We employ parametric and non-parametric cointegration to investigate the extent of integration between African stock markets and the rest of the world. Long-run correlation estimates imply very low association between the two. The two distinct cointegration approaches confirm the latter through recursive estimation. The implication is that global market movements may have little impact on Afric...

This work aims the development of an enhanced portfolio selection method, which is based on the classical portfolio theory proposed by Markowitz (1952) and incorporates the local Gaussian correlation model for optimization. This novel method of portfolio selection incorporates two assumptions: the non-linearity of returns and the empirical observation that the relation between assets is dynamic...

We introduce a money demand motive in a life-cycle portfolio choice model and estimate the structural parameters that can generate limited stock market participation and plausible holdings of money, bonds and stocks. The model predicts an increase in bond holdings over the life cycle, and a declining share of money in portfolios as wealth increases. Both predictions are consistent with the data...

This paper examines the effect of the labor-leisure choice on portfolio and consumption decisions over an individual’s life cycle. The model incorporates the fact that individuals may have considerable flexibility in varying their work effort (including their choice of when to retire). Given this flexibility, the individual simultaneously determines optimal levels of current consumption, labor ...

There is a strong connection between economic growth and development of cities. Economic growth tends to stimulate city growth, and city economies have often shaped innovative environments that in turn support economic growth. Simultaneously, social and environmental problems related to city growth can be serious threats to the realization of the socio-economic contributions that cities can mak...

A method of establishing a prediction model the greenhouse temperature based on time-series analysis and boosting tree is proposed, aiming at problem that cannot be accurately predicted owing to nonlinear changes in closed ecosystem featuring modern agricultural technology various influencing factors. This comprehensively considers environmental parameters, including humidity inside outside gre...

The Pliocene epoch (5.3-2.6 Ma) represents the most recent geological interval in which global temperatures were several degrees warmer than today and is therefore considered our best analog for a future anthropogenic greenhouse world. However, our understanding of Pliocene climates is limited by poor age control on existing terrestrial climate archives, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, a...

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org T energy demands of modern societies are steadily increasing. Today, much of this demand is satisfied by fossil fuels, such as gas, oil, and coal, energy resources that are not renewable, and which will eventually be exhausted. The first glimpse of the energy crisis to come has been the price increases at the gas station. Additional...

Greenhouses are used for the main purpose of improving the environmental conditions in which plants are grown. There are many parameters can affect the growing of plants inside greenhouse, such as air temperature and relative humidity. The adjustment of these parameters is achieved by selecting appropriate control actions. This work proposes a controlling technique for greenhouse indoor tempera...

—In facility agriculture, it is an urgent problem to design and choose the type and facility of greenhouse based on user's requirements, which are always difficult to express clearly and definitely. An agent-based intelligence decision support system for designing virtual greenhouse is presented in this paper, in which one agent can reason the appropriate greenhouse skeleton type for users, whi...