to -0.077 in the 2007 to 2010 period. This paper also examines whether there are regional differences in the short-run price elasticity of gasoline demand in the United States. However, there appears to only be modest variation in price elasticity values across regions.

  10. The real-time price elasticity of electricity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lijesen, Mark G.

    2007-01-01

    The real-time price elasticity of electricity contains important information on the demand response of consumers to the volatility of peak prices. Despite the importance, empirical estimates of the real-time elasticity are hardly available. This paper provides a quantification of the real-time relationship between total peak demand and spot market prices. We find a low value for the real-time price elasticity, which may partly be explained from the fact that not all users observe the spot market price. If we correct for this phenomenon, we find the elasticity to be fairly low for consumers currently active in the spot market. If this conclusion applies to all users, this would imply a limited scope for government intervention in supply security issues. (Author)

  11. A Panel Estimation of the Relationship Between Trade Liberalization, Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions in BRICS Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrara Mohsen

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In the last few years, several studies have found an inverted-U relationship between per capita income and environmental degradation. This relationship, known as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC, suggests that environmental degradation increases in the early stages of growth, but it eventually decreases as income exceeds a threshold level. However, this paper investigation relationship between per capita CO2 emission, growth economics and trade liberalization based on econometric techniques of unit root test, co-integration and a panel data set during the period 1960-1996 for BRICS countries. Data properties were analyzed to determine their stationarity using the LLC , IPS , ADF and PP unit root tests which indicated that the series are I(1. We find a cointegration relationship between per capita CO2 emission, growth economics and trade liberalization by applying Kao panel cointegration test. The evidence indi\tcates that in the long-run trade liberalization has a positive significant impact on CO2 emissions and impact of trade liberalization on emissions growth depends on the level of income Our findings suggest that there is a quadratic relationship between relationship between real GDP and CO2 emissions for the region as a whole. The estimated long-run coefficients of real GDP and its square satisfy the EKC hypothesis in all of studied countries. Our estimation shows that the inflection point or optimal point real GDP per capita is about 5269.4 dollars. The results show that on average, sample countries are on the positive side of the inverted U curve. The turning points are very low in some cases and very high in other cases, hence providing poor evidence in support of the EKC hypothesis. Thus, our findings suggest that all BRICS countries need to sacrifice economic growth to decrease their emission levels

  12. Estimation of elastic modulus of reinforcement corrosion products using inverse analysis of digital image correlation measurements for input in corrosion-induced cracking model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pease, Bradley Justin; Michel, Alexander; Thybo, Anna Emilie A.

    2012-01-01

    A combined experimental and numerical approach for estimating the elastic modulus of reinforcement corrosion products is presented. Deformations between steel and mortar were measured using digital image correlation during accelerated corrosion testing at 100 μA/cm2 (~1.16 mm/year). Measured defo...

  13. U.S. International Trade: Trends and Forecasts

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-11-26

    Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy, by William H. Cooper;CRS Report RL32371, Trade Remedies: A Primer, by Vivian C...initial public offering of the Blackstone Group, a U.S. private equity group. Morgan Stanley research estimates that such sovereign wealth funds could

  14. Projecting meat and cereals demand for China based on a meta-analysis of income elasticities

    OpenAIRE

    Zhou, De; Yu, Xiaohua; Abler, David; Chen, Danhong

    2014-01-01

    There are many projections for China’s food demand, and the projection results differ significantly from each other. Different values for income elasticities could be a major reason. This study projects meat and cereals demand for China based on a meta-analysis of the income elasticity estimates using a collection of 143 and 240 income elasticity estimates for cereals and meat products, respectively, from 36 primary studies. We find that income elasticities for most cereals (general cereals, ...

  15. Two Propositions on the Application of Point Elasticities to Finite Price Changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daskin, Alan J.

    1992-01-01

    Considers counterintuitive propositions about using point elasticities to estimate quantity changes in response to price changes. Suggests that elasticity increases with price along a linear demand curve, but falling quantity demand offsets it. Argues that point elasticity with finite percentage change in price only approximates percentage change…

  16. Meta-Analysis of the Oil Price Elasticity of the GDP for Policy Analysis: Documentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leiby, Paul Newsome [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Bowman, David Charles [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Oladosu, Gbadebo A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Uria Martinez, Rocio [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Johnson, Megan M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2017-08-01

    Given the important role of oil in economic activities, policy makers are interested in estimates of the potential damage to the economy from oil price shocks, particularly during periods of rapid and large increases that accompany severe shocks. Such estimates are needed to quantify the economic costs of oil price shocks, and to evaluate the potential benefits of alternative policy responses. Although research on the economic impacts of oil price shocks is extensive and has generally found that large increases in oil prices exert negative economic impacts, the range of estimates, summarized by the oil price elasticity of the GDP or other aggregate measure of economic activity, is very wide. There are also conditions under which the relationship between the oil price and the economy could be positive. The range of estimates of the oil price elasticity of the GDP for the United States is typified by averages from the studies of Hamilton (2005, 2012) and Kilian and Vigfusson (2014), in which the implied elasticities were -0.014 to - 0.069 and +0.004 to -0.052, respectively. We employ a meta-regression approach to systematically summarize available estimates of the oil price elasticity of the GDP for oil importing economies, and examine the role of key factors. The resulting regression model was used to estimate the oil price elasticity of the GDP for the United States. Based on this we estimate the mean elasticity for the United States at -0.0238, with a 68% confidence interval of -0.0075 to -0.0402, four quarters after a shock.

  17. What U.S. data should be used to measure the price elasticity of demand for alcohol?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruhm, Christopher J; Jones, Alison Snow; McGeary, Kerry Anne; Kerr, William C; Terza, Joseph V; Greenfield, Thomas K; Pandian, Ravi S

    2012-12-01

    This paper examines how estimates of the price elasticity of demand for beer vary with the choice of alcohol price series examined. Our most important finding is that the commonly used ACCRA price data are unlikely to reliably indicate alcohol demand elasticities-estimates obtained from this source vary drastically and unpredictably. As an alternative, researchers often use beer taxes to proxy for alcohol prices. While the estimated beer taxes elasticities are more stable, there are several problems with using taxes, including difficulties in accounting for cross-price effects. We believe that the most useful estimates reported in this paper are obtained using annual Uniform Product Code (UPC) "barcode" scanner data on grocery store alcohol prices. These estimates suggest relatively low demand elasticity, probably around -0.3, with evidence that the elasticities are considerably overstated in models that control for beer but not wine or spirits prices. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Suggestions for foreign trade enterprises to reduce cost after implementation of RMB cross-border trade settlement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Min

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available After RMB cross-border trade settlement was implemented, the ability of foreign trade enterprises to evade foreign exchange risk has enhanced to a great extent. In the meantime, with exchange rate fluctuations, foreign trade enterprises have become more sensitive with exchange rate variation. Based on predecessors’achievement, this thesis reasonably proposed a cost model applicable to foreign trade enterprises, in which the variables are all related to exchange rate. Therefore, by making exchange rate estimation, this thesis conducted data analysis and modeling, so as to find a way for foreign trade enterprises to predict exchange rate in a reasonable way. The thesis reached the conclusion that foreign trade enterprises can better control their cost based on RMB cross-border settlement.

  19. Heterogenous Intertemporal Elasticity of Substitution and Relative Risk Aversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khorunzhina, Natalia; Gayle, Wayne-Roy

    This paper investigates the existence and degree of variation across house holds and over time in the intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES) and the coefficient of relative risk aversion (RRA) that is generated by habit forming preferences. To do so, we develop a new nonlinear GMM estimator...... in food consumption. Using these estimates, we develop bounds for the expectation of the implied heterogenous intertemporal elasticity of substitution and relative risk aversion that account for measurement errors and compute asymptotically valid confidence intervals on these bounds. We find...

  20. cloudPEST - A python module for cloud-computing deployment of PEST, a program for parameter estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fienen, Michael N.; Kunicki, Thomas C.; Kester, Daniel E.

    2011-01-01

    This report documents cloudPEST-a Python module with functions to facilitate deployment of the model-independent parameter estimation code PEST on a cloud-computing environment. cloudPEST makes use of low-level, freely available command-line tools that interface with the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2(TradeMark)) that are unlikely to change dramatically. This report describes the preliminary setup for both Python and EC2 tools and subsequently describes the functions themselves. The code and guidelines have been tested primarily on the Windows(Registered) operating system but are extensible to Linux(Registered).

  1. The Measurement of Tax Elasticity in India: A Time Series Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Acharya, Hem

    2011-01-01

    Revenue generation is an important goal of tax reform. The built-in responsiveness of revenues to changes in income, tax elasticity, provides very critical information for tax policy formulation. This paper utilises a time series approach to empirically estimate tax elasticities for India for the period 1991-2010. Tax elasticities are computed for income, turnover, excise, import and total taxes for the post-reform period. The elasticity coefficients reveal a low responsiveness of taxes to i...

  2. Illegal trade in Barbary macaques

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Uhm, Daan|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/380477025

    2014-01-01

    While Morocco is well known as the main port between Africa and the EU for the illegal drugs trade and migration, the illegal trade in wildlife is flourishing as well. Next to the illegal large-scale trafficking of tortoises and birds, it is estimated that as few as 5,000 Barbary macaques remain in

  3. Resonance estimates for single spin asymmetries in elastic electron-nucleon scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbara Pasquini; Marc Vanderhaeghen

    2004-01-01

    We discuss the target and beam normal spin asymmetries in elastic electron-nucleon scattering which depend on the imaginary part of two-photon exchange processes between electron and nucleon. We express this imaginary part as a phase space integral over the doubly virtual Compton scattering tensor on the nucleon. We use unitarity to model the doubly virtual Compton scattering tensor in the resonance region in terms of γ* N → π N electroabsorption amplitudes. Taking those amplitudes from a phenomenological analysis of pion electroproduction observables, we present results for beam and target normal single spin asymmetries for elastic electron-nucleon scattering for beam energies below 1 GeV and in the 1-3 GeV region, where several experiments are performed or are in progress

  4. Estimating the extent and structure of trade in horticultural orchids via social media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinsley, Amy; Lee, Tamsin E; Harrison, Joseph R; Roberts, David L

    2016-10-01

    The wildlife trade is a lucrative industry involving thousands of animal and plant species. The increasing use of the internet for both legal and illegal wildlife trade is well documented, but there is evidence that trade may be emerging on new online technologies such as social media. Using the orchid trade as a case study, we conducted the first systematic survey of wildlife trade on an international social-media website. We focused on themed forums (groups), where people with similar interests can interact by uploading images or text (posts) that are visible to other group members. We used social-network analysis to examine the ties between 150 of these orchid-themed groups to determine the structure of the network. We found 4 communities of closely linked groups based around shared language. Most trade occurred in a community that consisted of English-speaking and Southeast Asian groups. In addition to the network analysis, we randomly sampled 30 groups from the whole network to assess the prevalence of trade in cultivated and wild plants. Of 55,805 posts recorded over 12 weeks, 8.9% contained plants for sale, and 22-46% of these posts pertained to wild-collected orchids. Although total numbers of posts about trade were relatively small, the large proportion of posts advertising wild orchids for sale supports calls for better monitoring of social media for trade in wild-collected plants. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  5. Estimating Loan-to-value Distributions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korteweg, Arthur; Sørensen, Morten

    2016-01-01

    We estimate a model of house prices, combined loan-to-value ratios (CLTVs) and trade and foreclosure behavior. House prices are only observed for traded properties and trades are endogenous, creating sample-selection problems for existing approaches to estimating CLTVs. We use a Bayesian filtering...

  6. Sensitivity analysis of Portfolio Volatility: Importance of Weights, Sectors and the Impact of Trading Strategies

    OpenAIRE

    E. Borgonovo; PERCOCO M

    2007-01-01

    This work discusses the Sensitivity Analysis (SA) of portfolio volatility ( σ_{p}) and its role in the interpretation of trading/reallocation strategies. Starting from recent findings in the SA field, we show that results obtained utilizing partial derivatives (PD) or Elasticity (E) cannot be applied to the analysis of the generic trading strategy. We show that such limitations can be overcome by making use of the Differential Importance Measure (D). We also show that, thanks to D additivity ...

  7. Elasticities of demand for gasoline in Canada and the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicol, C.J.

    2003-01-01

    Fluctuations in the world price of oil, the concern with greenhouse gas emissions and the efforts to revive the 1997 Kyoto Protocol have resulted in renewed interest in the estimation of elasticities of demand for gasoline. In this paper, a complete system of demand equations is estimated, including an equation for the demand for gasoline. Canadian family expenditure (FAMEX) and United States consumer expenditure (CEX) survey data are used. Household-level data permits estimation of elasticities for various household groups. Also, differences in demand responsiveness to own-price and income changes are estimated for different regions in Canada and the United States. Demand is found to be own-price and income inelastic, on the whole, as reported in earlier studies. There is also variation in these elasticities across regions of Canada and the United States. However, larger differences are observed with respect to household size and housing tenure, than to region of residence

  8. The impact of trade costs on rare earth exports : a stochastic frontier estimation approach.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanyal, Prabuddha; Brady, Patrick Vane; Vugrin, Eric D.

    2013-09-01

    The study develops a novel stochastic frontier modeling approach to the gravity equation for rare earth element (REE) trade between China and its trading partners between 2001 and 2009. The novelty lies in differentiating betweenbehind the border' trade costs by China and theimplicit beyond the border costs' of China's trading partners. Results indicate that the significance level of the independent variables change dramatically over the time period. While geographical distance matters for trade flows in both periods, the effect of income on trade flows is significantly attenuated, possibly capturing the negative effects of financial crises in the developed world. Second, the total export losses due tobehind the border' trade costs almost tripled over the time period. Finally, looking atimplicit beyond the border' trade costs, results show China gaining in some markets, although it is likely that some countries are substituting away from Chinese REE exports.

  9. Did the economic crisis change V4 trade patterns? The case of intra-industry trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patryk Emanuel TOPOROWSKI

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study revisits knowledge about the post-EU accession intra-industry trade development in the Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic. These countries—through trade liberalisation, European integration and EU accession—strengthened their position in the global value chains, part of which were located in Western Europe. This paper points out that during the global financial crisis, the changes in intra-industry specialisation were not coherent in the Visegrad countries. Moreover, in some cases, the specialisation even intensified. This paper also applies the Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond estimator to assess whether EU accession and the later global financial crisis were driving forces of the changing trade patterns of these countries. The results of the estimation proved the positive effect of European integration (before and after EU enlargement and the negative effect of the crisis.

  10. In Vivo Assessment of Elasticity of Child Rib Cortical Bone Using Quantitative Computed Tomography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Zhu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Elasticity of the child rib cortical bone is poorly known due to the difficulties in obtaining specimens to perform conventional tests. It was shown on the femoral cortical bone that elasticity is strongly correlated with density for both children and adults through a unique relationship. Thus, it is assumed that the relationships between the elasticity and density of adult rib cortical bones could be expanded to include that of children. This study estimated in vivo the elasticity of the child rib cortical bone using quantitative computed tomography (QCT. Twenty-eight children (from 1 to 18 y.o. were considered. Calibrated QCT images were prescribed for various thoracic pathologies. The Hounsfield units were converted to bone mineral density (BMD. A relationship between the BMD and the elasticity of the rib cortical bone was applied to estimate the elasticity of children’s ribs in vivo. The estimated elasticity increases with growth (7.1 ± 2.5 GPa at 1 y.o. up to 11.6 ± 1.9 GPa at 18 y.o.. This data is in agreement with the few previous values obtained using direct measurements. This methodology paves the way for in vivo assessment of the elasticity of the child cortical bone based on calibrated QCT images.

  11. Measuring the Gains from International Trade Allocated Across Countries

    OpenAIRE

    Chung, Dongsik

    2004-01-01

    The intraindustry trade, multiple posttrade equilibria and multiple pretrade equilibria almost invalidate the role of the terms of trade as a divider of trade gains and as a predictor of the direction of trade. The indices of international trade benefits (ITB), which will be developed in this paper, aim at complementing what the terms of trade lacks as well as making it possible to utilize the estimated trade gains in a meaningful manner.The indices relatively measure the portion that a tradi...

  12. Meta-Analysis of Price Elasticity for Urban Domestic Water Consumption in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Tajabadi

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Price elasticity plays a critical role in determining water tariff and its system. Many economic decision makers and researchers have estimated demand function for different cities in order to predict the associated income and price elasticity. In this research we reviewed 20 studies on urban domestic water demand function from which 63 price elasticity values were obtained. Since the price elasticity values obtained from these studies had significant statistical differences, the aim of this research is to determine the effective factors in price elasticity values as well as to analyze differences in such values using meta-analysis technique. The meta-analysis technique focuses on variation in water price elasticity results. The statistical meta-analysis technique focuses on two main objectives of publication bias or publication heterogeneity in reported results. The results indicated that publication bias is negligible while publication heterogeneity is significant. The major factors affecting price elasticity values are classified into 4 categories including theoretical, model, data and socio-geographical specifications. The result indicated that variables such as income, time-series datasets, natural logarithm function and use of stone-geary theory which is the basis for predicting many domestic water demand functions, significantly overestimate the price elasticity values. Also the geographical condition of the region, population density and use of OLS technique to estimate the demand parameters underestimates the price elasticity values.

  13. Trade Facilitation Indicators and their Potential Impact on Trade Between the Countries of South-Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toševska-Trpčevska Katerina

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we base our analysis on previous OECD findings and analysis of trade facilitation indicators for assessing relative economic and trade impact of specific trade facilitation measures for the countries of South-Eastern Europe. In the analysis we plan to include all CEFTA-2006 members, except Moldova, and other countries which are part of this region: Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. We plan to construct twelve trade facilitation indicators (TFIs that correspond to the main policy areas under negotiations at the WTO. The indicators are composed from seventy-eight variables, whose values are drawn from publicly available data. We plan to use these indicators in gravity model in order to estimate the impact of those policy areas on trade volumes between the countries of the region. The use of individual trade facilitation indicators should also enable countries to better assess which trade facilitation measures deserve priority.

  14. Substitution elasticities between GHG-polluting and nonpolluting inputs in agricultural production: A meta-regression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Boying; Richard Shumway, C.

    2016-01-01

    This paper reports meta-regressions of substitution elasticities between greenhouse gas (GHG) polluting and nonpolluting inputs in agricultural production, which is the main feedstock source for biofuel in the U.S. We treat energy, fertilizer, and manure collectively as the “polluting input” and labor, land, and capital as nonpolluting inputs. We estimate meta-regressions for samples of Morishima substitution elasticities for labor, land, and capital vs. the polluting input. Much of the heterogeneity of Morishima elasticities can be explained by type of primal or dual function, functional form, type and observational level of data, input categories, number of outputs, type of output, time period, and country categories. Each estimated long-run elasticity for the reference case, which is most relevant for assessing GHG emissions through life-cycle analysis, is greater than 1.0 and significantly different from zero. Most predicted long-run elasticities remain significantly different from zero at the data means. These findings imply that life-cycle analysis based on fixed proportion production functions could provide grossly inaccurate measures of GHG of biofuel. - Highlights: • This paper reports meta-regressions of substitution elasticities between greenhouse-gas (GHG) polluting and nonpolluting inputs in agricultural production, which is the main feedstock source for biofuel in the U.S. • We estimate meta-regressions for samples of Morishima substitution elasticities for labor, land, and capital vs. the polluting input based on 65 primary studies. • We found that each estimated long-run elasticity for the reference case, which is most relevant for assessing GHG emissions through life-cycle analysis, is greater than 1.0 and significantly different from zero. Most predicted long-run elasticities remain significantly different from zero at the data means. • These findings imply that life-cycle analysis based on fixed proportion production functions could

  15. Trade-off analysis of ecosystem services in Eastern Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ruijs, A.; Wossink, Ada; Kortelainen, M.; Alkemade, R.; Schulp, C.J.E.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we assess trade-offs between ecosystem services in a spatially explicit manner. From a supply side perspective, we estimate opportunity costs, which reflect in monetary terms the trade-offs between ecosystem services due to a marginal land use change. These are based on estimation of

  16. Elastic full-waveform inversion and parametrization analysis applied to walk-away vertical seismic profile data for unconventional (heavy oil) reservoir characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Wenyong; Innanen, Kristopher A.; Geng, Yu

    2018-06-01

    Seismic full-waveform inversion (FWI) methods hold strong potential to recover multiple subsurface elastic properties for hydrocarbon reservoir characterization. Simultaneously updating multiple physical parameters introduces the problem of interparameter trade-off, arising from the simultaneous variations of different physical parameters, which increase the nonlinearity and uncertainty of multiparameter FWI. The coupling effects of different physical parameters are significantly influenced by model parametrization and acquisition arrangement. An appropriate choice of model parametrization is important to successful field data applications of multiparameter FWI. The objective of this paper is to examine the performance of various model parametrizations in isotropic-elastic FWI with walk-away vertical seismic profile (W-VSP) data for unconventional heavy oil reservoir characterization. Six model parametrizations are considered: velocity-density (α, β and ρ΄), modulus-density (κ, μ and ρ), Lamé-density (λ, μ΄ and ρ‴), impedance-density (IP, IS and ρ″), velocity-impedance-I (α΄, β΄ and I_P^' }) and velocity-impedance-II (α″, β″ and I_S^' }). We begin analysing the interparameter trade-off by making use of scattering radiation patterns, which is a common strategy for qualitative parameter resolution analysis. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the scattering radiation patterns and recommend that interparameter trade-offs be evaluated using interparameter contamination kernels, which provide quantitative, second-order measurements of the interparameter contaminations and can be constructed efficiently with an adjoint-state approach. Synthetic W-VSP isotropic-elastic FWI experiments in the time domain verify our conclusions about interparameter trade-offs for various model parametrizations. Density profiles are most strongly influenced by the interparameter contaminations; depending on model parametrization, the inverted density

  17. Multi-Period Trading via Convex Optimization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boyd, Stephen; Busseti, Enzo; Diamond, Steve

    2017-01-01

    We consider a basic model of multi-period trading, which can be used to evaluate the performance of a trading strategy. We describe a framework for single-period optimization, where the trades in each period are found by solving a convex optimization problem that trades off expected return, risk......, transaction cost and holding cost such as the borrowing cost for shorting assets. We then describe a multi-period version of the trading method, where optimization is used to plan a sequence of trades, with only the first one executed, using estimates of future quantities that are unknown when the trades....... In this paper, we do not address a critical component in a trading algorithm, the predictions or forecasts of future quantities. The methods we describe in this paper can be thought of as good ways to exploit predictions, no matter how they are made. We have also developed a companion open-source software...

  18. Does urbanization affect energy intensities across provinces in China?Long-run elasticities estimation using dynamic panels with heterogeneous slopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Ben

    2015-01-01

    Although there has been extensive debate in the literature that addresses the impact of urbanization on total energy use, the relative magnitude of each impact channel has not been empirically examined and urbanization's effects on energy transition dynamics in China remains unknown. Using panel datasets at the provincial level from 1986 to 2011, this paper employs dynamic models to investigate both the long-run and short-run elasticities of urbanization on energy intensities and the most significant impact channel is identified. Coal intensity and electricity intensity are also modeled to reveal energy transition dynamics driven by urbanization. A set of newly developed regression techniques, namely well-performed common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG) estimators, are used to treat residual cross-sectional dependence, nonstationary residuals, and unlikely-to-hold homogeneous slope assumptions. The results obtained verify that the net effects of urbanization on overall energy intensity and electricity intensity are statistically positive, with long-run elasticities of 0.14% to 0.37% and 0.23% to 0.29%, respectively, whereas China's urbanization does not significantly increase coal intensity. The fact that short-run elasticities account for a majority of corresponding long-run values indicates that the short-run effect, that is, indirect energy use induced by urban infrastructures is the most significant impact channel of urbanization on energy use in China. An energy transition from high-pollution coal to clean electricity is also present in China, although the fundamental transition to renewable energy is still in its infancy. From a regional perspective, urbanization exerts asymmetric impacts on provincial energy use so that energy policies associated with urbanization should be province-specific. The findings also illustrate that for a panel dataset on regional dimension within large and fast-growing economies such

  19. Elastic energy release in great earthquakes and eruptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agust eGudmundsson

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The sizes of earthquakes are measured using well-defined, measurable quantities such as seismic moment and released (transformed elastic energy. No similar measures exist for the sizes of volcanic eruptions, making it difficult to compare the energies released in earthquakes and eruptions. Here I provide a new measure of the elastic energy (the potential mechanical energy associated with magma chamber rupture and contraction (shrinkage during an eruption. For earthquakes and eruptions, elastic energy derives from two sources: (1 the strain energy stored in the volcano/fault zone before rupture, and (2 the external applied load (force, pressure, stress, displacement on the volcano/fault zone. From thermodynamic considerations it follows that the elastic energy released or transformed (dU during an eruption is directly proportional to the excess pressure (pe in the magma chamber at the time of rupture multiplied by the volume decrease (-dVc of the chamber, so that . This formula can be used as a basis for a new eruption magnitude scale, based on elastic energy released, which can be related to the moment-magnitude scale for earthquakes. For very large eruptions (>100 km3, the volume of the feeder-dike is negligible, so that the decrease in chamber volume during an eruption corresponds roughly to the associated volume of erupted materials , so that the elastic energy is . Using a typical excess pressures of 5 MPa, it is shown that the largest known eruptions on Earth, such as the explosive La Garita Caldera eruption (27-28 million years ago and largest single (effusive Colombia River basalt lava flows (15-16 million years ago, both of which have estimated volumes of about 5000 km3, released elastic energy of the order of 10EJ. For comparison, the seismic moment of the largest earthquake ever recorded, the M9.5 1960 Chile earthquake, is estimated at 100 ZJ and the associated elastic energy release at 10EJ.

  20. WE-E-9A-01: Ultrasound Elasticity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Emelianov, S [University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States); Hall, T [University of WI-Madison, Madison, WI (United States); Bouchard, R [UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and UTHSC at Houston Graduate School of Biomed, Houston, TX (United States)

    2014-06-15

    Principles and techniques of ultrasound-based elasticity imaging will be presented, including quasistatic strain imaging, shear wave elasticity imaging, and their implementations in available systems. Deeper exploration of quasistatic methods, including elastic relaxation, and their applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations will be discussed. Transient elastography based on progressive and standing shear waves will be explained in more depth, along with applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations, as will measurement of complex elastic moduli. Comparisons will be made between ultrasound radiation force techniques, MR elastography, and the simple A mode plus mechanical plunger technique. Progress in efforts, such as that by the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance, to reduce the differences in the elastic modulus reported by different commercial systems will be explained. Dr. Hall is on an Advisory Board for Siemens Ultrasound and has a research collaboration with them, including joint funding by R01CA140271 for nonlinear elasticity imaging. Learning Objectives: Be reminded of the long history of palpation of tissue elasticity for critical medical diagnosis and the relatively recent advances to be able to image tissue strain in response to an applied force. Understand the differences between shear wave speed elasticity measurement and imaging and understand the factors affecting measurement and image frame repletion rates. Understand shear wave propagation effects that can affect measurements, such as essentially lack of propagation in fluids and boundary effects, so important in thin layers. Know characteristics of available elasticity imaging phantoms, their uses and limitations. Understand thermal and cavitational limitations affecting radiation force-based shear wave imaging. Have learning and references adequate to for you to use in teaching elasticity imaging to residents and technologists. Be able to explain how elasticity measurement

  1. WE-E-9A-01: Ultrasound Elasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Emelianov, S; Hall, T; Bouchard, R

    2014-01-01

    Principles and techniques of ultrasound-based elasticity imaging will be presented, including quasistatic strain imaging, shear wave elasticity imaging, and their implementations in available systems. Deeper exploration of quasistatic methods, including elastic relaxation, and their applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations will be discussed. Transient elastography based on progressive and standing shear waves will be explained in more depth, along with applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations, as will measurement of complex elastic moduli. Comparisons will be made between ultrasound radiation force techniques, MR elastography, and the simple A mode plus mechanical plunger technique. Progress in efforts, such as that by the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance, to reduce the differences in the elastic modulus reported by different commercial systems will be explained. Dr. Hall is on an Advisory Board for Siemens Ultrasound and has a research collaboration with them, including joint funding by R01CA140271 for nonlinear elasticity imaging. Learning Objectives: Be reminded of the long history of palpation of tissue elasticity for critical medical diagnosis and the relatively recent advances to be able to image tissue strain in response to an applied force. Understand the differences between shear wave speed elasticity measurement and imaging and understand the factors affecting measurement and image frame repletion rates. Understand shear wave propagation effects that can affect measurements, such as essentially lack of propagation in fluids and boundary effects, so important in thin layers. Know characteristics of available elasticity imaging phantoms, their uses and limitations. Understand thermal and cavitational limitations affecting radiation force-based shear wave imaging. Have learning and references adequate to for you to use in teaching elasticity imaging to residents and technologists. Be able to explain how elasticity measurement

  2. What U.S. Data Should be Used to Measure the Price Elasticity of Demand for Alcohol?*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruhm, Christopher J.; Jones, Alison Snow; McGeary, Kerry Anne; Kerr, William C.; Terza, Joseph V.; Greenfield, Thomas K.; Pandian, Ravi S.

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines how estimates of the price elasticity of demand for beer vary with the choice of alcohol price series examined. Our most important finding is that the commonly used ACCRA price data are unlikely to reliably indicate alcohol demand elasticities—estimates obtained from this source vary drastically and unpredictably. As an alternative, researchers often use beer taxes to proxy for alcohol prices. While the estimated beer taxes elasticities are more stable, there are several problems with using taxes, including difficulties in accounting for cross-price effects. We believe that the most useful estimates reported in this paper are obtained using annual Uniform Product Code (UPC) “barcode” scanner data on grocery store alcohol prices. These estimates suggest relatively low demand elasticity, probably around −0.3, with evidence that the elasticities are considerably overstated in models that control for beer but not wine or spirits prices. PMID:23022631

  3. Elastic response of thermal spray deposits under indentation tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leigh, S.H.; Lin, C.K.; Berndt, C.C.

    1997-01-01

    The elastic response behavior of thermal spray deposits at Knoop indentations has been investigated using indentation techniques. The ration of hardness to elastic modulus, which is an important prerequisite for the evaluation of indentation fracture toughness, is determined by measuring the elastic recovery of the in-surface dimensions of Knoop indentations. The elastic moduli of thermal spray deposits are in the range of 12%--78% of the comparable bulk materials and reveal the anisotropic behavior of thermal spray deposits. A variety of thermal spray deposits has been examined, including Al 2 O 3 , yttria-stabilized ZrO 2 (YSZ), and NiAl. Statistical tools have been used to evaluate the error estimates of the data

  4. Elastic-plastic waves in UV 0.2 Uranium alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernier, H.; Lalle, P.

    1984-09-01

    Release waves coming from the back face of an uranium alloy projectile in a symmetric collision are used to estimate some dynamic characteristics of this material. In the pressure range experimentally covered (<=29GPa) the velocity of the elastic precursor is about 3,45 km/s, and the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) is 1,15GPa. The pressure decrease behind the 20GPa (29GPa) shock wave begins with a quasi-elastic wave which velocity is 3,9 km/s (4,2 km/s), and pressure jump of 3GPa (3,7GPa)

  5. Inequalities in Global Trade: A Cross-Country Comparison of Trade Network Position, Economic Wealth, Pollution and Mortality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; Myroniuk, Tyler W

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we investigate how structural patterns of international trade give rise to emissions inequalities across countries, and how such inequality in turn impact countries' mortality rates. We employ Multi-regional Input-Output analysis to distinguish between sulfur-dioxide (SO2) emissions produced within a country's boarders (production-based emissions) and emissions triggered by consumption in other countries (consumption-based emissions). We use social network analysis to capture countries' level of integration within the global trade network. We then apply the Prais-Winsten panel estimation technique to a panel data set across 172 countries over 20 years (1990-2010) to estimate the relationships between countries' level of integration and SO2 emissions, and the impact of trade integration and SO2 emission on mortality rates. Our findings suggest a positive, (log-) linear relationship between a country's level of integration and both kinds of emissions. In addition, although more integrated countries are mainly responsible for both forms of emissions, our findings indicate that they also tend to experience lower mortality rates. Our approach offers a unique combination of social network analysis with multiregional input-output analysis, which better operationalizes intuitive concepts about global trade and trade structure.

  6. Trade Costs, Conflicts, and Defense Spending

    OpenAIRE

    Seitz, Michael; Tarasov, Alexander; Zakharenko, Roman

    2013-01-01

    This paper develops a quantitative model of trade, military conflicts, and defense spending. Trade liberalization between two countries reduces probability of an armed conflict between them, causing both to cut defense spending. This in turn causes a domino effect on defense spending by other countries. As a result, both countries and the rest of the world are better off. We estimate the model using data on trade, conflicts, and military spending. We find that, after reduction of costs of tra...

  7. Proceedings of the Emissions trading conference : effective strategies for successful emissions trading in a global market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    There is growing interest everywhere in the topic of emissions trading in order to meet the commitments made under the Kyoto Protocol. During this conference, most aspects of emissions trading were discussed, ranging from the need to establish credible emission reduction estimates to the means of achieving those goals, to the trading activities of Ontario Power Generation in the field of emissions trading both at the domestic and the international level. There were presentations that focussed on greenhouse gas policies, markets and strategic plays, and the preparation for the regulation of greenhouse gas. An emissions trading regime for Canada was examined by one of the presenters. This conference provided a useful venue for all stakeholders to discuss various strategies and ideas related to emissions trading. Speakers represented governments, the private sector and utilities, as well as the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. tabs., figs

  8. International trade and air pollution: estimating the economic costs of air emissions from waterborne commerce vessels in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallagher, Kevin P

    2005-10-01

    Although there is a burgeoning literature on the effects of international trade on the environment, relatively little work has been done on where trade most directly effects the environment: the transportation sector. This article shows how international trade is affecting air pollution emissions in the United States' shipping sector. Recent work has shown that cargo ships have been long overlooked regarding their contribution to air pollution. Indeed, ship emissions have recently been deemed "the last unregulated source of traditional air pollutants". Air pollution from ships has a number of significant local, national, and global environmental effects. Building on past studies, we examine the economic costs of this increasing and unregulated form of environmental damage. We find that total emissions from ships are largely increasing due to the increase in foreign commerce (or international trade). The economic costs of SO2 pollution range from dollars 697 million to dollars 3.9 billion during the period examined, or dollars 77 to dollars 435 million on an annual basis. The bulk of the cost is from foreign commerce, where the annual costs average to dollars 42 to dollars 241 million. For NOx emissions the costs are dollars 3.7 billion over the entire period or dollars 412 million per year. Because foreign trade is driving the growth in US shipping, we also estimate the effect of the Uruguay Round on emissions. Separating out the effects of global trade agreements reveals that the trade agreement-led emissions amounted to dollars 96 to dollars 542 million for SO2 between 1993 and 2001, or dollars 10 to dollars 60 million per year. For NOx they were dollars 745 million for the whole period or dollars 82 million per year. Without adequate policy responses, we predict that these trends and costs will continue into the future.

  9. INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henri L.F. de GROOT

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Ineffective institutions and bad governance increase transaction costs and reduce international transport flows. In this paper, we empirically investigate this basic notion, and we show that it can account for several, so far, somewhat puzzling results in the empirical literature estimating gravity equations of bilateral trade. More specifically, we show that differences in the quality and effectiveness of institutions offer an explanation for the tendency of OECD countries to trade disproportionately with each other, and with non-OECD countries, as well as for the positive effect of GDP per capita on bilateral trade.

  10. Model-Based Reconstructive Elasticity Imaging Using Ultrasound

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salavat R. Aglyamov

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Elasticity imaging is a reconstructive imaging technique where tissue motion in response to mechanical excitation is measured using modern imaging systems, and the estimated displacements are then used to reconstruct the spatial distribution of Young's modulus. Here we present an ultrasound elasticity imaging method that utilizes the model-based technique for Young's modulus reconstruction. Based on the geometry of the imaged object, only one axial component of the strain tensor is used. The numerical implementation of the method is highly efficient because the reconstruction is based on an analytic solution of the forward elastic problem. The model-based approach is illustrated using two potential clinical applications: differentiation of liver hemangioma and staging of deep venous thrombosis. Overall, these studies demonstrate that model-based reconstructive elasticity imaging can be used in applications where the geometry of the object and the surrounding tissue is somewhat known and certain assumptions about the pathology can be made.

  11. Measurement of Conjectural Variations Elasticity in an Oligopoly Structure (Using Iwata Approach for Iranians Food and Beverage Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Nabishahyakitash

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate Conjectural Variations elasticity in Iranians Food and Beverage industry using Iwata approach, The conjectural variation function is extracted from demand and supply information also optimization process on producers’ behavior. The experimental estimates of conjectural variation elasticities were obtained based on price elasticity of demand, cost elasticity and marginal cost elasticity for the selected industries. In this research demand function AIDS was used to obtain the price elasticity. The AIDS function was estimated using SUR and the demand price elasticity is calculated by calfent. The results show that "Vegetable oils and animal" industry with 19.37 have the most conjectural variation elasticity among the selected industries (The more divergent the conjectural variation elasticity is from zero the more likely the monopoly exists. In addition, dairy, sugar and malt industries have the most conjectural variation elasticity with 18.01, 17.18, and 10.51 respectively.

  12. Trade Liberalization between Russia and East Asian Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Izotov

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Based on the international statistics data the author estimates effects of trade liberalization between Russia and East Asian countries. The prospective niche markets in mutual trade and the impact of trade liberalization on the national economies were identified. Using a partial equilibrium model the author indicates the following positive trade effects for Russia and East Asia: trade creation effect prevails over trade diversion effect; general welfare and mutual trade of the countries tend to increase. The Russian economy has positive trade effects with all the East Asian countries, with the highest scale in the case of Sino-Russian trade. At the same time trade liberalization has following some costs for the Russian economy: a the growing role of imports, mostly from China, compared to Russian exports; b reduction of tariff revenues, which are four times higher for Russia, compared to East Asian countries; c continued negative trade balance with the East Asian countries. The evaluation shows that the increase of Russian exports to East Asian countries is feasible only for certain commodity groups which determine marketable niches of specific East Asian countries; at the same time, Russia can import from East Asia a huge range of commodity groups. The study reveals that reduction in tariff measures and non- tariff restrictions will not lead to a massive increase in Russian exports and changing in its trade and geographical structure. On the basis of prolongation of short-term trends the author identifies long-term challenges and opportunities for the Russian economy from trade liberalization with East Asian countries. According to the estimation results, the author suggests that in the current environment of global trade liberalization the tariff measures become less significant as a tool for redistribution of commodity flows

  13. Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    K.K. Krisztina (Kis-Katos); R.A. Sparrow (Robert)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractWe examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use a balanced panel of 261 districts, based

  14. Bayesian Analysis of Demand Elasticity in the Italian Electricity Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Chiara D'Errico

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The liberalization of the Italian electricity market is a decade old. Within these last ten years, the supply side has been extensively analyzed, but not the demand side. The aim of this paper is to provide a new method for estimation of the demand elasticity, based on Bayesian methods applied to the Italian electricity market. We used individual demand bids data in the day-ahead market in the Italian Power Exchange (IPEX, for 2011, in order to construct an aggregate demand function at the hourly level. We took into account the existence of both elastic and inelastic bidders on the demand side. The empirical results show that elasticity varies significantly during the day and across periods of the year. In addition, the elasticity hourly distribution is clearly skewed and more so in the daily hours. The Bayesian method is a useful tool for policy-making, insofar as the regulator can start with a priori historical information on market behavior and estimate actual market outcomes in response to new policy actions.

  15. Invester Response to Consumer Elasticity, Nordic Energy Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Stine Grenaa; Meibom, Peter; Ravn, Hans V.

    2004-01-01

    . The simulated investment decisions are taken in a stochastic, dynamic setting, where a key point is the timing of the investment decision in relation to the gathering of new information relative to the stochastic elements. Based on this, the consequences of the development in consumer price elasticity......, and it is generally assumed that the demand side has an important role in this, and increasingly so. However, since consumers have not earlier had the incentive to respond to electricity prices, no reliable estimate of demand elasticity is known. The purpose of the present study is to analyse the role of electricity...... demand elasticity for investments in new electricity production capacity. Electricity price scenarios generated with a partial equilibrium model (Balmorel) are combined with a model of investment decisions. In this, various scenarios concerning the development in the demand elasticity are used...

  16. Trade Finance and Trade Collapse during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Young Song

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the role of trade finance in the trade collapse of 2008-09 from the perspective of the Korean economy. We use two approaches. Firstly, as background to a more formal analysis, we make a casual observation on the behavior of aggregate data on trade finance, on which Korea has relatively abundant data. Aggregate data do not convincingly support the view that trade finance played an active role in causing the trade collapse. The measures of trade finance and the value of trade both dropped sharply, but the ratio of trade finance over trade was stable and in some cases increased during the crisis period. Secondly, using quarterly data on listed firms in Korea, we conduct panel estimations to test whether firms that are more dependent on external finance experienced greater export contraction during the crisis. Our regression analysis suggests that the financial vulnerability of firms, measured by various financial ratios, did not contribute to export contraction during the financial crisis. This observation largely applies even to smaller firms, who are usually thought of as being more vulnerable financially. However, we find that small exporters that relied heavily on cross-border trade payables or receivables suffered larger drops in export growth during the crisis.

  17. Virtual water embodied in international trade of soybean

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caro, Dario; Thomsen, Marianne

    This study focuses on hidden water flows embodied in the international trade of soybean. The virtual water content embedded in soybean imported and exported by 174 countries during the period 2000-2013 is estimated.......This study focuses on hidden water flows embodied in the international trade of soybean. The virtual water content embedded in soybean imported and exported by 174 countries during the period 2000-2013 is estimated....

  18. Stiffness Characteristics of Composite Rotor Blades With Elastic Couplings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piatak, David J.; Nixon, Mark W.; Kosmatka, John B.

    1997-01-01

    Recent studies on rotor aeroelastic response and stability have shown the beneficial effects of incorporating elastic couplings in composite rotor blades. However, none of these studies have clearly identified elastic coupling limits and the effects of elastic couplings on classical beam stiffnesses of representative rotor blades. Knowledge of these limits and effects would greatly enhance future aeroelastic studies involving composite rotor blades. The present study addresses these voids and provides a preliminary design database for investigators who may wish to study the effects of elastic couplings on representative blade designs. The results of the present study should provide a basis for estimating the potential benefits associated with incorporating elastic couplings without the need for first designing a blade cross section and then performing a cross-section analysis to obtain the required beam section properties as is customary in the usual one-dimensional beam-type approach.

  19. Permit trading and credit trading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boom, Jan-Tjeerd; R. Dijstra, Bouwe

    This paper compares emissions trading based on a cap on total emissions (permit trading) and on relative standards per unit of output (credit trading). Two types of market structure are considered: perfect competition and Cournot oligopoly. We find that output, abatement costs and the number...... of firms are higher under credit trading. Allowing trade between permit-trading and credit-trading sectors may increase in welfare. With perfect competition, permit trading always leads to higher welfare than credit trading. With imperfect competition, credit trading may outperform permit trading....... Environmental policy can lead to exit, but also to entry of firms. Entry and exit have a profound impact on the performance of the schemes, especially under imperfect competition. We find that it may be impossible to implement certain levels of total industry emissions. Under credit trading several levels...

  20. Inequalities in Global Trade: A Cross-Country Comparison of Trade Network Position, Economic Wealth, Pollution and Mortality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; Myroniuk, Tyler W.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper we investigate how structural patterns of international trade give rise to emissions inequalities across countries, and how such inequality in turn impact countries’ mortality rates. We employ Multi-regional Input-Output analysis to distinguish between sulfur-dioxide (SO2) emissions produced within a country’s boarders (production-based emissions) and emissions triggered by consumption in other countries (consumption-based emissions). We use social network analysis to capture countries’ level of integration within the global trade network. We then apply the Prais-Winsten panel estimation technique to a panel data set across 172 countries over 20 years (1990–2010) to estimate the relationships between countries’ level of integration and SO2 emissions, and the impact of trade integration and SO2 emission on mortality rates. Our findings suggest a positive, (log-) linear relationship between a country’s level of integration and both kinds of emissions. In addition, although more integrated countries are mainly responsible for both forms of emissions, our findings indicate that they also tend to experience lower mortality rates. Our approach offers a unique combination of social network analysis with multiregional input-output analysis, which better operationalizes intuitive concepts about global trade and trade structure. PMID:26642202

  1. Price elasticity and medication use: cost sharing across multiple clinical conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gatwood, Justin; Gibson, Teresa B; Chernew, Michael E; Farr, Amanda M; Vogtmann, Emily; Fendrick, A Mark

    2014-11-01

    To address the impact that out-of-pocket prices may have on medication use, it is vital to understand how the demand for medications may be affected when patients are faced with changes in the price to acquire treatment and how price responsiveness differs across medication classes.  To examine the impact of cost-sharing changes on the demand for 8 classes of prescription medications. This was a retrospective database analysis of 11,550,363 commercially insured enrollees within the 2005-2009 MarketScan Database. Patient cost sharing, expressed as a price index for each medication class, was the main explanatory variable to examine the price elasticity of demand. Negative binomial fixed effect models were estimated to examine medication fills. The elasticity estimates reflect how use changes over time as a function of changes in copayments. Model estimates revealed that price elasticity of demand ranged from -0.015 to -0.157 within the 8 categories of medications (P  less than  0.01 for 7 of 8 categories). The price elasticity of demand for smoking deterrents was largest (-0.157, P  less than  0.0001), while demand for antiplatelet agents was not responsive to price (P  greater than 0.05). The price elasticity of demand varied considerably by medication class, suggesting that the influence of cost sharing on medication use may be related to characteristics inherent to each medication class or underlying condition.

  2. Short- and long-run elasticities of electricity demand in the Korean service sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim, Kyoung-Min; Lim, Seul-Ye; Yoo, Seung-Hoon

    2014-01-01

    This paper attempts to examine the electricity demand function in the Korean service sector using the annual data covering the period 1970–2011. The short- and long-run elasticities of electricity demand with respect to price and income are empirically estimated using a co-integration and error-correction model. The short- and long-run price elasticities are estimated to be −0.421 and −1.002, respectively. The short- and long-run income elasticities are computed to be 0.855 and 1.090, respectively. Electricity demand in the service sector is inelastic to changes in both price and income in the short-run, but elastic in the long-run. Therefore, it appears that a pricing policy is more effective than the direct regulation of reducing electricity demand in the long-run in order to stabilize the electricity demand in the service sector. Moreover, it is necessary to encourage a more efficient use of electricity to cope with increasing demand for electricity following economic growth because the electricity demand in the service sector is income-elastic in the long-run. - Highlights: • We examine the electricity demand function in the Korean service sector. • We use the annual data covering the period 1970–2011. • The demand function is estimated using a co-integration and error-correction model. • The short- and long-run price elasticities are −0.421 and −1.002, respectively. • The short- and long-run income elasticities are 0.855 and 1.090, respectively

  3. Pollution added credit trading (PACT). New dimensions in emissions trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaltegger, Stefan; Thomas, Tom

    1996-01-01

    To date, sources of hazardous, toxic, or otherwise harmful emissions have been regulated on a pollutant by pollutant basis. Environmental policies, even the more advanced 'incentive-based' programs, have focused on individual substances rather than on the overall environmental problem to which the substances contribute. This has produced results that are less economically efficient and ecologically effective than is desirable. A more comprehensive approach combines the principles of emission reduction credit trading with advances made recently in the field of environmental impact assessment, to yield an advanced form of inter-pollutant trading, which we refer to as pollution added credit trading (PACT). PACT incorporates a method for estimating the total environmental harm generated (pollution added) by a facility emitting a variety of pollutants. Weightings that reflect relative harm are used to calculate total pollution added. Each facility covered by PACT would receive annual allowances for total pollution added that they could discharge to the environment. As with existing emissions trading programs, surplus allowances could be sold and shortfalls would be covered by purchasing other facilities' surplus allowances. PACT is more efficient than single-pollutant emissions trading in that it captures differences in marginal reduction costs that exist between pollutants as well as between facilities. It is more ecologically effective because it focuses on the overall environmental problem, rather than on the individual pollutants that contribute to the problem

  4. Mass-stiffness substructuring of an elastic metasurface for full transmission beam steering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hyuk; Lee, Jun Kyu; Seung, Hong Min; Kim, Yoon Young

    2018-03-01

    The metasurface concept has a significant potential due to its novel wavefront-shaping functionalities that can be critically useful for ultrasonic and solid wave-based applications. To achieve the desired functionalities, elastic metasurfaces should cover full 2π phase shift and also acquire full transmission within subwavelength scale. However, they have not been explored much with respect to the elastic regime, because the intrinsic proportionality of mass-stiffness within the continuum elastic media causes an inevitable trade-off between abrupt phase shift and sufficient transmission. Our goal is to engineer an elastic metasurface that can realize an inverse relation between (amplified) effective mass and (weakened) stiffness in order to satisfy full 2π phase shift as well as full transmission. To achieve this goal, we propose a continuum elastic metasurface unit cell that is decomposed into two substructures, namely a mass-tuning substructure with a local dipolar resonator and a stiffness-tuning substructure composed of non-resonant multiply-perforated slits. We demonstrate analytically, numerically, and experimentally that this unique substructured unit cell can satisfy the required phase shift with high transmission. The substructuring enables independent tuning of the elastic properties over a wide range of values. We use a mass-spring model of the proposed continuum unit cell to investigate the working mechanism of the proposed metasurface. With the designed metasurface consisting of substructured unit cells embedded in an aluminum plate, we demonstrate that our metasurface can successfully realize anomalous steering and focusing of in-plane longitudinal ultrasonic beams. The proposed substructuring concept is expected to provide a new principle for the design of general elastic metasurfaces that can be used to efficiently engineer arbitrary wave profiles.

  5. Publication selection and the income elasticity of the value of a statistical life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doucouliagos, Hristos; Stanley, T D; Viscusi, W Kip

    2014-01-01

    Estimates of the value of a statistical life (VSL) establish the price government agencies use to value fatality risks. Transferring these valuations to other populations often utilizes the income elasticity of the VSL, which typically draw on estimates from meta-analyses. Using a data set consisting of 101 estimates of the income elasticity of VSL from 14 previously reported meta-analyses, we find that after accounting for potential publication bias the income elasticity of value of a statistical life is clearly and robustly inelastic, with a value of approximately 0.25-0.63. There is also clear evidence of the importance of controlling for levels of risk, differential publication selection bias, and the greater income sensitivity of VSL from stated preference surveys. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Series elasticity of the human triceps surae muscle : Measurement by controlled-release vs. resonance methods.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hof, AL; Boom, H; Robinson, C; Rutten, W; Neuman, M; Wijkstra, H

    1997-01-01

    With a newly developed Controlled-Release Ergometer the complete characteristic of the series elastic component can be measured in human muscles. Previous estimates were based on the resonance method: muscle elasticity was assessed from the resonance frequency of the muscle elasticity connected to a

  7. Investor response to consumer elasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grenaa Jensen, Stine; Meibom, Peter; Ravn, H.F.; Straarup, Sarah

    2004-01-01

    In the Nordic electricity system there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the long-term development in production capacity. The process towards liberalisation of the electricity sector started in a situation with a large reserve margin, but this margin is gradually vanishing. Since the potential investors in new production capacity are unaccustomed with investments under the new regime it is unknown if and when investments will take place. The electricity price is the key market signal to potential investors. The price is settled as a balance between supply and demand, and it is generally assumed that the demand side has an important role in this, and increasingly so. However, since consumers have not earlier had the incentive to respond to electricity prices, no reliable estimate of demand elasticity is known. The purpose of the present study is to analyse the role of electricity demand elasticity for investments in new electricity production capacity. Electricity price scenarios generated with a partial equilibrium model (Balmorel) are combined with a model of investment decisions. In this, various scenarios concerning the development in the demand elasticity are used. The simulated investment decisions are taken in a stochastic, dynamic setting, where a key point is the timing of the investment decision in relation to the gathering of new information relative to the stochastic elements. Based on this, the consequences of the development in consumer price elasticity for investments in a base load and a peak load plant are investigated. The main result of the analysis is that peak load investments can be made unprofitable by the development in consumer price elasticity, such that an investor will tend to wait with his peak load investment, until the development in consumer price elasticity has been revealed. (au)

  8. Micromechanics-based determination of effective elastic properties of polymer bonded explosives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerjee, Biswajit; Adams, D.O.

    2003-01-01

    Polymer bonded explosives are particulate composites containing a high volume fraction of stiff elastic explosive particles in a compliant viscoelastic binder. Since the volume fraction of particles can be greater than 0.9 and the modulus contrast greater than 20 000, rigorous bounds on the elastic moduli of the composite are an order of magnitude different from experimentally determined values. Analytical solutions are also observed to provide inaccurate estimates of effective elastic properties. Direct finite element approximations of effective properties require large computational resources because of the complexity of the microstructure of these composites. An alternative approach, the recursive cells method (RCM) is also explored in this work. Results show that the degree of discretization and the microstructures used in finite element models of PBXs can significantly affect the estimated Young's moduli

  9. Internal strain estimation for quantification of human heel pad elastic modulus: A phantom study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holst, Karen; Liebgott, Hervé; Wilhjelm, Jens E.

    2013-01-01

    Shock absorption is the most important function of the human heel pad. However, changes in heel pad elasticity, as seen in e.g. long-distance runners, diabetes patients, and victims of Falanga torture are affecting this function, often in a painful manner. Assessment of heel pad elasticity...... is usually based on one or a few strain measurements obtained by an external load-deformation system. The aim of this study was to develop a technique for quantitative measurements of heel pad elastic modulus based on several internal strain measures from within the heel pad by use of ultrasound images. Nine...... heel phantoms were manufactured featuring a combination of three heel pad stiffnesses and three heel pad thicknesses to model the normal human variation. Each phantom was tested in an indentation system comprising a 7MHz linear array ultrasound transducer, working as the indentor, and a connected load...

  10. Devaluation and trade balance in Latin American countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kahraman Kalyoncu

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to examine effectiveness of devaluation on the trade balance in four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. We use the Johansen-Juselius cointegration test and impulse response function to estimate the long-run and shortrun effects of devaluation on the trade balance. The estimated results suggest that depreciation improve the trade balance in the long run for the case of Argentina and Peru, and in the short-run there has been J-curve in Argentina and Peru. In addition, the cointegration is found among the four variables (trade balance, domestic income, foreign incomes and real exchange rate in the case of Argentina and Peru. The results also indicate that there is no cointegration relationship between these variables for Brazil and Mexico. The conclusion of the paper is that the evidence of the J-curve pattern was found for Argentina and Peru only.

  11. Disentangling regional trade agreements, trade flows and tobacco affordability in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appau, Adriana; Drope, Jeffrey; Labonté, Ronald; Stoklosa, Michal; Lencucha, Raphael

    2017-11-14

    In principle, trade and investment agreements are meant to boost economic growth. However, the removal of trade barriers and the provision of investment incentives to attract foreign direct investments may facilitate increased trade in and/or more efficient production of commodities considered harmful to health such as tobacco. We analyze existing evidence on trade and investment liberalization and its relationship to tobacco trade in Sub-Saharan African countries. We compare tobacco trading patterns to foreign direct investments made by tobacco companies. We estimate and compare changes in the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF) Economic Globalization measure, relative price measure and cigarette prices. Preferential regional trade agreements appear to have encouraged the consolidation of cigarette production, which has shaped trading patterns of tobacco leaf. Since 2002, British American Tobacco has invested in tobacco manufacturing facilities in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa strategically located to serve different regions in Africa. Following this, British America Tobacco closed factories in Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Mauritius and Angola. At the same time, Malawi and Tanzania exported a large percentage of tobacco leaf to European countries. After 2010, there was an increase in tobacco exports from Malawi and Zambia to China, which may be a result of preferential trade agreements the EU and China have with these countries. Economic liberalization has been accompanied by greater cigarette affordability for the countries included in our analysis. However, only excise taxes and income have an effect on cigarette prices within the region. These results suggest that the changing economic structures of international trade and investment are likely heightening the efficiency and effectiveness of the tobacco industry. As tobacco control advocates consider supply-side tobacco control interventions, they must consider carefully the effects of these economic agreements and

  12. Voluntary emission trading potential of Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ari, İzzet

    2013-01-01

    Climate change is likely to cause serious market failures, and carbon trading as a market instrument can help correct its negative impacts. The global carbon markets established to combat climate change include regulatory and voluntary markets. Turkey cannot utilise regulatory carbon markets under the Kyoto Protocol. As a result of her unique position in the UNFCCC, some offsetting projects in Turkey have benefitted only voluntary emission trading for the reduction of GHG emissions. Due to on-going climate change negotiation under the UNFCCC, it seems that Turkey will not use the current regulatory carbon markets. Thus, Turkey should promote the use of and participation in voluntary carbon markets. In this article, emission reduction potential via energy efficiency, renewable energy and solid waste management, and corresponding offsetting of credits with their estimated prices is investigated for the period between 2013 and 2020. The emission reduction potential for energy efficiency, renewable energy and solid waste management projects are estimated at 403, 312 and 356 million tons of CO 2 equivalent emissions respectively, totalling 1,071 million tons of CO 2 equivalent. The total revenue of the carbon certificates are estimated in the range of 19,775–33,386 million US Dollars for the same period. -- Highlights: •Turkey has 1,071 million tons GHG emission reduction in three sectors for 2013–2020. •Turkey can only use voluntary emission trading for reduction of GHGs. •Total revenue estimation could be between 19,775 and 33,386 million US Dollars. •Turkey's economy and emissions have been rapidly growing. •Turkey can more easily reduce its emission by using voluntary emission trading

  13. Elastic constants from microscopic strain fluctuations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sengupta; Nielaba; Rao; Binder

    2000-02-01

    Fluctuations of the instantaneous local Lagrangian strain epsilon(ij)(r,t), measured with respect to a static "reference" lattice, are used to obtain accurate estimates of the elastic constants of model solids from atomistic computer simulations. The measured strains are systematically coarse-grained by averaging them within subsystems (of size L(b)) of a system (of total size L) in the canonical ensemble. Using a simple finite size scaling theory we predict the behavior of the fluctuations as a function of L(b)/L and extract elastic constants of the system in the thermodynamic limit at nonzero temperature. Our method is simple to implement, efficient, and general enough to be able to handle a wide class of model systems, including those with singular potentials without any essential modification. We illustrate the technique by computing isothermal elastic constants of "hard" and "soft" disk triangular solids in two dimensions from Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations. We compare our results with those from earlier simulations and theory.

  14. A meta-analysis of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A SUR approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brons, Martijn; Rietveld, Piet [Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam (TIA), Roetersstraat 31, 1018 WB Amsterdam (Netherlands); Nijkamp, Peter [Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tinbergen Institute Amsterdam (TIA), Roetersstraat 31, 1018 WB Amsterdam (Netherlands); The Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research (NWO), postbus 93138 - 2509 AC Den Haag (Netherlands); Pels, Eric [Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2008-09-15

    Automobile gasoline demand can be expressed as a multiplicative function of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. This implies a linear relationship between the price elasticity of total fuel demand and the price elasticities of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. In this meta-analytical study we aim to investigate and explain the variation in empirical estimates of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A methodological novelty is that we use the linear relationship between the elasticities to develop a meta-analytical estimation approach based on a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model with Cross Equation Restrictions. This approach enables us to combine observations of different elasticities and thus increase our sample size. Furthermore, it allows for a more detailed interpretation of our meta-regression results. The empirical results of the study demonstrate that the SUR approach leads to more precise results (i.e., lower standard errors) than a standard meta-analytical approach. We find that, with mean short run and long run price elasticities of - 0.34 and - 0.84, respectively, the demand for gasoline is not very price sensitive. Both in the short and the long run, the impact of a change in the gasoline price on demand is mainly driven by responses in fuel efficiency and mileage per car and to a slightly lesser degree by changes in car ownership. Furthermore, we find that study characteristics relating to the geographic area studied, the year of the study, the type of data used, the time horizon and the functional specification of the demand equation have a significant impact on the estimated value of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. (author)

  15. A meta-analysis of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A SUR approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brons, Martijn; Rietveld, Piet; Nijkamp, Peter; Pels, Eric

    2008-01-01

    Automobile gasoline demand can be expressed as a multiplicative function of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. This implies a linear relationship between the price elasticity of total fuel demand and the price elasticities of fuel efficiency, mileage per car and car ownership. In this meta-analytical study we aim to investigate and explain the variation in empirical estimates of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. A methodological novelty is that we use the linear relationship between the elasticities to develop a meta-analytical estimation approach based on a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) model with Cross Equation Restrictions. This approach enables us to combine observations of different elasticities and thus increase our sample size. Furthermore, it allows for a more detailed interpretation of our meta-regression results. The empirical results of the study demonstrate that the SUR approach leads to more precise results (i.e., lower standard errors) than a standard meta-analytical approach. We find that, with mean short run and long run price elasticities of - 0.34 and - 0.84, respectively, the demand for gasoline is not very price sensitive. Both in the short and the long run, the impact of a change in the gasoline price on demand is mainly driven by responses in fuel efficiency and mileage per car and to a slightly lesser degree by changes in car ownership. Furthermore, we find that study characteristics relating to the geographic area studied, the year of the study, the type of data used, the time horizon and the functional specification of the demand equation have a significant impact on the estimated value of the price elasticity of gasoline demand. (author)

  16. Estimation of potential benefits of the implementation of the fundamental review of the trading book and leverage ratio

    OpenAIRE

    ALESSI LUCIA; CANNAS GIUSEPPINA; DI GIROLAMO FRANCESCA; OSSOLA ELISA; PAPANAGIOTOU EVANGELIA; PETRACCO GIUDICI Marco; ROSSI EDUARDO

    2016-01-01

    The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) introduces changes in capital requirements as a consequence of changes in the calculation of risk weighted assets (RWAs), as agreed in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. This report performs an ex-ante assessment of the benefits of this new legislative proposal and is included as an annex to the Impact Assessment of the Capital Requirement Regulation II (CRR II). The analysis is conducted by estimating the required variation in ban...

  17. Elastic Properties and Stability of Physisorbed Graphene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Lambin

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Graphene is an ultimate membrane that mixes both flexibility and mechanical strength, together with many other remarkable properties. A good knowledge of the elastic properties of graphene is prerequisite to any practical application of it in nanoscopic devices. Although this two-dimensional material is only one atom thick, continuous-medium elasticity can be applied as long as the deformations vary slowly on the atomic scale and provided suitable parameters are used. The present paper aims to be a critical review on this topic that does not assume a specific pre-knowledge of graphene physics. The basis for the paper is the classical Kirchhoff-Love plate theory. It demands a few parameters that can be addressed from many points of view and fitted to independent experimental data. The parameters can also be estimated by electronic structure calculations. Although coming from diverse backgrounds, most of the available data provide a rather coherent picture that gives a good degree of confidence in the classical description of graphene elasticity. The theory can than be used to estimate, e.g., the buckling limit of graphene bound to a substrate. It can also predict the size above which a scrolled graphene sheet will never spontaneously unroll in free space.

  18. Quasi-elastic Charm Production In Neutrino-nucleon Scattering

    CERN Document Server

    Bischofberger, M

    2005-01-01

    A study of quasi elastic charm production in charged current neutrino-nucleon scattering is presented. A sample of about 1.3 million interactions recorded with the NOMAD detector in the CERN SPS wide band neutrino beam has been searched for quasi elastically produced charmed baryons ( L+c,Sc and S*c ). The search has been performed in two exclusive decay channels of the L+c, both including a L . Also, the semi-inclusive decay channels L+c,Sc,S *c→L+X have been studied. Kinematic selection criteria have been chosen in order to obtain samples enriched with quasi elastic charm events. Signal efficiencies and background expectations have been estimated by Monte Carlo simulations. The observed number of events in each searched channel has been found to agree with the background expectation from charged and neutral current reactions and an upper limit for the cross section has been derived. For the quasi elastic charm production cross section averaged over the neutrino energy spectrum (&lan...

  19. The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olmstead, Todd A; Alessi, Sheila M; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M

    2015-05-01

    This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately -0.80. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. The price elasticity of demand for heroin: matched longitudinal and experimental evidence#

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olmstead, Todd A.; Alessi, Sheila M.; Kline, Brendan; Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo; Petry, Nancy M.

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports estimates of the price elasticity of demand for heroin based on a newly constructed dataset. The dataset has two matched components concerning the same sample of regular heroin users: longitudinal information about real-world heroin demand (actual price and actual quantity at daily intervals for each heroin user in the sample) and experimental information about laboratory heroin demand (elicited by presenting the same heroin users with scenarios in a laboratory setting). Two empirical strategies are used to estimate the price elasticity of demand for heroin. The first strategy exploits the idiosyncratic variation in the price experienced by a heroin user over time that occurs in markets for illegal drugs. The second strategy exploits the experimentally-induced variation in price experienced by a heroin user across experimental scenarios. Both empirical strategies result in the estimate that the conditional price elasticity of demand for heroin is approximately −0.80. PMID:25702687

  1. Income Elasticity of Vaccines Spending versus General Healthcare Spending.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfonso, Y Natalia; Ding, Guiru; Bishai, David

    2016-07-01

    Using cross-country data on gross domestic product and national expenditure on vaccines, we estimate and compare the income elasticity of vaccine expenditure and general curative healthcare expenditure. This study provides the first evidence on the national income elasticity of vaccination spending. Both fixed and random effects models are applied to data from 84 countries from 2010 to 2011. The income elasticities for healthcare expenditure and vaccine expenditure are 0.844 and 0.336, respectively. Despite vaccines' high cost-effectiveness, the national propensity to spend income on vaccines as income increases lags behind general health care. The low income elasticity of vaccine spending means that relying on economic growth alone will provide an unacceptably slow trajectory to achieving high vaccine coverage levels. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. The Logistics Performance Effect in International Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azmat Gani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The continuous growth in world trade depends on the efficiency of trade support structures such as the logistics services. Despite logistics integral role in supporting commercial activities, there has generally been a low level of analysis and trade policy research focus from trade practitioners. This paper explores the effect of logistics performance in international trade. The analysis draws on overall logistics performance as well as disaggregated measures of logistics specificities data for a large sample of countries. The empirical analysis involved the estimation of standard export and import equations incorporating measures of logistics performance. The findings show that the overall logistics performance is positively and statistically significantly correlated with exports and imports. The analysis is also extended by investigating if logistics specificities mattered for international trade. The findings reveal that several dimensions capturing logistics performance have statistically significant and positive effect, mostly on exports. The main policy implication is that continuous investment in logistics infrastructure and services can positively impact international trade.

  3. Computational Elastic Knots

    KAUST Repository

    Zhao, Xin

    2013-05-01

    Elastic rods have been studied intensively since the 18th century. Even now the theory of elastic rods is still developing and enjoying popularity in computer graphics and physical-based simulation. Elastic rods also draw attention from architects. Architectural structures, NODUS, were constructed by elastic rods as a new method of form-finding. We study discrete models of elastic rods and NODUS structures. We also develop computational tools to find the equilibria of elastic rods and the shape of NODUS. Applications of elastic rods in forming torus knot and closing Bishop frame are included in this thesis.

  4. Multiparameter elastic full-waveform inversion in the presence of azimuthally rotated orthorhombic anisotropy: Application to 9-C land data

    KAUST Repository

    Oh, Juwon

    2017-08-17

    To examine the feasibility of elastic full waveform inversion (FWI) for azimuthally rotated orthorhombic (rORT) media, we analyze the sensitivity of the 9-component (9C) land data set acquired on the surface on each of the ORT parameters. The trade-off analysis supports that the parameter set that includes deviation parameters offers the best choice for a 9C data set. Compared to the data from an explosive source, using the 9C land data, ORT parameters show different trade-off patterns for the different source and receiver components. For this reason, finding an optimal component considering trade-offs is another important issue to better recover subsurface rotated orthorhombic anisotropy.

  5. Measuring Gravity in International Trade Flows

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Young Song

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is two-fold. One is to clarify the concept of gravity in international trade flows. The other is to measure the strength of gravity in international trade flows in a way that is consistent with a well-defined concept of gravity. This paper shows that the widely accepted belief that specialization is the source of gravity is not well grounded on theory. We propose to define gravity in international trade as the force that makes the market shares of an exporting country constant in all importing countries, regardless of their sizes. In a stochastic context, we should interpret it as implying that the strength of gravity increases i as the correlation between market shares and market sizes gets weaker and ii as the variance of market shares gets smaller. We estimate an empirical gravity equation thoroughly based on this definition of gravity. We find that a strong degree of gravity exists in most bilateral trade, regardless of income levels of countries, and in trade of most manThe purpose of this paper is two-fold. One is to clarify the concept of gravity in international trade flows. The other is to measure the strength of gravity in international trade flows in a way that is consistent with a well-defined concept of gravity. This paper shows that the widely accepted belief that specialization is the source of gravity is not well grounded on theory. We propose to define gravity in international trade as the force that makes the market shares of an exporting country constant in all importing countries, regardless of their sizes. In a stochastic context, we should interpret it as implying that the strength of gravity increases i as the correlation between market shares and market sizes gets weaker and ii as the variance of market shares gets smaller. We estimate an empirical gravity equation thoroughly based on this definition of gravity. We find that a strong degree of gravity exists in most bilateral trade, regardless of

  6. The empirical analysis of cigarette tax avoidance and illicit trade in Vietnam, 1998-2010.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minh Thac Nguyen

    Full Text Available Illicit trade carries the potential to magnify existing tobacco-related health care costs through increased availability of untaxed and inexpensive cigarettes. What is known with respect to the magnitude of illicit trade for Vietnam is produced primarily by the industry, and methodologies are typically opaque. Independent assessment of the illicit cigarette trade in Vietnam is vital to tobacco control policy. This paper measures the magnitude of illicit cigarette trade for Vietnam between 1998 and 2010 using two methods, discrepancies between legitimate domestic cigarette sales and domestic tobacco consumption estimated from surveys, and trade discrepancies as recorded by Vietnam and trade partners. The results indicate that Vietnam likely experienced net smuggling in during the period studied. With the inclusion of adjustments for survey respondent under-reporting, inward illicit trade likely occurred in three of the four years for which surveys were available. Discrepancies in trade records indicate that the value of smuggled cigarettes into Vietnam ranges from $100 million to $300 million between 2000 and 2010 and that these cigarettes primarily originate in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, and Australia. Notable differences in trends over time exist between the two methods, but by comparison, the industry estimates consistently place the magnitude of illicit trade at the upper bounds of what this study shows. The unavailability of annual, survey-based estimates of consumption may obscure the true, annual trend over time. Second, as surveys changed over time, estimates relying on them may be inconsistent with one another. Finally, these two methods measure different components of illicit trade, specifically consumption of illicit cigarettes regardless of origin and smuggling of cigarettes into a particular market. However, absent a gold standard, comparisons of different approaches to illicit trade measurement serve efforts to refine

  7. The empirical analysis of cigarette tax avoidance and illicit trade in Vietnam, 1998-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Minh Thac; Denniston, Ryan; Nguyen, Hien Thi Thu; Hoang, Tuan Anh; Ross, Hana; So, Anthony D

    2014-01-01

    Illicit trade carries the potential to magnify existing tobacco-related health care costs through increased availability of untaxed and inexpensive cigarettes. What is known with respect to the magnitude of illicit trade for Vietnam is produced primarily by the industry, and methodologies are typically opaque. Independent assessment of the illicit cigarette trade in Vietnam is vital to tobacco control policy. This paper measures the magnitude of illicit cigarette trade for Vietnam between 1998 and 2010 using two methods, discrepancies between legitimate domestic cigarette sales and domestic tobacco consumption estimated from surveys, and trade discrepancies as recorded by Vietnam and trade partners. The results indicate that Vietnam likely experienced net smuggling in during the period studied. With the inclusion of adjustments for survey respondent under-reporting, inward illicit trade likely occurred in three of the four years for which surveys were available. Discrepancies in trade records indicate that the value of smuggled cigarettes into Vietnam ranges from $100 million to $300 million between 2000 and 2010 and that these cigarettes primarily originate in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, and Australia. Notable differences in trends over time exist between the two methods, but by comparison, the industry estimates consistently place the magnitude of illicit trade at the upper bounds of what this study shows. The unavailability of annual, survey-based estimates of consumption may obscure the true, annual trend over time. Second, as surveys changed over time, estimates relying on them may be inconsistent with one another. Finally, these two methods measure different components of illicit trade, specifically consumption of illicit cigarettes regardless of origin and smuggling of cigarettes into a particular market. However, absent a gold standard, comparisons of different approaches to illicit trade measurement serve efforts to refine and improve

  8. Autonomic Vertical Elasticity of Docker Containers with ElasticDocker

    OpenAIRE

    Al-Dhuraibi , Yahya; Paraiso , Fawaz; Djarallah , Nabil; Merle , Philippe

    2017-01-01

    International audience; Elasticity is the key feature of cloud computing to scale computing resources according to application workloads timely. In the literature as well as in industrial products, much attention was given to the elasticity of virtual machines, but much less to the elasticity of containers. However, containers are the new trend for packaging and deploying microservices-based applications. Moreover, most of approaches focus on horizontal elasticity, fewer works address vertica...

