Due to drunk-driving fatality is the most focal issue in the U.S. traffic accident, this paper applies panel data model to analyze the influence of beer tax and other drunk-driving related laws on the U.S. drunk-driving fatality rate from 1982-2006. Different from former references, this paper investigate if the drunk-driving fatality rate declines by the time and by region. The result shows that drunk-driving fatality rate has declined by the time, especially, in 1987; the drunk-driving fatality rate statistically significant drops. The posibility is that U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Elizabeth, ordered the automobile manufactures to set seat belt or air bag with the cars from 1987. However, the drunk-driving fatality rate doesn¡¦t show different significantly by region. This may suggest that regions have similar laws and cultural norms, which leads to similar drunk-driving fatality rate. Finally, the survey indicates the higher beer tax, BAC 0.08 Law, and Zero Tolerance Law are effective policies to reduce drunk-driving.

We review previous literature on productivity effects of FDI in China and find that the evidence of FDI spillovers on her economic growth rate is mixed. Take A. Marino (2000) and E-G Lim (2001) for example, they pointed out that it just happened conditionally. Thus due to the proof of its plausibility, China¡¦s experience may help underdeveloped countries fulfill their goals and become one of the most contentious issues. Based on CH(1995), this paper presents a 3-sector R&D-based endogenous growth model in an open economy with human capital accumulation and the existing stocks of technology from MNCs as well as domestic industries. And the thread of thought is that the technology growth rate will arise if technological spillovers of FDI do act in domestic R&D sectors, and that will lead to the better development of economy. The solution satisfied to the competitive equilibrium conditions shows that long-run growth rate arises from the improvement of absorptive capability and higher human capital stock, while the relationships between technology gap and steady-state growth rate are uncertain. Then, bottomed on the results of theoretical model and the existing information including Chinese 30 provincial level data for 1996-2004, this paper tests with econometric methods¡Ð panel data OLS model with fixed effect¡Ðand makes empirical analyses. In addition, absorptive capacity is weighted by human capital. As the setting of empirical model, the major focuses are on how human capital, domestic R&D, and international technological spillovers affect long-run growth rate. And the main conclusion is that the steady-state growth rates depend positively on the stock of human capital, the investment of domestic R&D, and the effects of technological spillovers via FDI whether the absorptive capacity is considered or not. While the results also show that the stock of human capital is a definitive and appropriate index to the absorptive capacity and that Chinese provincial level productivity effects of FDI are strongly confirmed by this paper. However, there are still some hinder in China for the digestion of foreign technologies, thus in the future the authority should put more emphases on increasing human capital stock and stepping up self-innovated ability.

Abstract Taiwan's stock market have always been ex-dividend Performance , in essence, to participate in ex-dividend will not increase wealth, but investors are usually regarded as dividends paid by companies operating in the future of the expected. Ex-dividend will to come into notice of investor. We collection from 1999 to 2007, total of nine-year period. The ex-dividend day stock prices analysis in Taiwan 50 index stocks. We use market model of Event Study, and respectively studies by OLS¡BGARCH and SUR model, it's estimated that the abnormal return (AR), this paper to discuss ex-dividend performance of the Taiwan50 index stocks. We to join may cause abnormal return of variables to Panel data regression analysis model, the certification may cause abnormal return of factors.

The use of conservation easements has been increasing in the United States. However, patterns of growth over time are different for individual states. Little is known on how determinants of conservation easements interact with one another and affect the choice of conservation approaches. The study objective was to analyze conservation easement trends and examine underlying choice determinants in the United States. Panel data models were employed to assess determinants of easement acres and contracts from 1995 to 2015. Findings revealed that the northern United States has the most percentage of land area under conservation easements. The growth in conservation easements was positively related to gross state products, land market values, air quality, and land use, while it was negatively related to state population density, conservation spending, easement duration and endangered species. Public policymakers would use these findings to integrate easement efforts into local planning to meet conservation and land-use objectives.

