ON THE ECONOMIC LINK BETWEEN ASSET PRICES AND REAL ACTIVITY

This paper presents a model linking two financial markets (stocks and bonds) with the real business cycle, in the framework of the Consumption Capital Asset Pricing Model with Generalized Isoelastic Preferences. Besides interest rate term spread, the model includes a new variable to forecast economic activity: stock market term spread, which constitutes the slope of expected stock market returns. The empirical evidence documented in this paper suggests systematic relationships between the state of the business cycle and the shapes of two yield curves (interest rates and expected stock returns). Results are robust to changes in measures of economic growth, stock prices, interest rates and expectation-generating mechanisms.

Rent-seeking measurement in coal mining by means of labour unrest: an application of the distance function

We propose a method based on the distance function to empirically estimate the social cost arising from rent seeking behaviour in declining industries. Due to import competition, the factors of a particular industry undergo losses in real income, and have incentives to seek protection. In the case of declining industries, workers play a central role and the losses in output due to strikes are used to quantify the social cost of rent seeking. In our model, strikes are considered as a “bad” input into the production process. We apply our approach to the case of Spanish coal mining. We have estimated a system of equations formed by the input distance function and cost share equations using annual data over the period 1974-1997. This procedure has allowed us to calculate the cost that strikes have imposed on the sectorProduction theory; rent seeking; input distance function; shadow prices; coal sector

Analysis of tourism competitiveness and the key influencers

The aim of this research is measure and analyse the tourism competitiveness, which has become one of the great challenges of tourism researchers in recent years. We analyze the relationship between tourism competitiveness and major tourist magnitudes, relations with most tourist destinations, and some pillars that measure competitiveness such as sustainability. A methodology for calculating an indicator of tourism competitiveness based on a double reference point is proposed, taking into account a level of aspiration and reserve level for each pillar of competitiveness. They are considered different degrees of offset between the pillars so that a series of synthetic indices are calculated. Later the rankings obtained for each country are analyzed and conducted a series of analyses. This tool provides managers with a useful and accurate tool, an interactive flexible and easy to use multi-criteria decision on their part. Allows simulation of situations, monitoring and control of various indicators. Later statistical tools for analyzing and comparing tourism competitiveness and other quantities are used.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Models of Fractal River Basins

Two distinct models for self-similar and self-affine river basins are numerically investigated. They yield fractal aggregation patterns following non-trivial power laws in experimentally relevant distributions. Previous numerical estimates on the critical exponents, when existing, are confirmed and superseded. A physical motivation for both models in the present framework is also discussed.Comment: 16 pages, latex, 9 figures included using uufiles command (for any problem: [email protected]), to be publishes in J. Stat. Phys. (1998

Equations of state in soil compression based on statistical mechanics

The authors have published a very interesting contribution in which they present a new and general relationship between void ratio and overburden pressure in the compression process of soils. The study is based on the law of interparticle energy distribution used in statistical mechanics and, in particular, the compression process of a soil is described according to its initial and final void ratios, and to a parameter /? which is related to the potential energy of a soil element. Such potential energy depends not only on the mass and elevation of soil particles, but also on the interactions between them. To account for such interactions, the authors introduce the concept of "imaginary particles", which allows them to use empirically-calibrated P values in the formulation without the need to consider interparticle interactions explicitly. In fact, the results presented by the authors show that such approach reproduces successfully the compression behaviour of a wide range of situations and soils

Statistical mechanics approaches to granular media: between micromechanics and macromechanics

The mechanical behavior of granular materials has been traditionally approached through two theoretical and computational frameworks: macromechanics and micromechanics. Macromechanics focuses on continuum based models. In consequence it is assumed that the matter in the granular material is homogeneous and continuously distributed over its volume so that the smallest element cut from the body possesses the same physical properties as the body. In particular, it has some equivalent mechanical properties, represented by complex and non-linear constitutive relationships. Engineering problems are usually solved using computational methods such as FEM or FDM. On the other hand, micromechanics is the analysis of heterogeneous materials on the level of their individual constituents. In granular materials, if the properties of particles are known, a micromechanical approach can lead to a predictive response of the whole heterogeneous material. Two classes of numerical techniques can be differentiated: computational micromechanics, which consists on applying continuum mechanics on each of the phases of a representative volume element and then solving numerically the equations, and atomistic methods (DEM), which consist on applying rigid body dynamics together with interaction potentials to the particles. Statistical mechanics approaches arise between micro and macromechanics. It tries to state which the expected macroscopic properties of a granular system are, by starting from a micromechanical analysis of the features of the particles and the interactions. The main objective of this paper is to introduce this approach

Statistical distributions obtained from the compression of monodisperse, soft and frictionless particles

The cyclic compression of several granular systems has been simulated with a molecular dynamics code. All the samples consisted of bidimensional, soft, frictionless and equal-sized particles that were initially arranged according to a squared lattice and were compressed by randomly generated irregular walls. The compression protocols can be described by some control variables (volume or external force acting on the walls) and by some dimensionless factors, that relate stiffness, density, diameter, damping ratio and water surface tension to the external forces, displacements and periods. Each protocol, that is associated to a dynamic process, results in an arrangement with its own macroscopic features: volume (or packing ratio), coordination number, and stress; and the differences between packings can be highly significant. The statistical distribution of the force-moment state of the particles (i.e. the equivalent average stress multiplied by the volume) is analyzed. In spite of the lack of a theoretical framework based on statistical mechanics specific for these protocols, it is shown how the obtained distributions of mean and relative deviatoric force-moment are. Then it is discussed on the nature of these distributions and on their relation to specific protocols

Differences in throwing capacity between senior and U-18 men handball players

The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the differences in general and specific throwing capacity of handball players as a function of the age category. Differences between throwing velocity to goal without and with opposition have also been addressed. Ninety four handball senior and U-18 players were assessed in four different situations of throwing: 1) heavy medicine ball throw, 2) light medicine ball throw, 3) throwing velocity without opposition and 4) throwing velocity with opposition. Senior players were found to perform far better than the U-18 players in all four throwing situations (p<0.001; t1=6.958; t2=8.244; t3=8.059; t4=5.399; df=92).Throwing velocity was higher without than with opposition for both groups; the throwing velocity of the senior group was 7.79% lower (p<0.01; t=8.317; df=47) when there was opposition, whereas U-18 players’ velocity lowered by 6.03% (p<0.01; t=4.469; df=45). The results suggest that age can be a determining factor in handball players’ throwing capacity, both general and specific. Likewise, the presence and interference of a goalkeeper appears to affect throwing velocity in a negative way, especially in senior player