Estimating the substitutability between private and public consumption: the case of Spain, 1960–2003

This paper examines the relationship between private and public consumption using Spanish data over the period 1960–2003, using a two-good permanent-income model. We extend previous analysis addressing the question of whether this relationship is stable over time, or exhibits a structural break allowing the instability to occur at an unknown point in time. Our empirical results indicated the existence of a long-run relationship between private and public consumption. We also detect a structural change of regime shift in the cointegration regression around the time of 1973–74. Finally, the estimated intratemporal and intertemporal elasticities of substitution between the two types of expendi…

El patrón oro y el euro. Una reflexión a partir de la lectura de A Tract on Monetary Reform

This paper makes a comparison between the gold standard and the euro through a study of Keynes’s views on the need to manage the macroeconomic situation of an industrial economy. The essay centers on Keynes’s first relevant economic work of the post World War I years, A Tract on Monetary Reform, analyzing its theoretical and practical content. The situation of monetary instability and the choice of exchange regime (to return or not to the gold standard, with the parity prior to the war) were the factors that attracted Keynes’s attention in those years. Similarities between the gold standard and the present euro system bestow a certain interest on Keynes’s ideas and on the economic discussio…

Power system consumption model using SPICE

Space missions have very stringent mass, volume and also power budgets. This requires very precise knowledge of the power consumption of the whole satellite, not only peak power but also static and long term dynamic power. This calculation becomes very complex if all the operational modes (long term dynamic changes) are taken into account, including the different environmental situations. The power budget of any Power Converter Module (PCM), which includes not only the DC/DC converter but also the distribution unit, depends on the power it delivers and on external factors like temperature and input voltage. We propose to use a linear SPICE model using electronic models of discrete component…

On the design of a high current power supply for superconducting magnet

The purpose of the article is the description, considerations of design and presentation of experimental results of a high current (1000 A) and low voltage (up to 15 V) converter for the excitement of superconducting corrector magnets in particle accelerators. The power source, which is based on a ZVT converter, presents high efficiency, small output ripple, excellent regulation of line, and fulfilment of the EMC normative (VDE 0871 A).

Deficit sustainability and inflation in EMU: An analysis from the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level

Price determination theory typically focuses on the role of monetary policy, while the role of fiscal policy is usually neglected. From a different point of view, the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level takes into account monetary and fiscal policy interactions and assumes that fiscal policy may determine the price level, even if monetary authorities pursue an inflation targeting strategy. In this paper we try to test empirically whether the time path of the government budget in EMU countries would have affected price level determination. Our results point to the sustainability of fiscal policy in all the EMU countries but Finland, although no firm conclusions can be drawn about the prevalence…

US deficit sustainability revisited: A multiple structural change approach

In this article we re-examine the long-run sustainability of US budget deficits, using Bai and Perron's multiple structural change approach. While the deficit would have been weakly sustainable over the full sample (1947:1–2005:3), strong sustainability would appear only between January 1982 and February 1996.

Is the Fisher effect non-linear? some evidence for Spain, 1963–2002

In this paper the role of non-linearities in the relationship between nominal interest rates and inflation is examined, in order to shed some additional light on the mostly unfavourable evidence on the presence of a full Fisher effect. The analysis is applied to the case of Spain for the period 1963–2002, which allows previous results on the subject to be re-examined and extended. The empirical methodology makes use of recent developments on threshold cointegration, so that cointegration between a pair of variables should be expected only once a certain threshold was reached.

Threshold cointegration and nonlinear adjustment between stock prices and dividends

According to several empirical studies, the linear present-value model fails to explain the behaviour of stock prices in the long run. We analyse the possible presence of threshold cointegration between real stock prices and dividends for the US market during the period from 1871:1 to 2004:6. According to our results, the null hypothesis of linear cointegration between stock prices and dividends is rejected in favour of a two-regime threshold cointegration model. We find also that stock prices do not respond to equilibrium error, and dividends respond to the past divergence only if the deviation from the equilibrium error does not exceed the estimated threshold parameter. This in turn would…

