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Monetary independence is at the core of the macroeconomic policy trilemma stating that an independent monetary policy, a fixed exchange rate and free movement of capital cannot exist at the same time. This study examines the relationship between monetary autonomy and inflation dynamics in a panel of Caribbean countries over the period 1980–2017. The empirical results show that monetary independence is a significant factor in determining inflation, even after controlling for macroeconomic developments. In other words, greater monetary policy independence, measured as a country’s ability to conduct its own monetary policy for domestic purposes independent of external monetary influences, leads to lower consumer price inflation. This relationship—robust to alternative specifications and estimation methodologies—has clear policy implications, especially for countries that maintain pegged exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar with a critical bearing on monetary autonomy.
The economic impact of COVID-19 on The Bahamas is unprecedented. The archipelago was just recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian in the fall of 2019, when the pandemic led to a sudden stop in tourism, the main source of income and employment. The authorities mounted a rapid emergency response to support the economy and vulnerable households and put in place strict containment measures. But amid limited testing and health resources, reopening the economy has been challenging.
This paper develops a gravity model framework to estimate the impact of infectious diseases on bilateral tourism flows among 38,184 pairs of countries over the period 1995–2017. The results confirm that international tourism is adversely affected by disease risk, and the magnitude of this negative effect is statistically and economically significant. In the case of SARS, for example, a 10 percent rise in confirmed cases leads to a reduction of as much as 9 percent in tourist arrivals. Furthermore, while infectious diseases appear to have a smaller and statistically insignificant negative effect on tourism flows to advanced economies, the magnitude and statistical significance of the impact of infectious diseases are much greater in developing countries, where such diseases tend to be more prevalent and health infrastructure lags behind.
"Electrostatic Precipitation" includes selected papers presented at the 11th International Conference on Electrostatic Precipitation. It presents the newest developments in electrostatic precipitation, flue gas desulphurization (FGD), selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and non-thermal plasma techniques for multi-pollutants emission control. Almost all outstanding scientists and engineers world-wide in the field will report their on-going researches. The book will be a useful reference for scientists and engineers to keep abreast of the latest developments in environmental science and engineering.
This volume is a collection of studies of various religious groups in the changing religious markets of China: registered Christian congregations, unregistered house churches, Daoist masters, and folk-religious temples. The contributing authors are emerging Chinese scholars who apply and respond to Fenggang Yang’s tricolor market theory of religion in China: the red, black, and gray markets for legal, illegal, and ambiguous religious groups, respectively. These ethnographic studies demonstrate a great variety within the gray market, and fluidity across different markets. The volume concludes with Fenggang Yang reviewing the introduction of the religious market theories to China and formally responding to major criticisms of these theories. Conributors are: HE Ling, HU Mengyin, Ke-hsien HUANG, JIANG Shen, KONG Deji, LI Hui, LIN Weizhi, Yan LIU, Jonathan E. E. Pettit, WANG Ling, Chris White, XIAO Yunze, YAN Jun, Fenggang Yang, YUAN Hao, ZHANG Zhipeng, ZHAO Cuicui, ZHAO Hao.
This paper discusses Jamaica’s Request for Purchase Under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). The Jamaican authorities have proactively responded to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Nevertheless, despite the authorities’ best efforts, the pandemic is severely impacting the Jamaican economy, as a sudden stop in tourism and falling remittances are generating a sizable balance-of-payments need. Moreover, the economic outlook remains subject to an unusually high degree of uncertainty. The disbursement under the RFI will strengthen reserves and help catalyze additional support from other international financial institutions and development partners. The authorities’ policy response to the COVID-19 crisis is appropriate, including the timely adoption of targeted measures to support jobs and provide resources to vulnerable segments of the population. Once the crisis abates, building on their demonstrated commitment to reform and stability-oriented measures, the authorities should continue the implementation of their ambitious reform agenda to support the economic recovery and ensure strong and sustainable economic growth.
Climate change is already a systemic risk to the global economy. While there is a large body of literature documenting potential economic consequences, there is scarce research on the link between climate change and sovereign risk. This paper therefore investigates the impact of climate change vulnerability and resilience on sovereign bond yields and spreads in 98 advanced and developing countries over the period 1995–2017. We find that the vulnerability and resilience to climate change have a significant impact on the cost government borrowing, after controlling for conventional determinants of sovereign risk. That is, countries that are more resilient to climate change have lower bond yields and spreads relative to countries with greater vulnerability to risks associated with climate change. Furthermore, partitioning the sample into country groups reveals that the magnitude and statistical significance of these effects are much greater in developing countries with weaker capacity to adapt to and mitigate the consequences of climate change.
This departmental paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in the Asia Pacific region, Latin America, and Caribbean countries. Many tourism dependent economies in these regions, including small states in the Pacific and the Caribbean, entered the pandemic with limited fiscal space, inadequate external buffers, and foreign exchange revenues extremely concentrated in tourism. The empirical analysis leverages on an augmented gravity model to draw lessons from past epidemics and finds that the impact of infectious diseases on tourism flows is much greater in developing countries than in advanced economies.
This second edition offers a comprehensive overview of the priority indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, indoor particles and fibres, combustion products and other chemical agents that may affect health. It includes updated reviews with a focus on emission processes and on the large variety of volatile organic pollutants. It also introduces new topics, such as reflections on the shift in human health from infection-related diseases to chronic illnesses and the significance of indoor chemical exposure. The authors provide insights into different cultural settings and their consequences for indoor air quality. Further, the book briefly discusses building certification as a market-oriented tool to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality in the building sector. It appeals to public health specialists; scientists; graduate students in the field of environmental sciences; decision makers in government, regulatory bodies and the construction industry; and facility managers.