Why exporters can be financially constrained in a recently liberalised economy? A puzzle based on Argentinean firms during the 1990s

Trade-related characteristics have only been recently started to be included in empirical studies analysing the determinants of the financial constraints faced by firms. A result broadly shared by these studies is that exporting firms tend to be those less financially constrained. In this paper we test this result using panel data built up from quarterly balance sheet information for 74 Argentinean big firms covering the years of the currency board regime (1992-2001). We estimate an investment equation splitting up the sample between exporters and non-exporters. Using three alternative econometric models (random effects, fixed effects and instrumental variables) we find that, contrary to what is commonly stressed in the literature, exporting firms are the ones facing larger financial constraints on investment. We propose an explanation for this original result based on the currency appreciation that follows financial liberalisation processes in emerging countries, particularly in Argentina, which triggers a profit squeeze phenomenon for exportable firms, reducing their investment capacity.financial constraint,investment,foreign trade,Argentine

Why exporters can be financially constrained in a recently liberalised economy? A puzzle based on Argentinean firms during the 1990s

Trade-related characteristics have only been recently started to be included in empirical studies analysing the determinants of the financial constraints faced by firms. A result broadly shared by these studies is that exporting firms tend to be those less financially constrained. In this paper we test this result using panel data built up from quarterly balance sheet information for 74 Argentinean big firms covering the years of the currency board regime (1992-2001). We estimate an investment equation splitting up the sample between exporters and non-exporters. Using three alternative econometric models (random effects, fixed effects and instrumental variables) we find that, contrary to what is commonly stressed in the literature, exporting firms are the ones facing larger financial constraints on investment. We propose an explanation for this original result based on the currency appreciation that follows financial liberalisation processes in emerging countries, particularly in Argentina, which triggers a profit squeeze phenomenon for exportable firms, reducing their investment capacity

Effects of an embedding bulk fluid on phase separation dynamics in a thin liquid film

Using dissipative particle dynamics simulations, we study the effects of an embedding bulk fluid on the phase separation dynamics in a thin planar liquid film. The domain growth exponent is altered from 2D to 3D behavior upon the addition of a bulk fluid, even though the phase separation occurs in 2D geometry. Correlated diffusion measurements in the film show that the presence of bulk fluid changes the nature of the longitudinal coupling diffusion coefficient from logarithmic to algebraic dependence of 1/s, where s is the distance between the two particles. This result, along with the scaling exponents, suggests that the phase separation takes place through the Brownian coagulation process.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Europhys. Let

Hamiltonian adaptive resolution simulation for molecular liquids

Adaptive resolution schemes allow the simulation of a molecular fluid treating simultaneously different subregions of the system at different levels of resolution. In this work we present a new scheme formulated in terms of a global Hamiltonian. Within this approach equilibrium states corresponding to well defined statistical ensembles can be generated making use of all standard Molecular Dynamics or Monte Carlo methods. Models at different resolutions can thus be coupled, and thermodynamic equilibrium can be modulated keeping each region at desired pressure or density without disrupting the Hamiltonian framework.Comment: 11 pages, 3 Figure

Forced Imbibition - a Tool for Determining Laplace Pressure, Drag Force and Slip Length in Capillary Filling Experiments

When a very thin capillary is inserted into a liquid, the liquid is sucked into it: this imbibition process is controlled by a balance of capillary and drag forces, which are hard to quantify experimentally, in particularly considering flow on the nanoscale. By computer experiments using a generic coarse-grained model, it is shown that an analysis of imbibition forced by a controllable external pressure quantifies relevant physical parameter such as the Laplace pressure, Darcy's permeability, effective pore radius, effective viscosity, dynamic contact angle and slip length of the fluid flowing into the pore. In determining all these parameters independently, the consistency of our analysis of such forced imbibition processes is demonstrated.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Coarse Graining of Nonbonded Inter-particle Potentials Using Automatic Simplex Optimization to Fit Structural Properties