This study suggests a two-step approach to identifying and interpreting regional convergence clubs in Europe. The first step involves identifying the number and composition of clubs using a space-time panel data model for annual income growth rates in conjunction with Bayesian model comparison methods. A second step uses a Bayesian space-time panel data model to assess how changes in the initial endowments of variables (that explain growth) impact regional income levels over time. These dynamic trajectories of changes in regional income levels over time allow us to draw inferences regarding the timing and magnitude of regional income responses to changes in the initial conditions for the clubs that have been identified in the first step. This is in contrast to conventional practice that involves setting the number of clubs ex ante, selecting the composition of the potential convergence clubs according to some a priori criterion (such as initial per capita income thresholds for example), and using cross-sectional growth regressions for estimation and interpretation purposes. (authors' abstract)

2007年中次級房貸爆發後，美國信用評等機構的中立地位，受到質疑以及攻擊。回顧過去評等的，國際信評公司對美國恩隆(Enron)，在爆發前才降為「投機等級」；在亞洲金融危機發生之後，歐美信評公司普遍給予亞洲國家過低之評等，對亞洲地區經濟復甦造成一定程度之負面效應。一連串的金融事件引發了投資人對於信用評等效力的疑慮：信用評等還是能代表中立客觀的評價嗎？是否擁有較公開財務資料更多更完整的訊息？果真如此，對於問題的發生是否有發現及反應的能力？本研究利用相對買賣價差以及Panel data、Simultaneous Model檢測信用評等對股票流動性之影響，再進一步討論信評與財務結構的關係實證分析信用評等對台灣證券市場流動性存在正向關係，並且影響財務結構。本研究實証結果的價值是提供影響市場流動性的因素中，信用評等也是促成流動性的原因之ㄧ。信用評等所帶來的流動性提供了對投資者、金融機構以及資本市場更穩定並且更有效率的機制。

The thesis aims at identifying the reasons behind the heterogeneous inflation performance of countries across Central and Eastern Europe. The impact of a large number of variables is being assessed in a dynamic panel data model covering 20 countries over the period 2003-2013. The empirical results suggest that cross-country differences in inflation are attributed to the structure of the economy, to the capital deepening effects and openness. Along with the structural factors, cyclical positions also prove to be of particular importance in explaining inflation across the region, since during the last decade most of the Central and Eastern European countries have experienced fast GDP growth, a credit boom and increased domestic demand that in turn fueled inflation.

A influência do clima sobre a agricultura tem sido constantemente discutida na literatura econômica, e os resultados sugerem que este setor deve ser o mais afetado conforme as projeções atuais sobre o clima. No caso do Brasil, a temática tem sua importância destacada, uma vez que o setor agrícola e suas atividades vinculadas representam parte expressiva do PIB nacional, de modo que o desempenho econômico se apresenta vinculado aos resultados do setor. Ademais, a agricultura brasileira apresenta significativa participação no mercado internacional, sendo o país um importante player no que diz respeito à oferta global de commodities. Portanto, estudos e pesquisas que auxiliem na redução dos potenciais impactos do clima na agricultura brasileira ganham relevância, dados os efeitos sobre o mercado internacional de commodities e sobre a economia nacional. Neste contexto, o presente estudo avaliou empiricamente o impacto potencial do clima na produção agrícola dos principais estados produtores do país, por meio da estimação das elasticidades entre as variáveis temperatura e precipitação e o valor real de produção nestes estados. A fim de atingir o objetivo proposto, foi utilizado um modelo de efeitos fixos, aplicado a uma base de dados em painel, com dez estados entre 1990 e 2012. Os resultados encontrados sugerem impactos significativos do clima na agricultura, sendo aqueles relacionados à temperatura de magnitude expressivamente superior aos de precipitação. Quanto à temperatura, as relações estimadas foram predominantemente negativas, e para a precipitação ocorreu o inverso. Além disso, observaram-se respostas bastante divergentes entre os estados, sendo que o Rio Grande do Sul e o Espírito Santo se mostraram os mais vulneráveis às variações climáticas. Apenas em Goiás a agricultura respondeu positivamente a aumentos de temperatura, e na Bahia e no Mato Grosso não foram encontradas relações estatisticamente significativas. / The influence of climate on agriculture has been constantly discussed in the economic literature, and the results suggest that this should be the sector most affected according the current climate projections. In the Brazilian case, the issue is particular relevant, since the agricultural sector and its related activities represent a significant part of the national GDP, then, the country\'s economic performance is linked to the sector\'s result. Moreover, Brazilian agriculture has a significant share on the international market, and the country is an important player on the global commodities supply. Therefore, studies and researches might generate results to mitigate the potential climate impacts on Brazilian agriculture. In this context, this research evaluated the potential impact of climate variables on agricultural production at the states level, through the elasticities estimation among the climate variables, temperature and precipitation, and the state\'s agricultural production real values. It was estimated a fixed effects panel model, considering ten states from 1990 to 2012. The results suggest significant impacts of climate on agriculture, especially those related to temperature, which were significantly greater than the precipitation effects. For temperature, the results estimated were predominantly negative, and for precipitation, the opposite happened. In addition, there were widely divergent responses among states; the Rio Grande do Sul and the Espírito Santo were the most vulnerable states to climate variations. Only in Goiás the agriculture responded positively to increases in temperature, and in Bahia and Mato Grosso there was no statistically significant relationships between temperature and agricultural production.