  9. Exchange Rate and the PRC Foreign Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izotov D. A.

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The stages of exchange rate regulation and foreign trade systems reforming in PRC during the period 1978-2008 are examined. A quantitative assessment of PRC foreign trade parameters reactions to the currency rate dynamics on the national and regional levels is made. Also the import and export impact of potential exchange rate changes is estimated

  10. Elasticity of Long Distance Travelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Mette Aagaard

    2011-01-01

    With data from the Danish expenditure survey for 12 years 1996 through 2007, this study analyses household expenditures for long distance travelling. Household expenditures are examined at two levels of aggregation having the general expenditures on transportation and leisure relative to five other...... aggregated commodities at the highest level, and the specific expenditures on plane tickets and travel packages at the lowest level. The Almost Ideal Demand System is applied to determine the relationship between expenditures on transportation and leisure and all other purchased non-durables within...... packages has higher income elasticity of demand than plane tickets but also higher than transportation and leisure in general. The findings within price sensitiveness are not as sufficient estimated, but the model results indicate that travel packages is far more price elastic than plane tickets which...

  11. Trade potential of climate smart goods of Vietnam: An application of gravity model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trung Van Vu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the trade potential of climate smart goods (CSG of Vietnam. In particular, the study employs gravity model with panel data for bilateral trade between Vietnam and its 45 partners from 2002 to 2013 with an objective of identifying the determinants explaining Vietnam's trade of climate smart products. The estimation results reveal that economic size, market size, distance, real exchange rate, border, and the quality of infrastructure of both Vietnam and its trading partners play a major role in bilateral trade of CSG. Additionally, the paper applies the method using speed of convergence and the estimated gravity equation to answer whether Vietnam has fully realized the potential trade of CSG. Accordingly, Vietnam has strong opportunity for trade expansion with 19 out of 45 countries in the scope of this paper.

  12. Global model for the lithospheric strength and effective elastic thickness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tesauro, M.; Kaban, M.K.; Cloetingh, S.A.P.L.

    2013-01-01

    Global distribution of the strength and effective elastic thickness (Te) of the lithosphere are estimated using physical parameters from recent crustal and lithospheric models. For the Te estimation we apply a new approach, which provides a possibility to take into account variations of Young

  13. Elastic properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ledbetter, H.M.

    1983-01-01

    This chapter investigates the following five aspects of engineering-material solid-state elastic constants: general properties, interrelationships, relationships to other physical properties, changes during cooling from ambient to near-zero temperature, and near-zero-temperature behavior. Topics considered include compressibility, bulk modulus, Young's modulus, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, Hooke's law, elastic-constant measuring methods, thermodynamic potentials, higher-order energy terms, specific heat, thermal expansivity, magnetic materials, structural phase transitions, polymers, composites, textured aggregates, and other-phenomena correlations. Some of the conclusions concerning polycrystalline elastic properties and their temperature dependence are: elastic constants are physical, not mechanical, properties which relate thermodynamically to other physical properties such as specific heat and thermal expansivity; elastic constants at low temperatures are nearly temperature independent, as required by the third law of thermodynamics; and elastic constants can be used to study directional properties of materials, such as textured aggregates and composites

  14. Agricultural Trade Restrictiveness in the European Union and the United States

    OpenAIRE

    Jean-Christophe Bureau; Luca Salvatici

    2001-01-01

    The paper provides a summary measure of the Uruguay Round tariff reduction commitments in the European Union and the United States, using the Mercantilistic Trade Restrictiveness Index (MTRI) as the tariff aggregator. We compute the index for agricultural commodity aggregates assuming a specific (Constant Elasticity of Substitution) functional form for import demand. The levels of the MTRI under the actual commitments of the Uruguay Round are computed and compared with two hypothetical cases,...

  15. Elastic full-waveform inversion of transmission data in 2D VTI media

    KAUST Repository

    Kamath, Nishant; Tsvankin, Ilya

    2014-01-01

    Full-waveform inversion (FWI) has been implemented mostly for isotropic media, with extensions to anisotropic models typically limited to acoustic approximations. Here, we develop elastic FWI for transmitted waves in 2D heterogeneous VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media. The model is parameterized in terms of the P- and S-wave vertical velocities and the P-wave normal-moveout and horizontal velocities. To test the FWI algorithm, we introduce Gaussian anomalies in the Thomsen parameters of a homogeneous VTI medium and perform FWI of transmission data for different configurations of the source and receiver arrays. The inversion results strongly depend on the acquisition geometry and the aperture because of the parameter trade-offs. In contrast to acoustic FWI, the elastic inversion helps constrain the S-wave vertical velocity, which for our model is decoupled from the other parameters.

  16. Elastic full-waveform inversion of transmission data in 2D VTI media

    KAUST Repository

    Kamath, Nishant

    2014-08-05

    Full-waveform inversion (FWI) has been implemented mostly for isotropic media, with extensions to anisotropic models typically limited to acoustic approximations. Here, we develop elastic FWI for transmitted waves in 2D heterogeneous VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media. The model is parameterized in terms of the P- and S-wave vertical velocities and the P-wave normal-moveout and horizontal velocities. To test the FWI algorithm, we introduce Gaussian anomalies in the Thomsen parameters of a homogeneous VTI medium and perform FWI of transmission data for different configurations of the source and receiver arrays. The inversion results strongly depend on the acquisition geometry and the aperture because of the parameter trade-offs. In contrast to acoustic FWI, the elastic inversion helps constrain the S-wave vertical velocity, which for our model is decoupled from the other parameters.

  17. In vivo areal modulus of elasticity estimation of the human tympanic membrane system: modelling of middle ear mechanical function in normal young and aged ears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaihede, Michael; Liao Donghua; Gregersen, Hans

    2007-01-01

    The quasi-static elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system can be described by the areal modulus of elasticity determined by a middle ear model. The response of the tympanic membrane to quasi-static pressure changes is determined by its elastic properties. Several clinical problems are related to these, but studies are few and mostly not comparable. The elastic properties of membranes can be described by the areal modulus, and these may also be susceptible to age-related changes reflected by changes in the areal modulus. The areal modulus is determined by the relationship between membrane tension and change of the surface area relative to the undeformed surface area. A middle ear model determined the tension-strain relationship in vivo based on data from experimental pressure-volume deformations of the human tympanic membrane system. The areal modulus was determined in both a younger (n = 10) and an older (n = 10) group of normal subjects. The areal modulus for lateral and medial displacement of the tympanic membrane system was smaller in the older group (mean = 0.686 and 0.828 kN m -1 , respectively) compared to the younger group (mean = 1.066 and 1.206 kN m -1 , respectively), though not significantly (2p = 0.10 and 0.11, respectively). Based on the model the areal modulus was established describing the summated elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system. Future model improvements include exact determination of the tympanic membrane area accounting for its shape via 3D finite element analyses. In vivo estimates of Young's modulus in this study were a factor 2-3 smaller than previously found in vitro. No significant age-related differences were found in the elastic properties as expressed by the areal modulus

  18. In vivo areal modulus of elasticity estimation of the human tympanic membrane system: modelling of middle ear mechanical function in normal young and aged ears

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaihede, Michael [Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg (Denmark); Liao Donghua [Centre of Excellence in Visceral Biomechanics and Pain, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg (Denmark); Gregersen, Hans [Centre of Excellence in Visceral Biomechanics and Pain, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg (Denmark)

    2007-02-07

    The quasi-static elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system can be described by the areal modulus of elasticity determined by a middle ear model. The response of the tympanic membrane to quasi-static pressure changes is determined by its elastic properties. Several clinical problems are related to these, but studies are few and mostly not comparable. The elastic properties of membranes can be described by the areal modulus, and these may also be susceptible to age-related changes reflected by changes in the areal modulus. The areal modulus is determined by the relationship between membrane tension and change of the surface area relative to the undeformed surface area. A middle ear model determined the tension-strain relationship in vivo based on data from experimental pressure-volume deformations of the human tympanic membrane system. The areal modulus was determined in both a younger (n = 10) and an older (n = 10) group of normal subjects. The areal modulus for lateral and medial displacement of the tympanic membrane system was smaller in the older group (mean = 0.686 and 0.828 kN m{sup -1}, respectively) compared to the younger group (mean = 1.066 and 1.206 kN m{sup -1}, respectively), though not significantly (2p = 0.10 and 0.11, respectively). Based on the model the areal modulus was established describing the summated elastic properties of the tympanic membrane system. Future model improvements include exact determination of the tympanic membrane area accounting for its shape via 3D finite element analyses. In vivo estimates of Young's modulus in this study were a factor 2-3 smaller than previously found in vitro. No significant age-related differences were found in the elastic properties as expressed by the areal modulus.

  19. Modelling energy and non-energy substitution: A brief survey of elasticities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frondel, Manuel

    2011-01-01

    Estimating the degree of substitution between energy and non-energy inputs is the key for any evaluation of environmental and energy policies. Yet, given the variety of substitution elasticities, the central question arises as to which measure would be most appropriate. Apparently, Allen's elasticities of substitution have been the most-used measures in applied production analysis. In line with , this paper argues that cross-price elasticities are preferable for many practical purposes. This conclusion is based on a survey of classical substitution measures, such as those from Allen, Morishima, and McFadden. The survey highlights the fact that cross-price elasticities are their essential ingredients. - Highlights: → Given the large variety of substitution elasticities, the central question arises as to which measure would be most appropriate. Apparently, Allen's elasticities of substitution have been the most-used measures in applied production analysis. → In line with , this paper argues that cross-price elasticities are preferable for many practical purposes. → This conclusion is based on a survey of classical substitution measures, such as those from Allen, Morishima, and McFadden. → The survey also highlights the fact that cross-price elasticities are their essential ingredients.

  20. Elastic properties of some transition metal arsenides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayak, Vikas; Verma, U. P.; Bisht, P. S.

    2018-05-01

    The elastic properties of transition metal arsenides (TMAs) have been studied by employing Wien2K package based on density functional theory in the zinc blende (ZB) and rock salt (RS) phase treating valance electron scalar relativistically. Further, we have also treated them non-relativistically to find out the relativistic effect. We have calculated the elastic properties by computing the volume conservative stress tensor for small strains, using the method developed by Charpin. The obtained results are discussed in paper. From the obtained results, it is clear that the values of C11 > C12 and C44 for all the compounds. The values of shear moduli of these compounds are also calculated. The internal parameter for these compounds shows that ZB structures of these compounds have high resistance against bond order. We find that the estimated elastic constants are in good agreement with the available data.

  1. Fingerprint Matching by Thin-plate Spline Modelling of Elastic Deformations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bazen, A.M.; Gerez, Sabih H.

    2003-01-01

    This paper presents a novel minutiae matching method that describes elastic distortions in fingerprints by means of a thin-plate spline model, which is estimated using a local and a global matching stage. After registration of the fingerprints according to the estimated model, the number of matching

  2. Incentive Elasticity of Demand for Bike/Walk Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-12-29

    The primary objective of this research is to estimate the "incentive" (price) elasticity of demand for using non-motorized transportation (specifically walking and bicycling) to work. Results can be used directly in the formation of local policies to...

  3. Monkey business : the illegal trade in Barbary macaques

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Uhm, D.P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/380477025

    2016-01-01

    This article focuses on the organization, modus operandi and trade route of the illegal trade in Barbary macaques. The Barbary macaque is the most seized CITES mammal in the EU, accounting for almost 25% of live mammalrelated seizures. It is estimated that as few as 5,000-6,000 Barbary macaques

  4. Consequences of the Doha Round Trade Reforms for Africa

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Osakwe, P.N.; Tongeren, van F.W.; Achterbosch, T.J.; Hammouda, H.B.

    2004-01-01

    This paper provides a quantitative estimate of the potential economic consequences of multilateral trade reform for Africa using a framework that explicitly incorporates issues of concern to the region, such as preference erosion, loss of tariff revenue, and trade facilitation. The results suggest

  5. Estimation of Elastic Modulus of Intact Rocks by Artificial Neural Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ocak, Ibrahim; Seker, Sadi Evren

    2012-11-01

    The modulus of elasticity of intact rock ( E i) is an important rock property that is used as an input parameter in the design stage of engineering projects such as dams, slopes, foundations, tunnel constructions and mining excavations. However, it is sometimes difficult to determine the modulus of elasticity in laboratory tests because high-quality cores are required. For this reason, various methods for predicting E i have been popular research topics in recently published literature. In this study, the relationships between the uniaxial compressive strength, unit weight ( γ) and E i for different types of rocks were analyzed, employing an artificial neural network and 195 data obtained from laboratory tests carried out on cores obtained from drilling holes within the area of three metro lines in Istanbul, Turkey. Software was developed in Java language using Weka class libraries for the study. To determine the prediction capacity of the proposed technique, the root-mean-square error and the root relative squared error indices were calculated as 0.191 and 92.587, respectively. Both coefficients indicate that the prediction capacity of the study is high for practical use.

  6. Elastic interactions between hydrogen atoms in metals. II. Elastic interaction energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shirley, A.I.; Hall, C.K.

    1986-01-01

    The fully harmonic lattice approximation derived in a previous paper is used to calculate the elastic interaction energies in the niobium-hydrogen system. The permanent-direct, permanent-indirect, induced-direct, and induced-indirect forces calculated previously each give rise to a corresponding elastic interaction between hydrogen atoms. The latter three interactions have three- and four-body terms in addition to the usual two-body terms. These quantities are calculated and compared with the corresponding two-body permanent elastic interactions obtained in the harmonic-approximation treatment of Horner and Wagner. The results show that the total induced elastic energy is approximately (1/3) the size of the total permanent elastic energy and opposite to it in sign. The total elastic energy due to three-body interactions is approximately (1/4) the size of the total two-body elastic energy, while the total four-body elastic energy is approximately 5% of the total two-body energy. These additional elastic energies are expected to have a profound effect on the thermodynamic and phase-change behavior of a metal hydride

  7. Modeling climate change impacts on water trading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Bin; Maqsood, Imran; Gong, Yazhen

    2010-04-01

    This paper presents a new method of evaluating the impacts of climate change on the long-term performance of water trading programs, through designing an indicator to measure the mean of periodic water volume that can be released by trading through a water-use system. The indicator is computed with a stochastic optimization model which can reflect the random uncertainty of water availability. The developed method was demonstrated in the Swift Current Creek watershed of Prairie Canada under two future scenarios simulated by a Canadian Regional Climate Model, in which total water availabilities under future scenarios were estimated using a monthly water balance model. Frequency analysis was performed to obtain the best probability distributions for both observed and simulated water quantity data. Results from the case study indicate that the performance of a trading system is highly scenario-dependent in future climate, with trading effectiveness highly optimistic or undesirable under different future scenarios. Trading effectiveness also largely depends on trading costs, with high costs resulting in failure of the trading program. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. International Trade in Environmental Protection Equipment: An Assessment of Existing Data (1993)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Study estimates total U.S. imports, exports, and trade balances for environmental protection (EP) equipment between 1980-1991. While the United States is a major exporter of EP equipment, trade in EP equipment constitutes a small percent of total US trade.

  9. Generic Advertising Optimum Budget for Iran’s Milk Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Shahbazi

    2016-05-01

    budget is 0.3674844 percent. In case of one market level with trade, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of farm input, changed from 0.3675013 to 0.3674941 percent. In case of two market level and no trade at either market levels, optimum budget is 0.5094457 percent. In case of two market levels with trade only at retail, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of retail goods are changed from 0.509446 to 0.3674844 percent. In case of two market levels with trade only at farm, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of farm input are changed from 0.5094600 to 0.5094951 percent. In case of two market levels with trade at both retail and farm, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of retail goods and farm input are changed from 0.5085780 to 0.5117381 percent. This index in variable proportion hypothesis will be changed from 0.4143826 to 0.4164392.Estimation of milk generic advertising optimum budget in scenario 2 shows that in case of one market level, fixed supplies and no trade, optimum budget is 9.639368 percent. In case of one market level and no trade, optimum budget 8.9480986 percent. In case of one market level with trade, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of farm input, changed from 8.948178 to 8.948440 percent. In case of two market level and no trade at either market levels, optimum budget is 14.4113143 percent. In case of two market levels with trade only at retail, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of retail goods are changed from 14.413087 to 14.447182 percent. In case of two market levels with trade only at farm, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of farm input are changed from 14.413301 to 14.413689 percent. In case of two market levels with trade at both retail and farm, optimum budget according to own price trade elasticity of retail goods and farm input are changed from 14.379081 to 14.413792 percent. This index in variable

  10. Culture as a Determinant of Competitive Advantage in Trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dekuwmini Mornah

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Culture plays a role in international trade much as it does in any other human activity. Attitudes and ways of life do matter even when a lucrative business opportunity exists, especially across national borders. This paper examines which aspects of culture give countries competitive edge in terms of bilateral trade performances. Specifically, do relatively higher scores in certain cultural dimensions have a deterministic effect on bilateral trade performance (terms of trade or bilateral trade balance? Methodology: We adopt empirical econometric estimation methods on trade data covering 59 countries and 29 years combined with the nine "Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE" culture dimensions, Our estimations were based on Robust Regression Analysis and Ordinary Least Squares methods. Findings: We find that indeed, certain aspects of culture enhance bilateral trade performance/competitiveness. Performance Orientation, Future Orientation, Institutional Collectivism, Gender Egalitarianism, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance improve bilateral trade performance while Assertiveness, Humane Orientation and In-Group Collectivism impair it. Research limitations: Direct measures of international competitiveness are not readily available. So we had to adopt proxies for measuring international competitiveness. Implications: Many countries want to boost international competitiveness. However, in the current world order with multilateral trade agreements under the WTO and increased transferability of technology, governments are clipped in terms of available trade policy options. By understanding which aspects of culture promote bilateral competitiveness and performance, governments could take steps to maximize their competitiveness. For instance, when negotiating trade treaties, policy makers may benefit from the knowledge of culture's impact on competitive advantage when selecting partners. Originality/value: To

  11. Estimating the price elasticity for demand for electricity by sector in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roula Inglesi-Lotz

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses electricity consumption patterns in South Africa in an attempt to understand and identify the roots of the current electricity crisis. This is done by investigating various economic sectors’ responses to price changes using panel data for the period 1993–2004. Positive and statistically significant price elasticities over this period were found for the transport (rail and commercial sectors while there are positive, but small and statistically insignificant responses to price changes in the agriculture and mining sectors. Only the industrial sector responded to changes in electricity prices according to theory, namely illustrating negative demand elasticities. This sector, however, dominates electricity consumption resulting in aggregate demand elasticities that are negative. These results explain, in part, the current electricity crisis. Given the historic low level of electricity prices in conjunction with, on the whole, a real price decline, i.e. price increases lower than the inflation rate; there was no major incentive to reduce electricity consumption and/or to be efficient. This result supports the notion that prices do have an important signalling effect in the economy. Hence, the electricity prices should be considered not only from an economic growth or social vantage point, but also from a supply and technocratic perspective, which includes environmental factors such as CO2-emissions. Prices should not be determined without considering the system-wide implications thereof.

  12. Analysis of price and income elasticities for cereals food crops in an ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The objective of the study is to estimate the price and income elasticities of cereals food crops in the study area. The results of the price and income elasticities of demand suggest that urban households in general are responsive to changes in own price and income in adjusting their consumption patterns. It was shown that ...

  13. Wave anisotropy of shear viscosity and elasticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudenko, O. V.; Sarvazyan, A. P.

    2014-11-01

    The paper presents the theory of shear wave propagation in a "soft solid" material possessing anisotropy of elastic and dissipative properties. The theory is developed mainly for understanding the nature of the low-frequency acoustic characteristics of skeletal muscles, which carry important diagnostic information on the functional state of muscles and their pathologies. It is shown that the shear elasticity of muscles is determined by two independent moduli. The dissipative properties are determined by the fourth-rank viscosity tensor, which also has two independent components. The propagation velocity and attenuation of shear waves in muscle depend on the relative orientation of three vectors: the wave vector, the polarization vector, and the direction of muscle fiber. For one of the many experiments where attention was distinctly focused on the vector character of the wave process, it was possible to make a comparison with the theory, estimate the elasticity moduli, and obtain agreement with the angular dependence of the wave propagation velocity predicted by the theory.

  14. Exploring the Local Elastic Properties of Bilayer Membranes Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pieffet, Gilles; Botero, Alonso; Peters, Günther H.J.

    2014-01-01

    Membrane mechanical elastic properties regulate a variety of cellular processes involving local membrane deformation, such as ion channel function and vesicle fusion. In this work, we used molecular dynamics simulations to estimate the local elastic properties of a membrane. For this, we calculated...... the stretching process in molecular detail, allowing us to fit this profile to a previously proposed continuum elastic model. Through this approach, we calculated an effective membrane spring constant of 42 kJ-2.mol-1, which is in good agreement with the PMF calculation. Furthermore, the solvation energy we...

  15. Some aspects of the translog production function estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florin-Marius PAVELESCU

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In a translog production function, the number of parameters practically öexplodesö as the number of considered production factors increases. Consequently, the shortcoming in the estimation of the respective production function is the occurrence of collinearity. Theoretically, the collinearity impact is minimum if a single production factor is taken into account. In this case, we can determine not only the output elasticity but also the elasticity of scale related to the respective production factor. In the present paper, we demonstrate that the relationship between the output elasticity and estimated average elasticity of scale depends on the dynamics trajectory of the production factor, underexponential and overexponential, respectively. At the end, a practical example is offered, dealing with the computation of the Gross Domestic Product elasticity and average elasticity of scale related to employed population in the United Kingdom and France during 1999-2009.

  16. A Test of Endogenous Trade Bloc Formation Theory on EU Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Edward Baldwin

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper empirically confronts one explanation of spreading regionalism with the European experience. The domino theory asserts that forming a preferential trade area, or deepening an existing one, produces trade diversion that generates new political-economy forces in third nations as third-nation exporters seek to redress the new discrimination and profit from newly deepened preferences. The pressure increases with the bloc’s size, yet bloc size depends upon how many nations join, so a single incidence of regionalism may trigger several rounds of membership requests from nations that were previously happy to stay out. We estimate a time-series of EU trade creation and diversion over the last five decades and use these to estimate a model of EU membership demands. The results provide broad support for the model and show that trade diversion has a more powerful impact on membership than trade creation.

  17. Multi-scale imaging and elastic simulation of carbonates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faisal, Titly Farhana; Awedalkarim, Ahmed; Jouini, Mohamed Soufiane; Jouiad, Mustapha; Chevalier, Sylvie; Sassi, Mohamed

    2016-05-01

    Digital Rock Physics (DRP) is an emerging technology that can be used to generate high quality, fast and cost effective special core analysis (SCAL) properties compared to conventional experimental techniques and modeling techniques. The primary workflow of DRP conssits of three elements: 1) image the rock sample using high resolution 3D scanning techniques (e.g. micro CT, FIB/SEM), 2) process and digitize the images by segmenting the pore and matrix phases 3) simulate the desired physical properties of the rocks such as elastic moduli and velocities of wave propagation. A Finite Element Method based algorithm, that discretizes the basic Hooke's Law equation of linear elasticity and solves it numerically using a fast conjugate gradient solver, developed by Garboczi and Day [1] is used for mechanical and elastic property simulations. This elastic algorithm works directly on the digital images by treating each pixel as an element. The images are assumed to have periodic constant-strain boundary condition. The bulk and shear moduli of the different phases are required inputs. For standard 1.5" diameter cores however the Micro-CT scanning reoslution (around 40 μm) does not reveal smaller micro- and nano- pores beyond the resolution. This results in an unresolved "microporous" phase, the moduli of which is uncertain. Knackstedt et al. [2] assigned effective elastic moduli to the microporous phase based on self-consistent theory (which gives good estimation of velocities for well cemented granular media). Jouini et al. [3] segmented the core plug CT scan image into three phases and assumed that micro porous phase is represented by a sub-extracted micro plug (which too was scanned using Micro-CT). Currently the elastic numerical simulations based on CT-images alone largely overpredict the bulk, shear and Young's modulus when compared to laboratory acoustic tests of the same rocks. For greater accuracy of numerical simulation prediction, better estimates of moduli inputs

  18. Temperature dependence of grain boundary free energy and elastic constants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foiles, Stephen M.

    2010-01-01

    This work explores the suggestion that the temperature dependence of the grain boundary free energy can be estimated from the temperature dependence of the elastic constants. The temperature-dependent elastic constants and free energy of a symmetric Σ79 tilt boundary are computed for an embedded atom method model of Ni. The grain boundary free energy scales with the product of the shear modulus times the lattice constant for temperatures up to about 0.75 the melting temperature.

  19. Bilateral Trade Flows and Income Distribution Similarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Current models of bilateral trade neglect the effects of income distribution. This paper addresses the issue by accounting for non-homothetic consumer preferences and hence investigating the role of income distribution in the context of the gravity model of trade. A theoretically justified gravity model is estimated for disaggregated trade data (Dollar volume is used as dependent variable) using a sample of 104 exporters and 108 importers for 1980–2003 to achieve two main goals. We define and calculate new measures of income distribution similarity and empirically confirm that greater similarity of income distribution between countries implies more trade. Using distribution-based measures as a proxy for demand similarities in gravity models, we find consistent and robust support for the hypothesis that countries with more similar income-distributions trade more with each other. The hypothesis is also confirmed at disaggregated level for differentiated product categories. PMID:27137462

  20. The elasticity of Substitution in demand for Non tradable Goods in Latin America. Case Study: Argentina

    OpenAIRE

    Pablo Andres Neumeyer; Martín Gonzalez Rozada

    2003-01-01

    This objective of this paper is to estimate the elasticity of substitution in the demand for non-tradable goods relative to tradable goods in Argentina. This parameter plays a crucial role in the analysis of the macroeconomic equilibrium of a small open economy (Mendoza, Galindo and Izquierdo (2003)). Using two data sets we found estimates for this elasticity of, approximately, 0.40 and 0.48.

  1. A Factor Analysis of Trade Integration: The Case of Asian and Oceanic Economies

    OpenAIRE

    Yin-Wong Cheung; Matthew S. Yiu; Kenneth K. Chow

    2009-01-01

    We study trade integration among 15 selected Asian and Oceanic economies using factor models. The principal component approach is employed to extract the common factor that drives trade integration from bilateral trade integration series. It is found that the estimated common trade integration factor has strong seasonal and deterministic components. In accordance with theory, the common trade integration factor is significantly associated with the economic growth and the trade barriers of the...

  2. Constitution-specific features of perspiration and skin visco-elasticity in SCM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Young-Min; Ku, Boncho; Jung, Chang Jin; Kim, Jaeuk U; Jeon, Young Ju; Kim, Keun Ho; Kim, Jong Yeol

    2014-01-15

    Human skin properties have been used as an important diagnostic component in traditional medicine as they change with health conditions. Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) puts emphasis on the recognition of the constitution-specific skin features prior to the diagnostic decision of health. In this work, in search of skin-characteristics effectively reflecting SCM features, we compared several skin properties such as perspiration, visco-elasticity, elasticity, and elasticity hysteresis, in several candidate body parts. We conducted a clinical study in which a total of 111 healthy females aged 50 - 70 years participated with their Sasang constitution (SC) types determined objectively by the Sasang constitutional analytic tool. Perspiration on the skin surface was estimated by using a capacitance sensor to measure the amount of moisture on the palm, forehead, and philtrum before and after a heating stimulus. We acquired the visco-elasticity, elasticity, and elasticity hysteresis at the forearm by Dermalab's elasticity sensing device. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to evaluate the effect of SC on the nine skin features acquired. The visco-elasticity of the forearm of the Soeum-in (SE) group was significantly lower than that of the Taeeum-in (TE) group (F = 68.867, p elasticity hysteresis of the SE group was higher than that of the TE group (F = 10.364, p elasticity, elasticity hysteresis, perspiration on the forehead and philtrum. Our findings are based on a novel interpretation of the SCM literature and will contribute to developing the constitutional health status evaluation system in SCM.

  3. An Elastic Plastic Contact Model with Strain Hardening for the LAMMPS Granular Package

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuhr, Bryan [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Brake, Matthew Robert [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Component Science and Mechanics; Lechman, Jeremy B. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Nanoscale and Reactive Processes

    2015-03-01

    The following details the implementation of an analytical elastic plastic contact model with strain hardening for normal im pacts into the LAMMPS granular package. The model assumes that, upon impact, the co llision has a period of elastic loading followed by a period of mixed elastic plas tic loading, with contributions to each mechanism estimated by a hyperbolic seca nt weight function. This function is implemented in the LAMMPS source code as the pair style gran/ep/history. Preliminary tests, simulating the pouring of pure nickel spheres, showed the elastic/plastic model took 1.66x as long as similar runs using gran/hertz/history.

  4. Are Micro and Macro Labor Supply Elasticities Consistent? A Review of Evidence on the Intensive and Extensive Margins

    OpenAIRE

    Raj Chetty; Adam Guren; Day Manoli; Andrea Weber

    2011-01-01

    We evaluate whether state-of-the-art macro models featuring indivisible labor are consistent with modern quasi-experimental micro evidence by synthesizing evidence on both the intensive and extensive margins. We find that micro estimates are consistent with macro estimates of the steady-state (Hicksian) elasticities relevant for cross-country comparisons on both the extensive and intensive margins. However, micro estimates of intertemporal substitution (Frisch) elasticities are an order of ...

  5. Drilling rates and expected oil prices: The own price elasticity of US oil supply

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufmann, R.K.; Gruen, W.; Montesi, R.

    1994-01-01

    This paper evaluates the feasibility of policies to increase exploration and development by the oil industry. To do so, the authors estimate a new model for well completions in the United States that includes the effect of price expectations from survey data, that separates exploratory from development wells, and that uses a deflator based on the cost of drilling a well. The regression results indicate that the price elasticity of drilling is considerably smaller than previous estimates. When combined with recent analyses of drilling success, the results indicate that the own price elasticity of US oil supply is relatively small. The low price elasticity of supply indicates that efforts to increase domestic oil supplies by increasing well completions may be more expensive than believed previously

  6. Influence of market factors on the pricing of exchange traded metals in the medium term

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogdanov, S. V.; Shevelev, I. M.; Chernyi, S. A.

    2017-06-01

    On the basis of comparison of the influence of the stock exchange factors on the pricing of nonferrous metals for medium term with similar results for short term, it has been established that the main attention should be paid to the changes in the pricing environment on the metal market as a function of the prices of exchange traded metals. The situation on the market of energy carriers (hydrocarbons) and the European, American, and Asian stock exchanges can be based on parity and even significantly influence the variation of the metal prices. In the medium term, constructive development of metal trade should be reasonably promoted by changing the elasticity of supply with regard to prices for exchange traded metals and by applying the stock exchange factors that positively influence the pricing on commodity and stock markets.

  7. Sensitivity of price elasticity of demand to aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, price trends, and price endogeneity: Evidence from U.S. Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, Mark; Alberini, Anna

    2016-01-01

    Price elasticity estimates of residential electricity demand vary widely across the energy economics and policy literature. In this paper, we seek to explain these findings using three nationwide datasets from the U.S. – the American Housing Survey, Forms EIA-861, and the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. We examine the role of the sample period, level of aggregation, use of panel data, use of instrumental variables, and inclusion of housing characteristics and capital stock. Our findings suggest that price elasticities have remained relatively constant over time. Upon splitting our panel datasets into annual cross sections, we do observe a negative relationship between price elasticities and the average price. Whether prices are rising or falling appears to have little effect on our estimates. We also find that aggregating our data can result in both higher and lower price elasticity estimates, depending on the dataset used, and that controlling for unit-level fixed effects with panel data generally results in more inelastic demand functions. Addressing the endogeneity of price and/or measurement error in price with instrumental variables has a small but noticeable effect on the price elasticities. Finally, controlling for housing characteristics and capital stock produces a lower price elasticity. - Highlights: • The price elasticity of residential electricity demand varies widely across studies. • We use three large datasets from the US to examine reasons for such wide variation. • Some assessed effects include aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, and price trends. • Correcting for such issues can change the estimated price elasticity by 50–100%.

  8. A cross-country non parametric estimation of the returns to factors of production and the elasticity of scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adalmir Marquetti

    2009-06-01

    and 1995. The results support the hypotheses of constant returns to scale to factors and decreasing returns to accumulable factors. The low capital-labor ratio countries have important differences in factor elasticities in relation to other countries. The augmentation of the production function by human capital did not reduce the elasticity of physical capital as suggested by Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992. Moreover, it is investigated if thefactors shares are really equal to their output elasticity. The wage share raises with the capital labor ratio and the sum of the output elasticity of labor and human capital is below the wage share for high capital labor ratio countries, happening the inverse for low capital labor ratio countries. It indicates the presence of externalities, or imperfect competition or that the marginal theory of distribution is inaccurate.

  9. Pulling back the curtain on 'behind the border' trade costs: The case of EU-US agri-food trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanjuán, A.I.; Philippidis, G.; Resano, H.

    2017-01-01

    With the rise of anti-free-trade sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic, there is a growing urgency by trade negotiators to conclude the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The harmonisation of non-tariff restrictions is a key component of the talks, whilst global modelling databases typically lack a price compatible representation of these measures, which lends a degree of bias to ex-ante modelling assessments. In the gravity literature, there is (limited) evidence of non-tariff ad-valorem equivalent (AVE) estimates of agriculture and food, although disaggregated agri-food activities and/or bilateral EU-US route specific estimates are still in relatively short supply. Using panel data, this study consolidates both of these issues, whilst also proposing an ‘indirect’ gravity method as a basis upon which to provide econometric non-tariff AVE estimates compatible with the degree of sectoral concordance typically found in global modelling databases. On a general note, the results revealed the presence of significant behind the border trade costs on both sides of the Atlantic, which exceed their tariff counterparts. Using simple aggregated averages, our estimates are comparable with ‘direct’ gravity method studies. Furthermore, rigorous qualitative and quantitative comparisons on a sector-by-sector basis showed that a number of bilateral non-tariff AVEs are also found to be plausible, although in some cases, with recourse to relevant policy documents and expert opinion, it is debatable whether the EU or the US is more restrictive. Further work could focus on refining the sector specificity of each gravity equation to improve the model's predictive capacity.

  10. Pulling back the curtain on 'behind the border' trade costs: The case of EU-US agri-food trade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanjuán, A.I.; Philippidis, G.; Resano, H.

    2017-07-01

    With the rise of anti-free-trade sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic, there is a growing urgency by trade negotiators to conclude the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The harmonisation of non-tariff restrictions is a key component of the talks, whilst global modelling databases typically lack a price compatible representation of these measures, which lends a degree of bias to ex-ante modelling assessments. In the gravity literature, there is (limited) evidence of non-tariff ad-valorem equivalent (AVE) estimates of agriculture and food, although disaggregated agri-food activities and/or bilateral EU-US route specific estimates are still in relatively short supply. Using panel data, this study consolidates both of these issues, whilst also proposing an ‘indirect’ gravity method as a basis upon which to provide econometric non-tariff AVE estimates compatible with the degree of sectoral concordance typically found in global modelling databases. On a general note, the results revealed the presence of significant behind the border trade costs on both sides of the Atlantic, which exceed their tariff counterparts. Using simple aggregated averages, our estimates are comparable with ‘direct’ gravity method studies. Furthermore, rigorous qualitative and quantitative comparisons on a sector-by-sector basis showed that a number of bilateral non-tariff AVEs are also found to be plausible, although in some cases, with recourse to relevant policy documents and expert opinion, it is debatable whether the EU or the US is more restrictive. Further work could focus on refining the sector specificity of each gravity equation to improve the model's predictive capacity.