We implemented a coarse-graining procedure to construct mesoscopic models of complex molecules. The final aim is to obtain better results on properties depending on slow modes of the molecules. Therefore the number of particles considered in molecular dynamics simulations is reduced while conserving as many properties of the original substance as possible. We address the problem of finding nonbonded interaction parameters which reproduce structural properties from experiment or atomistic simulations. The approach consists of optimizing automatically nonbonded parameters using the simplex algorithm to fit structural properties like the radial distribution function as target functions. Moreover, any mix of structural and thermodynamic properties can be included in the target function. Different spherically symmetric inter-particle potentials are discussed. Besides demonstrating the method for Lennard--Jones liquids, it is applied to several more complex molecular liquids such as diphenyl carbonate, tetrahydrofurane, and monomers of poly(isoprene).Comment: 24 pages, 3 tables, 14 figures submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physics (JCP

An assessment of forward and inverse GIA solutions for Antarctica

In this work we assess the most recent estimates of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) for Antarctica, including those from both forward and inverse methods. The assessment is based on a comparison of the estimated uplift rates with a set of elastic-corrected GPS vertical velocities. These have been observed from an extensive GPS network and computed using data over the period 2009-2014. We find systematic underestimations of the observed uplift rates in both inverse and forward methods over specific regions of Antarctica characterized by low mantle viscosities and thin lithosphere, such as the northern Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where its recent ice discharge history is likely to be playing a role in current GIA. Uplift estimates for regions where many GIA models have traditionally placed their uplift maxima, such as the margins of Filchner-Ronne and Ross ice shelves, are found to be overestimated. GIA estimates show large variability over the interior of East Antarc tica which results in increased uncertainties on the ice-sheet mass balance derived from gravimetry methods

Gallavotti-Cohen theorem, Chaotic Hypothesis and the zero-noise limit

The Fluctuation Relation for a stationary state, kept at constant energy by a deterministic thermostat - the Gallavotti-Cohen Theorem -- relies on the ergodic properties of the system considered. We show that when perturbed by an energy-conserving random noise, the relation follows trivially for any system at finite noise amplitude. The time needed to achieve stationarity may stay finite as the noise tends to zero, or it may diverge. In the former case the Gallavotti-Cohen result is recovered, while in the latter case, the crossover time may be computed from the action of `instanton' orbits that bridge attractors and repellors. We suggest that the `Chaotic Hypothesis' of Gallavotti can thus be reformulated as a matter of stochastic stability of the measure in trajectory space. In this form this hypothesis may be directly tested

Ice thickness distribution and hydrothermal structure of Elfenbeinbreen and Sveigbreen, eastern Spitsbergen, Svalbard

In recent decades, Svalbard glaciers have been widely radioecho sounded. The earliest extensive surveys of ice thickness were the airborne echo soundings carried out in the 1970s and 1980s (Macheret and Zhuravlev, 1982; Dowdeswell and others, 1984). These studies used low-accuracy radar and positioning systems and mostly consisted of a single profile along the centre line of each glacier. Subsequent radar campaigns, mostly ground-based but sometimes also airborne, used increasingly improved radar and positioning systems providing a wider coverage of the glacier surfaces by radar profiles. A complete summary of glaciers on Svalbard with readily available radio-echo sounded ice-thickness data can be found in Martín-Español and others (2015)

Coupled coarse graining and Markov Chain Monte Carlo for lattice systems

We propose an efficient Markov Chain Monte Carlo method for sampling equilibrium distributions for stochastic lattice models, capable of handling correctly long and short-range particle interactions. The proposed method is a Metropolis-type algorithm with the proposal probability transition matrix based on the coarse-grained approximating measures introduced in a series of works of M. Katsoulakis, A. Majda, D. Vlachos and P. Plechac, L. Rey-Bellet and D.Tsagkarogiannis,. We prove that the proposed algorithm reduces the computational cost due to energy differences and has comparable mixing properties with the classical microscopic Metropolis algorithm, controlled by the level of coarsening and reconstruction procedure. The properties and effectiveness of the algorithm are demonstrated with an exactly solvable example of a one dimensional Ising-type model, comparing efficiency of the single spin-flip Metropolis dynamics and the proposed coupled Metropolis algorithm.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure