Suchergebnisse

This paper represents a first approach to the acoustical regulations in some European Union countries. It is only considered the case of dwellings in Residential Buildings.The analysis is limited to the comparison of the different indexes used in the several countries. Some examples illustrate the enormous differences in philosophy and requirements of the different Regulations that were analysed.The conclusions emphasize the need to begin the preparation of a common code that could be used as a European Union Regulation in the field of Building Acoustics.

The buffer-stock hypothesis is examined through a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model across European Union (EU) countries. Variance decompositions do not provide uniform evidence in favour of the buffer-stock hypothesis in all case studies. The results are very important for the design of monetary policy within EU. ; N/A

New evidence is presented on the degree of aggregate and sectoral labour productivity convergence among 11 EU countries between 1970 and 1990. As with studies for other groups of countries, it is found that there is a greater degree of aggregate than sectoral convergence. Aggregate productivity converged at 0.9 percent per annum, with agriculture and manufacturing both diverging and only services converging (0.6 percent p.a.). We contend that structural change provides one explanation for this finding. When measured as changes in sectoral employment shares, structural change accounted for between 50 percent and 66 percent of the overall rate of aggregate productivity convergence among the EU countries over the period. Countries with relatively low levels of aggregate productivity benefited most from structural change.