Econometrics

A Parallel Workflow for Online Correlation and Clique-finding -- with applications to finance

by Camilo Rostoker

This thesis investigates how a state-of-the-art Stochastic Local Search (SLS) algorithm for the maximum clique problem... more This thesis investigates how a state-of-the-art Stochastic Local Search (SLS) algorithm for the maximum clique problem can be adapted for and employed within a fully distributed parallel workfiow environment. First we present parallel variants of Dynamic Local Search (DLS-MC) and Phased Local Search (PLS), demonstrating how a simple yet effective multiple independent runs strategy can offer superior speedup performance with minimal communication overhead. We then extend PLS into an online algorithm so that it can operate in a dynamic environment where the input graph is constantly changing, and show that in most cases trajectory continuation is more efficient than restarting the search from scratch. Finally, we embed our new algorithm within a data processing pipeline that performs high throughput correlation and clique-based clustering of thousands of variables from a high-frequency data stream. For communication within and between system components, we use MPI, the de-facto standard API for message passing in high-performance computing. We present algorithmic and system performance results using synthetically generated data streams, as well as a preliminary investigation into the applicability of our system for processing high-frequency, real-life intra-day stock market data in order to determine clusters of stocks exhibiting highly correlated short-term trading patterns.

Everyone Has Their Price: A Study of firm-level corruption from the World Bank BEEPS data

by Anirudh Tagat

The effects of Facebook use on civic participation attitudes and behaviour: A social network study (DPhil research proposal)

by Mark Dix

Unpublished DPhil research proposal

This research proposal suggests a network analysis approach to study the effects of web communication on civic... more This research proposal suggests a network analysis approach to study the effects of web communication on civic participation.

A three-phase mixed methods research design is proposed to examine the effect of supplementary communication via the social networking site Facebook, on the structure (quantity) and content (quality) of social ties within a network of citizens engaged in health and social care policymaking.

Subsequently, it is proposed that the network variables of tie structure and content are tested in an affective capacity against the participatory attitudes and behaviour of networked individuals.

By reframing the study of web use and civic participation under a network theoretical framework, when executed, the proposed study will add to the existing literature in the field through recognition of the mediative capacity of relational ties in the formation of participatory capital.

It is suggested that it is through their effect on relational tie structure and content within citizen participation networks, that social networking sites such as Facebook affect participatory attitudes and behaviour.

To set a critical context for the proposed study, a final qualitative phase of research is suggested to examine the professional power structures impacting upon participatory agency.

Heterogeneity in price setting behavior, spatial disparities and sectoral diversity: Evidence from a panel of Italian firms

by Carlo Migliardo

pubblished in "Economic Modelling" elsevier vol. 29 (4) (2012) pp. 1106-1118

In this paper, we analyze firms' pricing behavior using a full informative micro dataset that accounts for a large... more In this paper, we analyze firms' pricing behavior using a full informative micro dataset that accounts for a large part of Italian firms. In our view, “the black boxes” to examine are the relations between price setting, market structure and spatial disparities. The paper aims to extend the empirical literature in several directions. A first goal of the research is to investigate the link between heterogeneity in price changes and spatial dependence. Besides, we compare the price dynamics among sectors, namely manufacturing vs. service. It is irrefutable that prices stickiness is linked to good market rigidities. Consequently, these issues have extremely important policy implications; for instance, the Monetary Authority considers the macro price indexes in order to determine the right policy to stabilize the economy and to improve social welfare. However, the Central Bank does not distinguish the likely aggregation bias source from the cross sector–region–country heterogeneities.

Overall, the purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of survey data that allows us to collect important aspects for Economic Policy analysis, which could not be drawn from analysis with “mesoeconomic” or aggregate data. Finally, we provide empirical evidence that price dynamic heterogeneity across geographical areas, as well as disparities across industries, are statistically significant in our microeconometric models. Indeed, the probability that industries in the backward areas change prices is 30% less than in more developed regions (Northeast). In addition, we find that sectoral diversity counts especially across goods and service industries, even if this outcome is not always robust across microeconometric specifications.