Is there an environmental Kuznets curve for Spain? Fresh evidence from old data

Abstract The information content of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is subject to change over time and all the empirical modeling work that does not take into account the possible variations and instabilities may fail to explain the variations in the per-capita CO2 and per-capita income relationship. In this paper we consider the possibility that a linear cointegrated regression model with multiple structural changes would provide a better empirical description of the Spanish EKC during the period 1857–2007. Our methodology is based on instability tests recently proposed in Kejriwal and Perron (2008, 2010) as well as on cointegration tests developed in Arai and Kurozumi (2007) and Kej…

Is the budget deficit sustainable when fiscal policy is non-linear? The case of Spain

In this paper, we re-examine the long-run sustainability of budget deficits, when fiscal policy is conducted as a non-linear process. Our empirical methodology makes use of recent developments on threshold cointegration that consider the possibility of a non-linear relationship between government expenditures and revenues. The analysis is applied to the case of Spain, a country that has recently accomplished an important fiscal consolidation. Overall, our results suggest the presence of significant non-linear effects in Spanish fiscal policy, so that fiscal authorities would cut deficits only if they are ‘large’, which would assure in turn their long-run sustainability.

On the design of a multiple-output DC/DC converter for the PHI experiment on-board of solar orbiter

Power converters for experiments that have to fly on board space missions (satellite, launchers, etc.) have very stringent requirements due to its use in a very harsh environment. The selection of a suitable topology is therefore not only based on standard requirements but additional more strict ones have also to be fulfilled. This work shows the design procedure followed to build the Power Converter Module (PCM) for the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI), experiment on board the Solar Orbiter Satellite. The selected topology has been a Push-Pull, for a power level of approximately 35 W and with seven output voltages. Galvanic isolation is needed from primary to secondary, but no…

Novel test bed for induction heating power supplies

Power supplies used in induction heating industrial applications must be entirely tested after its manufacturing in order to assure its security and reliability by means of a full power running test of several hours of duration. Nowadays this test is done with a dissipative load which implies a large waste of energy. This paper proposes a new high efficiency test system for induction heating generators. It incorporates a regenerative electronic load which allows an extraordinary improvement of the efficiency of this test with an important economical and ecological benefit.

The present value model of U.S. stock prices revisited: long-run evidence with structural breaks, 1871–2012

Efficiency comparison between SiC- and Si-based active neutral-point clamped converters

This paper presents an efficiency comparison between silicon-carbide technology and silicon technology. In order to achieve this, the efficiency of an active neutral-point clamped converter built up with silicon carbide power-devices is compared with the efficiency of an active neutral-point clamped converter built up with silicon power-devices, under a particular operating mode and a particular selection of devices. Firstly, overall losses of both converters are estimated. Then, experimental tests are carried out to measure their overall losses and efficiency. Finally, experimental results are compared with the estimations to support the analysis. The efficiency of the SiC converter is hig…

On the Substitutability between Paid-employment and Self-employment: Evidence from the Period 1969–2014 in the United States

This paper provides estimates of the elasticity of substitution between operational and managerial jobs in the US economy during the years 1969–2014, derived from an aggregate CES production function. Estimating the long-term relationship between (the log of) the aggregate employment/self-employment ratio and (the log of) the returns from paid-employment relative to self-employment and testing for structural breaks, we report different estimates of the elasticity of substitution in each of the two regimes identified. To this end we apply the methodology on instability tests proposed in Kejriwal and Perron (2008, 2010) as well as the cointegration tests developed in Arai and Kurozumi (2007) …

Change of regime and Phillips curve stability: The case of Spain, 1964–2002

Following the emergence of the Lucas critique, traditional Phillips curves relating inflation to a measure of the level of activity, and augmented to include past inflation (assumed to proxy expected inflation), have been deemed to be highly unstable over time. In this paper we try to investigate, using recent econometric developments, whether such a statement can be supported over a long time period. In the empirical application, we analyze the case of Spain along the period 1964–2002.

A Cointegration Analysis of Car Advertising and Sales Data in the Presence of Structural Change

Abstract This paper examines whether there is a long‐run stable equilibrium relationship between advertising and sales across the market segments of the UK car industry over the period 1971–2001. In order to achieve this goal, we allow for structural breaks in the series using cointegration techniques. The results show the existence of long‐run equilibrium relationships in all six market segments, although in four of them the relationship is not stable. In general, one structural change is detected in the late 1970s and another in the early 1990s, coinciding with two economic recessions. When we do not account for structural changes, the estimated long‐run elasticities of advertising on sal…

Failure Rate Measurement on Silicon Diodes Reverse Polarized at High Temperature

This paper calculates the failure rate on reversed polarized silicon diodes with the aim to justify, experimentally, the rules of the European Space Agency (ESA) which are referred to the component life’s extension, the reliability increase and the end of life performance enhancement, by using oversized devices (derating rules). In order to verify the derating rules, 80 silicon diodes are used, which are reverse polarized in a high temperature environment. The diodes are divided in 4 groups of 20 diodes, applying a different voltage to each group, in order to relate the failure rate to the applied derating rule. The experiment described in this paper is developed using a temperature acceler…

Threshold cointegration and nonlinear adjustment between CO2 and income: The Environmental Kuznets Curve in Spain, 1857–2007

abstract Article history:Received 9 March 2011Received in revised form 24 February 2012Accepted 2 March 2012Available online 14 March 2012JEL classification:C2Q4Keywords:Environmental Kuznets CurveCO 2 emissionsNonlinear relationshipThreshold cointegration Inthispaper wemodelthe long-run relationship between per capita CO 2 and per capita income for the Spanisheconomy over the period 1857–2007. According to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (ECK) the relationshipbetween the two variables has an inverted-U shape. However, previous studies for the Spanish economy onlyconsidered the existence of linear relationships. Such an approach may lack flexibility to detect the trueshape of the relationship…

Price convergence of peripheral European countries on the way to the EMU: A time series approach

This paper examines price and inflation convergence between three European countries (Italy, Spain and the U.K.) and a European average and, alternatively, between them and Germany from the beginning of the 80's.

The P* model and its performance for the Spanish economy

The performance of the P∗ model is tested as an inflation forecaster for the Spanish economy. It is shown that log-run relationships work as expected according to the model and the Quantitative Theory of Money. The Error Correction Model constructed by using the gap between actual prices and the long-term equilibrium price level as an error correction term, offers a consistent explanation for the short-run dynamics in prices. On the other hand, the P∗ approach shows a forecasting ability similar to that presented for other countries in several studies, although the degree of accuracy in the prediction is not specially satisfactory, mainly for the period 1989:3- 1992:3, when the credibility …

Output Impedance Improvement Using Coupled Inductors

When using a single DC/DC converter with multiple outputs and having a buck topology, which has one filter inductor per output, the designer can choose to couple these outputs together. This paper demonstrates additional benefits of coupling output inductors together. Apart from saving mass and volume, and due to an improved small signal behaviour it also reduces the output impedance of the regulated output. The paper will analyse a seven output push-pull converter used as a space power converter module and verify the theoretical results with experimental measurements.

Are there threshold effects in the stock price–dividend relation? The case of the US stock market, 1871–2004

We use recent developments on threshold autoregressive models that allow deriving endogenously threshold effects to analyse the evolution of the US stock price–dividend relation over the period 1871 to 2004. More specifically, a mean-reverting dynamic behaviour of the stock price–dividend ratio should be expected once such threshold is reached. Our empirical results showed that significant adjustments would occur when, in a particular year, the stock price–dividend ratio had shown a decrease of more than 8.0% between the previous year and the fourth year before, which implies nonlinearities in the dynamic behaviour of the US stock price–dividend relation.

Soft switched interleaved boost converters used as high-power battery discharge regulator for space power systems

In the following years the telecommunication satellites will have a much greater power demand than nowadays. One reason for this is that the geostationary orbit required by this kind of satellites is becoming too crowded. Probably power levels of l0 kW to l00 kW will be the standard and with life duration of 25 years. It is not possible to keep 0.5 kW modules with more than 100 in parallel and therefore higher power modules (5 kW) must be used. A higher bus voltage seems also necessary and keeping a safety limit of 150 V, any voltage below it and above 100 V could meet the needs. In this paper we will propose a topology that fits the application: two soft switched interleaved boost converte…

The effects of competitiveness on trade balance: The case of Southern Europe

AbstractAccording to conventional wisdom, “peripheral” Southern European members of the euro area (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) suffer from a problem of competitiveness. Since their membership of the euro area renders devaluation impossible, adjustment should come through decreasing wages and prices in these countries, which, by improving the trade balance, should lead to a recovery of previous levels of employment and growth. In this paper, the authors estimate trade balance equations for the Southern European countries, both for total trade and for the trade performed with the European Union, taking three alternative measures of the real exchange rate, based on consumption price ind…

Testing the long-run relationship between health expenditures and GDP in the presence of structural change: the case of Spain

This article examines the long-run relationship between per capita US$ PPP health expenditures (HE) and per capita US$ PPP national income (GDP), using Spanish data over the period 1960 to 2001. We extend previous analyses by addressing the question of whether this relationship is stable over time, allowing for structural changes at an unknown date. Our empirical results are consistent with the existence of a long-run relationship between both variables, with two structural changes in 1971 and 1991. On the other hand, health would have been characterized as a luxury commodity, even though increasingly less over time.

Unstable behaviour of normally-off GaN E-HEMT under short-circuit

The short-circuit capability of power switching devices plays an important role in fault detection and the protection of power circuits. In this work, an experimental study on the short-circuit (SC) capability of commercial 600 V Gallium Nitride enhancement-mode high-electron-mobility transistors (E-HEMT) is presented. A different failure mechanism has been identified for commercial p-doped GaN gate (p-GaN) HEMT and metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) HEMT. In addition to the well known thermal breakdown, a premature breakdown is shown on both GaN HEMTs, triggered by hot electron trapping at the surface, which demonstrates that current commercial GaN HEMTs has requirements for improving the…

Testing explosive bubbles with time-varying volatility: the case of Spanish public debt

In this paper the dynamics of the Spanish public debt-GDP ratio is analysed during the period 1850–2021. We use recent procedures to test for explosive bubbles in the presence under time- varying volatility (Harvey et al., 2016; Harvey et al., 2019, 2020; Kurozumi et al., 2022) in order to test the explosive behavior of Spanish public debt over this long period. We extend previous analysis of Esteve and Prats (2022) where assume constant unconditional volatility in the underlying error process.

Study of the Audio Susceptibility in Parallel Power Processing With a High-Power Topology

In this paper, the audio susceptibility characteristic of a high-efficiency nonisolated topology that processes only a part of the total power delivery is analyzed. Since the proposed topology presents a direct path from input to output, the effect of the input voltage ripple at the output voltage has been studied. The effect on the audio susceptibility of the values and disposition of the components and the effect of their parasitic elements must be taken into account. Due to this study, the analytical expression of the audio susceptibility and the design criteria to improve it have been obtained.

Bidirectional high-power high-efficiency non-isolated step-up DC-DC converter

This paper presents the results of a high-efficiency high-power (5kW) non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter. High efficiency, high stability and simplicity are the main goals, and no galvanic isolation is required. The proposed topology is a new BOOST converter with output filter where input and output inductors are coupled together which can be designed to be a minimum phase system. This topology provides therefore input and output current filtering, reducing noise and need of additional filters. Its bidirectionality reduces mass in many applications like in charge/discharge subsystems and lowers cost and component count. This converter is useful with any system that needs backup batt…

A note on nonlinear dynamics in the Spanish term structure of interest rates

Abstract This note applies the methodology to test for threshold cointegration recently proposed by Hansen and Seo (2002) [Hansen, B. E. & Seo, B., (2002). Testing for two-regime threshold cointegration in vector error-correction models. Journal of Econometrics, 110, 293–318] to the Spanish term structure of interest rates during the period 1980:1–2002:12. The evidence suggests that nonlinear cointegration between long and short interest rates is clearly rejected, so that a linear cointegration model would provide an adequate empirical description for the Spanish term structure of interest rate.

