Does exchange rate volatility hinder export growth?

The paper examines the impact of exchange rate volatility on trade using an ARCH-in-mean model. The advantages of this statistical approach vis-a-vis earlier approaches is that it provides more efficient coefficient estimates and avoids the problem of spurious regressions. Exchange rate volatility was found to have a negative impact on Canadian and Japanese exports to the United States and on Australian exports to the world. For Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the relationship was found to be positive. The magnitude of the impact of a 10% increase in exchange rate volatility on export volumes was found to range from a reduction of 7.4% (Canada) to an increase of 5% (Sweden). The results indicate that exports invoiced in the importer's currency are affected negatively by exchange rate volatility, and exports invoiced in the exporter's currency are affected positively. A partial equilibrium, profit maximization model is derived to support these findings.     

Seasonal Employment, Seasonal Unemployment and Unemployment Compensation: The Case of the Tourist Industry of the Greek Islands

Abstract . A theoretical and empirical investigation of the employment opportunities generated in the tourist industry of the Greek islands, this study supports the conventional thesis that unemployment is not necessarily produced by seasonal employment. Unemployment following a period of seasonal employment may be voluntary or involuntary. Some employees choose seasonal occupations because they pay more. Others do so because seasonal occupations suit their non-market activities during their off-peak season(s), or they may lack any other occupational alternatives. Any unemployment compensation policy designed to smooth out the seasonal nature of employment in industries such as tourism may accentuate the unemployment problem.     

Member Coordination Costs and Spatial Entry Deterrence in a Mixed Duopsony with a Cooperative

This paper investigates cooperative spatial entry deterrence. To this end, it employs a dynamic game where an investor-owned firm (IOF) competes with a farmers’ processing cooperative which incurs a fixed coordination cost per member. The results indicate that as the value of coordination cost per member increases or the processing margin rises, it becomes more likely for the IOF to use cooperative limit pricing, that is, to deter the cooperative’s market entry. The opposite is true for an increase in the freight rate.     

近岸装置实施以风险为基础的综合检查（RBI）

企业在进行管理安全和风险时,以风险为基础的方法用于管理检查和维修工作是最近十年出现的一种优化资产费用的工具。这个较先进的量化方法有可能预知装置风险程度的检查结果,并且有助于开发优化的检查计划。这些方法,由于综合软件解决方法的开发,现在已经开始变得成熟。综合软件解决方法能够与设备数据库交换信息,能够管理检查计划和维修计划的实施,以及永久保持资产和检查的数据。 本文介绍中东地区对近岸装置实施这种综合RBI和检查系统的情况。根据详细的RBI分析和过去的检查记录,对所选择的设备进行现场无损检测技术（NDT）的检测。资产数据、检查记录和文档集中保存在计算机化的系统中。该系统有能力存储和审查各种类型的文档和图样。这个系统还可能生成和监测检查和维修工作单,并且能够与其他企业系统进行交流。知识数据库对全部资产的活动很有用处。与MS Exel输入输出功能进行数据交换也很方便。     

Distributional effects of imputed rents in five European countries

Most empirical distributional studies of well-being in developed countries rely on distributions of disposable income. From a theoretical point of view this practice is contentious since a household’s command over resources is determined not only by its spending power over commodities it can buy in the market but also on resources available to the household members through non-market mechanisms such as the in-kind provisions of the welfare state and the value of private non-cash incomes. In developed market economies the most important private non-cash income component is imputed rent from owner-occupied or subsidized accommodation. Employing a wider definition of imputed rent that also allows the analyst to capture income advantages among tenants living in rent-subsidized accommodations of various sorts (including rent-free or reduced-rent households), the present paper examines the differential effects of including imputed rents in the concept of resources in five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and the UK). The results suggest that in almost all cases, the inclusion of imputed rents in the concept of resources leads to a decline in measured levels of inequality and poverty. The main beneficiaries are outright homeowners and households living in rent-free (or heavily subsidized) accommodation—most often older persons. The inclusion of imputed rents in the concept of resources does not lead to substantial changes in the ranking of the countries according to their level of inequality, despite widespread differences in the rates of home ownership and subsidization across the countries studied here.     

Pollution, Capital Mobility and Tax Policies with Unemployment

In this paper we highlight aspects related to the links among unemployment, international capital mobility, and tax policies in a small open developing economy. Without international capital mobility, the joint optimal trade and environmental policies require a zero tariff and an emission tax lower than the Pigouvian tax. With international capital mobility and a capital tax (subsidy), the optimal emission tax rate is smaller (larger) compared to the rate when capital is untaxed. When both the emission tax and the capital tax/subsidy are jointly chosen optimally, then the optimal policy on capital is a lower subsidy, or even a tax, compared to the standard capital subsidy of the no pollution case.     

Second Best Environmental Policies under Uncertainty

We construct a strategic environmental policy model of an international duopoly. Governments use environmental policies, such as an emissions standard or a tax, to control pollution and for rent shifting purposes. Contrary to firms, however, governments are unable to perfectly foresee the actual level of demand and the cost of abatement. Our results suggest that not only the presence but also the absolute level of uncertainty matters for the optimal choice of the environmental policy instrument. Moreover, the optimality conditions under strategic behavior may lead to welfare losses relative to the cooperative outcomes because of under‐regulation and lack of policy coordination between the two countries.     

The efficiency of decentralized environmental policies under global pollution and tradable emission permits

We build a two asymmetric regions model with cross‐border pollution related to production. Each region issues emission permits and revenues from their sales finance public pollution abatement. The decentralized level of emission permits is efficient when permits are interregionally tradable and cross‐border pollution is perfect. This result is robust in a variety of cases—for example, when (i) capital is immobile or internationally mobile or only mobile between the two regions, and (ii) revenue from permits sales is transferred to a federal authority.     

Tariffs,quotas, and voluntary export restraints with endogenous labor supply

This paper develops a two-good, small-country, general equilibrium trade model with endogenous labor supply and wage taxes, and where trade is restricted by a tariff, or an import quota, or VERs. Within this framework we derive (i) the employment and welfare effects of the three types of trade restrictions, (ii) the price effect of an import quota and VERs, and (iii) the shadow price of foreign exchange under each type of trade restriction. The present results are compared to those where (i) factor supplies are fixed, and (ii) perfect international capital mobility exists.