The effect of cell phones on international motor vehicle fatality rates: A panel-data analysis

This paper analyzes the effects of cell phone usage and economic freedom on motor vehicle death rates by estimating regression models on data for three years across 38 countries. The models incorporate a representative set of motor vehicle fatality determinants. Results indicate that cell phone use has a statistically significant nonlinear impact on highway death rates and that economic freedom does not appear to have an effect.     

International borrowing without commitment and informational lags: Choice under uncertainty

A series of recent studies in economic growth theory have considered a class of models of international borrowing where, in the absence of a perfect investment commitment, the borrowing constraint depends on the historical performances of the country. Thus, a better level of past economic activity gives a higher reputation, thereby increasing the possibility of accessing the international credit market. This note considers this problem in a stochastic setting based on the volatility of the internal net capital. We study how the optimal consumption level and the maximal expected welfare depend on the combined influence of the trajectory of past economic variables and the volatile environment. In particular, we show how the strength of the history effect and the relative weight of the historical performance depend on the degree of risk.     

International educational tourism: Does it foster global learning? A survey of South African high school learners

International educational tourism has the potential to foster global learning; however, very little empirical research exists to support this claim. This study responds to the growing demand in the literature for rigorous empirical research to test the underpinning assumption of IET. A global learning survey instrument is developed and completed by 1152 Grade 11 learners in 16 South African exclusive high schools. In doing so, this paper demonstrates that some types of IET are more conducive to global learning than others. Furthermore, for significant global learning to occur, educational tourism needs to be facilitated and cultural difference needs to be experienced.Personality traits that include curiosity, altruism, and being open-minded to new experiences, are identified as predictors of global learning, but the effect of school-based academic achievement is small.Additionally, through the synthesis of educational tourism, international education, experiential learning and global learning theories, the concept of IET is developed.     

Renewable energy and low-carbon policy spillover effects on natural gas demand

Recent legislation intended to increase the use of renewable energy sources and lower the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from energy has changed the structure of energy markets. The effect of these policies on carbon-intensive fuel sources is rather obvious. For natural gas, though, the effect is not immediately clear. This letter uses a structural model of natural gas demand to uncover whether these policies have led to increased demand because natural gas is a relatively clean source of energy that couples well with renewables or if these policies have crowded out natural gas on net.     

匹配式管理模式在汽车城规划建设中的探索与应用

针对两江国际汽车城规划建设中招商引资困难的问题,结合两江国际汽车城的实际情况、资源条件以及发展趋势,设计了匹配式管理模式.在阐述匹配式管理模式内涵基础上,对匹配式管理体系的组成要素、框架结构、匹配关系等进行了分析,并对该管理模式在实际中的应用效果及推广意义进行了总结.     

我国公允价值计量准则应用问题研究

公允价值计量准则的颁布对公允价值的定义赋予了新的内涵,创造性地提出估值技术、公允价值层次等概念,构建了公允价值计量框架,并进行充分披露。结合公允价值计量准则,阐述该准则制订的必要性及运用的难点,并以可供出售金融资产为例,探讨公允价值层次及估值操作,对此提出要建立和完善适宜公允价值的外部环境,促进会计界与评估界的合作,建立和完善市场信息数据库等对策。     

Small farmer cooperatives and voluntary coffee certifications: Rewarding progressive farmers of engendering widespread change in Costa Rica?

Our research examines the benefits and drawbacks for cooperatives who participate in voluntary coffee certifications. We interviewed administrators at twenty Costa Rican coffee cooperatives about management practices related to voluntary certification. Voluntary certifications are popular among coffee cooperatives. Access to certified markets is facilitated by state support of the cooperative sector, regulation of the coffee sector and well-enforced environmental and social laws. However, there are no significant or consistent financial incentives for farmers to pursue certification. Multiple certifications may lower auditing and implementation costs, but cooperatives rarely receive the full premium for multiply-certified coffee. Low market demand for certified coffee, weak price incentives and high auditing and management costs encourage cooperatives to certify only a portion of their members. This strategy rewards compliant farmers rather than inducing widespread change to farming practices among the entire membership. Though financial incentives are weak, certifications offer non-financial benefits to both farmers and cooperatives, including better management and more resilient cooperatives.     

Do the EU countries import at the same price? The case of coffee

The establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union was expected to determine price convergence in the market of the European Union, leading to the equilibrium theorized by the law of one price. This article investigates prices convergence in the coffee market among European importers. Coffee is not only a tradable and traded good, but also one of the most valuable traded commodities. We account for different qualities of coffee in a hedonic regression model, which isolate and remove the effects of factors that might affect price dispersion. Adjusted import prices result to be significantly different between European Member States, and do not support the hypothesis of a deepening European market integration.     

国际商务交易中的预付卡制度研究——基于沃尔夫斯堡规则视角

在美债危机与欧洲危机的背景下，预付卡作为刺激金融服务业发展的手段之一，在国内外快速发展。伴随预付卡在我国的广泛使用，其风险问题也日趋严峻。研究分析我国预付卡制度对推动金融机构反洗钱监管、遏制反洗钱犯罪具有重要的现实意义。本文在阐述我国预付卡现状的基础上，初步分析了我国预付卡行业的相关法律、法规并不健全等问题。通过借鉴沃尔夫斯堡组织中预付卡发展和管理的先进经验，提出从立法、交易监控等方面完善我国预付卡制度的建议。     

DETERMINANTS OF SOVEREIGN BONDS RATINGS: A ROBUSTNESS ANALYSIS

Several studies have attempted to deduce the determinants of sovereign bond ratings. In this study, Extreme Bounds Analysis is applied to approximately 30 factors proposed by the literature in order to assess their robustness with a focus on the relative importance that economic and political variables receive in the shaping of the ratings. We find that policies that constrain the public sector are among the most robust. Variables such as rule of law, openness to economic flows, central bank independence, and market friendly policies are found to be more robustly correlated with the ratings than foreign reserves, fiscal deficit, sovereign bond yields, and economic growth.