Assessing Grade Inflation in Post-Secondary Institutions

by Suraj Pant

Econometrics (Economics 314) Group Project with Shovell, Nina; Kruger, David and Ethan Knudson.

Examination of the determinants of grade inflation in a group of US colleges. Examination of the determinants of grade inflation in a group of US colleges.

Monetary Policy Transmission In Italy: A BVAR Analysis With Sign Restriction

by Carlo Migliardo

(2010) AUCO Czech Economic Review, 4 (2), pp. 139-167

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian VAR model to examine the short term effects of monetary policy shocks on the... more In this paper, we propose a Bayesian VAR model to examine the short term effects of monetary policy shocks on the Italian economy. Firstly, our BVAR model uses the Cholesky decomposition to identify four kinds of macroeconomic shocks, namely, supply, demand, interest rate and monetary shocks. Then, from the theoretical model, we derive and impose a minimum set of robust sign restrictions to identify the transmission mechanism of monetary tightening. The outcomes from the sign identification confirm the micro evidence on inflation persistence. Moreover, our results show a greater persistence of inflation to monetary restriction than Cholesky identification presents. Overall, we find that a monetary innovation brings a decline of 30 basis point of GDP, this result is almost invariant across both prior and identification technique.

Are Swap and Bond Markets Alternatives to Each Other in Turkey?

by Murat Duran

Co-authored with Doruk Küçüksaraç from the Central Bank of Turkey. Draft version.

Cross currency swaps are agreements to exchange interest payments and principals denominated in two different... more Cross currency swaps are agreements to exchange interest payments and principals denominated in two different currencies and usually have one leg fixed and the other floating. The interest rate on the fixed leg is closely related to the yields on the securities of the same tenure and currency. In Turkey, cross currency swaps and treasury bonds have similar cash flow structures and risk profiles and hence these markets are perceived to be alternatives to each other. In this context, using daily data for the period August 2008 – January 2012, this study investigates the level relationship between the cross currency swap rates and treasury bond yields of 1-month to 4-year tenures by the cointegration testing procedure suggested by Pesaran, Shin and Smith (PSS). Our empirical results indicate that, at shorter tenures, cross currency swap rates and treasury bond yields have a one-to-one long-run equilibrium relationship and hence the deviations from the equilibrium are quickly arbitraged away. On the other hand, the relationship becomes weaker as the tenure exceeds 6 months and completely disappears after 1 year. We also carry out some robustness checks ranging from changing the specification of the PSS test to conducting different cointegration testing procedures. The results of the robustness checks are broadly in line with our initial findings.

Mind the gap: Unemployment in the new EU regions

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Anna Maria Ferragina.
Journal of Economic Surveys, 22(1): 73-113 (also available as IZA DP, n. 1565, April).

The paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on regional unemployment during transition in Central and... more The paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on regional unemployment during transition in Central and Eastern Europe. The focus is on optimal speed of transition (OST) models and on comparison of them with the neo-classical tradition. In the typical neo-classical models, spatial differences essentially arise as a consequence of supply side constraints and institutional rigidities. Slow-growth, high-unemployment regions are those with backward economic structures and constraints on factors mobility contribute to making differences persistent. However, such explanations leave the question unanswered of how unemployment differences arise in the first place. Economic transition provides an excellent testing ground to answer this question. Pre-figuring an empirical law, the OST literature finds that the high degree of labour turnover of high unemployment regions is associated with a high rate of industrial restructuring and, consequently, that low unemployment may be achieved by implementing transition more gradually. Moreover, international trade, foreign direct investment and various agglomeration factors help explain the success of capital cities compared to peripheral towns and rural areas in achieving low unemployment. The evidence of the empirical literature on supply side factors suggests that wage flexibility in Central and Eastern Europe is not lower than in other EU countries, while labour mobility seems to reinforce rather than change the spatial pattern of unemployment.

Labour turnover and the spatial distribution of unemployment. A panel data analysis using employment registry data

by Francesco Pastore

Co-augthored with Joanna Tyrowicz-
Paper presented at the XXV AIEL Conference, University of Chieti and Pescara, 2010.

