Labor productivity forecasts based on a Beveridge–Nelson filter: Is there statistical evidence for a slowdown?

In this paper, I assess the evidence for a structural break in labor productivity growth in the years before the Great Recession with the use of out-of-sample forecasting exercises for the years 2010 to 2019 and the recently developed Beveridge–Nelson filter. Models based on a Beveridge–Nelson filter with no structural breaks outperform those allowing for a structural break, and there is statistically significant evidence that they outperform the random walk, though all models were too optimistic about labor productivity growth. Recently developed statistical tests do point to the presence of a structural break before the Great Recession, but uncertainty about the data-generating process for labor productivity growth or the timing and magnitude of the break may be too great to be helpful in forecast preparation.     

乘积型指数滤波器及其在多目标时延估计中的应用

指数滤波器是一类新构造出来的输出信噪比和目标时延分辨力随指数变化的滤波器，该滤波器在损失一定输出信噪比的前提下可以有效提高目标时延分辨力，从而提高目标时延估计精度,但仅采用单个指数滤波器仍存在输出信噪比和目标时延分辨力均达不到实际需求的情况。在乘积型高阶模糊函数乘积运算的启发下，在指数滤波器的基础上提出了一种新的乘积型指数滤波器，并分析了该乘积型指数滤波器的输出信噪比及目标时延分辨力等性能。仿真实验表明，所提的乘积型指数滤波器在低信噪比情况下可以更有效提高多目标时延估计精度，且算法简单易于实现，适用于背景复杂的多目标参数估计任务。     

我国大麦价格波动特征及其影响因素分析

[目的]大麦价格剧烈波动会直接影响大麦种植户的生产积极性和大麦产业的平稳发展,研究大麦价格波动特征及其影响因素,有助于提升大麦产业链相关主体识别和应对市场风险的能力,促进大麦产业的健康发展。[方法]文章先采用HP滤波法和ARCH类模型分析了2011年4月至2017年2月我国大麦价格波动特征,然后采用脉冲响应函数分析了我国大麦价格波动影响因素。[结果]我国大麦价格波动存在明显的季节性和周期性,样本期内总体上呈现逐渐下降趋势;我国大麦价格具有显著的波动集聚性,我国大麦价格具有显著的不对称性;在该文选择的影响因素中,大麦进口量和国际大麦价格是影响我国大麦价格波动的主要因素。[结论]该文提出必须保障并提高国内大麦合理产能、完善大麦价格监测预警体系、加强国内大麦进口企业整合和推动大麦进口来源多元化的政策建议。     

Access prices,unbundling and product variety in European Internet markets

A fundamental policy in European broadband regulation is unbundled access to the local loop of the incumbent telephone company. We present comparative static results that show as the access price decreases, the retail price decreases, the variety of plans offered by Internet service providers increases and the quantity of each variety increases when a threshold condition is met. Using data from 18 European countries from 2006 to 2012, we find empirical support for these results when Internet product variety is measured by variation in download speeds.     

改进高阶容积粒子滤波的系统状态估计算法

传统粒子滤波（PF）直接采用状态转移先验分布作为重要性密度函数来近似后验概率密度函数，使得后验概率密度函数未包含量测信息。针对此问题，提出了一种改进高阶容积粒子滤波(CPF)的系统状态估计算法。算法采用七阶正交容积卡尔曼滤波（7th-CQKF）对PF的粒子进行传递，使得先验分布更新阶段融入最新量测信息；通过7th-CQKF设计重要性密度函数，提高对状态后验概率密度的逼近程度；通过反比例函数计算粒子权重，突出大噪声粒子与小噪声粒子权重差别，提高粒子有效性。仿真结果表明，改进高阶容积粒子滤波的估计精度高于容积粒子滤波（CPF）。     

What do professional forecasters actually predict?