  11. Burial stress and elastic strain of carbonate rocks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fabricius, Ida Lykke

    2014-01-01

    Burial stress on a sediment or sedimentary rock is relevant for predicting compaction or failure caused by changes in, e.g., pore pressure in the subsurface. For this purpose, the stress is conventionally expressed in terms of its effect: “the effective stress” defined as the consequent elastic...... strain multiplied by the rock frame modulus. We cannot measure the strain directly in the subsurface, but from the data on bulk density and P‐wave velocity, we can estimate the rock frame modulus and Biot's coefficient and then calculate the “effective vertical stress” as the total vertical stress minus...... the product of pore pressure and Biot's coefficient. We can now calculate the elastic strain by dividing “effective stress” with the rock frame modulus. By this procedure, the degree of elastic deformation at a given time and depth can be directly expressed. This facilitates the discussion of the deformation...

  12. Short- and long-run elasticities in energy demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bentzen, J.; Engsted, T.

    1993-01-01

    Short- and long-run energy demand elasticities are estimated on Danish annual data for 1948-90. Energy consumption, the real price of energy and real GDP appear to be non-stationary variables. Cointegration and error-correction methods are therefore applied. All estimated parameters have the expected signs and magnitudes and no evidence is found of a structural break in energy demand caused by the increases in real energy prices since 1973/74. (author)

  13. An Empirical Investigation of Trade Flows Between Australia and its Major Trading Partners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel Belicka

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This study introduces Net Export (NX models to examine the determinants of the trade flows between Australia and eight selected trading partner (TP countries (China, France, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America in four selected Trade Deficit (TD categories (Pharmaceutical Products; Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Electrical Machinery and Equipment; Sound Recorders and Producers, and Vehicles Other Than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock. A total of 29 NX models are estimated, which are based on both the monetary and Quantity (QTY values. Findings in this study suggest that macroeconomic variables such as money supply, interest rates and savings rates have no-significant effect in the determination of the NX levels in the selected categories. This highlights that monetary policy cannot influence the NX levels in the selected TD categories in Australia. This study also identifies some policy implications which arise from this paper.

  14. The impacts of the global economic crisis on selected segments of the world trade in commodities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Horská

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the impacts of the economic crisis on the world trade in order to highlight the mutual interdependence of the development of the world output and trade. The paper observes mutual correlation in development of the world trade and output. The results of the analysis indicate that changes in the value of world GDP and world trade are correlated by more than 90%. It is important to mention that in the years 2000–2009, the value of world trade and world output increased significantly (although in 2009, a significant decline in both value and volume of global production and trade was recorded due to the crisis. In relation to the world trade, it should be noted that its commodity structure is dominated by trade in manufactures. The crisis that occurred in the period 2008–2009 greatly affected the world economy and trade in particular. In this respect it should be pointed out that the crisis mainly affected trade in manufactures and then trade in fuels and mining outputs in terms of both absolute and relative indicators. Agrarian trade dealt with the crisis the best and the impact of the crisis on development of its values and volume was the least significant. This verifies the fact that agrarian and food products tend to be the most resistant to the crisis (on contrary, in times of global economic growth or reconstruction, the trade in agrarian and food products shows lower degree of elasticity in relation to the global GDP growth in comparison to other segments of commodities trade.

  15. Blocky inversion of multichannel elastic impedance for elastic parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mozayan, Davoud Karami; Gholami, Ali; Siahkoohi, Hamid Reza

    2018-04-01

    Petrophysical description of reservoirs requires proper knowledge of elastic parameters like P- and S-wave velocities (Vp and Vs) and density (ρ), which can be retrieved from pre-stack seismic data using the concept of elastic impedance (EI). We propose an inversion algorithm which recovers elastic parameters from pre-stack seismic data in two sequential steps. In the first step, using the multichannel blind seismic inversion method (exploited recently for recovering acoustic impedance from post-stack seismic data), high-resolution blocky EI models are obtained directly from partial angle-stacks. Using an efficient total-variation (TV) regularization, each angle-stack is inverted independently in a multichannel form without prior knowledge of the corresponding wavelet. The second step involves inversion of the resulting EI models for elastic parameters. Mathematically, under some assumptions, the EI's are linearly described by the elastic parameters in the logarithm domain. Thus a linear weighted least squares inversion is employed to perform this step. Accuracy of the concept of elastic impedance in predicting reflection coefficients at low and high angles of incidence is compared with that of exact Zoeppritz elastic impedance and the role of low frequency content in the problem is discussed. The performance of the proposed inversion method is tested using synthetic 2D data sets obtained from the Marmousi model and also 2D field data sets. The results confirm the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method for inversion of pre-stack seismic data.

  16. Multitaper spectral method to estimate the elastic thickness of South China: Implications for intracontinental deformation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yangfan Deng

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The effective elastic thickness (Te represents the thickness of the elastic layer or the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere, the equivalent of which can be calculated from the spectral analysis of gravity and topographic data. Studies of Te have profound influence on intracontinental deformation, and coupling of the tectonic blocks. In this paper, we use the multitaper spectral estimation method to calculate the coherence between Bouguer gravity and topography data, and to obtain the Te map of South China. Through the process of correction, we discuss the relationships of Te versus heat flow, and Te versus seismicity. The results show that Te distribution of South China is affected by three factors: the original age, which controls the basic feature; the Mesozoic evolution, which affects the Te distribution; and the neotectonic movement, which shaped the final distribution. The crust age has a positive correlation with the first-order Te distribution; thus the Yangtze Craton has a relatively higher Te (about 50 km whereas the Te in Cathaysia block is only 10–20 km. By analysis and comparison among the tectonic models of South China, the Te distribution can be well explained using the flat-subduction model. As is typical with neotectonics, the region with a higher heat flow is related with a lower Te. The seismicity does not have a clear relationship with Te, but the strong seismicity could cause a low Te. Seismogenic layer (Ts has a similar trend as Te in the craton, whereas in other areas the relationship is complex.

  17. Impacts of licensed premises trading hour policies on alcohol-related harms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, Jo-An; Prodan, Ante; Livingston, Michael; Knowles, Dylan; O'Donnell, Eloise; Room, Robin; Indig, Devon; Page, Andrew; McDonnell, Geoff; Wiggers, John

    2018-07-01

    Evaluations of alcohol policy changes demonstrate that restriction of trading hours of both 'on'- and 'off'-licence venues can be an effective means of reducing rates of alcohol-related harm. Despite this, the effects of different trading hour policy options over time, accounting for different contexts and demographic characteristics, and the common co-occurrence of other harm reduction strategies in trading hour policy initiatives, are difficult to estimate. The aim of this study was to use dynamic simulation modelling to compare estimated impacts over time of a range of trading hour policy options on various indicators of acute alcohol-related harm. An agent-based model of alcohol consumption in New South Wales, Australia was developed using existing research evidence, analysis of available data and a structured approach to incorporating expert opinion. Five policy scenarios were simulated, including restrictions to trading hours of on-licence venues and extensions to trading hours of bottle shops. The impact of the scenarios on four measures of alcohol-related harm were considered: total acute harms, alcohol-related violence, emergency department (ED) presentations and hospitalizations. Simulation of a 3 a.m. (rather than 5 a.m.) closing time resulted in an estimated 12.3 ± 2.4% reduction in total acute alcohol-related harms, a 7.9 ± 0.8% reduction in violence, an 11.9 ± 2.1% reduction in ED presentations and a 9.5 ± 1.8% reduction in hospitalizations. Further reductions were achieved simulating a 1 a.m. closing time, including a 17.5 ± 1.1% reduction in alcohol-related violence. Simulated extensions to bottle shop trading hours resulted in increases in rates of all four measures of harm, although most of the effects came from increasing operating hours from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. An agent-based simulation model suggests that restricting trading hours of licensed venues reduces rates of alcohol-related harm and extending trading hours of bottle

  18. Verification and sensitivity analysis on the elastic stiffness of the leaf type holddown spring assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Kee Nam

    1998-01-01

    The elastic formula of leaf type hold down spring(HDS) assembly is verified by comparing the values of elastic stiffness with the characteristic test results of the HDS's specimens. The comparisons show that the derived elastic stiffness formula is useful in reliably estimating the elastic stiffness of leaf type HDS assembly. The elastic stiffness sensitivity of leaf type HDS assembly is analyzed using the formula and its gradient vectors obtained from the mid-point formula. As a result of sensitivity analysis, the elastic stiffness sensitivity with respect to each design variable is quantified and design variables of large sensitivity are identified. Among the design variables, leaf thickness is identified as the most sensitive design variable to the elastic of leaf type HDS assembly. In addition, the elastic stiffness sensitivity, with respect to design variable, is in power-law type correlation to the base thickness of the leaf. (author)

  19. Economic aspects of virtual water trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oki, Taikan; Yano, Shinjiro; Hanasaki, Naota

    2017-04-01

    Although water is rarely traded over long distances by itself, the total weight of the water consumed to produce traded commodities exceeds the weight of any other commodity traded in the world. This concept is known as virtual water trade. Although space-/time-/commodity-based quantification has been conducted extensively, the underlying causes of this peculiar feature have thus far received little exploration. Here, we use estimates of water consumption from a global hydrological model and statistical data related to food trade to elucidate three facts that explain the fundamental nature of virtual water trade with respect to alleviating water scarcity. First, we quantitatively illustrate the unique position of water among commodities based on its unit price and quantity of sales. Water has an extremely low unit price, and a tremendous volume of water is consumed per person each day. Second, we show that rich but water-scarce countries tend to reduce local water consumption by importing virtual water. Third, we demonstrate that nations characterized by net virtual water exports have higher water resources and income per capita and that no countries fall below a certain threshold with respect to both GDP and water resources. These points suggest that the virtual water trade is explained by economic characteristics of water and that sustainable development depends on promoting the co-development of poverty alleviation and water resource development.

  20. Cultural similarity and international trade in a panel of nations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E-G Hwang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Using a gravity model and the data of a panel of eight nations, we present evidence that supports the views that geographical influence on trade had increased from 1985 to 1997. In both years, linguistic influence on trade is found to exist in export but not in import. The estimated results show a positive relation between religious similarity and international trade for the year 1985 but not for the year 1997. However, there is an indication that, for 1997, the religious dissimilarity tends to discourage international trade with low-income countries and regions and to encourage international trade with high-income countries. We also find that, for low-income trade partners, religious dissimilarity retards imports more than exports; by contrast, for high-income trade partners, it encourages exports more than imports.

  1. Computational Elastic Knots

    KAUST Repository

    Zhao, Xin

    2013-01-01

    Elastic rods have been studied intensively since the 18th century. Even now the theory of elastic rods is still developing and enjoying popularity in computer graphics and physical-based simulation. Elastic rods also draw attention from architects

  2. 77 FR 34037 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Trade Secret...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-08

    ... Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Trade Secret Claims for Emergency Planning and Community... Planning and Community Right-to- Know Act (EPCRA). Title: Trade Secret Claims for Emergency Planning and...). Estimated total number of potential respondents: 481. Frequency of response: Trade secret claims are...

  3. A co-integration analysis of the price and income elasticities of energy demand in Turkish agriculture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuerkekul, Berna; Unakitan, Goekhan

    2011-01-01

    Agriculture has an important role in every country's development. Particularly, the contribution of agriculture to development and competitiveness is increasing with agricultural productivity growth. Productivity, in turn, is closely associated with direct and indirect use of energy as an input. Therefore, the importance of energy in agriculture cannot be denied as one of the basic inputs to the economic growth process. Following the importance of energy in Turkish agriculture, this study aims to estimate the long- and short-run relationship of energy consumption, agricultural GDP, and energy prices via co-integration and error correction (ECM) analysis. Annual data from 1970 to 2008 for diesel and electricity consumptions are utilized to estimate long-run and short-run elasticities. According to ECM analysis, for the diesel demand model, the long-run income and price elasticities were calculated as 1.47 and -0.38, respectively. For the electricity demand model, income and price elasticities were calculated at 0.19 and -0.72, respectively, in the long run. Briefly, in Turkey, support for energy use in agriculture should be continued in order to ensure sustainability in agriculture, increase competitiveness in international markets, and balance farmers' income. - Research highlights: → We estimate the long and short run elasticities for diesel and electricity demands in agriculture. → The long-run income and price elasticities calculated as 1.47 and 0.38, respectively for diesel. → The long run Income and price elasticities calculated as 0.19 and 0.72 for electricity.

  4. Trade reforms, mark-ups and bargaining power of workers: the case ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ethiopian Journal of Economics ... workers between 1996 and 2007, a model of mark-up with labor bargaining power was estimated using random effects and LDPDM. ... Keywords: Trade reform, mark-up, bargaining power, rent, trade unions ...

  5. Anonymous electronic trading versus floor trading

    OpenAIRE

    Franke, Günter; Hess, Dieter

    1995-01-01

    This paper compares the attractiveness of floor trading and anonymous electronic trading systems. It is argued that in times of low information intensity the insight into the order book of the electronic trading system provides more valuable information than floor trading, but in times of high information intensity the reverse is true. Thus, the electronic system's market share in trading activity should decline in times of high information intensity. This hypothesis is tested by data on BUND...

  6. Estimating Demand and Cross-Price Elasticity for Very Low Nicotine Content (VLNC) Cigarettes Using a Simulated Demand Task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Megan R; Laugesen, Murray; Grace, Randolph C

    2017-03-03

    Very Low Nicotine Content (VLNC) cigarettes might be useful as part of a tobacco control strategy, but relatively little is known about their acceptability as substitutes for regular cigarettes. We compared subjective effects and demand for regular cigarettes and Very Low Nicotine Content (VLNC) cigarettes, and estimated cross-price elasticity for VLNC cigarettes, using simulated demand tasks. 40 New Zealand smokers sampled a VLNC cigarette and completed Cigarette Purchase Tasks to indicate their demand for regular cigarettes and VLNC cigarettes at a range of prices, and a cross-price task indicating how many regular cigarettes and VLNC cigarettes they would purchase at 0.5x, 1x, and 2x the current market price for regular cigarettes, assuming the price of VLNC cigarettes remained constant. They also rated the subjective effects of the VLNC cigarette and their usual-brand regular cigarettes. Cross-price elasticity for VLNC cigarettes was estimated as 0.24 and was significantly positive, indicating that VLNC cigarettes are partially substitutable for regular cigarettes. VLNC cigarettes were rated as less satisfying and psychologically rewarding than regular cigarettes, but this was unrelated to demand or substitutability. VLNC cigarettes are potentially substitutable for regular cigarettes. Their availability may reduce tobacco consumption, nicotine intake and addiction; making it easier for smokers to quit. VLNC cigarettes share the behavioural and sensory components of smoking whilst delivering negligible levels of nicotine. Although smokers rated VLNCs as less satisfying than regular cigarettes, smokers said they would increase their consumption of VLNCs as the price of regular cigarettes increased, if VLNCs were available at a lower price. This suggests that VLNCs are partially substitutable for regular cigarettes. VLNCs can be part of an effective tobacco control strategy, by reducing nicotine dependence and improving health and financial outcomes for smokers

  7. Interface effects on effective elastic moduli of nanocrystalline materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Gangfeng; Feng Xiqiao; Yu Shouwen; Nan Cewen

    2003-01-01

    Interfaces often play a significant role in many physical properties and phenomena of nanocrystalline materials (NcMs). In the present paper, the interface effects on the effective elastic property of NcMs are investigated. First, an atomic potential method is suggested for estimating the effective elastic modulus of an interface phase. Then, the Mori-Tanaka effective field method is employed to determine the overall effective elastic moduli of a nanocrystalline material, which is regarded as a binary composite consisting of a crystal or inclusion phase with regular lattice connected by an amorphous-like interface or matrix phase. Finally, the stiffening effects of strain gradients are examined on the effective elastic property by using the strain gradient theory to analyze a representative unit cell. Our analysis shows two physical mechanisms of interfaces that influence the effective stiffness and other mechanical properties of materials. One is the softening effect due to the distorted atomic structures and the increased atomic spacings in interface regions, and another is the baffling effect due to the existence of boundary layers between the interface phase and the crystalline phase

  8. An estimation of crude oil import demand in Turkey: Evidence from time-varying parameters approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozturk, Ilhan; Arisoy, Ibrahim

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to model crude oil import demand and estimate the price and income elasticities of imported crude oil in Turkey based on a time-varying parameters (TVP) approach with the aim of obtaining accurate and more robust estimates of price and income elasticities. This study employs annual time series data of domestic oil consumption, real GDP, and oil price for the period 1966–2012. The empirical results indicate that both the income and price elasticities are in line with the theoretical expectations. However, the income elasticity is statistically significant while the price elasticity is statistically insignificant. The relatively high value of income elasticity (1.182) from this study suggests that crude oil import in Turkey is more responsive to changes in income level. This result indicates that imported crude oil is a normal good and rising income levels will foster higher consumption of oil based equipments, vehicles and services by economic agents. The estimated income elasticity of 1.182 suggests that imported crude oil consumption grows at a higher rate than income. This in turn reduces oil intensity over time. Therefore, crude oil import during the estimation period is substantially driven by income. - Highlights: • We estimated the price and income elasticities of imported crude oil in Turkey. • Income elasticity is statistically significant and it is 1.182. • The price elasticity is statistically insignificant. • Crude oil import in Turkey is more responsive to changes in income level. • Crude oil import during the estimation period is substantially driven by income.

  9. Single-crystal elastic constants of a plutonium-gallium alloy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moment, R.L.

    1976-01-01

    The single-crystal elastic constants of a plutonium-1 wt % gallium alloy were determined at room temperature by measuring ultrasonic sound-wave velocities. The three independent elastic constants of this face-centered cubic delta-phase alloy were determined from the longitudinal and the two shear-wave velocities, all along a direction. Their values are C 11 =3.628, C 12 =2.673 and C 44 =3.359 in units of 10 10 N/m 2 ; the respective errors are estimated to be 1%, 1%, and 0.3 %. The Zener anisotropy ratio is 7.03, almost twice that known for any other fcc metal, and falls among the ratios for the body centered cubic alkali metals, which are noted for their high elastic anisotropy. Polycrystalline elastic constants calculated from the single-crystal data are Young's modulus E=4.064, the shear modulus G=1.596 and the bulk modulus (reciprocal compressibility) B=2.991, all in units of 10 10 N/m 2 , and Poisson's ratio γ=0.27. These values of E and G are both lower than those obtained by Taylor, Linford and Dean from measurements on polycrystalline specimens. Within a single crystal, the longitudinal sound velocity varies with direction by a factor of 1.4 and the transverse velocity by a factor of 2.6. The maximum Young's modulus (along ) was 5.4 times larger than the minimum (along ). The Debye temperature was calculated to be 105.7 K at 293 K and estimated to be 114 K at 0.K. (Auth.)

  10. Is Mercosur promoting trade? Insights from Argentinean wine exports

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dal Bianco, A.; Estrella-Orrego, M.J.; Boatto, V.L.; Gennari, A.J.

    2017-09-01

    As a consequence of the rapid and significative decrease in domestic demand, to avoid structural surplus traditional wine producing countries have been forced to export a growing share of their wine production. This article empirically investigates Argentinean trade policy on the wine sector over the last years, in order to understand its effect on export flows. An expanded gravity model was estimated through a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator, in order to account for heteroskedasticity. The data used refer to Argentinean exports of bottled wine to all main world importers during the period 1997-2010, and account for more than 90% of total trade flows. Our results show that Mercosur membership has promoted Argentinean wine exports to other Latin American countries, but may as a whole have been counter-productive. A more open trade policy could increase Argentinean bottled wine exports by more than 5.8%. In addition, given the rise in wine importation and consumption in countries with high tariff barriers, such as China, the small number of free trade agreements could penalize Argentinean exports even more in the future.

  11. Is Mercosur promoting trade? Insights from Argentinean wine exports

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dal Bianco, A.; Estrella-Orrego, M.J.; Boatto, V.L.; Gennari, A.J.

    2017-01-01

    As a consequence of the rapid and significative decrease in domestic demand, to avoid structural surplus traditional wine producing countries have been forced to export a growing share of their wine production. This article empirically investigates Argentinean trade policy on the wine sector over the last years, in order to understand its effect on export flows. An expanded gravity model was estimated through a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator, in order to account for heteroskedasticity. The data used refer to Argentinean exports of bottled wine to all main world importers during the period 1997-2010, and account for more than 90% of total trade flows. Our results show that Mercosur membership has promoted Argentinean wine exports to other Latin American countries, but may as a whole have been counter-productive. A more open trade policy could increase Argentinean bottled wine exports by more than 5.8%. In addition, given the rise in wine importation and consumption in countries with high tariff barriers, such as China, the small number of free trade agreements could penalize Argentinean exports even more in the future.

  12. Environmental accounts and trade - a Swedish pilot study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wadeskog, A.

    2001-01-01

    Environmental accounts are supposed to register environmental impacts of economic activities performed by residents on a national basis. However, the international division of labour is not explicitly addressed. A small, open, economy like Sweden use resources, and thereby cause emissions, in other countries due to what is imported for intermediate or final use. On the other hand, the things we export to other countries cause emissions in Sweden. This means that there is an environmental balance of trade that is not explicitly addressed in the accounts. There are however possibilities to estimate these effects. Through input-output analysis it is possible to analyse the value added chain of the different goods and service that make up the final demand, i.e. a form of cradle-to-grave analysis. Environmental trade can be estimated in several ways. One method is to assume that emissions follow the pattern of the trade balance and equal out over time, i.e. ignore the problem. Another method is to calculate the effect of differences in volume and composition in exports and imports. In most cases this is done using the domestic input-output tables and emission coefficients, i.e. assuming that all trading partners have identical resource use, technology and economic structure. A pilot study of the environmental trade balance for Sweden, using different aggregated emissions data for our trading partners and the Swedish input-output table, show that the results calculated with these methods will underestimate external emissions considerably for carbon dioxides and sulphur dioxides. However, for nitrogen oxides emission these methods seem to suffice

  13. The Gendered Labor Market Impacts of Trade Liberalization Evidence from Brazil

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gaddis, Isis; Pieters, Janneke

    2017-01-01

    This paper investigates the impact of Brazil's trade liberalization on gender differences in labor market outcomes, using difference-in-difference estimation that exploits variation in preliberalization industry composition across microregions. We find that trade liberalization reduced male and

  14. The Determinants of Korea’s Terms of Trade: The Real-Side Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongshik Lee

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies of the determinants of the terms of trade have typically failed to fully reflect the composition of imports and exports and the unique characteristics of trading partners, which have considerable influence on the terms of trade. In particular, most studies of Korea's terms of trade have focused only on the effects of the exchange rate on the terms of trade, and few studies have considered the supply or demand side, i.e., the real side. This study considers panel data on Korea's trading partners from 2000 to 2009 (excluding the period of the Korean's foreign exchange crisis to propose a model reflecting both the trading partner's characteristics as well as the share of manufactured goods in exports and the share of fuel products in imports and provides an analysis of the determinants of Korea's terms of trade by considering the individual features of each product. The proposed dynamic panel model of the effects of the terms of trade for the previous period on the terms of trade for the current period provides more consistent estimates. By using the system generalized method of moments, the proposed model can estimate the determinants of Korea's terms of trade from the real-side perspective. The results indicate that an increase in the lagged terms of trade, relative market potential, or relative per capita income improved Korea's terms of trade, whereas an increase in relative output or the share of fuel products in imports weakened the terms of trade, providing support for common theory. However, an increase in the share of manufactured goods in exports had a negative effect (although not significant on Korea's terms of trade, providing no support for the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis.

  15. Estimation of Future Cancer Burden Among Rescue and Recovery Workers Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Ankura; Zeig-Owens, Rachel; Moir, William; Hall, Charles B; Schwartz, Theresa; Vossbrinck, Madeline; Jaber, Nadia; Webber, Mayris P; Kelly, Kerry J; Ortiz, Viola; Koffler, Ellen; Prezant, David J

    2018-06-01

    Elevated rates of cancer have been reported in individuals exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, including Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) rescue and recovery workers. To project the future burden of cancer in WTC-exposed FDNY rescue and recovery workers by estimating the 20-year cancer incidence. A total of 14 474 WTC-exposed FDNY employees who were cancer-free on January 1, 2012; subgroup analyses were conducted of the cohort's white male population (n = 12 374). In this closed-cohort study, we projected cancer incidence for the January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2031, period. Simulations were run using demographic-specific New York City (NYC) cancer and national mortality rates for each individual, summed for the whole cohort, and performed 1000 times to produce mean estimates. Additional analyses in the subgroup of white men compared case counts produced by using 2007-2011 FDNY WTC Health Program (FDNY-WTCHP) cancer rates vs NYC rates. Average and 20-year aggregate costs of first-year cancer care were estimated using claims data. World Trade Center disaster exposure defined as rescue and recovery work at the WTC site at any time from September 11, 2001, to July 25, 2002. (1) Projected number of incident cancers in the full cohort, based on NYC cancer rates; (2) cancer incidence estimates in the subgroup projected using FDNY-WTCHP vs NYC rates; and (3) estimated first-year treatment costs of incident cancers. On January 1, 2012, the cohort was 96.8% male, 87.1% white, and had a mean (SD) age of 50.2 (9.2) years. The projected number of incident cancer cases was 2960 (95% CI, 2883-3037). In our subgroup analyses using FDNY-WTCHP vs NYC cancer rates, the projected number of new cases in white men was elevated (2714 [95% CI, 2638-2786] vs 2596 [95% CI, 2524-2668]). Accordingly, we expect more prostate (1437 [95% CI, 1383-1495] vs 863 [95% CI, 816-910]), thyroid (73 [95% CI, 60-86] vs 57 [95% CI, 44-69]), and melanoma cases (201 [95

  16. An analytical approach to activating demand elasticity with a demand response mechanism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clastres, Cedric; Khalfallah, Haikel

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this work is to demonstrate analytically the conditions under which activating the elasticity of consumer demand could benefit social welfare. We have developed an analytical equilibrium model to quantify the effect of deploying demand response on social welfare and energy trade. The novelty of this research is that it demonstrates the existence of an optimal area for the price signal in which demand response enhances social welfare. This optimal area is negatively correlated to the degree of competitiveness of generation technologies and the market size of the system. In particular, it should be noted that the value of un-served energy or energy reduction which the producers could lose from such a demand response scheme would limit its effectiveness. This constraint is even greater if energy trade between countries is limited. Finally, we have demonstrated scope for more aggressive demand response, when only considering the impact in terms of consumer surplus. (authors)

  17. Short-Run and Long-Run Elasticities of Diesel Demand in Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seung-Hoon Yoo

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the demand function for diesel in Korea covering the period 1986–2011. The short-run and long-run elasticities of diesel demand with respect to price and income are empirically examined using a co-integration and error-correction model. The short-run and long-run price elasticities are estimated to be −0.357 and −0.547, respectively. The short-run and long-run income elasticities are computed to be 1.589 and 1.478, respectively. Thus, diesel demand is relatively inelastic to price change and elastic to income change in both the short-run and long-run. Therefore, a demand-side management through raising the price of diesel will be ineffective and tightening the regulation of using diesel more efficiently appears to be more effective in Korea. The demand for diesel is expected to continuously increase as the economy grows.

  18. A co-integration analysis of the price and income elasticities of energy demand in Turkish agriculture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuerkekul, Berna, E-mail: berna.turkekul@ege.edu.t [Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Ege University, 35100 Izmir (Turkey); Unakitan, Goekhan, E-mail: unakitan@nku.edu.t [Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Namik Kemal University, Tekirdag (Turkey)

    2011-05-15

    Agriculture has an important role in every country's development. Particularly, the contribution of agriculture to development and competitiveness is increasing with agricultural productivity growth. Productivity, in turn, is closely associated with direct and indirect use of energy as an input. Therefore, the importance of energy in agriculture cannot be denied as one of the basic inputs to the economic growth process. Following the importance of energy in Turkish agriculture, this study aims to estimate the long- and short-run relationship of energy consumption, agricultural GDP, and energy prices via co-integration and error correction (ECM) analysis. Annual data from 1970 to 2008 for diesel and electricity consumptions are utilized to estimate long-run and short-run elasticities. According to ECM analysis, for the diesel demand model, the long-run income and price elasticities were calculated as 1.47 and -0.38, respectively. For the electricity demand model, income and price elasticities were calculated at 0.19 and -0.72, respectively, in the long run. Briefly, in Turkey, support for energy use in agriculture should be continued in order to ensure sustainability in agriculture, increase competitiveness in international markets, and balance farmers' income. - Research highlights: {yields} We estimate the long and short run elasticities for diesel and electricity demands in agriculture. {yields} The long-run income and price elasticities calculated as 1.47 and 0.38, respectively for diesel. {yields} The long run Income and price elasticities calculated as 0.19 and 0.72 for electricity.

  19. Monte Carlo estimation of the influence of elastic scattering anisotropy on the neutron flux in a nuclear reactor cell; Monte Carlo procena uticaja anizotropije elasticnog rasejanja na vrednost neutronskog fluksa u celiji nuklearnog reaktora

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kocic, A [Institute of nuclear sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

    1974-07-01

    Anisotropy of neutron elastic scattering is a problem of special importance in solving the Boltzmann transport equation numerically. This is not the case when Monte Carlo method is applied. Estimation of the influence of elastic scattering anisotropy on the neutron flux is treated in order to justify the application of Monte Carlo method which is computer time consuming. Correlation procedure was applied for the study of this influence. One group case was used as an example to enable comparison of other methods.

  20. Extension of elastic stiffness formula for leaf type holddown spring assembly

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Kee Nam; Kang, Heung Seok; Yoon, Kyung Ho; Kim, Hyung Kyu [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

    1998-09-01

    Based on the Euler beam theory and the strain energy method, an elastic stiffness formula of the holddown spring assembly consisting of several leaves was previously derived. The formula was known to be useful to estimate the elastic stiffness of the holddown spring assembly only with the geometric data and the material properties of the leaf. Recently, it was reported that the elastic stiffness from the formula deviated much from the test results as the number of leaves was increased. In this study, in order to resolve such an increasing deviation as the increasing number of leaves, the formula has been extended to be able to consider normal forces and friction forces acting on interfaces between the leaves. The elastic stiffness analysis on specimens of leaf type holddown springs has been carried out using the extended formula and the analysis results are compared with the test results. As a result of comparisons, it is found that the extended formula is able to evaluate the elastic stiffness of the holddown spring assembly within an error range of 10%, irrespective of the number of leaves. In addition, it is found that the effect of shear forces and axial forces on the elastic stiffness of the holddown spring assembly is only below 0.2% of the elastic stiffness, and therefore the greatest portion of the elastic stiffness of the holddown spring assembly is attributed to the bending moment. (author). 13 refs., 10 figs., 12 tabs.

  1. The price elasticity of energy demand. The state of affairs in 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Groot, A.; Muskens, J; Velthuijsen, J.W.

    1998-11-01

    Within the framework of further development of energy taxes it is important to investigate the validity of the present tools by means of which the effects of energy taxes can be predicted. The estimation of the price elasticity of the energy consumption is an important aspect in the use of those tools. The results of a 1990 study on the possible effects of an energy tax are re-evaluated, based on a state-of-the-art of theoretical and empirical economic science with respect to elasticities. Also attention is paid to how the elasticities, as applied in relevant energy models, must be assessed. 43 refs

  2. Global model for the lithospheric strength and effective elastic thickness

    OpenAIRE

    Magdala Tesauro; Mikhail Kaban; S. A. P. L. Cloetingh

    2013-01-01

    Global distribution of the strength and effective elastic thickness (Te) of the lithosphere are estimated using physical parameters from recent crustal and lithospheric models. For the Te estimation we apply a new approach, which provides a possibility to take into account variations of Young modulus (E) within the lithosphere. In view of the large uncertainties affecting strength estimates, we evaluate global strength and Te distributions for possible end-member ‘hard’ (HRM) and a ‘soft’ (SR...

  3. Stressed-deformed state of mountain rocks in elastic stage and between elasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samedov A.M.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The problems of the stress-strain state of rocks in the elastic stage and beyond the elastic limits, and the ways of schematizing the tension and compression diagrams were reviewed in the article. To simplify calculations outside the elastic range, the tension (compression diagrams are usually schematized, i.e. are replaced by curved smooth lines having a fairly simple mathematical expression and at the same time well coinciding with the experimentally obtained diagrams. When diagram is to be schematized, it is necessary to take a constant temperature of superheated water steam if a rock test is planned in a relaxed form. Note that when the diagram is schematizing, the difference between the limits of proportionality and fluidity is erased. This allows the limit of proportionality to be considered the limit of fluidity. Schematicization can be carried out in the area where the tensile strength (compression is planned to be destroyed with the established weakening of rocks by exposure to water steam or chemical reagents. Samples of rocks in natural form were tested and weakened by means of superheated water steam (220 °C and more and chemical reagents for tension and compression. The data are obtained, the diagrams of deformation are constructed and schematized in the elastic stage and beyond the elastic limit. Based on the schematic diagrams of deformation, the components of stress and strain were composed in the elastic stage and beyond the elastic limit. It is established in the publication that rocks under compression and stretching deform, both within the elastic stage, and beyond the limits of elasticity. This could be seen when the samples, both in natural and in weakened state, with superheated water steam (more than 220 °C or chemical reagents were tested. In their natural form, they are mainly deformed within the elastic stage and are destroyed as a brittle material, and in a weakened form they can deform beyond the elastic stage and

  4. Elastic-plastic collapse of super-elastic shock waves in face-centered-cubic solids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhakhovsky, Vasily V; Demaske, Brian J; Oleynik, Ivan I; Inogamov, Nail A; White, Carter T

    2014-01-01

    Shock waves in the [110] and [111] directions of single-crystal Al samples were studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Piston-driven simulations were performed to investigate the split shock-wave regime. At low piston velocities, the material is compressed initially to a metastable over-compressed elastic state leading to a super-elastic single shock wave. This metastable elastic state later collapses to a plastic state resulting in the formation of a two-wave structure consisting of an elastic precursor followed by a slower plastic wave. The single two-zone elastic-plastic shock-wave regime appearing at higher piston velocities was studied using moving window MD. The plastic wave attains the same average speed as the elastic precursor to form a single two-zone shock wave. In this case, repeated collapse of the highly over-compressed elastic state near the plastic shock front produces ultrashort triangle pulses that provide the pressure support for the leading elastic precursor.

  5. Correlation between temperature dependence of elastic moduli and Debye temperature of paramagnetic metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bodryakov, V.Yu.; Povzner, A.A.