Stability improvement of isolated multiple-output DC/DC converter using coupled inductors

Coupling output inductors is a very popular solution when designing a multiple-output DC/DC system. Space-borne circuits are one of the areas where a custom DC/DC converter design with coupled inductors could be preferred to have a detailed design of all variables. Output voltage regulation can be improved using coupled output inductors on a multiple-output DC/DC converter, and, as demonstrated in this paper, it provides an enhanced stability. This paper presents the small signal analysis of a push-pull converter with seven outputs having all its output inductors coupled together and compares it theoretically to the uncoupled version to demonstrate the stability improvement. The theoretical…

Quantifying brain tumor tissue abundance in HR-MAS spectra using non-negative blind source separation techniques

Given high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) spectra from several glial tumor subjects, our goal is to differentiate between tumor tissue types by separating the different sources that contribute to the profile of each spectrum. Blind source separation techniques are applied for obtaining characteristic profiles for necrosis, highly cellular tumor and border tumor tissue and providing the contribution (abundance) of each of these tumor tissue types to the profile of each spectrum. The problem is formulated as a non-negative source separation problem. Non-negative matrix factorization, convex analysis of non-negative sources and non-negative independent component analysis methods are …

THE CURRENT ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH ECONOMY, 1850-2016: WAS IT OPTIMAL?

espanolWe analyse the possible optimality of the path followed by the current account of the Spanish economy over a very long period of almost 170 years (1850-2016), according to the intertemporal approach to the current account and using a present-value model. In particular, from the estimation of a bivariate vector autoregression model for the current account, we attempt to assess the extent to which the latter has been used to smooth private consumption over time in the presence of temporary shocks that the economy might suffer. In general, evidence does not seem to be particularly favourable to the validity of the model over the period of analysis. EnglishAnalizamos la posible optimalid…

Phase Margin Degradation of a Peak Current Controlled Converter at Reduced Duty Cycle

An inner current loop is frequently used in many switching power supplies to achieve higher stability and a good current sharing. Nevertheless, some problems derived from its practical implementation can be encountered. One problem is related to the need of filtering of the sensed current and was discovered by the authors in the implementation of a 500 W converter, when peak current control was applied by sensing the switch current. This paper will demonstrate mathematically that an RC filter not only filters out the noise but also can cause a degradation of the phase margin, especially, if the needed duty cycle is close to zero. The main reason for it is the severe distortion of the curren…

Series and parallel resonant inverters for induction heating under short-circuit conditions considering parasitic components

Series and parallel resonant inverters are the common structures in high power industrial generators for induction heating applications. In practical working conditions, short-circuit of the heating coil is very common, normally producing overvoltages that can damage the power transistors of the inverter if no special precautions are taken. The aim of the paper is to show the mechanism of how overvoltages are generated under short-circuit conditions of the heating coil for series and parallel inverters.

Design of Zero-Ripple-Current Coupled Inductors With PWM Signals in Continuous Conduction Mode

Coupled inductors are widely used in multiple outputs and interleaved dc–dc converters. Also filters often use coupled inductors as their inductive part. A generalized design procedure is proposed in this article focused on current ripple minimization and applicable to coupled inductors exposed to pulsewidth modulation signals and in continuous conduction mode. The design provides a very large inductance for all windings but one. Compared to other designs, it adapts to the existing magnetic properties of the magnetic device changing only the inductance ratio, simplifying the design and manufacturing process. It is based on the equivalent inductance value and its divergences. The only assump…

Zero Ripple Current with Coupled Inductors in Continuous Conduction Mode under PWM Signals

This article presents a generalized analysis to explain current ripple of an $m$ windings coupled inductor with a given coupling factor $k_{ij}$ for each pair of windings and then studies more in detail its use in the continuous conduction mode and with pulsewidth modulated signals. To determine the current ripple, a generalized expression of the equivalent inductance of each winding is calculated, including the influence of voltage unbalance. In the ideal case, the equivalent inductance shows that the current ripple can only become $m$ times smaller than that with uncoupled inductors. But in the unbalanced case, some divergences of the equivalent inductance appear that are responsible for …

Stock prices, dividends, and structural changes in the long-term: The case of U.S.

