Equity Premiums In a Small Open Economy

This paper studies the behaviour of asset prices in relation to consumption and other business cycle variables. While RBC models have been able to successfully explain the dynamics of macroeconomic variables, they fail to replicate similar interesting stylized facts when studying the behavior of asset prices. In an attempt to solve this shortcoming, some progress has been made in models that modify utility in order to account for habit persistence and incorporate capital adjustment costs. We have developed a framework that combines these ingredients by applying the loglinearly reduced form of the general equilibrium model and the asset pricing formula, based on the lognormality of the disturbance distribution for the small open economy case. Our ndings indicate that in a small open economy environment this kind of model fails to account for a substantial equity premium.Equity premium; habit formation; small open economy

EQUITY Premium Puzzle in a Data-Rich Environment

Standard consumption-based asset pricing models focus on the consumption risk, seen as the only source of fluctuations and information about risk for the informed investor. These models, however, can account for high expected excess stock return only when assuming implausible relative risk aversion. This paper adds additional risk factors to the standard C-CAPM model to resolve both the equity premium and the risk-free rate puzzles as well as the risk-free rate volatility puzzle. By adding other relevant risk factors, the resulting pricing model is able to explain these puzzles relying on admissible range of local relative risk aversion. The model generates, also, a time-varying relative risk aversion and intertemporal elasticity of substitution.Common factors, factor analysis, principal components, asset pricing, equity premium puzzle, risk free rate puzzle.

Changing children’s intergroup attitudes towards refugees: Testing different models of extended contact

The present research evaluated an intervention, derived from the "extended contact hypothesis," which aimed to change children's intergroup attitudes toward refugees. The study (n=253) tested 3 models of extended contact among 5- to 11-year-old children: dual identity, common ingroup identity, and decategorization. Children read friendship stories based upon these models featuring in- and outgroup members. Outgroup attitudes were significantly more positive in the extended contact conditions, compared with the control, and this was mediated by "inclusion of other in self." The dual identity intervention was the most effective extended contact model at improving outgroup attitudes. The effect of condition on outgroup intended behavior was moderated by subgroup identity. Implications for theoretically based prejudice-reduction interventions among children are discussed

Orientation of cellulose nanocrystals in electrospun polymer fibres (dataset)

Dataset supporting the open access article.Polystyrene and poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibres containing cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were successfully produced by electrospinning. Knowledge of the local orientation of CNCs in electrospun fibres is critical to understand and exploit their mechanical properties. The orientation of CNCs in these electrospun fibres was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. A Raman band located at ~1095 cm−1, associated with the C–O ring stretching of the cellulose backbone, was used to quantify the orientation of the CNCs within the fibres. Raman spectra were fitted using a theoretical model to characterize the extent of orientation. From these data, it is observed that the CNCs have little orientation along the direction parallel to the axis of the fibres. Evidences for both oriented and non-oriented regions of CNCs in the fibres are presented from TEM images of nanofibres. These results contradict previously published work in this area and micromechanical modelling calculations suggest a uniform orientation of CNCs in electrospun polymer fibres. It is demonstrated that this explains why the mechanical properties of electrospun fibre mats containing CNCs are not always the same as that would be expected for a fully oriented system

Increasing Obesity in Treated Female HIV Patients from Sub-Saharan Africa: Potential Causes and Possible Targets for Intervention.