    2000-01-01

    The correlation between the temperature dependence of elastic moduli and the Debye temperature of paramagnetic metal is analyzed in neglect of the temperature dependence of the Poison coefficient σ within the frames of the Debye-Grueneisen presentations. It is shown, that namely the temperature dependence of the elastic moduli determines primarily the temperature dependence of the Debye temperature Θ(T). On the other hand, the temperature dependence Θ(T) very weakly effects the temperature dependence of the elastic moduli. The later made it possible to formulate the self-consistent approach to calculation of the elastic moduli temperature dependence. The numerical estimates of this dependence parameters are conducted by the example of the all around compression modulus of the paramagnetic lutetium [ru

  6. ASEAN economic growth, trade openness and banking-sector depth: The nexus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rudra P. Pradhan

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigated the linkages between banking sector depth, trade openness, and economic growth using a panel data set covering the ASEAN regional forum countries for the period 1961–2012. Using our multivariate framework, we first found that all the variables were integrated of order one and were cointegrated. Our panel-data estimation procedures offered more robust estimates than previous studies by utilizing variations between countries as well as variations over time. The results of this study indicated a general long-run equilibrium relationship among trade openness, banking sector depth and economic growth as well as a short-run relationship between these variables. Policy recommendations include those that will promote greater banking sector development as well as increased trade openness. JEL classification: O16, O43, E44, E31, Keywords: Trade openness, Banking sector depth, Economic growth, Granger causality, ASEAN regional forum countries

  7. Elastic scattering and quasi-elastic transfers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mermaz, M.C.

    1978-01-01

    Experiments are presented which it will be possible to carry out at GANIL on the elastic scattering of heavy ions: diffraction phenomena if the absorption is great, refraction phenomena if absorption is low. The determination of the optical parameters can be performed. The study of the quasi-elastic transfer reactions will make it possible to know the dynamics of the nuclear reactions, form exotic nuclei and study their energy excitation spectrum, and analyse the scattering and reaction cross sections [fr

  8. High Temperature Elastic Properties of Reduced Activation Ferritic-Martensitic (RAFM) Steel Using Impulse Excitation Technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tripathy, Haraprasanna; Raju, Subramanian; Hajra, Raj Narayan; Saibaba, Saroja

    2018-03-01

    The polycrystalline elastic constants of an indigenous variant of 9Cr-1W-based reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steel have been determined as a function of temperature from 298 K to 1323 K (25 °C to 1000 °C), using impulse excitation technique (IET). The three elastic constants namely, Young's modulus E, shear modulus G, and bulk modulus B, exhibited significant softening with increasing temperature, in a pronounced non-linear fashion. In addition, clearly marked discontinuities in their temperature variations are noticed in the region, where ferrite + carbides → austenite phase transformation occurred upon heating. Further, the incidence of austenite → martensite transformation upon cooling has also been marked by a step-like jump in both elastic E and shear moduli G. The martensite start M s and M f finish temperatures estimated from this study are, M s = 652 K (379 °C) and M f =580 K (307 °C). Similarly, the measured ferrite + carbide → austenite transformation onset ( Ac 1) and completion ( Ac 3) temperatures are found to be 1126 K and 1143 K (853 °C and 870 °C), respectively. The Poisson ratio μ exhibited distinct discontinuities at phase transformation temperatures; but however, is found to vary in the range 0.27 to 0.29. The room temperature estimates of E, G, and μ for normalized and tempered microstructure are found to be 219 GPa, 86.65 GPa, and 0.27, respectively. For the metastable austenite phase, the corresponding values are: 197 GPa, 76.5 GPa, and 0.29, respectively. The measured elastic properties as well as their temperature dependencies are found to be in good accord with reported estimates for other 9Cr-based ferritic-martensitic steel grades. Estimates of θ D el , the elastic Debye temperature and γ G, the thermal Grüneisen parameter obtained from measured bulk elastic properties are found to be θ D el = 465 K (192 °C) and γ G = 1.57.

  9. Gravity models of forest products trade: applications to forecasting and policy analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph Buongiorno

    2016-01-01

    To predict the value of trade between countries, a differential gravity model of bilateral trade flowswas formulated and estimated with panel data from 2005 to 2014 for each of the commodity groups HS44 (wood and articles of wood), HS47 (pulp of wood, fibrous cellulosic material) and HS48 (paper and paperboard). The parameters were estimated with a large database by...

  10. Monetary union and forest products trade- The case of the euro

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph Buongiorno

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine if the establishment of a monetary union in European countries had affected the international trade of forest products between the euro-using countries. A differential gravity model of bilateral trade flows was developed and estimated with panel data for the bilateral trade between 12 euro countries from 1988 to 2013, for...

  11. Nonlinear elastic waves in materials

    CERN Document Server

    Rushchitsky, Jeremiah J

    2014-01-01

    The main goal of the book is a coherent treatment of the theory of propagation in materials of nonlinearly elastic waves of displacements, which corresponds to one modern line of development of the nonlinear theory of elastic waves. The book is divided on five basic parts: the necessary information on waves and materials; the necessary information on nonlinear theory of elasticity and elastic materials; analysis of one-dimensional nonlinear elastic waves of displacement – longitudinal, vertically and horizontally polarized transverse plane nonlinear elastic waves of displacement; analysis of one-dimensional nonlinear elastic waves of displacement – cylindrical and torsional nonlinear elastic waves of displacement; analysis of two-dimensional nonlinear elastic waves of displacement – Rayleigh and Love nonlinear elastic surface waves. The book is addressed first of all to people working in solid mechanics – from the students at an advanced undergraduate and graduate level to the scientists, professional...

  12. Trading volume and the number of trades

    OpenAIRE

    Marwan Izzeldin

    2007-01-01

    Trading volume and the number of trades are both used as proxies for market activity, with disagreement as to which is the better proxy for market activity. This paper investigates this issue using high frequency data for Cisco and Intel in 1997. A number of econometric methods are used, including GARCH augmented with lagged trading volume and number of trades, tests based on moment restrictions, regression analysis of volatility on volume and trades, normality of returns when standardized by...

  13. Border carbon adjustments: Addressing emissions embodied in trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakai, Marco; Barrett, John

    2016-01-01

    Approximately one fourth of global emissions are embodied in international trade and a significant portion flows from non-carbon-priced to carbon-priced economies. Border carbon adjustments (BCAs) figure prominently as instruments to address concerns arising from unilateral climate policy. Estimating the volume of emissions that could be potentially taxed under a BCA scheme has received little attention until now. This paper examines how a number of issues involved in the implementation of BCAs can affect their ability to cover emissions embodied in trade and thus address carbon leakage. These issues range from ensuring compliance with trade provisions and assumptions on the carbon intensity of imports, to determining which countries are included and whether intermediate and final demand are considered. Here we show that the volume of CO_2 captured by a scheme that involved all Annex B countries could be significantly reduced due to these issues, particularly by trade provisions, such as the principle of ‘best available technology’ (BAT). As a consequence, the tariff burdens faced by non-Annex B parties could dwindle considerably. These findings have important policy implications, as they question the effectiveness and practicalities of BCAs to reduce carbon leakage and alleviate competitiveness concerns, adding further arguments against their implementation. - Highlights: •We estimate the volume of emissions that could be potentially taxed by BCAs. •We study the effects of trade provisions and country and sectoral coverage on BCAs. •Trade provisions can significantly reduce the scope and effectiveness of BCAs. •Best available technology and exclusion of electricity reduce tariffs considerably. •BCAs are not optimal policy tools to address carbon leakage concerns.

  14. Per capita emissions of greenhouse gases and international trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karman, D.; Baptiste, S.

    1994-01-01

    The role played by international trade in Canada's emissions of greenhouse gases is investigated. Data used in the study include Environment Canada greenhouse gas emission estimates for 1990, a Statistics Canada input-output model linking greenhouse gas emissions to economic activity in different sectors, and monetary statistics on imports and exports. Subject to some simplifying assumptions, it is estimated that nearly 20% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the production of commodities destined for export to other countries. If the same greenhouse gas emission intensities are assumed for Canada's imports, the greenhouse gas emissions due to Canada's net trade is nearly 7% of the 660 megatonnes of CO 2 equivalent emissions for 1990. Commodities from natural resource exploitation head the list of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to international trade, as expected from their large export volumes and large greenhouse gas emission intensities. 4 refs., 1 fig

  15. A Methodology for Estimating Large-Customer Demand Response MarketPotential

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goldman, Charles; Hopper, Nicole; Bharvirkar, Ranjit; Neenan,Bernie; Cappers,Peter

    2007-08-01

    Demand response (DR) is increasingly recognized as an essential ingredient to well-functioning electricity markets. DR market potential studies can answer questions about the amount of DR available in a given area and from which market segments. Several recent DR market potential studies have been conducted, most adapting techniques used to estimate energy-efficiency (EE) potential. In this scoping study, we: reviewed and categorized seven recent DR market potential studies; recommended a methodology for estimating DR market potential for large, non-residential utility customers that uses price elasticities to account for behavior and prices; compiled participation rates and elasticity values from six DR options offered to large customers in recent years, and demonstrated our recommended methodology with large customer market potential scenarios at an illustrative Northeastern utility. We observe that EE and DR have several important differences that argue for an elasticity approach for large-customer DR options that rely on customer-initiated response to prices, rather than the engineering approaches typical of EE potential studies. Base-case estimates suggest that offering DR options to large, non-residential customers results in 1-3% reductions in their class peak demand in response to prices or incentive payments of $500/MWh. Participation rates (i.e., enrollment in voluntary DR programs or acceptance of default hourly pricing) have the greatest influence on DR impacts of all factors studied, yet are the least well understood. Elasticity refinements to reflect the impact of enabling technologies and response at high prices provide more accurate market potential estimates, particularly when arc elasticities (rather than substitution elasticities) are estimated.

  16. Elastic positron-cadmium scattering at low energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bromley, M. W. J.; Mitroy, J.

    2010-01-01

    The elastic and annihilation cross sections for positron-cadmium scattering are reported up to the positronium-formation threshold (at 2.2 eV). The low-energy phase shifts for the elastic scattering of positrons from cadmium were derived from the bound and pseudostate energies of a very large basis configuration-interaction calculation of the e + -Cd system. The s-wave binding energy is estimated to be 126±42 meV, with a scattering length of A scat =(14.2±2.1)a 0 , while the threshold annihilation parameter, Z eff , was 93.9±26.5. The p-wave phase shift exhibits a weak shape resonance that results in a peak Z eff of 91±17 at a collision energy of about 490±50 meV.

  17. Virtual water trade: an assessment of water use efficiency in the international food trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Yang

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Amid an increasing water scarcity in many parts of the world, virtual water trade as both a policy instrument and practical means to balance the local, national and global water budget has received much attention in recent years. Building upon the knowledge of virtual water accounting in the literature, this study assesses the efficiency of water use embodied in the international food trade from the perspectives of exporting and importing countries and at the global and country levels. The investigation reveals that the virtual water flows primarily from countries of high crop water productivity to countries of low crop water productivity, generating a global saving in water use. Meanwhile, the total virtual water trade is dominated by green virtual water, which constitutes a low opportunity cost of water use as opposed to blue virtual water. A sensitivity analysis, however, suggests high uncertainties in the virtual water accounting and the estimation of the scale of water saving. The study also raises awareness of the limited effect of water scarcity on the global virtual water trade and the negative implications of the global water saving for the water use efficiency and food security in importing countries and the environment in exporting countries. The analysis shows the complexity in evaluating the efficiency gains in the international virtual water trade. The findings of the study, nevertheless, call for a greater emphasis on rainfed agriculture to improve the global food security and environmental sustainability.

  18. Regional Trade Agreement and Agricultural Trade in East African ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Intra-EAC trade is very low, that is, at 9 per cent of the total regional trade, but it is on upward trend. Agricultural trade accounts for over 40 per cent of the intra-EAC trade. This study investigated the effect of EAC regional trade agreement on the regions agricultural trade by analyzing the degree of trade creation and ...

  19. Trade creation and trade diversion in the Canada - United States Free Trade Agreement

    OpenAIRE

    Kimberly A. Clausing

    2001-01-01

    In this paper the changes in trade patterns introduced by the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement are examined. Variation in the extent of tariff liberalization under the agreement is used to identify the impact of tariff liberalization on the growth of trade both with member countries and non-member countries. Data at the commodity level are used, and the results indicate that the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement had substantial trade creation effects, with little evidence of ...

  20. Contact-resonance atomic force microscopy for nanoscale elastic property measurements: Spectroscopy and imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stan, G.; Krylyuk, S.; Davydov, A.V.; Vaudin, M.D.; Bendersky, L.A.; Cook, R.F.

    2009-01-01

    Quantitative measurements of the elastic modulus of nanosize systems and nanostructured materials are provided with great accuracy and precision by contact-resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM). As an example of measuring the elastic modulus of nanosize entities, we used the CR-AFM technique to measure the out-of-plane indentation modulus of tellurium nanowires. A size-dependence of the indentation modulus was observed for the investigated tellurium nanowires with diameters in the range 20-150 nm. Over this diameter range, the elastic modulus of the outer layers of the tellurium nanowires experienced significant enhancement due to a pronounced surface stiffening effect. Quantitative estimations for the elastic moduli of the outer and inner parts of tellurium nanowires of reduced diameter are made with a core-shell structure model. Besides localized elastic modulus measurements, we have also developed a unique CR-AFM imaging capability to map the elastic modulus over a micrometer-scale area. We used this CR-AFM capability to construct indentation modulus maps at the junction between two adjacent facets of a tellurium microcrystal. The clear contrast observed in the elastic moduli of the two facets indicates the different surface crystallography of these facets.

  1. Trade routes and plague transmission in pre-industrial Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Ricci P H; Lee, Harry F; Wu, Connor Y H

    2017-10-11

    Numerous historical works have mentioned that trade routes were to blame for the spread of plague in European history, yet this relationship has never been tested by quantitative evidence. Here, we resolve the hypothetical role of trade routes through statistical analysis on the geo-referenced major trade routes in the early modern period and the 6,656 geo-referenced plague outbreak records in AD1347-1760. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimation results show that major trade routes played a dominant role in spreading plague in pre-industrial Europe. Furthermore, the negative correlation between plague outbreaks and their distance from major trade ports indicates the absence of a permanent plague focus in the inland areas of Europe. Major trade routes decided the major plague outbreak hotspots, while navigable rivers determined the geographic pattern of sporadic plague cases. A case study in Germany indicates that plague penetrated further into Europe through the local trade route network. Based on our findings, we propose the mechanism of plague transmission in historical Europe, which is imperative in demonstrating how pandemics were spread in recent human history.

  2. An Airline-Based Multilevel Analysis of Airfare Elasticity for Passenger Demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castelli, Lorenzo; Ukovich, Walter; Pesenti, Raffaele

    2003-01-01

    Price elasticity of passenger demand for a specific airline is estimated. The main drivers affecting passenger demand for air transportation are identified. First, an Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis is performed. Then, a multilevel analysis-based methodology to investigate the pattern of variation of price elasticity of demand among the various routes of the airline under study is proposed. The experienced daily passenger demands on each fare-class are grouped for each considered route. 9 routes were studied for the months of February and May in years from 1999 to 2002, and two fare-classes were defined (business and economy). The analysis has revealed that the airfare elasticity of passenger demand significantly varies among the different routes of the airline.

  3. A new equilibrium trading model with asymmetric information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lianzhang Bao

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Taking arbitrage opportunities into consideration in an incomplete market, dealers will pricebonds based on asymmetric information. The dealer with the best offering price wins the bid. The riskpremium in dealer’s offering price is primarily determined by the dealer’s add-on rate of change tothe term structure. To optimize the trading strategy, a new equilibrium trading model is introduced.Optimal sequential estimation scheme for detecting the risk premium due to private inforamtion isproposed based on historical prices, and the best bond pricing formula is given with the accordingoptimal trading strategy. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the economic insights underthe certain stochastic term structure interest rate models.

  4. Spin entanglement in elastic electron scattering from lithium atoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartschat, K.; Santos, S. Fonseca dos

    2017-04-01

    In two recent papers [Blum and Lohmann, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 033201 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.033201; Lohmann et al., Phys. Rev. A 94, 032331 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevA.94.032331], the possibility of continuously varying the degree of entanglement between an elastically scattered electron and the valence electron of an alkali-metal target was discussed. To estimate how well such a scheme may work in practice, we present results for elastic electron scattering from lithium in the energy regime of 1 -5 eV and the full range of scattering angles 0∘-180∘ . The most promising regime for Bell correlations in this particular collision system are energies between about 1.5 and 3.0 eV, in an angular range around 110∘±10∘ . In addition to the relative exchange asymmetry parameter, we present the differential cross section that is important when estimating the count rate and hence the feasibility of experiments using this system.

  5. Trade Policy

    OpenAIRE

    Murray Gibbs

    2007-01-01

    In an otherwise insightful and thoughtful article, Sebastian Pfotenhauer (Trade Policy Is Science Policy,” Issues, Fall 2013) might better have entitled his contribution “Trade Policy Needs to Be Reconciled with Science Policy.” The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreements administered by the World Trade Organization, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), were adopted to promote international trade and i...

  6. The Effects of International Trade on Water Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kagohashi, Kazuki; Tsurumi, Tetsuya; Managi, Shunsuke

    2015-01-01

    The growing scarcity of water resources worldwide is conditioned not only by precipitation changes but also by changes to water use patterns; the latter is driven by social contexts such as capital intensity, trade openness, and income. This study explores the determinants of water use by focusing on the effect of trade openness on the degree to which water is withdrawn and consumed. Previous studies have conducted analyses on the determinants of water use but have ignored the endogeneity of trade openness. To deal with this endogeneity problem, we adopt instrumental variable estimation and clarify the determinants of water use. The determinants of water use are divided into scale, technique, and composition effects. Calculating each trade-induced effect, we examine how trade openness affects the degree of water use. Our results show that while trade has a positive effect on water withdrawal/consumption through trade-induced scale effects and direct composition effects, the trade-induced technique and the indirect composition effect, both of which exhibit a negative sign, counteract the scale effect and the direct composition effect, resulting in reduced water withdrawal/consumption. The overall effect induced by trade is calculated as being in the range of -1.00 to -1.52; this means that the overall effect of a 1% increase in the intensity of trade openness reduces the degree of water withdrawal/consumption by roughly 1.0-1.5%, on average. This result indicates that international bilateral trade would promote efficient water use through the diffusion of water-saving technologies and the reformation of industry composition.

  7. Trading greenhouse gas emission benefits from biofuel use in US transportation: Challenges and opportunities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumarappan, Subbu; Joshi, Satish

    2011-01-01

    Replacing petroleum fuels with biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel has been shown to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These GHG benefits can potentially be traded in the fledgling carbon markets, and methodologies for quantifying and trading are still being developed. We review the main challenges in developing such carbon trading frameworks and outline a proposed framework for the US, the main features of which include, lifecycle assessment of GHG benefits, a combination of project-specific and standard performance measures, and assigning GHG property rights to biofuel producers. At carbon prices of 10 $ t −1 , estimated monetary benefits from such trading can be 4.5 M$ hm −3 and 17 M$ hm −3 of corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol respectively. -- Highlights: ▶ Develops a biofuel GHG trading protocol using life-cycle emissions. ▶ Discusses the differences in feedstock and impacts on GHG trading potential. ▶ Compares the developed protocol for biofuels with other existing protocols. ▶ Estimates the market potential, and challenges associated with trading GHG emissions.

  8. Prediction of elastic properties for polymer-particle nanocomposites exhibiting an interphase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deng Fei; Van Vliet, Krystyn J

    2011-01-01

    Particle-polymer nanocomposites often exhibit mechanical properties described poorly by micromechanical models that include only the particle and matrix phases. Existence of an interfacial region between the particle and matrix, or interphase, has been posited and indirectly demonstrated to account for this effect. Here, we present a straightforward analytical approach to estimate effective elastic properties of composites comprising particles encapsulated by an interphase of finite thickness and distinct elastic properties. This explicit solution can treat nanocomposites that comprise either physically isolated nanoparticles or agglomerates of such nanoparticles; the same framework can also treat physically isolated nanoparticle aggregates or agglomerates of such aggregates. We find that the predicted elastic moduli agree with experiments for three types of particle-polymer nanocomposites, and that the predicted interphase thickness and stiffness of carbon black-rubber nanocomposites are consistent with measured values. Finally, we discuss the relative influence of the particle-polymer interphase thickness and stiffness to identify maximum possible changes in the macroscale elastic properties of such materials.

  9. Is Mercosur promoting trade? Insights from Argentinean wine exports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Dal Bianco

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available As a consequence of the rapid and significative decrease in domestic demand, to avoid structural surplus traditional wine producing countries have been forced to export a growing share of their wine production. This article empirically investigates Argentinean trade policy on the wine sector over the last years, in order to understand its effect on export flows. An expanded gravity model was estimated through a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator, in order to account for heteroskedasticity. The data used refer to Argentinean exports of bottled wine to all main world importers during the period 1997-2010, and account for more than 90% of total trade flows. Our results show that Mercosur membership has promoted Argentinean wine exports to other Latin American countries, but may as a whole have been counter-productive. A more open trade policy could increase Argentinean bottled wine exports by more than 5.8%. In addition, given the rise in wine importation and consumption in countries with high tariff barriers, such as China, the small number of free trade agreements could penalize Argentinean exports even more in the future.

  10. Contribution to Control of an Elastic Two-Mass System by Means of Genetic Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zelmira Ferkova

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Oscillations of an elastic two-mass system with all known parameters may be suppressed by suitable feedback signal. An observer enables to estimate this feedback without measurement of load mechanism speed. This article contains application of genetic algorithms for identification of elastic system parameters and determination of corresponding observer feedback coefficients. Design correctness is verified by simulation.

  11. International provision of trade services, trade, and fragmentation

    OpenAIRE

    Deardorff, Alan V.

    2001-01-01

    The author examines the special role that trade liberalization in services industries can play in stimulating trade in both services, and goods. International trade in goods requires inputs from such trade services as transportation, insurance, and finance, for example. Restrictions on services across borders, and within foreign countries add costs, and barriers to international trade. Lib...

  12. A use-side procedure for estimating trade margins in input-output analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Asensio Pardo

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available According to the National Accounting Systems proposed by United Nations (1993 and Eurostat (1996, use and make (or supply matrices should be measured before goods and services are conveyed to the markets (basic values. Actually, the make table is defined in basic values (excluding trade and transport margins and net commodity taxes whereas the use table is in purchasers’ values (including them. In particular, this paper shows how trade margins can be removed from the use table with the purpose of constructing an input-output table. The proposed approach is based on the use-side procedure from the ESA-95 Input-Output Manual (Eurostat, 2002 and is also being applied to the forthcoming 2000 Andalusian Input-Output Framework.

  13. Price elasticity of demand of non-cigarette tobacco products: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jawad, Mohammed; Lee, John Tayu; Glantz, Stanton; Millett, Christopher

    2018-01-23

    To systematically review the price elasticity of demand of non-cigarette tobacco products. Medline, Embase, EconLit and the Web of Science without language or time restrictions. Two reviewers screened title and abstracts, then full texts, independently and in duplicate. We based eligibility criteria on study design (interventional or observational), population (individuals or communities without geographic restrictions), intervention (price change) and outcome (change in demand). We abstracted data on study features, outcome measures, statistical approach, and single best own- and cross-price elasticity estimates with respect to cigarettes. We conducted a random effects meta-analysis for estimates of similar product, outcome and country income level. For other studies we reported median elasticities by product and country income level. We analysed 36 studies from 15 countries yielding 125 elasticity estimates. A 10% price increase would reduce demand by: 8.3% for cigars (95% CI 2.9 to 13.8), 6.4% for roll your owns (95% CI 4.3 to 8.4), 5.7% for bidis (95% CI 4.3 to 7.1) and 2.1% for smokeless tobacco (95% CI -0.6 to 4.8). Median price elasticities for all ten products were also negative. Results from few studies that examined cross-price elasticity suggested a positive substitution effect between cigarette and non-cigarette tobacco products. There is sufficient evidence in support of the effectiveness of price increases to reduce consumption of non-cigarette tobacco products as it is for cigarettes. Positive substitutability between cigarette and non-cigarette tobacco products suggest that tax and price increases need to be simultaneous and comparable across all tobacco products. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  14. Working Paper 201 - Does Intra-African Trade Reduce Youth Unemployment in Africa ?

    OpenAIRE

    John Anyanwu

    2014-01-01

    This study empirically estimates the effect of Africa’s intra-regional trade on the burgeoning youth unemployment in the Continent. We investigate both the aggregate and gender-specific impacts. Our empirical estimates, using available cross-sectional time series data over the period, 1980 and 2010, suggest that higher levels of intra-African trade reduce both the aggregate, female and male youth unemployment in Africa. In addition, our results show that domestic investment rate, institutiona...

  15. Virtual CO2 Emission Flows in the Global Electricity Trade Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Shen; Li, Yun; Liang, Sai; Yuan, Jiahai; Xu, Ming

    2018-05-14

    Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity consumption is crucial for climate mitigation in the electric power sector. Current practices primarily use production-based emission factors to quantify emissions for electricity consumption, assuming production and consumption of electricity take place within the same region. The increasingly intensified cross-border electricity trade complicates the accounting for emissions of electricity consumption. This study employs a network approach to account for the flows in the whole electricity trade network to estimate CO 2 emissions of electricity consumption for 137 major countries/regions in 2014. Results show that in some countries, especially those in Europe and Southern Africa, the impacts of electricity trade on the estimation of emission factors and embodied emissions are significant. The changes made to emission factors by considering intergrid electricity trade can have significant implications for emission accounting and climate mitigation when multiplied by total electricity consumption of the corresponding countries/regions.

  16. Energy Efficiency - Spectral Efficiency Trade-off: A Multiobjective Optimization Approach

    KAUST Repository

    Amin, Osama

    2015-04-23

    In this paper, we consider the resource allocation problem for energy efficiency (EE) - spectral efficiency (SE) trade-off. Unlike traditional research that uses the EE as an objective function and imposes constraints either on the SE or achievable rate, we propound a multiobjective optimization approach that can flexibly switch between the EE and SE functions or change the priority level of each function using a trade-off parameter. Our dynamic approach is more tractable than the conventional approaches and more convenient to realistic communication applications and scenarios. We prove that the multiobjective optimization of the EE and SE is equivalent to a simple problem that maximizes the achievable rate/SE and minimizes the total power consumption. Then we apply the generalized framework of the resource allocation for the EE-SE trade-off to optimally allocate the subcarriers’ power for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with imperfect channel estimation. Finally, we use numerical results to discuss the choice of the trade-off parameter and study the effect of the estimation error, transmission power budget and channel-to-noise ratio on the multiobjective optimization.

  17. Energy Efficiency - Spectral Efficiency Trade-off: A Multiobjective Optimization Approach

    KAUST Repository

    Amin, Osama; Bedeer, Ebrahim; Ahmed, Mohamed; Dobre, Octavia

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we consider the resource allocation problem for energy efficiency (EE) - spectral efficiency (SE) trade-off. Unlike traditional research that uses the EE as an objective function and imposes constraints either on the SE or achievable rate, we propound a multiobjective optimization approach that can flexibly switch between the EE and SE functions or change the priority level of each function using a trade-off parameter. Our dynamic approach is more tractable than the conventional approaches and more convenient to realistic communication applications and scenarios. We prove that the multiobjective optimization of the EE and SE is equivalent to a simple problem that maximizes the achievable rate/SE and minimizes the total power consumption. Then we apply the generalized framework of the resource allocation for the EE-SE trade-off to optimally allocate the subcarriers’ power for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with imperfect channel estimation. Finally, we use numerical results to discuss the choice of the trade-off parameter and study the effect of the estimation error, transmission power budget and channel-to-noise ratio on the multiobjective optimization.

  18. The J-Curve Effect and the U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance

    OpenAIRE

    Colin A. Carter; Daniel H. Pick

    1989-01-01

    According to the J-curve theory, following a currency depreciation, there will be an initial deterioration of the trade balance before an improvement is realized. This paper finds empirical evidence indicating the first segment of the J-curve does exist for the U.S. agricultural trade balance. A 10% depreciation of the U.S. dollar is estimated to lead a deterioration of the agricultural trade balance that will last for about nine months.

  19. Trade flows as a channel for the transmission of business cycles

    OpenAIRE

    J.M. BERK

    1997-01-01

    The interdependence between business cycles of different countries has grown in recent decades. Many factors act as conductors of cyclical fluctuations between countries. In this context, the influence of trade flows in the global transmission of business cycles is examined. The author aims to identify empirically the line of causality of international cyclical movements as suggested by trade flows, presenting an estimate of the quantitive importance of trade flows as transmission channel.

  20. Alcohol price elasticities in control and license states in the United States, 1982-99.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trolldal, Björn; Ponicki, William

    2005-08-01

    The demand for alcohol has been demonstrated repeatedly to be sensitive to price changes. However, estimated price elasticities vary by study region and over time. One explanation for these variations might be that different countries or parts of countries have had different alcohol control systems. The hypothesis addressed in this study was that a regulated market leads to higher transaction costs associated with purchasing alcohol, which in turn increases the full price of the beverages (the nominal cash price plus transaction costs). As a result, the cash price of alcohol represents a smaller part of the full price in a highly regulated market. Assuming that customers respond primarily to changes in full price, the demand for alcohol should be less sensitive to changes in cash price where regulation is stricter. This study examined whether variations in price elasticities were a function of the different regulatory systems in control and license states in the United States during the period 1982-99. Time-series cross-sectional analyses (in 50 states over 18 years) were conducted. Elasticities were estimated using a multiplicative model based upon first-differences of time-series within states. Disposable income and other socio-demographic variables were used as control variables. All data were obtained from archival sources. The demand for spirits and beer were significantly more sensitive to price changes in license states than in control states. The estimated price elasticity for wine sales was also somewhat larger in license states, but not significantly so. The lower price elasticities for spirits and beer in the control states support the hypothesis that customers respond primarily to changes in the full price of alcohol.

  1. Viscous-elastic dynamics of power-law fluids within an elastic cylinder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyko, Evgeniy; Bercovici, Moran; Gat, Amir D.

    2017-07-01

    In a wide range of applications, microfluidic channels are implemented in soft substrates. In such configurations, where fluidic inertia and compressibility are negligible, the propagation of fluids in channels is governed by a balance between fluid viscosity and elasticity of the surrounding solid. The viscous-elastic interactions between elastic substrates and non-Newtonian fluids are particularly of interest due to the dependence of viscosity on the state of the system. In this work, we study the fluid-structure interaction dynamics between an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid and a slender linearly elastic cylinder under the creeping flow regime. Considering power-law fluids and applying the thin shell approximation for the elastic cylinder, we obtain a nonhomogeneous p-Laplacian equation governing the viscous-elastic dynamics. We present exact solutions for the pressure and deformation fields for various initial and boundary conditions for both shear-thinning and shear-thickening fluids. We show that in contrast to Stokes' problem where a compactly supported front is obtained for shear-thickening fluids, here the role of viscosity is inversed and such fronts are obtained for shear-thinning fluids. Furthermore, we demonstrate that for the case of a step in inlet pressure, the propagation rate of the front has a tn/n +1 dependence on time (t ), suggesting the ability to indirectly measure the power-law index (n ) of shear-thinning liquids through measurements of elastic deformation.

  2. Proposal of Design Formulae for Equivalent Elasticity of Masonry Structures Made with Bricks of Low Modulus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Ridwan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Bricks of low elastic modulus are occasionally used in some developing countries, such as Indonesia and India. Most of the previous research efforts focused on masonry structures built with bricks of considerably high elastic modulus. The objective of this study is to quantify the equivalent elastic modulus of lower-stiffness masonry structures, when the mortar has a higher modulus of elasticity than the bricks, by employing finite element (FE simulations and adopting the homogenization technique. The reported numerical simulations adopted the two-dimensional representative volume elements (RVEs using quadrilateral elements with four nodes. The equivalent elastic moduli of composite elements with various bricks and mortar were quantified. The numerically estimated equivalent elastic moduli from the FE simulations were verified using previously established test data. Hence, a new simplified formula for the calculation of the equivalent modulus of elasticity of such masonry structures is proposed in the present study.

  3. Trade Policy Reform and the Missing Revenue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arndt, Thomas Channing; Tarp, Finn

    2008-01-01

    into a computable general equilibrium model of an African economy (Mozambique) to study the implications of trade policy reform. Model simulations indicate that lowering tariff rates and reducing duty-free importation in a manner that maintains official revenue benefit nearly everyone. The main exception is those......In many African countries, large discrepancies exist between revenues implied by published tariff rates multiplied by estimated import volumes and actual receipts. We develop a stylised trade model where average and marginal tariff rates diverge and incorporate insights from this model...

  4. ElasticSearch cookbook

    CERN Document Server

    Paro, Alberto

    2013-01-01

    Written in an engaging, easy-to-follow style, the recipes will help you to extend the capabilities of ElasticSearch to manage your data effectively.If you are a developer who implements ElasticSearch in your web applications, manage data, or have decided to start using ElasticSearch, this book is ideal for you. This book assumes that you've got working knowledge of JSON and Java

  5. Calculation of elastic-plastic strain ranges for fatigue analysis based on linear elastic stresses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sauer, G.

    1998-01-01

    Fatigue analysis requires that the maximum strain ranges be known. These strain ranges are generally computed from linear elastic analysis. The elastic strain ranges are enhanced by a factor K e to obtain the total elastic-plastic strain range. The reliability of the fatigue analysis depends on the quality of this factor. Formulae for calculating the K e factor are proposed. A beam is introduced as a computational model for determining the elastic-plastic strains. The beam is loaded by the elastic stresses of the real structure. The elastic-plastic strains of the beam are compared with the beam's elastic strains. This comparison furnishes explicit expressions for the K e factor. The K e factor is tested by means of seven examples. (orig.)

  6. Singlet channel coupling in deuteron elastic scattering at intermediate energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Khalili, J.S.; Tostevin, J.A.; Johnson, R.C.

    1990-01-01

    Intermediate energy deuteron elastic scattering is investigated in a three-body model incorporating relativistic kinematics. The effects of deuteron breakup to singlet spin intermediate states, on the elastic scattering observables for the 58 Ni(d vector, d) 58 Ni reaction at 400 and 700 MeV, are studied quantitatively. The singlet-breakup contributions to the elastic amplitude are estimated within an approximate two-step calculation. The calculation makes an adiabatic approximation in the intermediate states propagator which allows the use of closure over the np intermediate states continuum. The singlet channel coupling is found to produce large effects on the calculated reaction tensor analysing power A yy , characteristic of a dynamically induced second-rank tensor interaction. By inspection of the calculated breakup amplitudes we show this induced interaction to be of the T L tensor type. (orig.)

  7. The impact of rock and fluid uncertainties in the estimation of saturation and pressure from a 4D petro elastic inversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pazetti, Bruno; Davolio, Alessandra; Schiozer, Denis J

    2015-01-01

    The integration of 4D seismic (4DS) attributes and reservoir simulation is used to reduce risks in the management of petroleum fields. One possible alternative is the saturation and pressure domain. In this case, we use estimations of saturation and pressure changes from 4D seismic data as input in history matching processes to yield more reliable production predictions in simulation models. The estimation of dynamic changes from 4DS depends on the knowledge of reservoir rock and fluid properties that are uncertain in the process of estimation. This paper presents a study of the impact of rock and fluid uncertainties on the estimation of saturation and pressure changes achieved through a 4D petro-elastic inversion. The term impact means that the saturation and pressure estimation can be perturbed by the rock and fluid uncertainties. The motivation for this study comes from the necessity to estimate uncertainties in saturation and pressure variation to incorporate them in the history matching procedures, avoiding the use of deterministic values from 4DS, which may not be reliable. The study is performed using a synthetic case with known response from where it is possible to show that the errors of estimated saturation and pressure depend on the magnitude of rock and fluid uncertainties jointly with the reservoir dynamic changes. The main contribution of this paper is to show how uncertain reservoir properties can affect the reliability of pressure and saturation estimation from 4DS and how it depends on reservoir changes induced by production. This information can be used in future projects which use quantitative inversion to integrate reservoir simulation and 4D seismic data. (paper)

  8. Illicit Cigarette Trade in Five South American Countries: A Gap Analysis for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paraje, Guillermo

    2018-05-15

    Due to its nature, it is very hard to measure tobacco illicit trade in any product. In the case of Latin American countries, there is scant information on the magnitude and characteristics of this trade in the case of cigarettes. The goal of this article is to provide estimates on the evolution of the illicit cigarette trade in five South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Gap analysis estimates for cigarette tax evasion/avoidance (a comparison on the evolution of the difference between registered cigarette sales and measured population consumption) is developed for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Nationally representative surveys, conducted regularly, are used to measure population consumption. Confidence intervals constructed by bootstrapping sample estimates are generated in order to statistically evaluate the evolution of the gap. Cigarette illicit trade has increased as a percentage of total sales in Brazil in recent years. In the case of Argentina, after a relative decrease between 2005 and 2009 it seems to have stabilized. There is no statistical evidence to argue that there has been an increase of cigarette illicit trade in Chile, Colombia and Peru, despite substantial price increases in Chile and tax increase in both Colombia and Peru. Using simple statistical methods, it is possible to assess the trend in tobacco illicit trend over time to better inform policy-makers. Getting reliable and regular population consumption surveys can also help to track tobacco illicit trade. Claims by tobacco industry of a positive association between price/tax changes and illicit trade are unsubstantiated. Evolution of cigarette illicit trade in five Latin American countries show different trajectories, not in line with tobacco industry estimates, which highlight the importance of producing solid, independent estimates. There are inexpensive methodologies that can provide estimates of the evolution of the relative importance of

  9. The determinants of intra-regional trade in the Western Balkans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Trivić

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that have an influence on bilateral trade among the Western Balkan countries for the period from 1995 to 2012. Unlike a majority of works that have dealt with the subject of trade in the Balkans or the SEEs, not only geographical, economic or political factors are taken into account, but also factors constituting cultural, communicational and historical types of the so-called “distance” between countries. In order to assess their influence on trade values, an augmented version of the gravity model is employed. It was estimated threefold: as pooled data by OLS, as a random effects model and as a fixed effects model with an additional estimation of time-invariant variables following the method of Cheng and Wall (2005. The results of the research are surprising, as the strongest influence on trade values were exhibited by variables representing ease of a direct communication and similarity of religious structures. In addition, war and one-year-post-war effect showed a strong and statistically important influence. Thus, the main conclusion is that non-economic factors in the region of the Western Balkans play the most important role in determining trade values between countries.

