Changing Food Consumption of Households in Developing Countries: A Bangladesh Case

Increasing incomes, urbanization, and population growth are transforming developing countries. This structural transformation is changing lifestyles and consequently food consumption and agri-food systems. The present study uses Bangladesh as a case study, a rapidly growing developing economy in South Asia to examine the changing food consumption pattern. Using information from more than 29,000 households, the present study demonstrates that, with the increase in income and urbanization, this traditional rice-consuming country is increasingly consuming more wheat. The changes in the relative consumption in Bangladesh are prominent both in rural and urban areas. The literature often is based on the premise that with increasing income, households switch from staple cereals to high food-value items. The present study highlights the need to also consider within-staple substitution.     

Stock Returns and Exchange Rate Nexus in Ghana: A Bayesian Quantile Regression Approach

This paper presents analysis of the relationship and dependence structure between stock returns and exchange rates in Ghana using data of daily periodicity from January 4, 2011 to July 31, 2014. Analyses are conducted by means of Bayesian quantile regression (QR) technique and multiple causality tests. Our findings suggest high dependence of the equity market on the foreign exchange market in Ghana, and that the link between the two markets follows the international trade‐oriented model more than the portfolio balance theory. We report that among the six exchange rates used, only the cedi–dollar registers instantaneous effect on the equity market.     

Strategies for sustainable intensification in East African highlands: labor use and input efficiency

Strategies for poverty alleviation and sustainable natural resource management usually focus on land use options for improving yields. Increasing the returns to critical factors requires possibilities for input substitution. Inadequate timing of input applications or nonavailability of complementary factors can seriously hinder this substitution. Such constraints particularly apply in less‐favored areas where soil organic matter content is too low for enabling efficient nutrient uptake and soil structure limits water infiltration and moisture retention. This article focuses attention on the importance of labor for crop management activities and input applications that enhance input efficiency in highland area cropping systems of Northern Ethiopia. Given the inherent complementarities between labor and nutrient supply during critical phases of the plant growth process, input efficiency strongly depends on labor use. We present a semiparametric bioeconomic modeling approach to analyze the available options for improving input efficiency in agricultural production. Input response equations are used that consider the returns per unit of land and labor as a function of specific combinations of material inputs and management practices. Critical trade‐offs may arise when opportunity costs for labor are considered or when complementary factors appear as binding constraints. The model enables assessment of feasible pathways for enhancing sustainable intensification and poverty alleviation in typical settings of the East African highland region.     

Pricing efficiency of the S&P 500 index market: Evidence from the Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts

Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts (SPDRs) are exchange traded securities representing a portfolio of S&P 500 stocks. They allow investors to track the spot portfolio and better engage in index arbitrage. We tested the impact of the introduction of SPDRs on the efficiency of the S&P 500 index market. Ex‐post pricing efficiency and ex‐ante arbitrage profit between SPDRs and futures were also examined. We found an improved efficiency in the S&P 500 index market after the start of SPDRs trading. Specifically, the frequency and length of lower boundary violations have declined since SPDRs began trading. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that SPDRs facilitate short arbitrage by simplifying the process of shorting the cash index against futures. Tests of pricing efficiency comparing SPDRs and futures suggested that index arbitrage using SPDRs as a substitute for program trading in general results in losses. Although short arbitrages earn a small profit on average, gains are statistically insignificant. A trade‐by‐trade investigation showed that prices are instantaneously corrected after the presence of mispricing signals, introducing substantial risk in arbitraging. Evidence in general supported pricing efficiency between SPDRs and the S&P 500 index futures—both ex‐post and ex‐ante. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 22:877–900, 2002     

Technology and liquidity provision: The blurring of traditional definitions

Limit orders are usually viewed as patiently supplying liquidity. We investigate the trading of one hundred Nasdaq-listed stocks on INET, a limit order book. In contrast to the usual view, we find that over one-third of nonmarketable limit orders are cancelled within two seconds. We investigate the role these “fleeting orders” play in the market and test specific hypotheses about their uses. We find evidence consistent with dynamic trading strategies whereby traders chase market prices or search for latent liquidity. We show that fleeting orders are a relatively recent phenomenon, and suggest that they have arisen from a combination of factors that includes improved technology, an active trading culture, market fragmentation, and an increasing utilization of latent liquidity.     

难解的两种能源危机

多么令人震惊啊!澳大利亚国防部长布伦丹·纳尔逊说了几句大实话,让人们倒吸了几口凉气.他上周说,中东是"能源,尤其是石油的重要供应区",因此,人们"应当认真思考从伊拉克草率撤军的后果".     

Disconnecting: Understanding decline in universal service

At a time when choices for voice service and funding for universal service were growing, the United States experienced an unprecedented drop in household telephone penetration. Universal service in voice telephony is generally taken for granted in the United States. However, recent data from the FCC shows a significant decline in the number of U.S. households that have a telephone of any kind (including mobile), from a peak in telephone penetration of 95.5% in March 2003 down to 92.9% in November 2005. This decline is both statistically significant and meaningful, as approximately 2.6% of U.S. households could not easily reach 911 for emergencies. This study uses regression analysis of state-level data to determine what drove this decline in universal service. The results demonstrate that the recent decline in universal service in the U.S. is driven by an increase in black population, inadequate consumer protection laws, and increases in wireless telephones per capita. Lifeline effectiveness does not appear to mitigate the decline in penetration, while Link-Up effectiveness may have a limited effect.     

The Red–Green Channel Dilemma: Customs Declaration and Optimal Inspection Policy

Despite the evolvement of an extensive literature on the economics of smuggling, the evasion of customs duties under the common red–green channel system has failed to attract any theoretical attention. The present paper develops a simple three‐passenger‐type model to examine the passenger's decision of whether to pass through the green or red channel, as well as to derive the optimal inspection policy for a revenue‐maximizing customs authority. The analysis reveals that if net revenue collection when inducing truthful declaration is positive, it is never optimal for the customs authority to provide incentives for passing through the green channel, although it may be optimal to provide incentives for cheating at the red channel. However, if the penalty for evasion is large enough to wipe out passengers' income, providing incentives for passing through the green channel may be the optimal policy.