This paper aims to study whether the local variation in unemployment rates is related to labour turnover and what is... more This paper aims to study whether the local variation in unemployment rates is related to labour turnover and what is the sign of such relationship. In addition, the paper aims to assess the relative impact of inflow and outflow from unemployment on the dynamics of the local unemployment rate. The empirical analysis is based on a newly available unique dataset from the employment registry of a transition economy (Poland), encompassing nine years of monthly data (from 2000 to 2008) at a county (poviat) level. We find that turnover, as well as inflows and outflows separately, are ceteris paribus positively related to the unemployment level. This general conclusion is robust to sub-sampling that addresses potential heterogeneity of the analysed local labour markets. It is also robust to the use of different panel estimators, such as fixed effect and alternative GMM specifications, as well as for spatial clustering of poviats. Nonetheless, point estimators differ, reflecting the diverse adjustment patterns. We also find that elasticity is larger in the case of the inflow rate than for the outflow rate. Finally, we demonstrate that the effect is stronger in low unemployment regions.

Statistical Market Equilibrium Revisited

by Frank Witte

This is a preliminary version of a working paper that I hope to have completed by the end of March. YES a spelling check is still needed and YES a check on many of the equations is also still needed.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

I analyze Foley's Statistical Market Equilibrium theory in some detail and a number of... more WORK IN PROGRESS:

I analyze Foley's Statistical Market Equilibrium theory in some detail and a number of problems in the interpretation are highlighted. Most significant of these are the initial-state dependence of the equilibrium state, the fact that equilibrium allocations fluctuate and thus market-clearing occurs on average only and that a manifest connection to Walrassian equilibria is obscured.

A "kinetic" derivation of the statistical market ensemble allows for a more dynamical understanding of how statistical equilibrium can arise as a result of "collission-like, market-value and/or utillity preserving interactions between agents. The outcome of these interactions, that drive equilibration, can be formulated in terms of individualised marginal values of commodities and the individual risk-adversity of the agents.

The initial-state dependence can be shown to be largely removable upon this re-interpretation and minor modification of the formalism. The new formalism can accomodate exact market-clearing by a Legendre transformation to a different ensemble which endogenizes the prices and leads to endogeneous price fluctuations. It is also illustrated that a statistical market where the weight depends on the constrained-utillity of the total commodity bundle, rather than the total value of the bundle, has the Walrassian equilibrium as its expectation values in the limit of vanishing negative temperatures and the Foley model as its positive high-temperature limit. Studying fluctuations reveals clearly that statistical market equilibrium is reached by agents that are in interaction with a commodity-bath of secondary agents that do not explicitly appear in Foley's theory. The role of the initial iso-utillity manifold on which the agents are positioned is clarified.

Finally an attempt is made to study the "thermodynamics" of statistical equilibrium markets. It is shown how in this context the "economic temperature" has a natural interpretation as the average market-value per agent. An economic entropy can be defined which allows the definition of "isentropic" quasi-static market processes that are shown to generate supply and demand curves for the different types of agents. An equation of state is derived for a simple example of a market and used to show how simple market processes, such as the effects of price-changes and total commodity-bundle changes, can be analysed. As a last issue it is shown how, in principle, such models can also accomodate the statistical mechanics of agents "aggregating" into larger agents of a different type.

Influence of education and training systems on participation of young people in labour market of CEE economies: a comparison of Poland and Slovenia

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Polona Domadenik.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business, 3(5): 640-666.

Little attention has been given to youth unemployment in transition countries. However, it has significant detrimental... more Little attention has been given to youth unemployment in transition countries. However, it has significant detrimental effects in factors that affect welfare in the long term, such as human capital accumulation and fertility rates. The aim of this paper is to study the determinants of participation of young people in labour market in two countries (Poland and Slovenia) that implemented different reform paths to the market system. The analysis is carried out using individual level data drawn from the labour force survey in 1997 and 2002. The focus is on education and training systems. The results of a multinomial LOGIT model of the probability belong to six different labour market status suggests that tertiary educational attainment and participation in training programmes work as buffers against unemployment especially for adults.

The Gender Wage Gap in Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
Transition Studies Review, 12(3): 497-511.

