This paper empirically investigates the relationship between long-run economic growth and output volatility for the time series experience of 25 OECD countries between the years 1960 and 2013. Given the low number of observations, we reject, based on Monte Carlo simulations, the obvious choice of Garch estimation, and instead propose a pooled OLS estimator between a filtered GDP series that eliminates the cyclicality and the fluctuations around this trend. We find strong empirical evidence for a positive relationship between output variability and economic growth. This relationship seems to confirm theoretical literature which proposes such a positive relation.

No description available.

The Tachinid fly, Palexorista laxa (Curran) is an important parasitoid of Heliothis armigera (Hubner) in Africa and India. The biological characteristics of the parasitoid were studied with an emphasis on its host instar preference, host range, seasonality and percentage parasitism. The developmental stages were also studied and described. A high host mortality (48%-100%) due to parasite attack occurred when small larvae were parasitised (2nd & 3rd instars). A preference for the 4th and 5th host instars was shown by the flies. P. laxa was found to be a non-specific parasitoid and parasitised a number of lepidopterous larvae in the laboratory including Busseola fusca (Fuller), Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) and Eldana saccharina Walker, but preferred Ii. armigera. The percentage parasitism on H. armigera in the field was variable peaking at 48% in 1988/89. Of the various parasitoids recorded from H. armigera on sunflower P. laxa was by far the most abundant. Mating occurred immediately after emergence with the males emerging a day earlier than the females. Males were capable of multiple matings whereas females mated only once in a lifetime. P. laxa females produced incubated macrotype eggs which hatched almost immediately after oviposition. The duration of development of the incubated egg and larval stage was 6,7 days, the pupa 10,4 days for females and 9,4 days for males, and the adult lived up to 50 days at 25°C. A reduction in pupal weight, an increase in the duration of the pupal stage and higher pupal mortality accompanied an increase in density of parasitoids per host. A linear relationship was shown between adult mass and number of ovarioles and eggs in P. laxa females. The oviposition period was 26,9 days with a high variation in daily progeny production. The total fertility per female was 126,3 puparia. "Inexperienced" females deposited incubated eggs on all parts of the host body while "experienced" females confined oviposition to the head and thorax. P. laxa females did not discriminate between previously parasitised and non-parasitised hosts. The effect of temperature on larval and pupal survival and development time was studied at 20°, 22°, 25°, 28°and 30°C. As expected, duration of development decreased with an increase in temperature, and there was a reduction in mortality.

The recent financial crisis highlights the importance of understanding factors that affect financial market price efficiency. Experimental methods allow us to control the intrinsic value of an asset, thus become an attractive technique for studying asset market price efficiency. This dissertation consist three essays, all of which devoted to experimental asset markets. The first essay explores the role of liquidity on the mispricing of an asset. This issue has been the subject of Kirchler et al. (2012) AER paper. By re-analysing the evidence in that article, the first essay concluded that their experimental design have a weakness that biased the results. Therefore, I designed an experiment that eliminates the weakness. The results of my experiment indicate that Constant C/A ratio could reduce mispricing of experimental asset market significantly, but not necessary to lead to undervaluation. The second essay explores how the description of the asset market to the human participants influences the mispricing of the asset being traded. This issue has been the subject of Kirchler et al. (2012) AER paper. When re-assessing the evidence, I was puzzled by the findings and thought that the small sample size of the dataset collected might explain why a minor change to the description of the asset market provided to the participants produced completely different behaviour. This essay replicates the experiment, with a larger sample size and relies on different statistical tests to analyse the data. I find that the treatment with a different contest (“stocks of a depletable of gold mine”) exhibits similar level of mispricing and overvaluation with the baseline treatment., which is not consistent with Kirchler et al. (2012). The third essay is about an experiment that compares how team decision-making vs. individual decision-making differ in how they influence the mispricing of the asset being traded. The main result is that team decision-making does not result in smaller price bubbles. However team decision-making result in less variance among markets (sessions). Further more, my experimental design allows us to record the chat dialogues, which enable us to have insight into team decision-making. The content of the messages allows us explore the reasons behind traders' asks and bids.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第22625号 / 経博第617号 / 新制||経||293(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 新後閑 禎, 教授 柴田 章久, 准教授 高橋 修平 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

No description available.

Robertson et al detail a 5E learning cycle integrating science and mathematics challenges and engages second-grade students in designing sail cars to solve an engineering problem. Students create and use line plots to organize their data to evaluate the strengths and weakness of their design solutions. Three strategies were used to plan for successful integration in a 5E learning cycle. Integrating the STEM fields can increase student interest and learning, and our experiences with this integrated project support this finding.

Doctor Educationis / Recent research has highlighted the importance of cut-and-fill cycles in valley-bottom wetlands. This study considers the impact of longitudinal and lateral sediment connectivity on the natural recovery potential of valley-bottom wetlands. Pietersielieskloof is a Prionium serratum (commonly known as palmiet) dominated discontinuous valley-bottom wetland. P. serratum is considered to be a peat-forming ecosystem engineer that enhances sediment infill in valleybottom wetlands. Due to its ecological importance and potential as a carbon store, this wetland has been earmarked for rehabilitation by Working for Wetlands. The study ascertains the importance of including sedimentological and geomorphological input in wetland rehabilitation and management strategies. A study of wetland geomorphology was conducted to develop an understanding of the natural dynamic of cut-and-fill processes as context for recent erosion and deposition events. Sediment samples from gully walls and cores were collected for organic content and particle size analysis and five sediment samples predating the current phase of erosion were radiocarbon dated. The valley form was surveyed using cross-sections and long profiles, and historical change was digitised using 30 m – 5 to 30 mm resolution aerial imagery from 1938-2016 in ArcMap.

No description available.

[pt] São apresentadas várias das formulações encontradas na literatura para o problema de Despacho de Veículos. Dentro destas formulações são estudadas aquelas que utilizam o Princípio de Decomposição de Programas Lineares como ferramenta de resolução, com a finalidade de melhorar sua eficiência computacional. Mostra-se que os sub-problemas encontrados naquelas formulações consistem na localização de ciclos negativos em um grafo. Compara-se a eficiência computacional de métodos de determinação de ciclos negativos em um grafo usados na solução dos sub-problemas dos Programas Lineares decompostos estudados na solução dos sub-problemas de um Programa Linear decomposto que foi formulado para resolver um problema de Despacho de Veículos. / [en] Some of the formulations of the problem of Vehicle Dispatching found in the literature are presented. Among those formulations, those whitchuse the Principle of Decomposition of Linear Programs as the method of solution are studied in order to improve their computational efficiency. It is shown that the sub-problems found in those models reduce to the identifications of negative cycles in a graph. The computational methods to identify negative cycles in a graph are compared, in terms of efficiency, for the solution of the sub-problems of a decomposed Linear Program found in the model developed to solve a Vehicle Dispatching problem.