This paper studies what professional forecasters predict. We use spectral analysis and state space modeling to decompose economic time series into trend, business cycle, and irregular components. We examine which components are captured by professional forecasters by regressing their forecasts on the estimated components extracted from both the spectral analysis and the state space model. For both decomposition methods, we find that, in the short run, the Survey of Professional Forecasters can predict almost all of the variation in the time series due to the trend and the business cycle, but that the forecasts contain little or no significant information about the variation in the irregular component.     

一种基于SIR结构的三通带带通滤波器

应用双指耦合结构和枝节加载谐振器（Stub-loaded Resonator，SLR）实现了一款基于阶梯阻抗谐振器（Stepped Impedance Resonator，SIR）的滤波器。该滤波器具有3个通带，带外抑制较好，工作频段提高。通过调整阻抗比可调节第二、三通带的谐振频率；SLR结构能够增加通带数量；SLR结构和双指耦合结构均能改善滤波器的S参数。HFSS软件仿真表明，3个通带的中心频率分别为3.5 GHz、6.6 GHz、9.2 GHz，对应的分数带宽分别为5.7%、3%、2%，S11分别为-18 dB、-22 dB、-24 dB，通带内的S21分别为-1.8 dB、-1 dB、-1 dB。电路的测量结果与仿真结果较为吻合。该滤波器在5G通信的低频段具有应用前景。     

The Internet of Things as an accelerator of advancement of broadband networks: A case of Thailand

The advanced development of broadband access is an inevitable step toward supportive daily lives and sustainable economic growth. However, the decisive outcome of the development relies heavily on the demand side. Consumer choice among advanced Internet broadband technologies will determine the achievement of the development. This study aims to illustrate that consumer decisions on choices of advanced Internet access are influenced by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. A bivariate probit model is applied to examine the effects of IoT, consumer's individual characteristics, and their current use of networks on their decision pertaining to the choice of advanced Internet access. Using Thailand as a case study, the result indicates that the emergence of IoT applications accelerates the adoption of both advanced mobile broadband (5G) and advanced fixed broadband (FTTH). This finding may help policy makers to optimize the future direction of the Internet infrastructure development in Thailand, and also countries in a similar stage.     

A study on the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in NUTS3 regions within the framework of digital agenda for Europe

This paper investigates the high-speed broadband situation in the EU and its prospects. It uses a deployment model to estimate the investment required to meet the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) broadband targets set by the European Commission in its Europe 2020 strategy at different stages: as of 2016, after expected operators’ deployment, after public subsidies and leveraged investment, and as expected in 2020. The model uses data at the NUTS3 level, which is the most granular level that has data available on the status of broadband deployment, to arrive at a coherent and comparable framework. From the different perspectives on the investment to meet DAE targets, the paper concludes on the need for an appropriate combination of incumbent and alternative operators investments, public subsidies and leveraged investments, and new investments, both public and private and non-existing as of 2016, examining their feasibility and the impact of different regulatory, technical, and policy strategies.     

Are mobile and fixed broadband substitutes or complements? New empirical evidence from Italy and implications for the digital divide policies

The literature on broadband policies has been focusing on the possible role of mobile broadband as a means for addressing geographical digital divide in areas with no or inadequate fixed broadband infrastructure coverage. Broadband plans designed by most of the industrialized countries take the substitutability between fixed and mobile technologies for granted, with restrictions essentially relating only to bandwidth performance. We explore the determinants of individuals' private access (away from work) to the Internet with the smartphone through a mobile broadband connection, focusing on the role played by Internet uses and taking into account the availability of a fixed broadband connection at home. The results of our econometric exercise, carried out on microdata referred to Italian individuals, provide original and interesting evidence: a complementarity effect between mobile and fixed broadband is found for browsing, video streaming, gaming and cloud services; a substitution effect emerges for social networking and music streaming. Such increasing complexity of individuals’ broadband usage patterns should be acknowledged in the way broadband coverage is mapped and policies designed, adopting a more ecosystem-oriented approach which integrates supply- and demand-side features. A first step in this direction is the inclusion of some, so far neglected, key-attributes of the demand (data traffic allowance, latency, ease of interconnection with Internet capable devices) among the relevant dimensions of policy design.