Long term effects of an intervention in the outdoor environment—a comparison of older people’s perception in two residential areas,in one of which accessibility improvements were introduced

Walking and participating in activities outdoors in old age can be restricted both by the physical capacity of the individual and by the maintenance and/or the design of the outdoor environment. The purpose of this paper is to compare frequency of walking and frequency of activity outside the home, reported environmental barriers and valuation of the outdoor environment between two areas, in one of which there was an intervention in the outdoor environment 5–8 years prior to this study. The paper is based on a questionnaire sent out in 2011, to all residents 65 years and older in two different areas, the Study Area, an area with an intervention, and the Reference Area. The results show that reports on functional limitations, use of mobility devices and walking difficulties were similar in both areas. Despite that, respondents in the Study Area had a significantly higher frequency of walking and they also participated to a higher degree in activities than respondents in the Reference Area, even though they reported more environmental barriers. The valuation of the outdoor environment was, however, similar in both areas. The results indicate that older people benefit from interventions in the outdoor environment. However, the results also emphasize the importance of good maintenance of the environment.     

The effects of public spending externalities

We conduct a positive analysis on the effects of ‘externalities’ produced by government spending. To this effect, we estimate, using U.S. data, an RBC model with two salient features. First, we allow government consumption to directly affect the marginal utility of consumption. Second, we allow public capital to shift the productivity of private factors. We provide an identification analysis that supports the strategy adopted for estimating the parameters governing these two channels. On one hand, private and government consumption are robustly estimated to be substitute goods. Because of substitutability, labor supply reacts little to a government consumption shock, so the estimated output multiplier is much lower than in models with separabilities. On the other hand, our results point towards public investment being ‘unproductive’.     

Size,trend, and policy implications of the underground economy

We study the underground economy within a dynamic and stochastic general equilibrium framework. Our model combines limited tax enforcement with an otherwise standard two-sector neoclassical stochastic growth model. The Bayesian estimation of the model based on Italian data provides evidence in favor of an important underground sector in Italy, with a size that has increased steadily over the whole sample period. We show that this pattern is due to a steady increase in taxation. Fiscal policy experiments suggest that a moderate tax cut, along with a stronger effort in the monitoring process, causes a sizeable reduction in the size of the underground economy and provides a positive stimulus for the regular economy. Both of these effects jointly increase total fiscal revenues.     

The determinants of commercial banking profitability in low-, middle-, and high-income countries

Using a broad bank-level dataset and the GMM estimator technique described by Arellano and Bover (1995), this paper analyses how bank-specific characteristics, macroeconomic variables, and industry-specific factors affect the profitability of 10,165 commercial banks across 118 countries over the period from 1998 to 2012. Grouping the countries according to three income levels, we show that the determinants of bank profitability included in our model can explain existing profitability differences among commercial banks in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The profitability determinants vary quite widely across the different levels of income in terms of significance, sign and size of the effect. The level of income has thus an important impact on the determinants of bank profitability.     

基于高光谱曲线的马铃薯与其他主要作物光谱差异性分析

[目的]文章以马铃薯关键生长期——结薯期为测量时点,以马铃薯和玉米、大豆、水稻为研究对象,开展高光谱曲线特征差异性研究。[方法]为更好地描述马铃薯与其他作物的光谱差异,创建高光谱反射率差异性指数、高光谱一阶导数差异性指数、高光谱红边幅值差异性指数、高光谱曲率差异性指数及高光谱植被指数差异性指数。[结果](1)马铃薯与玉米、大豆、水稻3种作物光谱曲线具有明显差异,马铃薯与玉米的反射率值在480nm附近蓝色波段位置差异最显著,差异性指数值为67.866%,与大豆、水稻的最大差异性指数值分别为49.068%、57.559%,均位于550nm附近绿色波峰位置;(2)作物光谱曲线经一阶导数变换运算,马铃薯与其他作物间的光谱差异被显著放大,在近红外波段放大程度最显著;(3)马铃薯与玉米、大豆、水稻高光谱曲率差异性指数最大值均位于波长750nm附近,差异性指数值分别为78.365%、63.471%、80.882%;(4)常用植被指数中,比值植被指数、增强型植被指数可显著区分马铃薯与玉米、大豆、水稻。[结论]差异性分析结果为农作物空间分布遥感识别提供了技术支撑。     

DSGE pileups

The sampling distribution of estimators for DSGE structural parameters tends to be non-normal and/or pile up on the boundary of the theoretically admissible parameter space. This calls into question both the reliability of asymptotic approximations and the presumption of correct specification. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework for understanding how these phenomena arise, and to provide pragmatic methods for dealing with them in practice. The results are presented in three examples and a medium scale DSGE model.     

Free trade agreement and transport service trade

This study investigates the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) on trade in transport services using OECD data from 2003 to 2006. Our analysis found that FTAs had a positive overall impact on transport services for multiple countries (i.e., 26 home and 56 partner countries). The resulting positive overall impact assures that, even with the challenges associated with different layers of services and the obstacles formed by generally low trade openness in the sector, the provisions in FTAs (e.g., national treatment and market access for goods and services) promote transport service trades. Our findings suggest that the provisions in FTAs encourage economic agents to increase engagement in transport services because of expanded openness of the physical movement of goods across international borders.     

A neoclassical interpretation of momentum

The neoclassical theory of investment implies that expected stock returns are tied with the expected marginal benefit of investment divided by the marginal cost of investment. Winners have higher expected growth and expected marginal productivity (two major components of the marginal benefit of investment), and earn higher expected stock returns than losers. The investment model succeeds in capturing average momentum profits, reversal of momentum in long horizons, long-run risks in momentum, and the interaction of momentum with several firm characteristics. However, the model fails to reproduce the procyclicality of momentum as well as its negative interaction with book-to-market equity.     

Taking financial frictions to the data

We estimate a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model with various financial frictions and analyze how well the model explains the Great Recession. Predictive analysis shows that the model can only slightly better explain the large deviation from trend during the crisis relative to a model without financial frictions. Specifically, the risk premium shock, which is a shock to the external finance premium of the entrepreneurs׳ leverage, explains the largest part of the investment downfall during the crisis. However, the ‘balance sheet’ channel of financial frictions in the model, which structurally links balance sheet conditions of financial intermediaries and nonfinancial borrowers to their borrowing rates, is estimated to be weak. We examine alternative prior specifications for how the financial frictions enter the model and continue to find a limited role for these frictions. Rolling-window estimation provides evidence for substantial time variation in parameters governing financial frictions. We conclude that the well-known financial frictions studied in this paper are not able to explain the financial crisis in a linearized and estimated model.