Learning from the ‘Trojan horse’? The arrival of ‘Anti-Social Behaviour Orders’ in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is about to introduce Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) similar to those introduced in England under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Following Bourdieu and Wacquant, it is maintained that England is apt to play the role of a ‘Trojan horse’ transporting American responses to crime and ‘disorder’ into Europe. Moreover, the perspective of Bourdieu and Wacquant provides a more political and complete account of ‘policy transfer’ dynamics than is provided in most mainstream accounts. Nonetheless, there is still a need to recognise the sheer complexity of ‘policy transfers’ and, in the case of ASBOs, the particular Irish and wider European contexts are immensely significant. It is maintained that social workers and associated social professions in Ireland should support the Irish Coalition Against ASBOs as part of a strategy which seeks to promote social policies which are more in keeping with the aims of the International Federation of Social Workers.     

Book Review: New Introduction to Multiple Time Series Analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a test for the null hypothesis of periodic stationarity against the alternative hypothesis of periodic integration. We derive the limiting distribution of the test statistic and its characteristic function, which are the same as those of the test developed in Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin.[15] Kwiatkowski, D., Phillips, P.C. B., Schmidt, P. and Shin, Y. 1992. Testing the Null Hypothesis of Stationarity against the Alternative of a Unit Root.. Journal of Econometrics, 54: 159–178. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] We find that some parameters, which we must assume under the alternative, have an important effect on the limiting power, so we should choose such parameters carefully. A Monte Carlo simulation reveals that the test has reasonable power but may be affected by the lag truncation parameter that is used for the correction of nuisance parameters.     

Trends in consumption-based poverty and inequality in the European Union during the 1980s

Most recent studies on poverty and inequality in developed countries focus on income. In contrast, this paper presents trends in consumption-based poverty and inequality in nine member countries of the European Union. During the 1980s, both poverty and inequality increased in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium, while decreases in both poverty and inequality are observed for Spain and Portugal. In Greece only inequality increased. For most countries for which income-based results are available, these move in the same direction as the consumption-based results. However, this sensitivity analysis yields considerable differences in the ranking of countries and the magnitude of the changes. Received: 13 June 1997/Accepted: 29 February 2000     

Windows 98注册表的组成结构及修复

本文介绍了Windows 98注册表的组成结构 ,阐述了几种对Windows 98注册表维护和修复的方法     

Improved reduced-bias tail index and quantile estimators

In this paper, we deal with bias reduction techniques for heavy tails, trying to improve mainly upon the performance of classical high quantile estimators. High quantiles depend strongly on the tail index γ$\gamma$, for which new classes of reduced-bias estimators have recently been introduced, where the second-order parameters in the bias are estimated at a level _k1$k_1$ of a larger order than the level k at which the tail index is estimated. Doing this, it was seen that the asymptotic variance of the new estimators could be kept equal to the one of the popular Hill estimators. In a similar way, we now introduce new classes of tail index and associated high quantile estimators, with an asymptotic mean squared error smaller than that of the classical ones for all k in a large class of heavy-tailed models. We derive their asymptotic distributional properties and compare them with those of alternative estimators. Next to that, an illustration of the finite sample behavior of the estimators is also provided through a Monte Carlo simulation study and the application to a set of real data in the field of insurance.     

Output gap and non-linear economic convergence

We apply unit root tests in a multivariate TAR model with bootstrapping simulations to assess the influence of short-run economic conditions on long-run economic convergence and to extract economic policy implications. We use two different groups of countries whose members share important business cycle characteristics over the period 1953–2010. We show that per capita income convergence is not uniform along the business cycle and our analysis reveals that, apart from growth-led actions and structural reforms to avoid the evolution towards different national stationary states – especially within the euro zone – short-run stabilisation policies are vividly advised to guarantee long-run economic convergence.     

MANAGING CREDIT BUBBLES

We study a dynamic economy where credit is limited by insufficient collateral and, as a result, investment and output are too low. In this environment, changes in investor sentiment or market expectations can give rise to credit bubbles, that is, expansions in credit that are backed not by expectations of future profits (i.e., fundamental collateral), but instead by expectations of future credit (i.e., bubbly collateral). Credit bubbles raise the availability of credit for entrepreneurs: this is the crowding‐in effect. However, entrepreneurs must also use some of this credit to cancel past credit: this is the crowding‐out effect. There is an “optimal” bubble size that trades off these two effects and maximizes long‐run output and consumption. The equilibrium bubble size depends on investor sentiment, however, and it typically does not coincide with the “optimal” bubble size. This provides a new rationale for macroprudential policy. A credit management agency (CMA) can replicate the “optimal” bubble by taxing credit when the equilibrium bubble is too high and subsidizing credit when the equilibrium bubble is too low. This leaning‐against‐the‐wind policy maximizes output and consumption. Moreover, the same conditions that make this policy desirable guarantee that a CMA has the resources to implement it.     

SHOCKING STUFF: TECHNOLOGY,HOURS, AND FACTOR SUBSTITUTION

The response of hours to technology shocks is a key controversy in macroeconomics. We show that differences between RBC and NK models hinge on highly restrictive views of technology. We introduce CES production technologies and demonstrate that the response of hours depends on the factor‐augmenting nature of shocks and the capital–labor substitution elasticity in both models. We develop analytical expressions to establish the thresholds determining its sign. This opens new margins for shock identification combining theory and VAR evidence. We discuss how our models provide new robust restrictions for empirical work, especially using the labor income share.     

DEEP FINANCIAL INTEGRATION AND VOLATILITY

We investigate the relationship between foreign direct ownership of firms and firm‐ and region‐level output volatility using a novel panel data set for European countries. We document a positive, highly robust, relationship between firm‐level foreign ownership and volatility of value added. This relationship holds cross‐sectionally and in panels with firm fixed effects where the relationship captures within‐firm variation over time. Considering domestic firms with assets in foreign countries, we document that it is international diversification, rather than the nationality of the owner, that explains this positive correlation. Our results can also be found at the aggregate level, where we show that region‐level volatility is correlated positively with foreign investment in the region. We show that this positive relation between aggregate volatility and foreign investment can be explained by the granularity of the firm size distribution and the fact that foreign ownership is concentrated among the largest firms.     

Sickness Absence,Sick Leave Pay,and Pay Schemes

Utilizing Norwegian linked register and survey data, while exploiting a discontinuity in public sick pay legislation, I show that the public sick pay compensation level causally affects male performance pay workers' sick leave days. Both male and female performance pay workers experience longer sick leaves when provided private supplementary sick pay compared with those being eligible for public sick pay only. This differential impact of the replacement rate on workers' sick leave rates reveals heterogeneous behavioural changes following public sick pay cuts, and this heterogeneity will be reinforced by the provision of employer‐provided sick pay to attractive worker groups.