  10. Relationship between technological progress, capital elasticity and emissions of industrial pollutants for the production sectors in Catalonia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pie, Laia; Saez, Marc

    2009-01-01

    As is known, the Kyoto protocol proposes to reinforce national policies for emission reduction and, furthermore, to cooperate with other contracting parties. In this context, it would be necessary to assess these emissions, both in general and specifically, by pollutants and/or among productive sectors. The objective of this paper is precisely to estimate the polluting emissions of industrial origin in Catalonia in the year 2001, in a multivariate context that explicitly allows a distinction to be made between the polluter and/or the productive sector causing this emission. Six pollutants are considered, four directly related to greenhouse effect. A multi-level model, with two levels, pollutants and productive sectors, was specified. Both technological progress and elasticity of capital were introduced as random effects. Hence, it has been permitted that these coefficients vary according to one or the other level. The most important finding in this paper is that elasticity of capital has been estimated as very non-elastic, with a range that varies between 0.162 (the paper industry) and 0.556 (commerce). In fact, and generally speaking, greater the capital in the sector, lower the elasticity of capital estimated

  11. Frequency-domain elastic full waveform inversion using encoded simultaneous sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, W.; Son, W.; Pyun, S.; Min, D.

    2011-12-01

    Currently, numerous studies have endeavored to develop robust full waveform inversion and migration algorithms. These processes require enormous computational costs, because of the number of sources in the survey. To avoid this problem, the phase encoding technique for prestack migration was proposed by Romero (2000) and Krebs et al. (2009) proposed the encoded simultaneous-source inversion technique in the time domain. On the other hand, Ben-Hadj-Ali et al. (2011) demonstrated the robustness of the frequency-domain full waveform inversion with simultaneous sources for noisy data changing the source assembling. Although several studies on simultaneous-source inversion tried to estimate P- wave velocity based on the acoustic wave equation, seismic migration and waveform inversion based on the elastic wave equations are required to obtain more reliable subsurface information. In this study, we propose a 2-D frequency-domain elastic full waveform inversion technique using phase encoding methods. In our algorithm, the random phase encoding method is employed to calculate the gradients of the elastic parameters, source signature estimation and the diagonal entries of approximate Hessian matrix. The crosstalk for the estimated source signature and the diagonal entries of approximate Hessian matrix are suppressed with iteration as for the gradients. Our 2-D frequency-domain elastic waveform inversion algorithm is composed using the back-propagation technique and the conjugate-gradient method. Source signature is estimated using the full Newton method. We compare the simultaneous-source inversion with the conventional waveform inversion for synthetic data sets of the Marmousi-2 model. The inverted results obtained by simultaneous sources are comparable to those obtained by individual sources, and source signature is successfully estimated in simultaneous source technique. Comparing the inverted results using the pseudo Hessian matrix with previous inversion results

  12. [Price elasticity of demand for cigarettes and alcohol in Ecuador, based on household data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chávez, Ricardo

    2016-10-01

    Estimate price elasticity of demand for cigarettes and alcohol in Ecuador using cross-sectional data from the National Survey of Urban and Rural Household Income and Expenditures (ENIGHUR is the acronym in Spanish) 2011-2012. ENIGHUR 2011-2012 data were used with Deaton's (1, 2) methodology to estimate price elasticity of demand for cigarettes and alcohol with expenditure and quantity information. Household socioeconomic variables were also included. Price elasticity of demand for cigarettes is -0.87, meaning that a 10% price increase could lead to an 8.7% decrease in consumption. Results for cross-price elasticities of alcohol on cigarette demand are negative, as expected, indicating that they are complementary goods; however, the results are not statistically significant. Furthermore, it was found that price elasticity of demand for alcohol is -0.44, meaning that a 10% increase in the price of alcohol would produce a 4.4% decrease in consumption. A policy of price increases, for example, with a tax increase, applied to both cigarettes and alcohol, could have a positive effect on public health through reductions in consumption of both goods. However, this measure would not be sufficient to bridge gaps in prevalence measures and health outcomes between sex and other population groups, given the observed difference in the sensitivity of consumption to price variations.

  13. Trade Performance and Potential of the Philippines: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model

    OpenAIRE

    Deluna, Roperto Jr

    2013-01-01

    This study was conducted to investigate the issue of what Philippine merchandise trade flows would be if countries operated at the frontier of the gravity model. The study sought to estimate the coefficients of the gravity model. The estimated coefficients were used to estimate merchandise export potentials and technical efficiency of each country in the sample and these were also aggregated to measure impact of country groups, RTAs and inter-regional trading agreements. Result of the ...

  14. Two-photon exchange in elastic electron-nucleon scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blunden, P.G.; Melnitchouk, W.; Tjon, J.A.

    2005-01-01

    A detailed study of two-photon exchange in unpolarized and polarized elastic electron-nucleon scattering is presented, taking particular account of nucleon finite size effects. Contributions from nucleon elastic intermediate states are found to have a strong angular dependence, which leads to a partial resolution of the discrepancy between the Rosenbluth and polarization transfer measurements of the proton electric to magnetic form factor ratio, G E /G M . The two-photon exchange contribution to the longitudinal polarization transfer P L is small, whereas the contribution to the transverse polarization transfer P T is enhanced at backward angles by several percent, increasing with Q 2 . This gives rise to a small, E /G M obtained from the polarization transfer ratio P T /P L at large Q 2 . We also compare the two-photon exchange effects with data on the ratio of e + p to e - p cross sections, which is predicted to be enhanced at backward angles. Finally, we evaluate the corrections to the form factors of the neutron and estimate the elastic intermediate state contribution to the 3 He form factors

  15. Quasi-elastic high-pressure waves in 2024 Al and Cu

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morris, C.E.; Fritz, J.N.; Holian, B.L.

    1981-01-01

    Release waves from the back of a plate slap experiment are used to estimate the longitudinal modulus, bulk modulus and shear strength of the metal in the state produced by a symmetric collision. The velocity of the interface between the metal target and a window material is measured by the axially symmetric magnetic (ASM) probe. Wave profiles for initial states up to 90 GPa for 2024 Al and up to 150 GPa for Cu have been obtained. Elastic perfectly-plastic (EPP) theory cannot account for the results. A relatively simple quasi-elastic plastic (QEP) model can

  16. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO FREE TRADE WITHIN FAIR TRADE CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ya’kub Aiyub Kadir

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Free trade and fair trade are considered an ambiguous term with relative meanings of identification. Objectively, free and fair trade does not mean completely free and fair, but it means trade under binding rules obeyed by member countries as a consequence of their commitment after signing and ratification of the WTO agreements. Hence, this paper aims at exploring the issue and does an effort to harmonise between free trade and fair trade within the WTO system. Perdagangan bebas dan perdagangan yang adil adalah dua istilah yang ambigu maknanya. Secara obyektif, perdagangan bebas tidak bermakna bebas dan adil seluruhnya, tetapi bermakna sebuah perdagangan di bawah aturan-aturan mengikat setelah negara anggota menandatangani dan meratifikasi kesepakatan WTO. Tetapi dalam realitas kebanyakan Negara, terutama negara berkembang tidak mampu untuk membuka pasar dan menurunkan tarif secara keseluruhan. Persoalan tidak berimbangnya kekuatan, kurang demokrasi, krisis legitimasi dan dobel standar dalam WTO sistem merupakan sebuah tantangan yang masih berlanjut. Paper ini akan mengkaji persoalan ini dan berupaya mengharmonisasikan antara perdagangan bebas dan adil dalam sistem WTO.

  17. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO FREE TRADE WITHIN FAIR TRADE CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ya’kub Aiyub Kadir

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Free trade and fair trade are considered an ambiguous term with relative meanings of identification. Objectively, free and fair trade does not mean completely free and fair, but it means trade under binding rules obeyed by member countries as a consequence of their commitment after signing and ratification of the WTO agreements. Hence, this paper aims at exploring the issue and does an effort to harmonise between free trade and fair trade within the WTO system.   Perdagangan bebas dan perdagangan yang adil adalah dua istilah yang ambigu maknanya. Secara obyektif, perdagangan bebas tidak bermakna bebas dan adil seluruhnya, tetapi bermakna sebuah perdagangan di bawah aturan-aturan mengikat setelah negara anggota menandatangani dan meratifikasi kesepakatan WTO. Tetapi dalam realitas kebanyakan Negara, terutama negara berkembang tidak mampu untuk membuka pasar dan menurunkan tarif secara keseluruhan. Persoalan tidak berimbangnya kekuatan, kurang demokrasi, krisis legitimasi dan dobel standar dalam WTO sistem merupakan sebuah tantangan yang masih berlanjut. Paper ini akan mengkaji persoalan ini dan berupaya mengharmonisasikan antara perdagangan bebas dan adil dalam sistem WTO.

  18. Implications of CO2 Emissions Trading for Short-run Electricity Outcomes in Northwest Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Y.; Sijm, J.P.M.; Hobbs, B.F.; Lise, W.

    2008-02-01

    We examine the short-run implications of CO2 trading for power production, prices, emissions, and generator profits in northwest Europe in 2005. Simulation results from a transmission-constrained oligopoly model are compared with theoretical analyses to quantify price increases and windfall profits earned by generators. The analyses indicate that the rates at which CO2 costs are passed through to wholesale prices are affected by market competitiveness, merit order changes, and elasticities of demand and supply. Emissions trading results in large windfall profits, much but not all of which is due to free allocation of allowances. Profits also increase for some generators because their generation mix has low emissions, and so they benefit from electricity price increases. Most emission reductions appear to be due to demand response, not generation redispatch

  19. Implications of CO2 Emissions Trading for Short-run Electricity Outcomes in Northwest Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Y. [School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts and School of Engineering, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Rd., Merced, CA 95343 (United States); Sijm, J.P.M. [Policy Studies Unit, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands ECN, P.O. Box 37154, 1020 Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hobbs, B.F. [Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Ames Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lise, W. [IBS Research and Consultancy, Aga Hamami Caddesi, Aga Han 17/6, Cihangir, 34433 Beyoglu, Istanbul (Turkey)

    2008-02-15

    We examine the short-run implications of CO2 trading for power production, prices, emissions, and generator profits in northwest Europe in 2005. Simulation results from a transmission-constrained oligopoly model are compared with theoretical analyses to quantify price increases and windfall profits earned by generators. The analyses indicate that the rates at which CO2 costs are passed through to wholesale prices are affected by market competitiveness, merit order changes, and elasticities of demand and supply. Emissions trading results in large windfall profits, much but not all of which is due to free allocation of allowances. Profits also increase for some generators because their generation mix has low emissions, and so they benefit from electricity price increases. Most emission reductions appear to be due to demand response, not generation redispatch.

  20. Price and income elasticities of crude oil import demand in South Africa: A cointegration analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziramba, Emmanuel

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines the demand for imported crude oil in South Africa as a function of real income and the price of crude oil over the period 1980-2006. We carried out the Johansen co integration multivariate analysis to determine the long-run income and price elasticities. A unique long-run cointegration relationship exists between crude oil imports and the explanatory variables. The short-run dynamics are estimated by specifying a general error correction model. The estimated long-run price and income elasticities of -0.147 and 0.429 suggest that import demand for crude oil is price and income inelastic. There is also evidence of unidirectional long-run causality running from real GDP to crude oil imports. - Research Highlights: →The paper examines the demand for imported crude oil in South Africa over the period 1980-2006. → The estimated long-run price and income elasticities are -0.147 and 0.429, respectively. → There is evidence of unidirectional long-run causality running from real GDP to crude oil imports.

  1. Price and income elasticities of crude oil import demand in South Africa: A cointegration analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ziramba, Emmanuel, E-mail: zirame@unisa.ac.z [Department of Economics, University of South Africa, P.O Box 392, Unisa 0003 (South Africa)

    2010-12-15

    This paper examines the demand for imported crude oil in South Africa as a function of real income and the price of crude oil over the period 1980-2006. We carried out the Johansen co integration multivariate analysis to determine the long-run income and price elasticities. A unique long-run cointegration relationship exists between crude oil imports and the explanatory variables. The short-run dynamics are estimated by specifying a general error correction model. The estimated long-run price and income elasticities of -0.147 and 0.429 suggest that import demand for crude oil is price and income inelastic. There is also evidence of unidirectional long-run causality running from real GDP to crude oil imports. - Research Highlights: {yields}The paper examines the demand for imported crude oil in South Africa over the period 1980-2006. {yields} The estimated long-run price and income elasticities are -0.147 and 0.429, respectively. {yields} There is evidence of unidirectional long-run causality running from real GDP to crude oil imports.

  2. A new approach to ultrasonic elasticity imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoerig, Cameron; Ghaboussi, Jamshid; Fatemi, Mostafa; Insana, Michael F.

    2016-04-01

    Biomechanical properties of soft tissues can provide information regarding the local health status. Often the cells in pathological tissues can be found to form a stiff extracellular environment, which is a sensitive, early diagnostic indicator of disease. Quasi-static ultrasonic elasticity imaging provides a way to image the mechanical properties of tissues. Strain images provide a map of the relative tissue stiffness, but ambiguities and artifacts limit its diagnostic value. Accurately mapping intrinsic mechanical parameters of a region may increase diagnostic specificity. However, the inverse problem, whereby force and displacement estimates are used to estimate a constitutive matrix, is ill conditioned. Our method avoids many of the issues involved with solving the inverse problem, such as unknown boundary conditions and incomplete information about the stress field, by building an empirical model directly from measured data. Surface force and volumetric displacement data gathered during imaging are used in conjunction with the AutoProgressive method to teach artificial neural networks the stress-strain relationship of tissues. The Autoprogressive algorithm has been successfully used in many civil engineering applications and to estimate ocular pressure and corneal stiffness; here, we are expanding its use to any tissues imaged ultrasonically. We show that force-displacement data recorded with an ultrasound probe and displacements estimated at a few points in the imaged region can be used to estimate the full stress and strain vectors throughout an entire model while only assuming conservation laws. We will also demonstrate methods to parameterize the mechanical properties based on the stress-strain response of trained neural networks. This method is a fundamentally new approach to medical elasticity imaging that for the first time provides full stress and strain vectors from one set of observation data.

  3. Output, renewable energy consumption and trade in Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ben Aïssa, Mohamed Safouane; Ben Jebli, Mehdi; Ben Youssef, Slim

    2014-01-01

    We use panel cointegration techniques to examine the relationship between renewable energy consumption, trade and output in a sample of 11 African countries covering the period 1980–2008. The results from panel error correction model reveal that there is evidence of a bidirectional causality between output and exports and between output and imports in both the short and long-run. However, in the short-run, there is no evidence of causality between output and renewable energy consumption and between trade (exports or imports) and renewable energy consumption. Also, in the long-run, there is no causality running from output or trade to renewable energy. In the long-run, our estimations show that renewable energy consumption and trade have a statistically significant and positive impact on output. Our energy policy recommendations are that national authorities should design appropriate fiscal incentives to encourage the use of renewable energies, create more regional economic integration for renewable energy technologies, and encourage trade openness because of its positive impact on technology transfer and on output. - Highlights: • We examine the relationship between renewable energy consumption, trade and output in African countries. • There is a bidirectional causality between output and trade in both the short and long-run. • In the short-run, there is no causality between renewable energy consumption and trade or output. • In the long-run, renewable energy consumption and trade have a statistically significant positive impact on output. • African authorities should encourage trade openness because of its positive impact on technology transfer and on output

  4. Canister storage building trade study. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swenson, C.E.

    1995-05-01

    This study was performed to evaluate the impact of several technical issues related to the usage of the Canister Storage Building (CSB) to safely stage and store N-Reactor spent fuel currently located at K-Basin 100KW and 100KE. Each technical issue formed the basis for an individual trade study used to develop the ROM cost and schedule estimates. The study used concept 2D from the Fluor prepared ''Staging and Storage Facility (SSF) Feasibility Report'' as the basis for development of the individual trade studies

  5. Canister storage building trade study. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Swenson, C.E. [Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)

    1995-05-01

    This study was performed to evaluate the impact of several technical issues related to the usage of the Canister Storage Building (CSB) to safely stage and store N-Reactor spent fuel currently located at K-Basin 100KW and 100KE. Each technical issue formed the basis for an individual trade study used to develop the ROM cost and schedule estimates. The study used concept 2D from the Fluor prepared ``Staging and Storage Facility (SSF) Feasibility Report`` as the basis for development of the individual trade studies.

  6. Elastic properties of Gum Metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuramoto, Shigeru; Furuta, Tadahiko; Hwang, Junghwan; Nishino, Kazuaki; Saito, Takashi

    2006-01-01

    In situ X-ray diffraction measurements under tensile loading and dynamic mechanical analysis were performed to investigate the mechanisms of elastic deformation in Gum Metal. Tensile stress-strain curves for Gum Metal indicate that cold working substantially decreases the elastic modulus while increasing the yield strength, thereby confirming nonlinearity in the elastic range. The gradient of each curve decreased continuously to about one-third its original value near the elastic limit. As a result of this decrease in elastic modulus and nonlinearity, elastic deformability reaches 2.5% after cold working. Superelasticity is attributed to stress-induced martensitic transformations, although the large elastic deformation in Gum Metal is not accompanied by a phase transformation

  7. Does Trade Help to Explain Tourism Demand? The Case of Portugal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuno Carlos LEITÃO

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The tourism industry has expanded in recent years due to internal and external environmental forces. These forces, income, trade, consumer price, and geographical distance are interconnected. Accounting for imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale, the new trade theory offers the explanation of dynamic gains from international trade. A large number of studies attempt to test the hypothesis that there is a link between trade and tourism. Most of the studies show that trade and tourism are positively correlated. This paper specifies static and dynamic panel demand models for tourism in Portugal and estimates demand equations using tourist inflow data for the period 1995-2006. We find that bilateral trade, immigration, border, and geographical distance between Portugal and countries of origin are the main determinants of tourism to Portugal. The dynamic panel data approach indicates that trade, population, and income are more important determinants than relative price.

  8. Trade-Off Study for an STC 70 W Stirling Engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Songgang; Peterson, Allen A.; Augenblick, Jack E.

    2005-02-01

    A high-efficiency, low-weight free-piston Stirling generator, RG-70L, has been conceptually designed. This paper reports the detailed trade-off study of newly designed RG-70L. The trades of operating frequency and piston/displacer strokes on Stirling convertor mass and efficiency are discussed. This paper shows how the operating frequency and strokes were optimized based on the trades. Losses associated with increased frequency were fully investigated and the results are discussed in the paper. Various optional linear alternator configurations are also presented and the estimated masses are reported.

  9. Energy trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glachant, J.M.; Kimman, R.; Schweickardt, H.E.

    2001-05-01

    This document brings together 18 testimonies of experts about energy trading: 1 - the energy trading experience on European deregulated markets: structure of deregulated energy markets in Europe, case study: a two years experience of a power exchange in western Europe, case study: European energy exchanges (experience of spot and future trading), case study: risk management on energy deregulated markets; 2 - the trading activity environment and realities in France: the French electrical law and the purchase for resale, experience feedback: status after 3 months of trading in France (the first experience of a French producer), the access to the power transportation network, which legal constraints for trading in France, the access of eligible clients to the French power market, conditions of implementation of a power exchange market in France, which real trading possibilities in France for producers and self-producers in the legal frame, case study: the role of trading in the company (main part or link to process), convergence of gas and electricity markets, gas-electricity trading: which pricing models; 3 - risk management and use of new technologies potentiality, the results outside the French borders: case study: what differences between the European and US markets, prices volatility and commodity risk management: towards the on-line trading, role and developments of E-business in energy trading, how to simplify trade in a liberalized market. (J.S.)

  10. Recovering an elastic obstacle containing embedded objects by the acoustic far-field measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Fenglong; Yang, Jiaqing; Zhang, Bo

    2018-01-01

    Consider the inverse scattering problem of time-harmonic acoustic waves by a 3D bounded elastic obstacle which may contain embedded impenetrable obstacles inside. We propose a novel and simple technique to show that the elastic obstacle can be uniquely recovered by the acoustic far-field pattern at a fixed frequency, disregarding its contents. Our method is based on constructing a well-posed modified interior transmission problem on a small domain and makes use of an a priori estimate for both the acoustic and elastic wave fields in the usual H 1-norm. In the case when there is no obstacle embedded inside the elastic body, our method gives a much simpler proof for the uniqueness result obtained previously in the literature (Natroshvili et al 2000 Rend. Mat. Serie VII 20 57-92 Monk and Selgas 2009 Inverse Problems Imaging 3 173-98).

  11. Toward an Elasticity of Chip-N-Saw: Demand and Supply Models of Chip-N-Saw Stumpage in Louisiana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaun M. Tanger

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Softwood chip-n-saw (CNS is a relatively new stumpage product in the sawtimber- and pulpwood-dominated stumpage markets in the U.S. South. Based on a quarterly data series from 2003 to 2016, this study estimates the demand and supply models of the softwood CNS stumpage market in Louisiana. The two-stage least squares (2SLS results reveal that own price elasticity of demand (PED is price elastic, and the cross-price elasticity (XEDwith sawtimber approaches unit elasticity. On the supply side, CNS is price inelastic in supply (PES, but more responsive to own price changesthan sawtimber quantity supplied. Further, severance tax increases are found to decrease the supply of CNS, indicating that suppliers are responsive to severance tax incidence. As the first empirical estimation of CNS, the findings should be of interest to those involved in the analysis of Southeastern stumpage markets.

  12. Perspectives on fuel ethanol consumption and trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walter, Arnaldo; Dolzan, Paulo; Piacente, Erik; Borges da Cunha, Kamyla; Rosillo-Calle, Frank

    2008-01-01

    Since the year 2000 or so there has been a rapid growth on fuel ethanol production and consumption, particularly in US and Brazil. Ethanol trade represented about 10% of world consumption in 2005, Brazil being the main exporter. The most important consumer markets - US and European Union (EU) - have trade regimes that constrained the comparative advantages of the most efficient producers, such as Brazil. This paper evaluates the fuel ethanol market up to 2030 together with the potential for international biotrade. Based on forecasts of gasoline consumption and on targets and mandates of fuel ethanol use, it is estimated that demand could reach 272 Gl in 2030, displacing 10% of the estimated demand of gasoline (Scenario 1), or even 566 Gl in the same year, displacing about 20% of the gasoline demand (Scenario 2). The analysis considers fuel ethanol consumption and production in US, EU-25, Japan, China, Brazil and the rest of the world (ROW-BR). Without significant production of ethanol from cellulosic materials in this period, displacing 10% of the gasoline demand in 2030, at reasonable cost, can only be accomplished by fostering fuel ethanol production in developing countries and enhancing ethanol trade. If the US and EU-25 reach their full production potential (based on conventional routes), the minimum amount that could be traded in 2030 would be about 34 Gl. Displacing 20% of the gasoline demand by 2030 will require the combined development of second-generation technologies and large-scale international trade in ethanol fuel. Without second-generation technologies, Scenario 2 could become a reality only with large-scale production of ethanol from sugarcane in developing countries, e.g., Brazil and ROW-BR could be able to export at least 14.5 Gl in 2010, 73.9 Gl in 2020 and 71.8 Gl in 2030. (author)

  13. METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TERMS OF TRADE STATISTICAL EVALUATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Kovtun

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper studies the methodological principles and guidance of the statistical evaluation of terms of trade for the United Nations classification model – Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS. The practical implementation of the proposed three-stage model of index analysis and estimation of terms of trade for Ukraine's commodity-members for the period of 2011-2012 are realized.

  14. Spin entanglement in elastic electron scattering from quasi-one electron atoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca Dos Santos, Samantha; Bartschat, Klaus

    2017-04-01

    We have extended our work on e-Li collisions to investigate low-energy elastic electron collisions with atomic hydrogen and other alkali targets (Na,K,Rb). These systems have been suggested for the possibility of continuously varying the degree of entanglement between the elastically scattered projectile and the valence electron. In order to estimate how well such a scheme may work in practice, we carried out overview calculations for energies between 0 and 10 eV and the full range of scattering angles 0° -180° . In addition to the relative exchange asymmetry parameter that characterizes the entanglement, we present the differential cross section in order to estimate whether the count rates in the most interesting energy-angle regimes are sufficient to make such experiments feasible in practice. Work supported by the NSF under PHY-1403245.

  15. On the Determinants of Intra-industry Trade: Specialization and Relative Factor Endowments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Young Song

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper derives a general relationship among intra-industry trade, specialization, and gravity. This relationship holds in any two-country trade model under assumptions that are frequently adopted in theoretical trade models. Using this general relationship, we can take an integrated approach to the theory of intra-industry trade. In two-good, two-factor models, this relationship implies that the intensity of intra-industry trade is decreasing in the difference in factor proportions and is increasing in the product of per-worker GDPs. Thus, the popular assertion that a negative correlation between the intensity of intra- industry trade and the difference in factor proportions supports monopolistic competition is groundless. Using panel data on bilateral trade flows, we estimate these relationships. We find that the negative correlation between intra-industry trade and specialization is quite robust. We also find a robust positive correlation between intra-industry trade and the product of per-capita GDPs.

  16. Determinants of Iran's BilateralIntra-industry Trade in Pharmaceutical Industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghlmand, Siamak; Rahimi, Bahlol; Farrokh-Eslamlou, Hamidreza; Nabilou, Bahram; Yusefzadeh, Hassan

    2018-01-01

    Among non-oil and in trade arena, drug has always been strategic importance and most government especially industrialized countries pay special attention to its production and trade issues. Thus, having a comprehensive view from economic perspective to this section is essential for suggesting intervention. This was a descriptive-analytical and panel study. In this study, gravity model is used to estimate Iran's bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical products in the 2001-2012 periods. To illustrate the extent of pharmaceutical's intra-industry trade between Iran and its major trading partners, the explanatory variables of market size, income, factor endowments, distance, cultural contributions, and similarities and also special trade arrangements have been applied. Analysis of factors affecting Iran's bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical industry showed that the average GDP and cultural similarities had a significant positive impact on Iran's bilateral IIT, while the difference in GDP has a negative and significant effect. Coefficients obtained for the geographical distance and the average ratio of total capital to the labor force is not consistent with theoretical expectations. Special trade arrangements did not have significant impact on the extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners. The knowledge of the intra-industry trade between Iran and its trade partners make integration between the countries. Factors affecting this type of trade pattern underlie its development in trade relationship. Therefore, the findings of this study would be useful in helping to develop and implement policies for the expansion of the pharmaceutical trade.

  17. International trade law perspectives on paperless trade and inclusive digital trade

    OpenAIRE

    Mitchell, Andrew D.; Mishra, Neha

    2017-01-01

    Cross-border paperless trade is increasingly important to generate economic gains in a digitalised economy. Several developing and least developed countries will need to modernise their domestic laws and regulations to facilitate cross-border electronic transmissions, particularly to promote cloud computing and electronic payments. In recent trade agreements, trading partners have committed to deeper and more comprehensive provisions on electronic commerce, including adopting domestic laws on...

  18. Form finding in elastic gridshells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baek, Changyeob; Sageman-Furnas, Andrew O.; Jawed, Mohammad K.; Reis, Pedro M.

    2018-01-01

    Elastic gridshells comprise an initially planar network of elastic rods that are actuated into a shell-like structure by loading their extremities. The resulting actuated form derives from the elastic buckling of the rods subjected to inextensibility. We study elastic gridshells with a focus on the rational design of the final shapes. Our precision desktop experiments exhibit complex geometries, even from seemingly simple initial configurations and actuation processes. The numerical simulations capture this nonintuitive behavior with excellent quantitative agreement, allowing for an exploration of parameter space that reveals multistable states. We then turn to the theory of smooth Chebyshev nets to address the inverse design of hemispherical elastic gridshells. The results suggest that rod inextensibility, not elastic response, dictates the zeroth-order shape of an actuated elastic gridshell. As it turns out, this is the shape of a common household strainer. Therefore, the geometry of Chebyshev nets can be further used to understand elastic gridshells. In particular, we introduce a way to quantify the intrinsic shape of the empty, but enclosed regions, which we then use to rationalize the nonlocal deformation of elastic gridshells to point loading. This justifies the observed difficulty in form finding. Nevertheless, we close with an exploration of concatenating multiple elastic gridshell building blocks.

  19. Trading Stages: Life Expectancies in Structured Populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuljapurkar, Shripad; Coulson, Tim; Horvitz, Carol

    2012-01-01

    Interest in stage-and age structured models has recently increased because they can describe quantitative traits such as size that are left out of age-only demography. Available methods for the analysis of effects of vital rates on lifespan in stage-structured models have not been widely applied because they are hard to use and interpret, and tools for age and stage structured populations are missing. We present easily interpretable expressions for the sensitivities and elasticities of life expectancy to vital rates in age-stage models, and illustrate their application with two biological examples. Much of our approach relies on trading of time and mortality risk in one stage for time and risk in others. Our approach contributes to the new framework of the study of age- and stage-structured biodemography. PMID:22664576

  20. Trade in tourism services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Camilla; Zhang, Jie

    2013-01-01

    The article addresses two questions related with tourism as a service trade. Can tourism be explained as other export activities? Does service liberalisation have a positive or negative impact on tourism receipts in destination countries? Previous research has either focused on the demand side...... factors (i.e. factors of demand in the origin countries) or on tourism as a long-run factor of economic growth. The research shows that a complementary perspective such as that offered by trade in a supply side perspective can render additional insights towards understanding tourism. This approach can...... explain why countries have absolute and comparative advantage. Another finding is that tourism as an export can be explained by some of the same destination factors that explain other service exports. Using different panel estimators the importance of supply side factors that are to some extent exclusive...

  1. Fragmentation and East Asia’s Information Technology Trade

    OpenAIRE

    Carl Bonham; Byron Gangnes; Ari Van Assche

    2004-01-01

    This paper studies the growth and determinants of information technology (IT) trade in the Asia-Pacific region. We argue that the rise of IT trade must be understood within the context o increasing vertical fragmentation of production processes that has occurred over the past two decades. To evaluate this empirically, we estimate a set of pooled bilateral IT export equations for eight Asian countries, the U.S. and the E.U., where FDI inflows are introduced as a proxy for fragmentation. We app...

  2. Elasticity theory of ultrathin nanofilms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Jiangang; Yun, Guohong; Narsu, B; Yao, Haiyan

    2015-01-01

    A self-consistent theoretical scheme for describing the elastic behavior of ultrathin nanofilms (UTNFs) was proposed. Taking into account the lower symmetry of an UTNF compared to its bulk counterpart, additional elastic and magnetoelastic parameters were introduced to model the elasticity rigorously. The applications of current theory to several elastic and magnetoelastic systems gave excellent agreement with experiments. More importantly, the surface elastic and magnetoelastic parameters used to fit the experimental results are physically reasonable and in close agreement with those obtained from experiment and simulation. This fact suggests that the additional elastic (magnetoelastic) constants due to symmetry breaking are of great importance in theoretical description of the mechanical properties of UTNFs. And we proved that the elasticity of UTNFs should be described by a three-dimensional model just including the intrinsic surface and bulk parameters, but not the effective surface parameters. It is believed that the theory reported here is a universal strategy for elasticity and magnetoelasticity of ultrathin films. (paper)

  3. Size effect of the elastic modulus of rectangular nanobeams: Surface elasticity effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yao Hai-Yan; Fan Wen-Liang; Yun Guo-Hong

    2013-01-01

    The size-dependent elastic property of rectangular nanobeams (nanowires or nanoplates) induced by the surface elasticity effect is investigated by using a developed modified core-shell model. The effect of surface elasticity on the elastic modulus of nanobeams can be characterized by two surface related parameters, i.e., inhomogeneous degree constant and surface layer thickness. The analytical results show that the elastic modulus of the rectangular nanobeam exhibits a distinct size effect when its characteristic size reduces below 100 nm. It is also found that the theoretical results calculated by a modified core-shell model have more obvious advantages than those by other models (core-shell model and core-surface model) by comparing them with relevant experimental measurements and computational results, especially when the dimensions of nanostructures reduce to a few tens of nanometers. (condensed matter: structural, mechanical, and thermal properties)

  4. Trade Openness and Bank Risk-Taking Behavior: Evidence from Emerging Economies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Badar Nadeem Ashraf

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we examine the impact of trade openness on bank risk-taking behavior. Using a panel dataset of 291 banks from 37 emerging countries over the period from 1998 to 2012, we find that higher trade openness decreases bank risk-taking. The results are robust when we use alternative bank risk-taking proxies and alternative estimation methods. We argue that trade openness provides diversification opportunities to banks in lending activities, which decrease overall bank risk. Further to this end, we observe that higher trade openness helps domestic banks to smooth out income volatility and decreases the impact of a financial crisis on banks.

  5. Cross-section measurement for quasi-elastic production of charmed baryons in $\

    CERN Document Server

    Kayis-Topaksu, A; Van Dantzig, R; De Jong, M; Melzer, O; Oldeman, R G C; Pesen, E; Spada, F R; Visschers, J L; Güler, M; Köse, U; Serin-Zeyrek, M; Sever, R; Tolun, P; Zeyrek, M T; Catanesi, M G; De Serio, M; Ieva, M; Muciaccia, M T; Radicioni, E; Simone, S; Bülte, A; Winter, Klaus; Van de Vyver, B; Vilain, P; Wilquet, G; Pittoni, G L; Saitta, B; Di Capua, E; Ogawa, S; Shibuya, H; Artamonov, A V; Chizhov, M; Doucet, M; Hristova, I R; Kawamura, T; Kolev, D; Meinhard, H; Panman, J; Papadopoulos, I M; Ricciardi, S; Rozanov, A; Tsenov, R V; Uiterwijk, J W E; Zucchelli, P; Goldberg, J; Chikawa, M; Arik, E; Song, J S; Yoon, C S; Kodama, K; Ushida, N; Aoki, S; Hara, T; Delbar, T; Favart, D; Grégoire, G; Kalinin, S; Makhlyoueva, I V; Gorbunov, P; Khovanskii, V D; Shamanov, V V; Tsukerman, I; Bruski, N; Frekers, D; Hoshino, K; Kawada, J; Komatsu, M; Miyanishi, M; Nakamura, M; Nakano, T; Narita, K; Niu, K; Niwa, K; Nonaka, N; Sato, O; Toshito, T; Buontempo, S; Cocco, A G; D'Ambrosio, N; De Lellis, G; De Rosa, G; Di Capua, F; Ereditato, A; Fiorillo, G; Marotta, A; Messina, M; Migliozzi, P; Pistillo, C; Scotto-Lavina, L; Strolin, P; Tioukov, V; Nakamura, K; Okusawa, T; Dore, U; Loverre, P F; Ludovici, L; Righini, P; Rosa, G; Santacesaria, R; Satta, A; Barbuto, E; Bozza, C; Grella, G; Romano, G; Sirignano, C; Sorrentino, S; Sato, Y; Tezuka, I

    2003-01-01

    A study of quasi-elastic production of charmed baryons in charged-current interactions of neutrinos with the nuclear emulsion target of CHORUS is presented. In a sample of about 46000 interactions located in the emulsion, candidates for decays of short-lived particles were identified by using new automatic scanning systems and later confirmed through visual inspection. Criteria based both on topologival and kinematical characteristics of quasi-elastic charm production allowed a clear separation between events of this type and those in which charm is produced in deep inelastic processes. A final sample containing 13 candidates consistent with quasi-elastic production of a charmed baryon with an estimated background of 1.7 events was obtained. At the average neutrino energy of 27GeV the cross section for total quasi-elastic production of charmed baryons relative to the nuN charged-current cross-section was measured to be sigma(QE)/sigma(CC)=(0.23^+0.12_-0.06(stat)^+0.02_-0.03(syst))x10^-2. Through an analysis o...