Abstract According to several empirical studies, the Present Value model fails to explain the behaviour of stock prices in the long-run. In this paper we consider the possibility that a linear cointegrated regression model with multiple structural changes would provide a better empirical description of the Present Value model of U.S. stock prices. Our methodology is based on instability tests recently proposed in Kejriwal and Perron (2008, 2010) as well as the cointegration tests developed in Arai and Kurozumi (2007) and Kejriwal (2008). The results obtained are consistent with the existence of linear cointegration between the log stock prices and the log dividends. However, our empirical r…

High Temperature SiC Blocking Diodes for Solar Array

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the performance of 300V-5A Silicon Carbide Ni and W Schottky diode operating in the range between -170°C to 270°C. We have developed these diodes as blocking diodes, for solar cell array protection in order to fulfill the BepiColombo mission specifications. An electro-thermal characterization has been performed taking into account the harsh condition of the mission (high temperature range and electrical stress). The destructive and non-destructive tests have assured that the designed SiC diodes are able to support the electro-thermal limits. A reliability test has also been performed to investigate the stability of forward …

Using Pulse Density Modulation to Improve the Efficiency of IGBT Inverters in Induction Heating Applications

This paper analyses a high power (50 kW), high frequency (150 kHz) voltage fed inverter with a series resonant load circuit for industrial induction heating applications which is characterized by a full bridge inverter made with IGBT and the power control based on pulse density modulation (PDM). This power control strategy allows that the inverter works close to the resonance frequency for all output power levels. In this situation zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching (ZCS) conditions are performed and the switching losses are minimized. The results are verified experimentally using a prototype for induction hardening applications. A comparative study between the PDM and …

Deficit sustainability, and monetary versus fiscal dominance: The case of Spain, 1850–2000

Abstract In this paper, we provide a test of the sustainability of the Spanish government deficit over the period 1850–2000, emphasizing the role played by monetary and fiscal dominance in order to get fiscal solvency. Since the condition of fiscal solvency was satisfied, government deficit would have been sustainable along the sample period. In addition, the whole period can be characterized as one of fiscal dominance.

Threshold cointegration and nonlinear adjustment between goods and services inflation in the United States

In this paper, we model the long-run relationship between goods and services inflation for the United States over the period 1968:1–2003:3. Our empirical methodology makes use of recent developments on threshold cointegration that consider the possibility of a nonlinear relationship between the two inflation series. According to our results, the null hypothesis of linear cointegration would be rejected in favor of a two-regime threshold cointegration model. Consequently, we could expect a cointegrating relationship only when the divergence between services inflation and goods inflation is above the threshold point estimate.

Searching for Threshold Effects in the Evolution of Budget Deficits: An Application to the Spanish Case

Abstract In this paper, we use recent developments on threshold autoregressive (TAR) models that allow us to derive endogenously threshold effects in the evolution of the Spanish budget deficit. Specifically, a mean-reverting dynamic behaviour of the budget deficit should be expected once such threshold is reached.

External sustainability in Spanish economy: bubbles and crises, 1970–2020

We address the issue of the sustainability Spain’s exter-nal debt, using data for the period 1970–2020. To detect episodes of potentially explosive behavior of the Spanish net foreign assets over GDP ratio and the current account balance over GDP ratio, as well as episodes of external adjustments over this long period, we employ a recursive unit root test approach. Our empirical analysis leads us to conclude that there is some evidence of bubbles in the ratio between Spanish net foreign assets and the GDP. In contrast, the evidence that the ratio between the Spanish current account balance and the GDP had explosive subperiods is very weak. The episode of explosive behavior identified in the…

Test bench for coupling and shielding magnetic field

This paper describes a test bench for training purposes, which uses a magnetic field generator to couple this magnetic field to a victim circuit. It can be very useful to test for magnetic susceptibility as well. The magnetic field generator consists of a board, which generates a variable current that flows into a printed circuit board with spiral tracks (noise generator). The victim circuit consists of a coaxial cable concentric with the spiral tracks and its generated magnetic field. The coaxial cable is part of a circuit which conducts a signal produced by a signal generator and a resistive load. In the paper three cases are studied. First, the transmitted signal from the signal generato…