Professor Taylor and Professor Manzur offer in this volume a selection of published articles by leading scholars which are representative of recent key developments in this area of study. With an initial look at earlier papers which lay the groundwork for more recent research, the collection investigates three broad areas, namely, monetary policy and exchange rates, monetary unification, and exchange rates and commodity prices. With an authoritative introduction by these two leading specialists in the field, the collection is an essential reference source for students, researchers and lecturers in international finance and for policymakers.

This volume consists of a broad selection of studies on the applied economics of weight and obesity. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of topics, and employ a variety of applied techniques across a range of countries. Some of the issues explored include: the relationship between childhood obesity and food insecurity; adolescent weight gain and social networks; obesity and happiness; the relationship between fast food and obesity; tobacco control; race and gender differences; and consumer health. This book is a compilation of articles originally published in the journals Applied Economics and Applied Economics Letters.

The term Purchasing Power Parity may date from the early twentieth century, when it was coined by the Swedish economist Gustav Cassel, but the underlying concept had been enjoying varying degrees of success since its development in sixteenth century Spain. Even towards the end of the twentieth century, and especially since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates, PPP and the stability of real exchange rates continued to be the subject of academic debate. This volume brings together essays covering aspects of current thinking on Purchasing Power Parity, from the various ways in which to test for its existence, to its appearance in different economies around the world, to examinations of the explanations given when PPP does not appear to hold This book was published as a special issue of Applied Financial Economics. The academic editor of this journal is Mark P. Taylor.

This volume consists of a broad selection of studies on the applied economics of weight and obesity. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of topics, and employ a variety of applied techniques across a range of countries. Some of the issues explored include: the relationship between childhood obesity and food insecurity; adolescent weight gain and social networks; obesity and happiness; the relationship between fast food and obesity; tobacco control; race and gender differences; and consumer health. This book is a compilation of articles originally published in the journals Applied Economics and Applied Economics Letters.

The last two decades have seen a number of important developments in exchange rate economics, with substantial contributions to both its theory and empirics. While our understanding of exchange rates has significantly improved, a number of challenges and open questions in the exchange rate debate still remain. In these two volumes, the editors have brought together a selection of key articles which are representative of recent developments in the exchange rate economics literature. This important collection is essential for academic economists and practitioners interested in understanding and participating in the exchange rate debate.

This authoritative two-volume collection brings together a comprehensive selection of over 40 previously published articles which include seminal and recent contributions in the area of speculation and financial markets.The volumes present the key theoretical and applied research in the pricing of assets, market efficiency and behavioural finance. It explores speculative behaviour in finance and the main financial markets including the stock market, the bond market and the market for foreign exchange and derivatives. Speculation and Financial Markets will be an essential source of reference for researchers, students and practitioners. It will also be an invaluable companion to intermediate and advanced texts on financial markets.

The term Purchasing Power Parity may date from the early twentieth century, when it was coined by the Swedish economist Gustav Cassel, but the underlying concept had been enjoying varying degrees of success since its development in sixteenth century Spain. Even towards the end of the twentieth century, and especially since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates, PPP and the stability of real exchange rates continued to be the subject of academic debate.

This volume brings together essays covering aspects of current thinking on Purchasing Power Parity, from the various ways in which to test for its existence, to its appearance in different economies around the world, to examinations of the explanations given when PPP does not appear to hold

This book was published as a special issue of Applied Financial Economics. The academic editor of this journal is Mark P. Taylor.

An uncomfortable observation in the Shift Logs and Process Control records of most aluminum smelting plants is that process control failures, large and small, happen every day. Although only a small fraction of these failures give rise to catastrophic events, the difference between a disaster we read about and a failure which, although expensive, has no irreversible consequences, is only chance. Control for Aluminum Production and Other Processing Industries exemplifies new control thinking fused with an understanding of process variability, and how to diagnose abnormalities and their causes in aluminum production plants. Many real life examples in the book demonstrate the importance of human behavior and a scientific, questioning approach in the control of a technologically complex process. Written from the perspective of production staff and management, the book also gives readers a view into the human aspects of accidents and their analogy with failures in control of production. Production plants regularly experience more control failures than successes and staff must continuously strive to establish stability and control of their process. Through on-the-job experiences of the authors and their industry colleagues, the control experiences described in this book provide readers with a foundation for building their own robust control rationale and a framework for avoidance of plant control problems.

An uncomfortable observation in the Shift Logs and Process Control records of most aluminum smelting plants is that process control failures, large and small, happen every day. Although only a small fraction of these failures give rise to catastrophic events, the difference between a disaster we read about and a failure which, although expensive, has no irreversible consequences, is only chance. Control for Aluminum Production and Other Processing Industries exemplifies new control thinking fused with an understanding of process variability, and how to diagnose abnormalities and their causes in aluminum production plants. Many real life examples in the book demonstrate the importance of human behavior and a scientific, questioning approach in the control of a technologically complex process. Written from the perspective of production staff and management, the book also gives readers a view into the human aspects of accidents and their analogy with failures in control of production. Production plants regularly experience more control failures than successes and staff must continuously strive to establish stability and control of their process. Through on-the-job experiences of the authors and their industry colleagues, the control experiences described in this book provide readers with a foundation for building their own robust control rationale and a framework for avoidance of plant control problems.

This book is a survey of exchange-rate economics. Using the latest econometric techniques, it covers the main theories that explain the determination of exchange rates and utilizes recent empirical data on exchange rate behavior.

Currency crises in Europe and Mexico during the 1990s provided stark reminders of the importance and the fragility of international financial markets. These experiences led some commentators to conclude that open international capital markets are incompatible with financial stability. But the pre-1914 gold standard is an obvious challenge to the notion that open capital markets are sources of instability. To deepen our understanding of how this system worked, this volume draws together recent research on the gold standard. Theoretical models are used to guide qualitative discussions of historical experience, while econometric methods are used to help the historical data speak clearly. The result is an overview of the gold standard, a survey of the relevant applied research in international macroeconomics, and a demonstration of how the past can help to inform the present.

Currency crises in Europe and Mexico during the 1990s provided stark reminders of the importance and the fragility of international financial markets. These experiences led some commentators to conclude that open international capital markets are incompatible with financial stability. But the pre-1914 gold standard is an obvious challenge to the notion that open capital markets are sources of instability. To deepen our understanding of how this system worked, this volume draws together recent research on the gold standard. Theoretical models are used to guide qualitative discussions of historical experience, while econometric methods are used to help the historical data speak clearly. The result is an overview of the gold standard, a survey of the relevant applied research in international macroeconomics, and a demonstration of how the past can help to inform the present.

This book provides an overview as well as the latest research on currency unions - geographical areas throughout which a single currency circulates as the medium of exchange. The issues discussed are central to debates on economic and monetary union in Europe, and the future of Eastern Europe. In addition to a specially written survey chapter by the editors, it contains previously unpublished contributions by leading researchers in the field, discussing real and potential currency unions in the United States, the former Soviet Union, Europe, and Africa.