A new release of the Belarusian Household Survey on Incomes and Expenditures provides the unique opportunity for an... more A new release of the Belarusian Household Survey on Incomes and Expenditures provides the unique opportunity for an in-depth study of the gender pay gap in Belarus. The econometric analysis involves estimates of augmented earnings equations, also corrected for sample selection bias, as well as for least absolute deviations estimates at different quantiles of the wage distribution. The results suggest that the gender wage gap is smaller than in other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central and Eastern European countries, as one would expect considering the slow transition process, and is reduced after controlling for unobservable characteristics. Moreover, the gap increases as one moves from the 10th to the 90th quantile. This means that having jobs providing generally higher levels of wages for a woman, it is more and more difficult to get the same wage as that of a man.

Structural unemployment and structural change in Poland

by Francesco Pastore

Co-autherd with Andrew T. Newell.
Studi Economici, 54(69/3): 81-99.

This paper looks at regional unemployment inequality using individual-level data. We find that higher unemployment... more This paper looks at regional unemployment inequality using individual-level data. We find that higher unemployment regions are those with higher inflow rates to unemployment rather than higher durations of unemployment. This indicates that high unemployment is related to high rates of destruction of job-worker matches in Poland. Econometric analysis of the probability of flowing into unemployment from a job reinforces this impression, showing how middle-aged workers in particular and also those in manufacturing are much more likely to enter unemployment if they live in high unemployment counties. These results are evidence against theories of regional unemployment, which work through variations in the rate of job-finding.

Country risk assessment using economic and political factors for Asian countries (working paper)

by Suyash Baderiya

This paper aims to develop a multiple regression model for country risk assessment using its economic and political... more This paper aims to develop a multiple regression model for country risk assessment using its economic and political factor and analyze the effect of changes in these factors on risk ratings. The ratings are as per Standard & Poor’s sovereign foreign currency sovereign rating. The analysis is based on data for 28 Asian countries provided by some international organizations as well as data from various other trusted organizations.
This paper is an extension of the paper by Raluca, Zizi(2011) where we have included another political factor and removed a few factors, which we found to be highly correlated or data was not available for the countries in our analysis. The main motivation for including another political factor, i.e., coalition government was the current inefficiency observed in decision making in India leading to problems with Indian economy.

Decision Support via Real Options Analysis

by Scott Mongeau

MA thesis for Erasmus Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Masters of Financial Management (MFM) 2009 program
NOTE: Attached is EDITED version to remove confidential and sensitive information

Real Options Analysis (ROA) offers a comprehensive process for advanced project valuation and project risk management... more Real Options Analysis (ROA) offers a comprehensive process for advanced project valuation and project risk management via the formal quantification of and management of uncertainty. An ROA exercise is conducted based on an active R&D bioethanol project. Key recommendations resulting from the analysis:

* WACC
Many R&D projects use the risk free rate or 5% as a default
* Hedging
Simulation revealed distinct project risks associated with the Euro/$ exchange rate and core commodity price fluctuations (corn, bioethanol). Such risks can be actively ‘hedged’ via derivative instruments.
* Commodity Analysis
Considering the importance of relevant commodity prices to the core business scenario, a deeper analysis of commodity trends and forecasts is justified (i.e.: comprehensive regression analysis and forecasting). Considering the value destroying and enhancing power of commodity prices to the project profit/loss profile, spending time to anticipate commodity price movements and reacting accordingly has a very high cost/benefit ratio.
* Customer Finance
Biofuel plants are a capital intensive and risky line of business. Consider the example of other firms in similar lines of business who have created Customer Finance facilities to proctor customers and create advantageous markets
* Market Competition Simulations
A rudimentary market simulation is conducted. It is recommended that a more refined market simulation, validated by internal stakeholders, would prove quite valuable in guiding strategy formation for the productization of innovations.
* Biofuel Plant NPV Monte Carlo Model
It is suggested the BIO-INC. White Biotech consider building and maintaining a generic, biofuel plant NPV model. This would serve as a platform for staging future NPV analysis, valuing prospective products, measuring costs, evaluating new processes, and judge revenues.
* ROA as Process / Project Risk Management
ROA as a process can be considered an aspect of the formal discipline of Project Risk Management, which is ideally an organizational process. ROA assumes a structured dialogue with key stakeholders and adoption of the premises and techniques associated with ROA into existing organizational decision making processes.
* Validation Process / Decision Making
This case study demonstrates an example ROA exercise; comprehensive conclusions should not be drawn from the models demonstrated without an internal validation process by internal stakeholders to verify assumptions made.

