Abstract In order to study energy consumption in Iran's agricultural sector, a Genetic algorithm concept was used to calculate significant factors affecting energy consumption between 1974 and 2008. Then, durability or "stability" of variables was assessed through econometric method (Augmented Dickey-Fuller test). In addition, long-term and short-term relationships of energy consumption were es...

In this paper we present an autoregressive model with neural networks modeling and standard error backpropagation algorithm training optimization in order to predict the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of four countries. Specifically we propose a kind of weighted regression, which can be used for econometric purposes, where the initial inputs are multiplied by the neural networks final...

In this paper we present an autoregressive model with neural networks modeling and standard error backpropagation algorithm training optimization in order to predict the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of four countries. Specifically we propose a kind of weighted regression, which can be used for econometric purposes, where the initial inputs are multiplied by the neural networks final...

Empirical studies quantifying the benefits of increased foreign direct investment (FDI) have been unable to provide conclusive evidence of a positive impact on host country’s economic performance. I show that the lack of robust evidence is not inconsistent with theory, even if the eventual gains to FDI are large, if restrictions on FDI are lifted only gradually and part of FDI is intangible inv...

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is difficult to sustainably manage. One key issue is the challenge of planning for WEEE flows as current and future quantities of waste are difficult to predict. To address this, WEEE generation and gross domestic product (GDP) data from 50 countries of the pan-European region were assessed. A high economic elasticity was identified, indicating t...

The argument that human society can decouple economic growth-defined as growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-from growth in environmental impacts is appealing. If such decoupling is possible, it means that GDP growth is a sustainable societal goal. Here we show that the decoupling concept can be interpreted using an easily understood model of economic growth and environmental impact. The simp...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is changing its method of measuring the growth of the U.S. economy. Shifts in the structure of the economy—particularly the spectacular fall in computer prices—have meant that BEA’s traditional “fixed-base-year” method of tracking the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) has tended to overstate growth in recent years. As a res...

If current laws and practices continue, health expenditures in the United States will reach $1.7 trillion by the year 2000, an amount equal to 18.1 percent of the Nation's gross domestic product (GDP). By the year 2030, as America's baby boomers enter their seventies and eighties, health spending will top $16 trillion, or 32 percent of GDP. The projections presented here incorporate the assumpt...

With each passing decade, health care has consumed a larger share of gross domestic product (GDP) and Federal budgets. By the 2000-2004 period, society was willing to devote over 20 percent of the cumulative increase in GDP and the cumulative increase in Federal outlays towards health care. The financing challenges are expected to become more acute for private payers as well as Federal, State, ...

New Zealand entered a period of economic recession in early 2008, intensified by the global economic crisis of September 2008. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell consistently during 2008, and that year saw the economy’s worst performance in over a decade (The Treasury, 2010a). Real per capita GDP contracted through 2009 and, despite some market optimism in early 2010, economic indicators remain ...