  6. Demand assessment and price-elasticity estimation of quality-improved primary health care in Palestine: a contribution from the contingent valuation method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mataria, Awad; Luchini, Stéphane; Daoud, Yousef; Moatti, Jean-Paul

    2007-10-01

    This paper proposes a new methodology to assess demand and price-elasticity for health care, based on patients' stated willingness to pay (WTP) values for certain aspects of health care quality improvements. A conceptual analysis of how respondents consider contingent valuation (CV) questions allowed us to specify a probability density function of stated WTP values, and consequently, to model a demand function for quality-improved health care, using a parametric survival approach. The model was empirically estimated using a CV study intended to assess patients' values for improving the quality of primary health care (PHC) services in Palestine. A random sample of 499 individuals was interviewed following medical consultation in four PHC centers. Quality was assessed using a multi-attribute approach; and respondents valued seven specific quality improvements using a decomposed valuation scenario and a payment card elicitation technique. Our results suggest an inelastic demand at low user fees levels, and when the price-increase is accompanied with substantial quality-improvements. Nevertheless, demand becomes more and more elastic if user fees continue to rise. On the other hand, patients' reactions to price-increase turn out to depend on their level of income. Our results can be used to design successful health care financing strategies that include a consideration of patients' preferences and financial capacities. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN SEVERANCE TAX REVENUES AND COAL MINING EMPLOYMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Findeis, Jill L.; Shortle, James S.

    1985-01-01

    A severance tax can provide local jurisdictions with additional revenues to finance economic development, yet the imposition of a tax may create coal industry employment losses. This research analyzes this issue by examining the demand for Pennsylvania steam coal, providing estimates of the unconditional own-price elasticities of demand for coal in each of two demand regions. These estimates in conjunction with labor/output coefficient estimates are used to determine the extent to which coal ...

  8. Muscle trade-offs in a power-amplified prey capture system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, M Mendoza; Patek, S N

    2014-05-01

    Should animals operating at great speeds and accelerations use fast or slow muscles? The answer hinges on a fundamental trade-off: muscles can be maximally fast or forceful, but not both. Direct lever systems offer a straightforward manifestation of this trade-off, yet the fastest organisms use power amplification, not direct lever action. Power-amplified systems typically use slow, forceful muscles to preload springs, which then rapidly release elastic potential energy to generate high speeds and accelerations. However, a fast response to a stimulus may necessitate fast spring-loading. Across 22 mantis shrimp species (Stomatopoda), this study examined how muscle anatomy correlates with spring mechanics and appendage type. We found that muscle force is maximized through physiological cross-sectional area, but not through sarcomere length. Sit-and-wait predators (spearers) had the shortest sarcomere lengths (fastest contractions) and the slowest strike speeds. The species that crush shells (smashers) had the fastest speeds, most forceful springs, and longest sarcomeres. The origin of the smasher clade yielded dazzlingly high accelerations, perhaps due to the release from fast spring-loading for evasive prey capture. This study offers a new window into the dynamics of force-speed trade-offs in muscles in the biomechanical, comparative evolutionary framework of power-amplified systems. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  9. Volume, Volatility and Public News Announcements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bollerslev, Tim; Li, Jia; Xue, Yuan

    We provide new empirical evidence for the way in which financial markets process information. Our results are based on high-frequency intraday data along with new econometric techniques for making inference on the relationship between trading intensity and spot volatility around public news...... announcements. Consistent with the predictions derived from a theoretical model in which investors agree to disagree, our estimates for the intraday volume-volatility elasticity around the most important news announcements are systematically below unity. Our elasticity estimates also decrease significantly...

  10. On Elasticity Measurement in Cloud Computing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Ai

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Elasticity is the foundation of cloud performance and can be considered as a great advantage and a key benefit of cloud computing. However, there is no clear, concise, and formal definition of elasticity measurement, and thus no effective approach to elasticity quantification has been developed so far. Existing work on elasticity lack of solid and technical way of defining elasticity measurement and definitions of elasticity metrics have not been accurate enough to capture the essence of elasticity measurement. In this paper, we present a new definition of elasticity measurement and propose a quantifying and measuring method using a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC model, which is easy to use for precise calculation of elasticity value of a cloud computing platform. Our numerical results demonstrate the basic parameters affecting elasticity as measured by the proposed measurement approach. Furthermore, our simulation and experimental results validate that the proposed measurement approach is not only correct but also robust and is effective in computing and comparing the elasticity of cloud platforms. Our research in this paper makes significant contribution to quantitative measurement of elasticity in cloud computing.

  11. THE ROMANIAN EXTERNAL TRADE AND THE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS INFLOWS AFTER 2007. A CRITICAL SURVEY.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giurgiu Adriana

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Focusing more on the evolution of the Romanian external trade and FDI inflows after 2007 - the year of Romania's EU integration - the paper provides insights in the trade and FDI inflows determinants in the context of the convergence process and also in relation to the financial global crisis. As the statistic data envisage, Romanian exports and imports were high over the period 2000-2010, and there were also large FDI inflows in the economy, mostly until 2008. Although the data appear to be encouraging, it seems that Romania did not succeed to maximize the benefits which should result from such a situation. Moreover, the situation after 2008 shows that Romania is in a deep recession accelerated and maintained by uninspired government policy measures with a strong negative impact on the Romanian economy. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate Romanian export and import demand functions after the year 2007, and to compare them with those of the period 2000-2006, using quarterly data, in correlation with the FDI inflows. The main contribution of the paper is that it is an empirical analysis on Romania's FDI and external trade, providing the impact of the main determinants of export and import of Romania, by using the Engle-Granger two step method. Following Allard (2009 rather than just providing the elasticity, this method combines the elasticity with the evolution of the explanatory variables to quantify their impact during the analysed period. The analysis aim to cover all possible factors underlying the external sector performance of Romania and thus, they are complemented with country specific analysis. The empirical analysis will therefore provide some interesting insights not only in the context of the convergence process of the country with the Eurozone but also in relation to the exchange rate regime. The theoretical framework relies on the 'imperfect substitutes' model (Goldstein and Khan; 1985, and it is used in the paper

  12. Petrov-Galerkin mixed formulations for bidimensional elasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toledo, E.M.; Loula, A.F.D.; Guerreiro, J.N.C.

    1989-10-01

    A new formulation for two-dimensional elasticity in stress and displacements is presented. Consistently adding to the Galerkin classical formulation residuals forms of constitutive and equilibrium equations, the original saddle point is transformed into a minimization problem without any restrictions. We also propose a stress post processing technique using both equilibrium and constitutive equations. Numerical analysis error estimates and numerical results are presented confirming the predicted rates of convergence. (A.C.A.S.) [pt

  13. Money flexibility, price elasticity, and elasticity of marginal utility of consumption

    OpenAIRE

    Malakhov, Sergey

    2014-01-01

    The development of G.Stigler’s original model of search describes the mathematical relationship between the elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption, the price elasticity, and the elasticity of the marginal utility of money income with respect to increase in the price of living and/or to inflation. This relationship can be used not only in economics of well-being but also in microeconomics where the increase in the price of living, i.e., in purchase price, can make consumption “bad” ...

  14. Willingness to pay for fair trade products: Results from a discrete choice experiment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peyer, Mathias; Balderjahn, Ingo; Scholderer, Joachim

    under the assumption that a fair trade label was included on the product package. It is concluded that fair trade certification may result yield real competitive advantage for producers of consumer goods, and that the generality of the observed effects should be investigated in other product categories...... awareness of fair trade labels and prior experience with fair trade products as individual-differences variables. Results indicated that consumer willingness to pay for fair trade labels was significant and positive under virtually all experimental conditions, and increased further when the fair trade label...... was combined with a strong manufacturer brand, when participants had prior experience with fair-trade products, and when participants had high prior awareness of fair trade labels. Based on the parameter estimates, price response functions were fitted, and changes in market shares were predicted for each brand...

  15. Quantifying the trade in marine ornamental fishes into Switzerland and an estimation of imports from the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica V. Biondo

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Millions of marine ornamental fishes are traded every year. Today, over half of the known nearly 4000 coral reef fish species are in trade with poor or no monitoring and demand is increasing. This study investigates their trade into and through Switzerland by analyzing import documents for live animals. In 2009, 151 import declarations with attached species lists for marine ornamental fishes from non-EU countries totaled 28 356 specimens. The 62% of the fishes remaining in Switzerland, comprised 440 marine species from 45 families, the rest transited to EU and non-EU countries. Despite the recognized large trade volume for the European region, due to bilateral agreements, no data is collected for imports from the EU. However, inferred data shows that more than 200 000 marine ornamental fishes could be imported into Switzerland every year and an unknown quantity re-exported. As biggest import region, it is therefore safe to assume, that the European region is importing at least as many marine ornamental fishes as the US. There is no adequate data-collecting system known to be in place in any country for monitoring this trade. The EU Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES to monitor animal diseases could be adjusted to gather compulsory information for the EU and Switzerland. More than half of the species imported into Switzerland are not assessed by the IUCN and therefore marked as ‘not evaluated’ on the Red List. Overall, 70% of all known coral reef fish species have not been evaluated. If coral reef fishes are threatened or endangered due to large, possibly unsustainable numbers traded, it may be rational to monitor the trade in these species through the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES.

  16. Price and Income Elasticity of Australian Retail Finance: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helen Higgs

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper models the price and income elasticity of retail finance in Australia using aggregate quarterly data and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL approach. We particularly focus on the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC from 2007 onwards on retail finance demand and analyse four submarkets (period analysed in brackets: owneroccupied housing loans (Sep 1985–June 2010, term loans (for motor vehicles, household goods and debt consolidation, etc. (Dec 1988–Jun 2010, credit card loans (Mar 1990–Jun 2010, and margin loans (Sep 2000–Jun 2010. Other than the indicator lending rates and annual full-time earnings respectively used as proxies for the price and income effects, we specify a large number of other variables as demand factors, particularly reflecting the value of the asset for which retail finance demand is derived. These variously include the yield on indexed bonds as a proxy for inflation expectations, median housing prices, consumer sentiment indices as measures of consumer confidence, motor vehicle and retail trade sales, housing debt-to-housing assets as a measure of leverage, the proportion of protected margin lending, the available credit limit on credit cards, and the All Ordinaries Index. In the long run, we find significant price elasticities only for term loans and margin loans, and significant income elasticities of demand for housing loans, term loans and margin loans. We also find that the GFC only significantly affected the longrun demand for term loans and margin loans. In the short run, we find that the GFC has had a significant effect on the price elasticity of demand for term loans and margin loans. Expected inflation is also a key factor affecting retail finance demand. Overall, most of the submarkets in the analysis indicate that retail finance demand is certainly price inelastic but more income elastic than conventionally thought.

  17. Derivation of elastic stiffness from site-matched mineral density and acoustic impedance maps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raum, Kay; Cleveland, Robin O; Peyrin, Francoise; Laugier, Pascal

    2006-01-01

    200 MHz acoustic impedance maps and site-matched synchrotron radiation micro computed tomography (SR-μCT) maps of tissue degree of mineralization of bone (DMB) were used to derive the elastic coefficient c 33 in cross sections of human cortical bone. To accomplish this goal, a model was developed to relate the DMB accessible with SR-μCT to mass density. The formulation incorporates the volume fractions and densities of the major bone tissue components (collagen, mineral and water), and accounts for tissue porosity. We found that the mass density can be well modelled by a second-order polynomial fit to DMB (R 2 = 0.999) and appears to be consistent with measurements of many different types of mineralized tissues. The derived elastic coefficient c 33 correlated more strongly with the acoustic impedance (R 2 = 0.996) than with mass density (R 2 = 0.310). This finding suggests that estimates of c 33 made from measurements of the acoustic impedance are more reliable than those made from density measurements. Mass density and elastic coefficient were in the range between 1.66 and 2.00 g cm -3 and 14.8 and 75.4 GPa, respectively. Although SAM inspection is limited to the evaluation of carefully prepared sample surfaces, it provides a two-dimensional quantitative estimate of elastic tissue properties at the tissue level

  18. Short-run and long-run elasticities of import demand for crude oil in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altinay, Galip

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study is to attempt to estimate the short-run and the long-run elasticities of demand for crude oil in Turkey by the recent autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration. As a developing country, Turkey meets its growing demand for oil principally by foreign suppliers. Thus, the study focuses on modelling the demand for imported crude oil using annual data covering the period 1980-2005. The bounds test results reveal that a long-run cointegration relationship exists between the crude oil import and the explanatory variables: nominal price and income, but not in the model that includes real price in domestic currency. The long-run parameters are estimated through a long-run static solution of the estimated ARDL model, and then the short-run dynamics are estimated by the error correction model. The estimated models pass the diagnostic tests successfully. The findings reveal that the income and price elasticities of import demand for crude oil are inelastic both in the short run and in the long run

  19. Effects of Bilateralism and the MFN Clause on International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lampe, Markus

    2009-01-01

    manufactured goods. Gravity model estimates show that specific liberalizations increased exports of corresponding items, but not overall trade. Exporters from countries whose governments used bilateralism strategically to bring down partner tariffs benefitted most. Hence, the network in form and outcome......This study contributes to a revised picture of nineteenth-century bilateralism. Employing a new disaggregated data set, it argues that bilateral treaties did not implement general free trade, but instead reduced tariffs unevenly through commodity-specific preferences, especially favoring...... is more properly identified with reciprocal liberalization practiced by the French than with British free-trade ideology....

  20. Electronic trading system and returns volatility in the oil futures market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao, Huei-Chu; Lee, Yi-Huey; Suen, Yu-Bo

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses daily Brent crude prices to investigate the employment of electronic trading on the returns conditional volatility in the oil futures market. After a suitable GARCH model is established, the conditional volatility series are found. The Bai and Perron model is then used to find two significant structural breaks for these conditional volatility series around two implementation dates of electronic trading. This result indicates that the change in the trading system has significant impacts on the returns volatility since our estimated second break date is very close to the all-electronic trade implementation date. Moreover, the conditional volatility in the all-electronic trading period is found to be more dominated by the temporal persistence rather than the volatility clustering effect. All these evidence can shed some light for explaining the high relationship between more volatile world oil price and the more popular electronic trade. (author)

  1. Trading emissions improve air quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lents, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    While admitting sharply contrasting views exist, James M. Lents of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in southern California sees emissions trading open-quotes as a lifesaver for our troubled planet.close quotes He explains: open-quotes If political support for the environment is to be maintained, we must seek the most economical and flexible means of pursuing cleanup. At present, market incentives and emissions trading represent our best hope.close quotes Lents is putting his money where his pen is. The air quality management district he heads plans to use market incentives, including emissions trading, to reduce air pollution in the notoriously dirty southern California area. When the system goes into operation in 1994, he estimates it will save southern California businesses more than $400 million a year in compliance costs, while also making major improvements in the region's air quality. If the idea works there, why won't it work elsewhere, even on a global scale, Lents asks? He believes it will. But open-quotes the ultimate success of emissions-trading programs, whether regional, national, or international in scope, lies in the proof that they're actually achieving reductions in harmful emissions,close quotes he emphasizes. open-quotes These reductions must be real and verifiable to satisfy the Clean Air Act and a skeptical public.close quotes

  2. A Galerkin approximation for linear elastic shallow shells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Figueiredo, I. N.; Trabucho, L.

    1992-03-01

    This work is a generalization to shallow shell models of previous results for plates by B. Miara (1989). Using the same basis functions as in the plate case, we construct a Galerkin approximation of the three-dimensional linearized elasticity problem, and establish some error estimates as a function of the thickness, the curvature, the geometry of the shell, the forces and the Lamé costants.

  3. Proton-4He elastic scattering at intermediate energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auger, J.P.; Gillespie, J.; Lombard, R.J.

    1975-12-01

    Differential elastic cross sections and polarizations are calculated in a multiple scattering formalism for proton- 4 He scattering for energies in the range 0.6-24GeV and for momentum transfers up to 4.0fmsup(-1). The calculations include Coulomb and spin effects. Corrections due to target-nucleon overlap and charge exchange are estimated. The results are compared with experimental data [fr

  4. Elasticity in ecosystem services: exploring the variable relationship between ecosystems and human well-being

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tim M. Daw

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Although ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as benefits people obtain from nature, we still have a poor understanding of how they actually enhance multidimensional human well-being, and how well-being is affected by ecosystem change. We develop a concept of "ecosystem service elasticity" (ES elasticity that describes the sensitivity of human well-being to changes in ecosystems. ES Elasticity is a result of complex social and ecological dynamics and is context dependent, individually variable, and likely to demonstrate nonlinear dynamics such as thresholds and hysteresis. We present a conceptual framework that unpacks the chain of causality from ecosystem stocks through flows, goods, value, and shares to contribute to the well-being of different people. This framework builds on previous conceptualizations, but places multidimensional well-being of different people as the final element. This ultimately disaggregated approach emphasizes how different people access benefits and how benefits match their needs or aspirations. Applying this framework to case studies of individual coastal ecosystem services in East Africa illustrates a wide range of social and ecological factors that can affect ES elasticity. For example, food web and habitat dynamics affect the sensitivity of different fisheries ecosystem services to ecological change. Meanwhile high cultural significance, or lack of alternatives enhance ES elasticity, while social mechanisms that prevent access can reduce elasticity. Mapping out how chains are interlinked illustrates how different types of value and the well-being of different people are linked to each other and to common ecological stocks. We suggest that examining chains for individual ecosystem services can suggest potential interventions aimed at poverty alleviation and sustainable ecosystems while mapping out of interlinkages between chains can help to identify possible ecosystem service trade-offs and winners and

  5. A simple model to estimate plantarflexor muscle-tendon mechanics and energetics during walking with elastic ankle exoskeletons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawicki, Gregory S.; Khan, Nabil S.

    2016-01-01

    Goal A recent experiment demonstrated that when humans wear unpowered elastic ankle exoskeletons with intermediate spring stiffness they can reduce their metabolic energy cost to walk by ~7%. Springs that are too compliant or too stiff have little benefit. The purpose of this study was to use modeling and simulation to explore the muscle-level mechanisms for the ‘sweet-spot’ in stiffness during exoskeleton assisted walking. Methods We developed a simple lumped, uniarticular musculoskeletal model of the plantarflexors operating in parallel with an elastic ‘exo-tendon’. Using an inverse approach with constrained kinematics and kinetics, we rapidly simulated human walking over a range of exoskeleton stiffness values and examined the underlying neuromechanics and energetics of the biological plantarflexors. Results Stiffer ankle exoskeleton springs resulted in larger decreases in plantarflexor muscle forces, activations and metabolic energy consumption. However, in the process of unloading the compliant biological muscle-tendon unit (MTU), the muscle fascicles (CE) experienced larger excursions that negatively impacted series elastic element (SEE) recoil that is characteristic of a tuned ‘catapult mechanism’. Conclusion The combination of disrupted muscle-tendon dynamics and the need to produce compensatory forces/moments to maintain overall net ankle moment invariance could explain the ‘sweet spot’ in metabolic performance at intermediate ankle exoskeleton stiffness. Future work will aim to provide experimental evidence to support the model predictions presented here using ultrasound imaging of muscle-level dynamics during walking with elastic ankle exoskeletons. Significance Engineers must account for the muscle-level effects of exoskeleton designs in order to achieve maximal performance objectives. PMID:26485350

  6. Additive versus multiplicative trade costs and the gains from trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Allan

    This paper addresses welfare effects from trade liberalization in a heterogeneous-fi…rms trade model including the empirically important per-unit (i.e. additive) trade costs in addition to the conventional iceberg (i.e. multiplicative) and fi…xed trade costs. The novel contribution of the paper...... is the result that the welfare gain for a given increase in trade openness is higher for reductions in per-unit (additive) trade costs than for reductions in iceberg (multiplicative) trade costs. The ranking derives from differences in intra-industry reallocations and in particular from dissimilar impacts...

  7. Motivation and compliance with intraoral elastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veeroo, Helen J; Cunningham, Susan J; Newton, Jonathon Timothy; Travess, Helen C

    2014-07-01

    Intraoral elastics are commonly used in orthodontics and require regular changing to be effective. Unfortunately, poor compliance with elastics is often encountered, especially in adolescents. Intention for an action and its implementation can be improved using "if-then" plans that spell out when, where, and how a set goal, such as elastic wear, can be put into action. Our aim was to determine the effect of if-then plans on compliance with elastics. To identify common barriers to compliance with recommendations concerning elastic wear, semistructured interviews were carried out with 14 adolescent orthodontic patients wearing intraoral elastics full time. Emerging themes were used to develop if-then plans to improve compliance with elastic wear. A prospective pilot study assessed the effectiveness of if-then planning aimed at overcoming the identified barriers on compliance with elastic wear. Twelve participants were randomized equally into study and control groups; the study group received information about if-then planning. The participants were asked to collect used elastics, and counts of these were used to assess compliance. A wide range of motivational and volitional factors were described by the interviewed participants, including the perceived benefits of elastics, cues to remember, pain, eating, social situations, sports, loss of elastics, and breakages. Compliance with elastic wear was highly variable among patients. The study group returned more used elastics, suggesting increased compliance, but the difference was not significant. The use of if-then plans might improve compliance with elastic wear when compared with routine clinical instructions. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Optimal Full Waveform Inversion Strategy in Azimuthally Rotated Elastic Orthorhombic Media

    KAUST Repository

    Oh, Juwon

    2017-05-26

    The elastic orthorhombic assumption is one of the most practical Earth models that takes into account the horizontal anisotropic layering and vertical fracture network. In this model, the rotation angle of the vertical planes of symmetry is a crucial parameter needed to increase the convergence of an anisotropic full waveform inversion (FWI) as well as to provide the fracture geometry along azimuthal direction. As an initial step, we investigate the possibility of recovering the azimuth angle via FWI, which may offer high-resolution information. We first utilize our new parameterization with deviation parameters, which provides the opportunity for multi-stage FWI. Based on the radiation patterns and gradient directions of each parameter, we show that the azimuth angle mainly affects the parameters that have azimuth-dependent radiation patterns, so that we can hierarchically build up the subsurface model from isotropic to VTI to azimuthally rotated orthorhombic models with less trade-offs. From the numerical example for a synthetic 3D model, we expect that both a deviation parameter and the azimuth angle can be recovered in the last stage of FWI with minimum trade-offs.

  9. Structural phase transition and elastic properties of mercury chalcogenides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Varshney, Dinesh, E-mail: vdinesh33@rediffmail.com [School of Physics, Vigyan Bhavan, Devi Ahilya University, Khandwa Road Campus, Indore 452001 (India); Shriya, S. [School of Physics, Vigyan Bhavan, Devi Ahilya University, Khandwa Road Campus, Indore 452001 (India); Khenata, R. [Laboratoire de Physique Quantique et de Modelisation Mathematique (LPQ3M), Departement de Technologie, Universite de Mascara, 29000 Mascara (Algeria)

    2012-08-15

    Pressure induced structural transition and elastic properties of ZnS-type (B3) to NaCl-type (B1) structure in mercury chalcogenides (HgX; X = S, Se and Te) are presented. An effective interionic interaction potential (EIOP) with long-range Coulomb, as well charge transfer interactions, Hafemeister and Flygare type short-range overlap repulsion extended up to the second neighbor ions and van der Waals interactions are considered. Emphasis is on the evaluation of the pressure dependent Poisson's ratio {nu}, the ratio R{sub BT/G} of B (bulk modulus) over G (shear modulus), anisotropy parameter, Shear and Young's modulus, Lame constant, Kleinman parameter, elastic wave velocity and thermodynamical property as Debye temperature. The Poisson's ratio behavior infers that Mercury chalcogenides are brittle in nature. To our knowledge this is the first quantitative theoretical prediction of the pressure dependence of elastic and thermodynamical properties explicitly the ductile (brittle) nature of HgX and still awaits experimental confirmations. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Vast volume discontinuity in phase diagram infers transition from ZnS to NaCl structure. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The shear elastic constant C{sub 44} is nonzero confirms the mechanical stability. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Pressure dependence of {theta}{sub D} infers the softening of lattice with increasing pressure. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Estimated bulk, shear and tetragonal moduli satisfied elastic stability criteria. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In both B3 and B1 phases, C{sub 11} and C{sub 12} increase linearly with pressure.

  10. Functional forms and price elasticities in a discrete continuous choice model of the residential water demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vásquez Lavín, F. A.; Hernandez, J. I.; Ponce, R. D.; Orrego, S. A.

    2017-07-01

    During recent decades, water demand estimation has gained considerable attention from scholars. From an econometric perspective, the most used functional forms include log-log and linear specifications. Despite the advances in this field and the relevance for policymaking, little attention has been paid to the functional forms used in these estimations, and most authors have not provided justifications for their selection of functional forms. A discrete continuous choice model of the residential water demand is estimated using six functional forms (log-log, full-log, log-quadratic, semilog, linear, and Stone-Geary), and the expected consumption and price elasticity are evaluated. From a policy perspective, our results highlight the relevance of functional form selection for both the expected consumption and price elasticity.

  11. Plurilateral Trade Deals: An Alternative for Multilateral Trade Agreements?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnes Ghibuțiu

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available While multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO continue to be in impasse, plurilateral trade negotiations – i.e. among a group of WTO members – have intensified in recent years, and also recorded a series of concrete results in liberalizing specific sectors of international trade. Hence, there is a widely shared view that plurilateral trade negotiations could be an alternative for the multilateral ones. This paper aims to answer the following questions: What are plurilateral trade agreements? Which are the reasons behind the surge in plurilateral negotiations in recent years? What are the main achievements in liberalizing trade at the plurilateral level? What are the advantages of plurilateral negotiations relative to multilateral ones, and why are they considered an attractive alternative for negotiations at the multilateral level?

  12. Act locally, trade globally. Emissions trading for climate policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none

    2005-07-01

    Climate policy raises a number of challenges for the energy sector, the most significant being the transition from a high to a low-CO2 energy path in a few decades. Emissions trading has become the instrument of choice to help manage the cost of this transition, whether used at international or at domestic level. Act Locally, Trade Globally, offers an overview of existing trading systems, their mechanisms, and looks into the future of the instrument for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Are current markets likely to be as efficient as the theory predicts? What is, if any, the role of governments in these markets? Can domestic emissions trading systems be broadened to activities other than large stationary energy uses? Can international emissions trading accommodate potentially diverse types of emissions targets and widely different energy realities across countries? Are there hurdles to linking emissions trading systems based on various design features? Can emissions trading carry the entire burden of climate policy, or will other policy instruments remain necessary? In answering these questions, Act Locally, Trade Globally seeks to provide a complete picture of the future role of emissions trading in climate policy and the energy sector.

  13. The Position of Suitcase Trading in Turkey’s Foreign Trade and Growth-Suitcase Trading Connection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinem YAPAR SAÇIK

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Suitcase trading which is defined as a purchasing process of merchandises in a country that is implemented by travelers (nonresidents to sell those merchandises in their own country; it has started to take place in balance of payments of Turkey since 1996. After the collapse of USSR in 1991 Turkey became a net exporter in suitcase trading so the country reached significant figures occasionally. In this paper the position of suitcase trading in Turkey’s foreign trade is analyzed in consideration of statistical indicators. According to the findings acquired from the study, suitcase trading is a significant variable for Turkey to have currency and to close foreign deficits. Suitcase trading and growth connection is also analyzed by econometric method which is co-integration test and the result is affirmative. And also it is found that this connection is unilateral causation from growth towards suitcase trading according to the findings of Granger causality test

  14. Willingness to pay and price elasticities of demand for energy-efficient appliances: Combining the hedonic approach and demand systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Galarraga, Ibon, E-mail: ibon.galarraga@bc3research.org; Gonzalez-Eguino, Mikel, E-mail: mikel.gonzalez@bc3research.org; Markandya, Anil, E-mail: anil.markandya@bc3research.org

    2011-12-15

    This article proposes a combined approach for estimating willingness to pay for the attributes represented by energy efficiency labels and providing reliable price elasticities of demand (own and cross) for close substitutes (e.g. those with low energy efficiency and those with higher energy efficiency). This is done by using the results of the hedonic approach together with the Quantity Based Demand System (QBDS) model. The elasticity results obtained with the latter are then compared with those simulated using the Linear Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS). The methodology is applied to the dishwasher market in Spain: it is found that 15.6% of the final price is actually paid for the energy efficiency attribute. This accounts for about Euro 80 of the average market price. The elasticity results confirm that energy efficient appliances are more price elastic than regular ones. - Highlights: > The article shows a combined approach for estimating willingness to pay for energy efficiency labels and price elasticities. > The results of the hedonic approach is used together with the Quantity Based Demand System (QBDS) model. > The elasticity results are compared with those simulated using the Linear Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS). > The methodology is applied to the dishwasher market in Spain.

  15. China's foreign trade and climate change: A case study of CO2 emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yan Yunfeng; Yang Laike

    2010-01-01

    The globalization of trade has numerous environmental implications. Trade creates a mechanism for consumers to shift environmental pollution associated with their consumption to other countries. Carbon leakage exerts great influences on international trade and economy. Applying an input-output approach, the paper estimates the amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) embodied in China's foreign trade during 1997-2007. It is found that 10.03-26.54% of China's annual CO 2 emissions are produced during the manufacture of export goods destined for foreign consumers, while the CO 2 emissions embodied in China's imports accounted for only 4.40% (1997) and 9.05% (2007) of that. We also estimate that the rest of world avoided emitting 150.18 Mt CO 2 in 1997, increasing to 593 Mt in 2007, as a result of importing goods from China, rather than manufacturing the same type and quantity of goods domestically. During 1997-2007, the net 'additional' global CO 2 emissions resulting from China's exports were 4894 Mt. Then, the paper divides the trade-embodied emissions into scale, composition and technical effect. It was found that scale and composition effect increased the CO 2 emissions embodied in trade while the technical effect offset a small part of them. Finally, its mechanism and policy implications are presented.

  16. Elastic Wave-equation Reflection Traveltime Inversion Using Dynamic Warping and Wave Mode Decomposition

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, T.; Cheng, J.B.; Guo, Qiang; Wang, C.L.

    2017-01-01

    Elastic full waveform inversion (EFWI) provides high-resolution parameter estimation of the subsurface but requires good initial guess of the true model. The traveltime inversion only minimizes traveltime misfits which are more sensitive

  17. Determinants of Iran’s Bilateral Intra-industry Trade in Pharmaceutical Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghlmand, Siamak; Rahimi, Bahlol; Farrokh-Eslamlou, Hamidreza; Nabilou, Bahram; Yusefzadeh, Hassan

    2018-01-01

    Among non-oil and in trade arena, drug has always been strategic importance and most government especially industrialized countries pay special attention to its production and trade issues. Thus, having a comprehensive view from economic perspective to this section is essential for suggesting intervention. This was a descriptive-analytical and panel study. In this study, gravity model is used to estimate Iran’s bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical products in the 2001-2012 periods. To illustrate the extent of pharmaceutical’s intra-industry trade between Iran and its major trading partners, the explanatory variables of market size, income, factor endowments, distance, cultural contributions, and similarities and also special trade arrangements have been applied. Analysis of factors affecting Iran’s bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical industry showed that the average GDP and cultural similarities had a significant positive impact on Iran’s bilateral IIT, while the difference in GDP has a negative and significant effect. Coefficients obtained for the geographical distance and the average ratio of total capital to the labor force is not consistent with theoretical expectations. Special trade arrangements did not have significant impact on the extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners. The knowledge of the intra-industry trade between Iran and its trade partners make integration between the countries. Factors affecting this type of trade pattern underlie its development in trade relationship. Therefore, the findings of this study would be useful in helping to develop and implement policies for the expansion of the pharmaceutical trade. PMID:29881438

  18. Implementation of International Standards in Russia's Foreign Trade Statistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia E. Grigoruk

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article analyzes the basic documents of international organizations in recent years, which have become the global standard for the development and improvement of statistics of foreign economic relations of most countries, including the Russian Federation. The article describes the key features of the theory and practice of modern foreign trade statistics in Russia and abroad, with an emphasis on the methodological problems of its main parts - the external trade statistics. It shows their interpretation in the most recent recommendations by UN statistical apparatus and other international organizations; considers a range of problems associated with the implementation of the national statistical practices of countries, including Russia and the countries of the Customs Union, the main international standard of foreign trade statistics - UN document "International Merchandise Trade Statistics". The main attention is paid to methodological issues such as: the criteria for selecting the objects of statistical accounting in accordance with international standards, quantitative and cost parameters of foreign trade statistics, statistical methods and estimates of commodity exports and imports, the problems of comparability of data; to a comparison of international standards in 2010 with documents on key precursor methodology of foreign trade statistics, characterized by the practice of introducing these standards in the foreign trade statistics of Russia and the countries of the Customs Union. The article analyzes the content given in the official statistical manuals of Russia foreign trade and foreign countries, covers the main methodological problems of World Trade in conjunction with the major current international statistical standards - System of National Accounts, Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services and other documents; provides specific data describing the current structure of Russian foreign trade and especially its

  19. The Gravity Model Approach: An Application on the Eco Was Trading Bloc

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luqman Afolabi O.

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine bilateral trade flows across ECOWAS-15 nations with the use of a panel and cross section for the period of 1981-2013. The methodology carried out to achieve this objective involves the use of various techniques of estimation for the gravity model (Static and dynamic. More specifically, this study aims to investigate the formational impact of regional trade integration agreements on trade flows within a group of countries using the same currencies and ECOWAS at large. The main use of regional variables into gravity models is intended to determine whether RTAs lead to trade creation, or diversion. The results show the presence of a strong relationship among the factors of both RIAs and trade flows.

  20. Endogeneity of Currency Areas and Trade Blocs: Evidence from the Inter-War Period

    OpenAIRE

    Wolf, Nikolaus; Ritschl, Albrecht

    2003-01-01

    Empirical research on the gravity model of international trade in the wake of Rose (2000) affirms that currency union formation doubles or triples trade. However, currency unions could also be established precisely because trade among their members was already high. In OLS estimation, this would cause endogeneity bias. The present paper employs both fixed effects and binary choice methods to trace endogeneity in the formation of historical currency arrangements. Studying the formation of curr...

  1. Design and Vibration Suppression Control of a Modular Elastic Joint

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Liu

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a novel mechatronic design philosophy is introduced to develop a compact modular rotary elastic joint for a humanoid manipulator. The designed elastic joint is mainly composed of a brushless direct current (DC motor, harmonic reducer, customized torsional spring, and fail-safe brake. The customized spring considerably reduces the volume of the elastic joint and facilitates the construction of a humanoid manipulator which employs this joint. The large central hole along the joint axis brings convenience for cabling and the fail-safe brake can guarantee safety when the power is off. In order to reduce the computational burden on the central controller and simplify system maintenance, an expandable electrical system, which has a double-layer control structure, is introduced. Furthermore, a robust position controller for the elastic joint is proposed and interpreted in detail. Vibration of the elastic joint is suppressed by means of resonance ratio control (RRC. In this method, the ratio between the resonant and anti-resonant frequency can be arbitrarily designated according to the feedback of the nominal spring torsion. Instead of using an expensive torque sensor, the spring torque can be obtained by calculating the product of spring stiffness and deformation, due to the high linearity of the customized spring. In addition, to improve the system robustness, a motor-side disturbance observer (DOb and an arm-side DOb are employed to estimate and compensate for external disturbances and system uncertainties, such as model variation, friction, and unknown external load. Validity of the DOb-based RRC is demonstrated in the simulation results. Experimental results show the performance of the modular elastic joint and the viability of the proposed controller further.

