Inflation and the finance–growth nexus

This paper re-investigates whether there exist inflation thresholds in the finance–growth linkage. By applying the Caner and Hansen's (2004) instrumental-variable threshold regression approach to the dataset of Levine et al. (2000), we find strong evidence of a nonlinear inflation threshold in the relationship, below which financial development exerts a significantly positive effect on economic growth, while, above which, the growth effect of finance appears to be insignificant. Furthermore, we also find a positive and significant relationship between finance and productivity for inflation rates below the threshold level, but no such relationship is detected for inflation rates above the critical level. This result suggests that finance influences growth mainly through the productivity channel.     

Modeling religious involvement: a qualitative integration based on female role visualization consumption

The application of religious symbolism is important in the evolution of medical consumption. Chinese religious belief integrates concepts of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. People personify god and goddess’ characters in religious stories which influence our ideal personality in reality. According to the Match-up Hypothesis in medical product advertising, female role portrayal in patriarchal society involves the blending of beautification ritual, utilizing the marketed product, with idealized female beauty into a package intended to provide the best possible match with the prevailing ideal. Due to the influence of traditional sex stereotypes in eastern or western societies, such female portrayals provide culturally reasonable advertisements of the value of products being displayed for visualization consumption. This ideology is part of the moral fabric of society and reveals a possible social collective consciousness. The authors adopt five dimensions of religious involvement (DRI—Ideology, Ritualistic, Experiential, Consequential, and Intellectual) to explain a process of portrayals visualization and discuss the template image orientation for presenting product information in the marketplace. This study proposes the female role visualization consumption (FRVC) model to identify different elements of female role evolution stemming from religious ideology.     

A note on the maximum revenue tariff

This note attempts to prove that the maximum revenue tariff when the tariff revenue is measured in units of the exportable good will be higher than the maximum revenue tariff when the tariff revenue is measured in units of the importable good.     

On tariffs and smuggling

The purpose of this paper is to show that if a country wants to eliminate smuggling, it may have to increase rather than decrease the tariff. This paradoxical case could take place if the country in question is large and the foreign elasticity of demand for imports is inelastic.     

An Evaluation of the Actuarial structure of manitoba crop Insurance Program and its Implications

Very little research has been done in evaluating the basic principles and assumptions of the actuarial structure for premium ratemaking in crop insurance programs. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: (a) to examine the Pearson probability distribution of actual crop yields as compared with an application of normal-curve theory to crop yields as compared with an application of normal-curve theory to crop yield distributions and in turn to crop insurance ratemaking which was suggested by Botts and Boles in 1958 [1]; (b) to evaluate the pure premium rates derived from estimated Pearson probability distributions for wheat yields in 14 crop districts of the province of Manitoba; and to establish an experience rating system for the crop insurance program based upon the estimated Pearson distribution of actual crop yields on the individual farm.     

Correcting microstructure comovement biases for integrated covariance

Finding a precise variance–covariance matrix is the building block of empirical finance. While microstructure-noise-robust methods for realized volatility are in the mainstream of financial econometrics, little if any attention has been devoted to estimating a noise-free realized covariance for overlooking the well-documented manifestation of commonality in market microstructure factors such as order flows, liquidity or herding. By documenting and recognizing this fact, we propose a microstructure-noise-free nonparametric covariance estimator to uncover the virtual integrated covariance. The estimator is easy to implement and performs admirably.     

A note on customs unions vs. non-preferential tariffs

It has been shown by Cooper and Massell [1965] that making a non-preferential tariff reduction is always superior to joining a customs union. The purpose of this paper is to show that if the country concerned is a large country, then joining a customs union is not necessarily inferior to making a non-preferential tariff reduction.     

A Comparative Evaluation of Yield Risk Reductions with Alternative Crop Insurance Programs in Manitoba

Three crop insurance programs are evaluated in terms of their effectiveness of yield risk reductions for 371 Manitoba farms. The examination is first conducted with a proposed index method, with which the relative yield risk reduction magnitude is calculated and compared for each farm under each alternative program. The generalized stochastic dominance (GSD) methodology is also used to provide an alternative analytical framework in analyzing producers’relative preferences among those alternatives by comparing the net yield distributions generated by each program for each farm. The results suggest that, given an actuarially sound basis, the filly individualized crop insurance (FI) program is the most favorable choice for risk-averse producers. The area coverage and individual indemnity program (IA) is generally the second best option. The full area crop insurance program (FA) is least preferred by risk-averse farmers.     

Will Japan,Taiwan or the US be isolated by China? A macroeconomic game approach

In Taiwan, Japan and even the United States, economic isolation has become a major concern due to the growing Chinese economy, which may lead to welfare losses for the isolated countries. On the basis of the framework developed by Plasmans et al. [Plasmans, J., Engwerda, J., van Aarle, B., Di Bartolomeo, G., Michalak, T., 2005. Dynamic Modelling of Monetary and Fiscal Cooperation Among Nations. Springer], this paper establishes a four-player game with an open-loop information structure to measure possible losses by an international policy coordination approach instead of the conventional free trade agreements. We simulate macroeconomic adjustments of the four countries according to the different institutional scenarios and economic shocks. The baseline simulation and sensitivity analyses indicate that Taiwan can get benefit by participating in coalitional mechanisms including China. In addition, most of the feasible policy coalitions cannot come into effect without US participation. This implies that at the current stage the US rather than China should be the main economic partner of Taiwan and Japan to prevent them from being economically marginalized.