Energy as an indicator of modernization in Latin America, 1890–1925

In the absence of comparable macroeconomic indicators for most of the Latin American economies before the 1930s, the apparent consumption of energy is used in this paper as a proxy of the degree of modernization of Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper presents an estimate of the apparent consumption per head of modern energies (coal, petroleum, and hydroelectricity) for 30 countries of the region, 1890 to 1925. As a result, it provides the basis for a quantitative comparative analysis of modernization performance beyond the few countries for which historical national accounts are available in Latin America.     

Distributing the Gains from Waterfront Productivity Improvements

Despite significant increases in waterfront productivity in recent years, waterfront users have complained that reductions in charges have been insufficient. This paper applies an indexing method that allows us to construct 'what-if' scenarios where the contribution of productivity, price changes and changes in firm size to stevedore profitability can clearly be seen. We then calculate the distribution of the benefits of productivity improvements between customers, labour and shareholders. We find that the direct purchasers of stevedoring services have reaped gains from waterfront reform over the past five years, receiving around 67 per cent of the available 'productivity dividend' in the form of lower real stevedoring prices.     

Food and nutrition education in American elementary schools: a national survey

A random sample of American elementary school educators, representing all but three of the 50 United States, responded to a questionnaire designed to ascertain: (1) their opinions concerning the inclusion of food and nutrition concepts in the elementary school curriculum; (2) their actual practices concerning the teaching of food and nutrition in the elementary classroom: and (3) their needs for elementary food and nutrition teaching materials. The results suggested that nutrition was the food and nutrition concept area most highly valued in relation to the education of young children and the concept area most frequently taught in American elementary classrooms; it also represented the concept area most in need of the development of teaching materials. Congruently, nutrition represented the food and nutrition concept area most frequently reported as being supported by American school administrators.     

High‐Frequency Trading around Large Institutional Orders

Liquidity suppliers lean against the wind. We analyze whether high‐frequency traders (HFTs) lean against large institutional orders that execute through a series of child orders. The alternative is HFTs trading with the wind, that is, in the same direction. We find that HFTs initially lean against these orders but eventually change direction and take positions in the same direction for the most informed institutional orders. Our empirical findings are consistent with investors trading strategically on their information. When deciding trade intensity, they seem to trade off higher speculative profits against higher risk of being detected and preyed on by HFTs.