  2. Sugary beverage taxation in South Africa: Household expenditure, demand system elasticities, and policy implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stacey, Nicholas; Tugendhaft, Aviva; Hofman, Karen

    2017-12-01

    South Africa faces a severe and growing obesity epidemic. Obesity and its co-morbidities raise public and private expenditures on healthcare. Sugary beverages are heavily consumed in South Africa and are linked to the onset of overweight and obesity. Excise taxation of sugary beverages has been proposed and adopted in other settings as a means to reduce harms from their consumption. A tax on the sugar content of non-alcoholic beverages has been proposed for implementation in South Africa, however, the public health effects and revenue raising potential of this measure hinges on estimates of the targeted beverages own- and cross-price elasticities. This study applies demand system methods by combining expenditure survey data and sub-national price data to provide the first estimates of price and expenditure elasticities for categories of soft drinks that would be subject to South Africa's proposed sugary beverage tax. The results suggest that demand for these products is sufficiently price-elastic such that a significant reduction in consumption may result from a tax. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. On the use of elastic-plastic material characteristics for linear-elastic component assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kussmaul, K.; Silcher, H.; Eisele, U.

    1995-01-01

    In this paper the procedure of safety assessment of components by fracture mechanics analysis as recommended in TECDOC 717 is applied to two standard specimens of ductile cast iron. It is shown that the use of a pseudo-elastic K IJ -value in linear elastic safety analysis may lead to non-conservative results, when elastic-plastic material behaviour can be expected. (author)

  4. Exchange rate and trade balance: J-curve effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrović Pavle

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper shows that exchange rate depreciation in Serbia improves trade balance in the long run, while giving rise to a J-curve effect in the short run. These results add to the already existent empirical evidence for a diverse set of other economies. Both Johansen's and autoregressive distributed lag approach are respectively used giving similar long-run estimates showing that real depreciation improves trade balance. Corresponding errorcorrection models as well as impulse response functions indicate that, following currency depreciation, trade balance first deteriorates before it later improves, i.e. exhibiting the J-curve pattern. These results are relevant for policy making both in Serbia and in a number of other emerging Europe countries as they face major current account adjustments after BoP crises of 2009.

  5. The welfare impact of a free trade agreement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Hans Grinsted; Sandrey, Ron; Vink, Nick

    2012-01-01

    The African market has become increasingly important to South Africa’s agricultural trade. Exports have been increasing rapidly, although imports have not kept pace. This pattern is also evident in the general trade in manufactured goods. The purpose of this article is to look at the best estimate...... conditiuons that will prevail with respect to trade in agricultural and manufactured goods between South Africa (SACU) and the member countries of SADC, the East African Comminuity and COMESA. The analysis is conducted using the GTAP database and its associated general equilibrium model. The results show...... that South Africa benefits from integration in SADC and from the integration of the entire region, but not from integration with the EAC and COMESA. However, the latter steps are necessary to reap the benefits of integration in the entire region....

  6. The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: impact on trade flows and external trade barriers

    OpenAIRE

    Hector Calvo-Pardo; Caroline Freund; Emanuel Ornelas

    2009-01-01

    Using detailed data on trade and tariffs from 1992-2007, the authors examine how the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement has affected trade with nonmembers and external tariffs facing nonmembers. First, the paper examines the effect of preferential and external tariff reduction on import growth from ASEAN insiders and outsiders across HS 6-digit industries. The analysis finds no evidence that prefe...

  7. China and India: Openness, Trade and Effects on Economic Growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marelli, Enrico

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic growth of China and India in terms of their integration in the global economy. We begin with a discussion of some stylized facts concerning their recent economic growth, the most significant institutional reforms, with particular reference to trade relations, and their impact on their economic development. We then propose a descriptive analysis of economic growth, opening up of the economies and trade specialisation, by comparing the features and trends of the two countries (by considering trade and foreign direct investment data. We have also estimated some econometric relations between economic growth and trade/openness, with the addition of control variables (such as the gross fixed capital formation. We initially used a panel data model for the two countries, to be estimated with fixed effects; to test for reverse causality, we re-estimated the fixed effects model by 2SLS (with the inclusion of specific instrumental variables. The effect on economic growth (in terms of GDP per capita of our variables of interest - Openness and FDI - remains positive and statistically significant in all specifications, which confirms our findings even if we treat these variables as endogenous variables. The results prove the positive growth effects, for the two countries, of opening up and integrating in the world economy. Note that the robust growth of these two "giants" has contained the initial impact of the recent global crisis and is now sustaining the recovery of the entire world economy. Other policy relevant implications are discussed in the concluding section.

  8. Elastic and piezoelectric fields around a quantum wire of zincblende heterostructures with interface elasticity effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Wei; Liu, Yifei

    2018-04-01

    This work formulates the solutions to the elastic and piezoelectric fields around a quantum wire (QWR) with interface elasticity effect. Closed-form solutions to the piezoelectric potential field of zincblende QWR/matrix heterostructures grown along [111] crystallographic orientation are found and numerical results of InAs/InP heterostructures are provided as an example. The piezoelectric potential in the matrix depends on the interface elasticity, the radius and stiffness of the QWR. Our results indicate that interface elasticity can significantly alter the elastic and piezoelectric fields near the interface. Additionally, when the elastic property of the QWR is considered to be anisotropic in contrary to the common isotropic assumption, piezoelectric potentials are found to be distinct near the interface, but the deviations are negligible at positions far away from the interface.

  9. Diagnostic overview of the illegal trade in primates and law enforcement in Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanee, Noga; Mendoza, A Patricia; Shanee, Sam

    2017-11-01

    Peru has one of the richest primate faunas of any country. The illegal trade in wild primates is one of the largest threats to this fauna in Peru. We characterize the illegal trade in primates through empirical and ethnographic data. We collected data from traffic routes and centers throughout Peru and evaluate current efforts to combat this traffic. Based on our findings from 2,070 instances of wildlife crime involving 6,872 primates, we estimate the domestic trade in primates for pets and bushmeat in Peru in the hundreds of thousands per year, with the larger bodied Atelidae facing the highest direct consequences. We found that government authorities lack sufficient staff, capacity, resources, infrastructure, and protocols to efficiently combat illegal trade in primates. Also, the complicated legal framework and lack of cooperation and antagonism with the public further limit these efforts. Wildlife authorities in Peru are able to confiscate only a fraction of primates traded and mostly intervene in cases of private pet owners rather than traffickers. We estimate that the current rate of illegal trade in primates is comparable to levels of trade prior to the 1973 ban on primates' exportation. The combination of direct observations on primate trade and ethnographic data allows a comprehensive look at primate trade in Peru. We call upon decision makers and international funders to channel their efforts toward "on the ground" actions such as increasing the ability of the authorities to act, giving them "in action" training in law enforcement and establishing strict control measures against corruption. Am. J. Primatol. 79:e22516, 2017. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Estimation of area and income elasticities of water demand in a number of cities and towns in Gauteng

    OpenAIRE

    2012-01-01

    M.Ing. Water demand prediction can be useful for future planning and has a significant economic effect on a city, town or suburb. There are numerous factors influencing water demand and therefore influencing the prediction thereof. The effect of each of these factors on the water demand is called the elasticity of that factor. The main aim of this study is to determine area and income elasticities of demand. This will enable the reader to predict water demand by taking stand size (area) an...

  11. Fracton-Elasticity Duality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pretko, Michael; Radzihovsky, Leo

    2018-05-01

    Motivated by recent studies of fractons, we demonstrate that elasticity theory of a two-dimensional quantum crystal is dual to a fracton tensor gauge theory, providing a concrete manifestation of the fracton phenomenon in an ordinary solid. The topological defects of elasticity theory map onto charges of the tensor gauge theory, with disclinations and dislocations corresponding to fractons and dipoles, respectively. The transverse and longitudinal phonons of crystals map onto the two gapless gauge modes of the gauge theory. The restricted dynamics of fractons matches with constraints on the mobility of lattice defects. The duality leads to numerous predictions for phases and phase transitions of the fracton system, such as the existence of gauge theory counterparts to the (commensurate) crystal, supersolid, hexatic, and isotropic fluid phases of elasticity theory. Extensions of this duality to generalized elasticity theories provide a route to the discovery of new fracton models. As a further consequence, the duality implies that fracton phases are relevant to the study of interacting topological crystalline insulators.

  12. Method of control of machining accuracy of low-rigidity elastic-deformable shafts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antoni Świć

    Full Text Available The paper presents an analysis of the possibility of increasing the accuracy and stability of machining of low-rigidity shafts while ensuring high efficiency and economy of their machining. An effective way of improving the accuracy of machining of shafts is increasing their rigidity as a result of oriented change of the elastic-deformable state through the application of a tensile force which, combined with the machining force, forms longitudinal-lateral strains. The paper also presents mathematical models describing the changes of the elastic-deformable state resulting from the application of the tensile force. It presents the results of experimental studies on the deformation of elastic low-rigidity shafts, performed on a special test stand developed on the basis of a lathe. An estimation was made of the effectiveness of the method of control of the elastic-deformable state with the use, as the regulating effects, the tensile force and eccentricity. It was demonstrated that controlling the two parameters: tensile force and eccentricity, one can improve the accuracy of machining, and thus achieve a theoretically assumed level of accuracy.

  13. Elasticity theory and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Saada, Adel S; Hartnett, James P; Hughes, William F

    2013-01-01

    Elasticity: Theory and Applications reviews the theory and applications of elasticity. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is concerned with the kinematics of continuous media; the second part focuses on the analysis of stress; and the third part considers the theory of elasticity and its applications to engineering problems. This book consists of 18 chapters; the first of which deals with the kinematics of continuous media. The basic definitions and the operations of matrix algebra are presented in the next chapter, followed by a discussion on the linear transformation of points. The study of finite and linear strains gradually introduces the reader to the tensor concept. Orthogonal curvilinear coordinates are examined in detail, along with the similarities between stress and strain. The chapters that follow cover torsion; the three-dimensional theory of linear elasticity and the requirements for the solution of elasticity problems; the method of potentials; and topics related to cylinders, ...

  14. Influence of Selected Factors on the Relationship between the Dynamic Elastic Modulus and Compressive Strength of Concrete.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurowski, Krystian; Grzeszczyk, Stefania

    2018-03-22

    In this paper, the relationship between the static and dynamic elastic modulus of concrete and the relationship between the static elastic modulus and compressive strength of concrete have been formulated. These relationships are based on investigations of different types of concrete and take into account the type and amount of aggregate and binder used. The dynamic elastic modulus of concrete was tested using impulse excitation of vibration and the modal analysis method. This method could be used as a non-destructive way of estimating the compressive strength of concrete.

  15. Influence of Selected Factors on the Relationship between the Dynamic Elastic Modulus and Compressive Strength of Concrete

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurowski, Krystian; Grzeszczyk, Stefania

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, the relationship between the static and dynamic elastic modulus of concrete and the relationship between the static elastic modulus and compressive strength of concrete have been formulated. These relationships are based on investigations of different types of concrete and take into account the type and amount of aggregate and binder used. The dynamic elastic modulus of concrete was tested using impulse excitation of vibration and the modal analysis method. This method could be used as a non-destructive way of estimating the compressive strength of concrete. PMID:29565830

  16. The effects of agricultural trade openness on food price transmission in Latin American countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Insa Flachsbarth

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Trade of agricultural commodities has grown significantly in most Latin American countries (LAC over the last two decades. However, after the international food price surges in 2006-08 and 2011-12 concerns about food access of the poor arose. Within a panel framework containing six LAC (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, we used a single equation error correction model to identify possible cointegrating relationships between the food consumer price index (CPI and a set of trade related and domestic variables. The main focus of the study was to examine how different levels of trade openness impact international food price transmission to domestic markets. Our results confirm that deeper market integration increases global price transmission elasticities. In other words, more agricultural trade openness proves to elevate food CPIs during global price spikes. Thus, for poor consumers world price shocks can be deteriorating in the short-run and domestic food prices will slowly converge to a higher long-run equilibrium. Especially in increasingly integrated economies, effective policies to buffer food price shocks should be put in place, but must be carefully planned with the required budget readily available. We also found that exchange rate appreciations can buffer price shocks to a certain extent and that monetary policies seem to be an appropriate means for stabilizing food prices to safeguard food access of the poor population.

  17. Trade, Foreign Direct Investment and R&D Spillovers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaehwa Lee

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines the evidence of R & D spillovers through trade and foreign direct investment at the industrial sectoral level. Specifically, it focuses on the appropriate measure of foreign R&D stocks embodied in imports, and proposes an alternative measure to the traditional measure. With a new measure of foreign technology, this paper then empirically distinguishes between R&D spillovers from import volume and from import variety. Panel estimations with fixed effects use a data set comprised of eight sectors in the manufacturing industry of thirteen OECD countries from 1981 to 1999. This empirical work at disaggregated level has shown the evidence to generally support the role of manufacturing imports in the international diffusion of technology. In particular, the results imply that the impact of import variety proves stronger and more significant in investigating trade-related R&D spillovers. The evidence indicates the variety effect dominates the volume effect, and hence import variety proves more important in explaining trade-related technological diffusion. This paper also investigates R&D spillovers occurring simultaneously through trade and non-trade (i.e., FDI channels, Empirical results provide no strong evidence on R&D spillovers through FDI, although FDI is often considered as an important channel for technological diffusion. The evidence implies that the effect of trade channel dominates that of the FDI channel and finds that FDI only weakly affects domestic productivity.

  18. The Impact of Trade Policy on Industry Concentration in Switzerland

    OpenAIRE

    Burghardt, Dirk

    2013-01-01

    This paper studies the impact of trade policy on industry concentration. Based on the Swiss Business Census, concentration levels for all four-digit manufacturing industries in Switzerland are calculated. Then the effect of a bilateral reduction in technical barriers to trade with the European Union is estimated. Adopting a difference-in-differences approach, it turns out that concentration in affected industries with low R&D intensity increased significantly following the policy change. This...

  19. The Impact of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement as Negotiated

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Ciuriak

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the impact of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement on the basis of the published text and agreed schedule of commitments. We find that the Agreement reinforces existing patterns of comparative advantage between Canada (agriculture and resource-based sectors and Korea (autos and other industries. The sensitive sectors that held up the deal for years - autos into Canada and beef into Korea - witness major trade gains, but are not unduly disrupted. In both economies, the major output gains otherwise come in non-traded services sectors, driven by income effects. We find that trade diversion effects are quite significant; this lends support for the domino theory of major free trade agreements - since the Korea-EU agreement broke the ice, the pressure has intensified on third parties to re-level playing fields by striking their own deals. The study breaks new ground in modelling services trade by developing policy impacts based on the extent to which the text of the Agreement modifies Korea's and Canada's scores on the OECD's Services Trade Restrictiveness Index and by providing estimates of Mode 3 Services trade impacts. The analysis of the Agreement as negotiated, the present study, in our view, is a step forward in understanding the impact of modern free trade agreements.

  20. Thermodynamic effect of elastic stress on grain boundary segregation of phosphorus in a low alloy steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng, Lei; Lejček, Pavel; Song, Shenhua; Schmitz, Guido; Meng, Ye

    2015-01-01

    Grain boundary (GB) segregation of P in 2.25Cr1Mo steel induced by elastic stress shows that the P equilibrium concentration, after reaching the non-equilibrium concentration maximum at critical time, returns to its initial thermal equilibrium level. This finding confirms the interesting phenomenon that the effect of elastic stress on GB segregation of P is significant in kinetics while slight in thermodynamics. Through extending the “pressure” in classical theory of chemical potential to the “elastic stress”, the thermodynamic effect of elastic stress on GB segregation is studied, and the relationship between elastic stress and segregation Gibbs energy is formulated. The formulas reveal that the difference in the segregation Gibbs energy between the elastically-stressed and non-stressed states depends on the excess molar volume of GB segregation and the magnitude of elastic stress. Model calculations in segregation Gibbs energy confirm that the effect of elastic stress on the thermodynamics of equilibrium GB segregation is slight, and the theoretical analyses considerably agree with the experimental results. The confirmation indicates that the nature of the thermodynamic effect is well captured. - Highlights: • GB segregation of P after stress aging returns to its initial thermal equilibrium level. • Relationship between elastic stress and segregation energy is formulated. • Thermodynamic effect relies on excess molar volume and magnitude of elastic stress. • Effect of elastic stress on Gibbs energy of GB segregation is estimated to be slight. • Complete theory of the effect of elastic stress on grain boundary segregation is setup

  1. Using GPS and GRACE data to assess Solid Earth elastic parameters at regional scale

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barletta, Valentina Roberta; Borghi, A.; Aoudia, A.

    2012-01-01

    We propose a way to combine GPS and GRACE data for regional scale cross check and validation especially of the most commonly used PREM (Preliminary Earth Reference Model). In form of h and k Love numbers, global PREM is very often used to simulate elastic rebound due to present-day ice mass loss......, to derive the mass distribution produced by the observed GRACE time series, and it is also used for atmospheric loading correction both in GPS and in GRACE dealiasing products. GRACE data provide load estimates, usually given as water equivalent mass distribution, from which one derives the Earth elastic...... response, by convolution with suitable elastic green functions, relying on selected Earth model and related layering and elastic parameters. We calculate at regional scale the time series of monthly uplift associated with the mass redistribution observed by GRACE implementing the high resolution technique...

  2. Industrial and residential electricity demand dynamics in Japan: How did price and income elasticities evolve from 1989 to 2014?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Nan; Mogi, Gento

    2017-01-01

    This study estimates the price and income elasticities of industrial and residential electricity demand in Japan with the annual data from 1989 to 2014. A time varying parameter (TVP) model with the Kalman filter is applied to monitor the evolution of consumer behaviors in the “post-bubble” period given the exogenous shock (financial crisis in 2008) and the structural breaks (electricity deregulation and Fukushima Daiichi crisis). The TVP model can provide a robust estimation of elasticities and can detect the outliers and the structural breaks. The results suggest that both industrial and residential consumers become less sensitive to price after the electricity deregulation and the financial crisis, and more sensitive to price after the Fukushima Daiichi crisis. Especially the industrial sector is less sensitive to price after the retail deregulation. By contrast, the income elasticities of industrial and residential sector consumers are stable during the examined period. Results also indicate that a negative relationship exists between the price elasticity of electricity demand and the price level of electricity after the electric sector deregulation. Some insights on the further electric sector reform and the environmental taxation in Japan are also provided. - Highlights: • A time varying parameter model is calculated with the Kalman filter. • Income elasticities are stable while price elasticities are time-varying. • Industrial sector is less sensitive to price change than residential sector. • Negative relationship between price elasticity and price level is found.

  3. A numerical homogenization method for heterogeneous, anisotropic elastic media based on multiscale theory

    KAUST Repository

    Gao, Kai

    2015-06-05

    The development of reliable methods for upscaling fine-scale models of elastic media has long been an important topic for rock physics and applied seismology. Several effective medium theories have been developed to provide elastic parameters for materials such as finely layered media or randomly oriented or aligned fractures. In such cases, the analytic solutions for upscaled properties can be used for accurate prediction of wave propagation. However, such theories cannot be applied directly to homogenize elastic media with more complex, arbitrary spatial heterogeneity. Therefore, we have proposed a numerical homogenization algorithm based on multiscale finite-element methods for simulating elastic wave propagation in heterogeneous, anisotropic elastic media. Specifically, our method used multiscale basis functions obtained from a local linear elasticity problem with appropriately defined boundary conditions. Homogenized, effective medium parameters were then computed using these basis functions, and the approach applied a numerical discretization that was similar to the rotated staggered-grid finite-difference scheme. Comparisons of the results from our method and from conventional, analytical approaches for finely layered media showed that the homogenization reliably estimated elastic parameters for this simple geometry. Additional tests examined anisotropic models with arbitrary spatial heterogeneity in which the average size of the heterogeneities ranged from several centimeters to several meters, and the ratio between the dominant wavelength and the average size of the arbitrary heterogeneities ranged from 10 to 100. Comparisons to finite-difference simulations proved that the numerical homogenization was equally accurate for these complex cases.

  4. Vibration of an Elastic Circular Plate on an Elastic Half Space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krenk, Steen; Schmidt, H.

    1981-01-01

    The axisymmetric problem of a vibrating elastic plate on an elastic half space is solved by a direct method, in which the contact stresses and the normal displacements of the plate are taken as the unknown functions. First, the influence functions that give the displacements in terms...

  5. Price and income elasticities of crude oil import demand in South Africa. A cointegration analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ziramba, Emmanuel [Department of Economics, University of South Africa, P.O Box 392, Unisa 0003 (South Africa)

    2010-12-15

    This paper examines the demand for imported crude oil in South Africa as a function of real income and the price of crude oil over the period 1980-2006. We carried out the Johansen co integration multivariate analysis to determine the long-run income and price elasticities. A unique long-run cointegration relationship exists between crude oil imports and the explanatory variables. The short-run dynamics are estimated by specifying a general error correction model. The estimated long-run price and income elasticities of -0.147 and 0.429 suggest that import demand for crude oil is price and income inelastic. There is also evidence of unidirectional long-run causality running from real GDP to crude oil imports. (author)

  6. Morphology, surface roughness, electron inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering in elastic peak electron spectroscopy of polymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lesiak, B.; Kosinski, A.; Nowakowski, R.; Koever, L.; Toth, J.; Varga, D.; Cserny, I.; Sulyok, A.; Gergely, G.

    2006-01-01

    Complete text of publication follows. Elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES) deals with the interaction of electrons with atoms of a solid surface, studying the distribution of electrons backscattered elastically. The nearest vicinity of the elastic peak, (low kinetic energy region) reflects both, electron inelastic and quasi-elastic processes. The incident electrons produce surface excitations, inducing surface plasmons with the corresponding loss peaks separated by 1 - 20 eV energy from the elastic peak. Quasi-elastic losses result from the recoil of scattering atoms of different atomic number, Z. The respective energy shift and Doppler broadening of the elastic peak depend on Z, the primary electron energy, E, and the measurement geometry. Quantitative surface analytical application of EPES, such as determination of parameters describing electron transport, requires a comparison of experimental data with corresponding data derived from Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Several problems occur in EPES studies of polymers. The intensity of elastic peak, considered in quantitative surface analysis, is influenced by both, the inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering processes (especially for hydrogen scattering atoms and primary electron energy above 1000 eV). An additional factor affecting the elastic peak intensity is the surface morphology and roughness. The present work compares the effect of these factors on the elastic peak intensity for selected polymers (polyethylene, polyaniline and polythiophenes). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and helium pycnometry are applied for deriving the surface atomic composition and the bulk density, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for determining surface morphology and roughness. According to presented results, the influence of surface morphology and roughness is larger than those of surface excitations or recoil of hydrogen atoms. The component due to recoil of hydrogen atoms can be

  7. Designing interactively with elastic splines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brander, David; Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas; Fisker, Ann-Sofie

    2018-01-01

    We present an algorithm for designing interactively with C1 elastic splines. The idea is to design the elastic spline using a C1 cubic polynomial spline where each polynomial segment is so close to satisfying the Euler-Lagrange equation for elastic curves that the visual difference becomes neglig...... negligible. Using a database of cubic Bézier curves we are able to interactively modify the cubic spline such that it remains visually close to an elastic spline....

  8. NUMERICAL ESTIMATION OF EFFECTIVE ELASTIC MODULI OF SYNTACTIC FOAMS REINFORCED BY SHORT GLASS FIBERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Yu

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The mechanical properties of hollow glass microsphere/epoxy resin syntactic foams reinforced by short glass fibers are studied using representative volume elements. Both the glass fibers and the hollow glass microspheres exhibit random arrangement in the epoxy resin. The volume fraction and wall thickness of hollow glass microspheres and the volume fraction of glass fibers are considered as parameters. It is observed that the elastic modulus values of syntactic foams decrease with the increase of microsphere volume fraction when the microsphere relative wall thickness is lower. However, it increases with the increase of microsphere volume fraction when the relative wall thickness exceeds a critical value. The elastic modulus value goes through a maximum when the relative wall thickness is around 0.06 at 25 % volume fraction of microspheres. The addition of glass fibers reduces the critical wall thickness values of the microspheres and increases the mechanical properties of the composites. The highest stress lies on the equatorial plane perpendicular to the loading direction. Adding fibers reduces the large stress distribution areas on the microspheres, and the fibers aligned with the loading direction play an important load-bearing role.

  9. The Supply of Trade Credit by Brazilian Publicly Traded Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Felipe Schiozer

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the determinants of trade credit supply by Brazilian publicly traded companies between the years of 2005 and 2008. International literature (both theoretical and empirical documents that the main determinants of trade credit supply are the size of the firm and the size of its debt. Both indicate that the availability of resources to the firm is an important factor for the supply of trade credit. In addition, the literature confirms strategic uses of trade credit such as those for price discrimination purposes. The results obtained using a sample of 157 Brazilian companies do not support that size and indebtedness are relevant determinants for trade credit supply, but they confirm the supply of trade credit as a strategic tool for the firms. Additionally we observed a significant decrease in trade credit supply in 2008, the year in which a severe international financial crisis took place.

  10. Bounds and self-consistent estimates for elastic constants of polycrystals of hcp solid He 4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berryman, James G.

    2012-03-01

    Recent advances in methods for computing both Hashin-Shtrikman bounds and related selfconsistent (or CPA) estimates of elastic constants for polycrystals composed of randomly oriented crystals can be applied successfully to hexagonal close packed solid He{sup 4}. In particular, since the shear modulus C{sub 44} of hexagonal close-packed solid He is known to undergo large temperature variations when 20 mK {<=} T {<=} 200 mK, bounds and estimates computed with this class of effective medium methods, while using C{sub 44} {r_arrow} 0 as a proxy for melting, are found to be both qualitatively and quantitatively very similar to prior results obtained using Monte Carlo methods. Hashin- Shtrikman bounds provide significantly tighter constraints on the polycrystal behavior than do the traditional Voigt and Reuss bounds.

  11. The Economic Determinants of Bioenergy Trade Intensity in the EU-28: A Co-Integration Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohd Alsaleh

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the dynamic effect of the economic determinants on bilateral trade intensity of the European Union (EU region’s bioenergy industry outputs. The authors adopt the panel co-integration model approach to estimate annual trade intensity data of the EU-28 countries’ bioenergy industry outputs from 1990 to 2013. This study investigated the long-term influence of the rate of real exchange, gross domestic product (GDP, and export price on the trade intensity of bioenergy industry applying fully modified oriented least square (FMOLS, dummy oriented least square (DOLS, and pooled mean group (PMG models. In the current study, the findings boost the empirical validity of the panel co-integration model through FMOLS, indicating that depreciation has improved the trade intensity. This study has further investigated, through the causality test, a distinct set of countries. FMOLS estimation does find proof of the long run improvement of trade intensity. Thus, the result shows that the gross domestic product (GDP and the real exchange rate have a positive and noteworthy influence on the EU-28 region trade intensity of the bioenergy industry. Moreover, the export price affects negatively and significantly the trade intensity of the bioenergy industry in the EU-28 countries.

  12. The Morishima Gross elasticity of substitution

    OpenAIRE

    Blackorby, Charles; Primont, Daniel; Russell, R. Robert

    2007-01-01

    We show that the Hotelling-Lau elasticity of substitution, an extension of the Allen-Uzawa elasticity to allow for optimal output-quantity (or utility) responses to changes in factor prices, inherits all of the failings of the Allen-Uzawa elasticity identified by Blackorby and Russell [1989 AER]. An analogous extension of the Morishima elasticity of substitution to allow for output quantity changes preserves the salient properties of the original Hicksian notion of elasticity of substitution.

  13. Trade liberalization and tax reform strategies: The case of the Korean oil industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shim, Kieun; Jung, Yonghun

    2012-01-01

    The decline in government revenues due to tariff reductions has become a major concern for most developing countries, including Korea. This paper focuses on the Korean oil industry to examine which post-trade liberalization tax reform strategy is optimal, depending on the government's priority between social welfare and government revenue. We find that the important factors for choosing an optimal tax reform policy are price elasticity of demand and market competition. Based on a price-inelastic demand and the low competitive market for Korea's oil industry, if the goal of a tax reform policy is to increase social welfare, the recommended strategy is to raise the consumption tax by a scale of less than the sum of tariff cuts times the crude oil price and oil import tax cuts. This strategy would also reduce inflation, but it could be detrimental to government revenue. However, if the policy's goal is the preservation of government revenue, the recommended strategy is to raise the consumption tax by a scale equal to the sum of tariff cuts times the crude oil price at the pre-tax reform and oil import tax cuts. This strategy does not change either government revenue or social welfare. - Highlights: ▶ Which post-trade liberalization tax reform is optimal for Korea's oil industry? ▶ Both final and intermediate markets are modeled under imperfect competition. ▶ Both price elasticity and market competition are important for an optimal tax reform. ▶ The optimal tax reform depends on the priority between welfare and government revenue.

  14. Mechanical properties of two-way grid shells optimized considering roundness and elastic stiffness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Toshiyuki; Yuta, Nishikawa; Rie, Tateishi; Ohsaki, Makoto

    2002-01-01

    A single-layer two-way grid shell defined by Bezier surface is optimized by coordinates of the control points as design variables. The purpose of this paper is to find optimal shapes considering roundness and elastic stiffness, and to investigate their mechanical properties. The distance of the center of curvature from the specified point is used for formulating the objective function for generating a round shape. Consider next a problem of minimizing the compliance as mechanical performance measure. The compliance is defined by the external work against the static loads applied to the nodes. The mechanically optimal shape is different from the round shape. Therefore, the multi objective optimization problem is formulated for optimizing the two objectives, which are roundness and the elastic stiffness defined by using the compliance. The constraint method is used for obtaining Pareto optimal solutions between the two objectives. We optimize single-layer two-way grid shells with square and rectangle plans. Mechanical properties of the optimal shapes are investigated by compliance and the distributions of axial force and bending moment. The round shape is significantly dominated by the bending moment and its compliance is large. The bending moment of the mechanically optimal shape is not very large, and the latticed shell has large stiffness through axial deformation. A trade-off shape is round enough, and the influence of the bending moment is smaller than that of the optimal round shape and the elastic stiffness is moderately large

  15. LNG trade preparations are a decade too soon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Timm, S [Mar. Week; Faridany, E; Mitchell, P

    1979-03-01

    A discussion of papers delivered at the 6th International LNG/LPG, Gastech 78, Conference (Monte Carlo 11/7-10/78) covers an estimate by E. Faridany (Ocean Phoenix Transp. Inc.) that in 1981-85, world trade in LNG would increase by 1775 million cu ft/day (Mcfd) over the current 2720 Mcfd, but of this increment only the 460 Mcfd Panhandle project using Lake Charles, La., as a regasification terminal will be into the U.S. while all other trade will be to Europe. Of the present LNG trade, 48Vertical Bar3< goes to Japan from the Brunei (535 Mcfd, the world's largest) and Abu Dhabi projects, and only 20Vertical Bar3< goes to the U.S. Faridany's estimates of U.S. LNG imports in 1990 vary from the 8215 Mcfd ''high'' to the ''median'' forecast of 2930 Mcfd; he predicted that the proportion of incremental sources of gas supply taken up by LNG in 1990 is only 20-40Vertical Bar3< for the U.S., compared with 25Vertical Bar3< for Europe and 90Vertical Bar3< for Japan. According to P. Mitchell (Poten and Partners), world demand for LPG could rise from 9 million to 38 million tons in 1979-85.

  16. Task force activity to take the effect of elastic-plastic behaviour into account on the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, Izumi; Shiratori, Masaki; Morishita, Masaki; Otani, Akihito; Shibutani, Tadahito

    2015-01-01

    According to investigations of several nuclear power plants (NPPs) hit by actual seismic events and a number of experimental researches on the failure behavior of piping systems under seismic loads, it is recognized that piping systems used in NPPs include a large seismic safety margin until boundary failure. Since the stress assessment based on the elastic analysis does not reflect actual seismic capability of piping systems including plastic region, it is necessary to develop a rational procedures to estimate the elastic-plastic behavior of piping systems under a large seismic load. With the aim of establishing a procedure that takes into account the elastic-plastic behavior effect in the seismic safety estimation of nuclear piping systems, a task force activity has been planned. Through the activity, the authors intend to establish guidelines to estimate the elastic-plastic behavior of piping systems rationally and conservatively, and to provide new rational seismic safety criteria taking the effect of elastic-plastic behavior into account. As the first step of making out the analysis guideline, benchmark analyses are conducted for a pipe element test and a piping system test. In this paper, the outline of the research activity and the preliminary results of benchmark analyses are described. (author)

  17. Strength conditions for the elastic structures with a stress error

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matveev, A. D.

    2017-10-01

    As is known, the constraints (strength conditions) for the safety factor of elastic structures and design details of a particular class, e.g. aviation structures are established, i.e. the safety factor values of such structures should be within the given range. It should be noted that the constraints are set for the safety factors corresponding to analytical (exact) solutions of elasticity problems represented for the structures. Developing the analytical solutions for most structures, especially irregular shape ones, is associated with great difficulties. Approximate approaches to solve the elasticity problems, e.g. the technical theories of deformation of homogeneous and composite plates, beams and shells, are widely used for a great number of structures. Technical theories based on the hypotheses give rise to approximate (technical) solutions with an irreducible error, with the exact value being difficult to be determined. In static calculations of the structural strength with a specified small range for the safety factors application of technical (by the Theory of Strength of Materials) solutions is difficult. However, there are some numerical methods for developing the approximate solutions of elasticity problems with arbitrarily small errors. In present paper, the adjusted reference (specified) strength conditions for the structural safety factor corresponding to approximate solution of the elasticity problem have been proposed. The stress error estimation is taken into account using the proposed strength conditions. It has been shown that, to fulfill the specified strength conditions for the safety factor of the given structure corresponding to an exact solution, the adjusted strength conditions for the structural safety factor corresponding to an approximate solution are required. The stress error estimation which is the basis for developing the adjusted strength conditions has been determined for the specified strength conditions. The adjusted strength

  18. Panel estimation for renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, CO2 emissions, the composite trade intensity, and financial openness of the commonwealth of independent states.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan; Saboori, Behnaz

    2018-04-13

    This article investigates the long-run and causal linkages between economic growth, CO 2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable (fossil fuels) energy consumption, the Composite Trade Intensity (CTI) as a proxy for trade openness, and the Chinn-Ito index as a proxy for financial openness for a panel of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan over the period of 1992-2015. It is the first time that CTI and the Chinn-Ito indexes are used in an economic-pollution model. Employing three panel unit root tests, panel cointegration estimation methods (DOLS and FMOLS), and two panel causality tests, the main empirical results provided evidence for the bidirectional long-run relationship between all the variables in all 12 sampled countries except for economic growth-renewable energy use linkage. The findings of causality tests indicated that there is a unidirectional short-run panel causality running from economic growth, financial openness, and trade openness to CO 2 emissions and from fossil fuel energy consumption to renewable energy use.

  19. Insider trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maslechko, W.S.

    1998-01-01

    The policy arguments for and against prohibiting insider trading within the petroleum industry are discussed. Legal definitions of all relevant terms (e.g. 'special relationship' 'tippees', 'material facts', material changes' 'generally disclosed' information', 'necessary course of business') are provided. Enforcement of insider trading/tipping prohibitions are also defined. The recommended practice is: do not trade; do not tell or advise; encourage timely disclosure; do not speculate; implement a corporate disclosure and trading policy

  20. Ultrasound Shear Wave Simulation of Breast Tumor Using Nonlinear Tissue Elasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dae Woo Park

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI can assess the elasticity of tissues, but the shear modulus estimated in SWEI is often less sensitive to a subtle change of the stiffness that produces only small mechanical contrast to the background tissues. Because most soft tissues exhibit mechanical nonlinearity that differs in tissue types, mechanical contrast can be enhanced if the tissues are compressed. In this study, a finite element- (FE- based simulation was performed for a breast tissue model, which consists of a circular (D: 10 mm, hard tumor and surrounding tissue (soft. The SWEI was performed with 0% to 30% compression of the breast tissue model. The shear modulus of the tumor exhibited noticeably high nonlinearity compared to soft background tissue above 10% overall applied compression. As a result, the elastic modulus contrast of the tumor to the surrounding tissue was increased from 0.46 at 0% compression to 1.45 at 30% compression.