Spillovers from global economic policy uncertainty and oil price volatility to the volatility of stock markets of oil importers and exporters

Economic policy uncertainty generally tends to induce a pessimistic view of future market behaviour. Furthermore, instabilities in global oil prices have serious implications for the economies of oil exporters and importers, due to their over-dependence on crude oil for revenue and production activities, respectively, and thereby on stock market indices. Against limited empirical evidence, this study examines the spillover effects from global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) and oil price volatility to the volatility of the stock market indices of oil exporters and importers in both developed and emerging economies. The results show that the spillover effect from GEPU to oil exporters is relatively smaller than to oil importers, for both developed and emerging countries. Conversely, the volatility spillovers from oil prices to oil exporters are relatively larger than to oil importers, for both developed and emerging countries. Specifically, the volatility spillovers from oil prices to oil exporters (importers) in emerging countries are relatively stronger compared to oil exporters (importers) in developed countries. The findings indicate that the volatility of the stock markets of emerging countries is more sensitive to global factors such as GEPU and oil price volatility, and that oil exporters and importers in emerging economies are more sensitive to oil price volatility than oil exporters and importers in developed economies, which is in line with previous studies.

     

Development of new computational machine learning models for longitudinal dispersion coefficient determination: case study of natural streams,United States

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Natural streams longitudinal dispersion coefficient (Kx) is an essential indicator for pollutants transport and its determination is very important....     

Evaluating the groundwater potential of Wadi Al-Jizi,Sultanate of Oman,by integrating remote sensing and GIS techniques

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Groundwater resources are highly stressed due to their overuse, especially in the arid region. This study is aimed at discovering potential...     

Impact of green supply chain management practices on firms’ performance: an empirical study from the perspective of Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This article investigates the impact of five determinants of the green supply chain practices on organizational performance in the context of Pakistan...     

Microfiltration of pretreated sanitary landfill leachate

A laboratory study using a bench scale model of two units operation involving coagulation process with Moringa oleifera seeds extract as a coagulant and filtration process using hollow fibre microfiltration membrane, was adopted to treat Air Hitam Sanitary Landfill leachate in Puchong, Malaysia. The performance of the microfiltration membrane in pretreated sanitary landfill leachate treatment was investigated through a continuous process. The leachate sample was passed through conventional coagulation process before being filtered through a hollow fibre microfiltration membrane of 0.1 μm surface pores. The hollow fibre microfiltration membrane decreased the turbidity, colour, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids and volatile suspended solids in the leachate by 98.30, 90.30, 99.63, 14.71 and 20%, respectively. The results showed that microfiltration is capable of removing high percentage of solids from leachate and might be considered as a polishing stage after on-site biological treatment for sanitary landfill leachate.     

Biological activity and bioavailability of grain bound 14C-malathion residues in rats.

Paddy (unmilled rice), milled rice and maize-bound 14C residues were prepared using 14C-succinate-labelled malathion at 10 and 152 ppm. After 3 months, the bound residues accounted for 12%, 6.5% and 17.7% of the applied dose in paddy, milled rice and maize respectively in the grains treated at 10 ppm. The corresponding values for the 152 ppm were 16.6%, 8.5% and 18.8%. Rats fed milled rice - bound 14C-residues eliminated 61% of the 14C in the faeces and 28% in the urine. The corresponding percentages for paddy and maize were 72%, 9% and 53%, 41% respectively; indicating that bound residues from milled rice and maize were moderately bioavailable. When rice-bound malathion residues (0.65 ppm in feed) were administered to rats in a 5 week feeding study, no signs of toxicity were observed. Plasma and RBC cholinesterase activities were slightly inhibited: blood urea nitrogen was significantly elevated in the test animals. Other parameters examined showed no or marginal changes.     

Social and economic considerations in conserving wetlands of indo-gangetic plains: A case study of Kabartal wetland,India

The Kabartal wetland situated in the upper Indo-Gangetic flood plains in northern India is significant because of its hydrological and ecological services, and the socio-economic and cultural values that it represents. Despite being designated as a wildlife sanctuary, this wetland is under threat from anthropogenic pressures. As in the case of most wetlands, the reason is incomplete information on its ecological services and functions, breakdown of traditional management structures and the lack of appropriate and recognized property rights. Our study assesses the economic linkages between the Kabartal wetland and the local people living around it, through socio-economic surveys and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The major objective of the study was to determine the importance of this wetland to the local people and to give an indication of the distribution of the benefits among various stakeholders. The people in the region are poor, have low literacy levels and high dependence on Kabartal and more than 50% want that the wetland should be drained and the land used for agriculture. However, they are willing to participate in collaborative management initiatives with the state. The willingness of people to accept compensation, as an alternative to access to Kabartal wetland, regressed on various socio-economic and attitudinal parameters, gave an estimated mean value of US $27,500 per household over a period of 60 years. This value is a pointer of the total value of access to Kabartal wetland to the surrounding villagers and would be useful when decisions to compensate people for lost access to Kabartal are made.     

QUALITY OF WATER AND BOTTOM SEDIMENTS IN THE TRINITY RIVER1

ABSTRACT: Data were developed to determine the quality of water and bottom sediments in the Trinity River, and the mobility of various contaminants when bottom sediments were mixed with the river water under simulated dredging conditions. Thirteen sampling sites were selected. A number of chemical tests including heavy metals and pesticides were conducted on river water, elutriates, and bottom sediments. Statis bioassays using Daphnia magna were conducted on river water and elutriates. Results indicated that the river in the upper reach is grossly polluted due to discharge of waste water effluents from several large treatment plants. High concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon, COD, heavy metals, and pesticides were found in water and bottom sediments. The concentrations of most of these pollutants exceeded the EPA recommended limits. Elutriation gave no consistent results, perhaps because of release or uptake of contaminants from the sediments. High mortality of D. magna were also recorded in the upper reach of the river. The quality of water and bottom sediments gradually improved in lower reaches.