A influência do clima sobre a agricultura tem sido constantemente discutida na literatura econômica, e os resultados sugerem que este setor deve ser o mais afetado conforme as projeções atuais sobre o clima. No caso do Brasil, a temática tem sua importância destacada, uma vez que o setor agrícola e suas atividades vinculadas representam parte expressiva do PIB nacional, de modo que o desempenho econômico se apresenta vinculado aos resultados do setor. Ademais, a agricultura brasileira apresenta significativa participação no mercado internacional, sendo o país um importante player no que diz respeito à oferta global de commodities. Portanto, estudos e pesquisas que auxiliem na redução dos potenciais impactos do clima na agricultura brasileira ganham relevância, dados os efeitos sobre o mercado internacional de commodities e sobre a economia nacional. Neste contexto, o presente estudo avaliou empiricamente o impacto potencial do clima na produção agrícola dos principais estados produtores do país, por meio da estimação das elasticidades entre as variáveis temperatura e precipitação e o valor real de produção nestes estados. A fim de atingir o objetivo proposto, foi utilizado um modelo de efeitos fixos, aplicado a uma base de dados em painel, com dez estados entre 1990 e 2012. Os resultados encontrados sugerem impactos significativos do clima na agricultura, sendo aqueles relacionados à temperatura de magnitude expressivamente superior aos de precipitação. Quanto à temperatura, as relações estimadas foram predominantemente negativas, e para a precipitação ocorreu o inverso. Além disso, observaram-se respostas bastante divergentes entre os estados, sendo que o Rio Grande do Sul e o Espírito Santo se mostraram os mais vulneráveis às variações climáticas. Apenas em Goiás a agricultura respondeu positivamente a aumentos de temperatura, e na Bahia e no Mato Grosso não foram encontradas relações estatisticamente significativas. / The influence of climate on agriculture has been constantly discussed in the economic literature, and the results suggest that this should be the sector most affected according the current climate projections. In the Brazilian case, the issue is particular relevant, since the agricultural sector and its related activities represent a significant part of the national GDP, then, the country\'s economic performance is linked to the sector\'s result. Moreover, Brazilian agriculture has a significant share on the international market, and the country is an important player on the global commodities supply. Therefore, studies and researches might generate results to mitigate the potential climate impacts on Brazilian agriculture. In this context, this research evaluated the potential impact of climate variables on agricultural production at the states level, through the elasticities estimation among the climate variables, temperature and precipitation, and the state\'s agricultural production real values. It was estimated a fixed effects panel model, considering ten states from 1990 to 2012. The results suggest significant impacts of climate on agriculture, especially those related to temperature, which were significantly greater than the precipitation effects. For temperature, the results estimated were predominantly negative, and for precipitation, the opposite happened. In addition, there were widely divergent responses among states; the Rio Grande do Sul and the Espírito Santo were the most vulnerable states to climate variations. Only in Goiás the agriculture responded positively to increases in temperature, and in Bahia and Mato Grosso there was no statistically significant relationships between temperature and agricultural production.

In recent years there were many debates and different opinions whether R&D spillover effects exist or not. In 1995 Coe and Helpman published a study about this phenomenon, based on a panel dataset, that supports the position that such R&D spillover effects are existent. However, this survey was criticized and many different suggestions for improvement came from the scientific community. Some of them were selected and analysed and finally led to a new model. And even though this new model is well compatible with the data, it leads to different conclusions, namely that there does not exist an R&D spillover effect. These different results were the motivation to run a spatial analysis, which can be done by considering the countries as regions and using an adequate spatial link matrix. The used methods from the field of spatial econometrics are described briefly and quite general, and finally the results from the spatial models (the ones which correspond to the non-spatial ones) are compared with the results from the non-spatial analysis. The preferred model supports the position that R&D spillover effects exist.