Objectives: To investigate changing nutritional demographics of treated HIV-1-infected patients and explore causes of obesity, particularly in women of African origin. Methods: We prospectively reviewed nutritional demographics of clinic attenders at an urban European HIV clinic during four one-month periods at three-yearly intervals (2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010) and in two consecutive whole-year reviews (2010-2011 and 2011-2012). Risk-factors for obesity were assessed by multiple linear regression. A sub-study of 50 HIV-positive African female patients investigated body-size/shape perception using numerical, verbal, and pictorial cues. Results: We found a dramatic rise in the prevalence of obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)), from 8.5 (2001) to 28% (2011-2012) for all clinic attenders, of whom 86% were on antiretroviral treatment. Women of African origin were most affected, 49% being obese, with a further 32% overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m(2)) in 2012. Clinical factors strongly associated with obesity included female gender, black African ethnicity, non-smoking, age, and CD4 count (all P < 0.001); greater duration of cART did not predict obesity. Individual weight-time trends mostly showed slow long-term progressive weight gain. Investigating body-weight perception, we found that weight and adiposity were underestimated by obese subjects, who showed a greater disparity between perceived and actual adiposity (P < 0.001). Obese subjects targeted more obese target "ideal" body shapes (P < 0.01), but were less satisfied with their body shape overall (P = 0.02). Conclusion: Seropositive African women on antiretroviral treatment are at heightened risk of obesity. Although multifactorial, body-weight perception represents a potential target for intervention

The macroeconomic effects of monetary policy and financial crisis

In this paper we focus on postwar US data and incorporate new nancial measures and monetary policy shocks in a vector autoregression (VAR) system in order to test whether one or the other has any real effect on the economy. We nd econometric evidence that these shocks and events are exogenous, and therefore the exogenous nature of shocks to monetary policy and stock market crashes investigated in this study may help policymakers, especially regarding debates related to eventual relationships between optimal monetary policy and nancial stability.Financial crisis; monetary policy

The host immune response to gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep

non peer reviewedGastrointestinal nematode infection represents a major threat to the health, welfare and productivity of sheep populations worldwide. Infected lambs have a reduced ability to absorb nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in morbidity and occasional mortality. The current chemo-dominant approach to nematode control is considered unsustainable due to the increasing incidence of anthelmintic resistance. In addition there is growing consumer demand for food products from animals not subjected to chemical treatment. Future mechanisms of nematode control must rely on alternative, sustainable strategies such as vaccination or selective breeding of resistant animals. Such strategies take advantage of the host's natural immune response to nematodes. The ability to resist gastrointestinal nematode infection is considered to be dependent on the development of a protective acquired immune response; although the precise immune mechanisms involved in initiating this process remain to be fully elucidated. In this paper current knowledge on the innate and acquired host immune response to gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep and the development of immunity is reviewed.We gratefully acknowledge funding support for the research in our laboratories from the Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programme, the Allan and Grace Kay Overseas Scholarship and the EC-funded FP7 Programme. We also thank the BBSRC Animal Health Research Club for funding part of this research (grant BB/l004070/1

Does banks’ environmental engagement impact funding costs?

Despite growing research on corporate environmental performance, the effect of banks’ environmental engagement on funding costs remains unclear. While some evidence suggests that environmentally committed banks secure lower funding costs, other studies report no significant effect, leaving the evidence inconclusive. This study addresses this inconsistency by analysing distinct funding cost measures in a global sample and demonstrating that banks with strong environmental engagement consistently benefit from reduced funding costs across multiple dimensions. The advantage is more pronounced among banks in advanced, less concentrated economies with stronger currencies and lower deposit levels. The Paris Agreement has raised awareness among depositors and investors about their role in mitigating climate change. Although such support is generally driven by sound risk management, capital adequacy, and asset size, periods of rising real interest rates and economic crises shift priorities toward higher financial returns. Our results remain robust across alternative samples, model specifications, estimation methods, funding cost measures, and endogeneity correction techniques

Brexit has already hurt EU and non-EU exports by up to 13% – new research

Over the past few months, Terence Huw Edwards (Loughborough University, left), Christian Soegaard (Warwick University) and Mustapha Douch (Aston University) have been investigating how the vote of June 23 2016 has since affected the values and patterns of Britain’s trade with major trading partners inside and outside the European Union. By comparing trade flows with a model of what UK trade flows would have looked like had the UK voted to stay in the EU, we can clearly see that British exports to both EU and non-EU countries have taken a hit