Private returns to human capital over transition: A case study of Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
The Economics of Education Review, 25(1): 91-107 (also available as XVI EALE Conference 2004: electronic proceedings [Compact disc edition], University of Lisbon; and as IZA DP, n. 1409, November).

The gradualist approach to economic transition in Belarus would contribute to form the a priori expectation that the... more The gradualist approach to economic transition in Belarus would contribute to form the a priori expectation that the rate of return to education is low and the earnings profile by work experience flat, like they supposedly were under central planning. However, the first available estimates of Mincerian earnings equations based on the Belarusian Household Survey on Incomes and Expenditure suggest that the skill payoff was high in 1996, at about 10.1% per year, and stable. The return to 1 year of work experience is also high at 5%. This result maintains also after controlling for sample selection bias, despite a general reduction in the annual rate of return to education by about 20–30%. Though, it is ambiguous whether the high-skill payoff is the consequence of market forces coming into play or of policy decisions, considering the pervasive role of the state in the process of wage determination.

Análise comparativa de sobrevivência empresarial: o caso da região Norte de Portugal

by Elsa de Morais Sarmento

Revista Portuguesa de Estudos Regionais nº 25/26
Com Alcina Nunes.

Este estudo aborda a capacidade de sobrevivência de empresas na região Norte de Portugal, de 1985 a 2007, fornecendo... more Este estudo aborda a capacidade de sobrevivência de empresas na região Norte de Portugal, de 1985 a 2007, fornecendo comparações regionais e nacionais, com recurso a funções de risco e sobrevivência e a métodos não paramétricos e semi-paramétricos. A análise assenta na criação de uma base de dados de empreendedorismo baseada na informação dos Quadros de Pessoal, ao qual foi aplicada a metodologia da OCDE e do Eurostat patente no “Manual Estatístico da Demografia das Empresas”. Os resultados apontam para um encerramento precoce da actividade empresarial no Norte, sendo a duração mediana da vida das empresas inferior à das restantes regiões nacionais. A elevada taxa de turbulência de entrada e saída de empresas no mercado é

Evidence for human influence on climate from hemispheric temperature relations

by David Stern

Kaufmann R. K. and D. I. Stern (1997) Evidence for human influence on climate from hemispheric temperature relations, Nature 388, 39-44.

Treatment interactions with non-experimental data in Stata

by Graham Brown

Stata Journal 11:4 (2011); co-authored with Thanos Mergoupis

Treatment effects may vary with the observed characteristics of the treated, often with important implications. In the... more Treatment effects may vary with the observed characteristics of the treated, often with important implications. In the context of experimental data, a growing literature deals with the problem of specifying treatment interaction terms that most effectively capture this variation. Some of the results of this literature are now implemented in Stata. With non-experimental (observational) data, and in particular when selection into treatment depends on unmeasured factors, treatment effects can be estimated using Stata's treatreg command. Although not originally designed for this purpose, treatreg can be used to consistently estimate treatment interactions parameters. In the presence of interactions, however, adjustments are required to generate predicted values and estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE). This paper introduces commands that perform this adjustment for the case of multiplicative interactions and shows the adjustment that is required for more complicated interactions.

APPLICATION OF THE “TRIANGULAR ECO-KINEMATICS THEORY” (TEKT) (PART I) - THE PARADIGM OF ECOLOGY, PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMY AS A SYNERGISTIC EFFECT UPON HUMAN RIGHTS

by Adrian Toader-Williams

Presented at the International Conference "Human Ecology: Health, Culture and Quality of Life, Oct. 26-27, 2011, Moscow, Russian Federation and Published in the "Herald of the International Academy of Science, Russian Section", 2011, Vol 1, ISSN 2221-7479 Full article [22 pages] in English with a Russian abstract and English abstract. Free download at http://www.heraldrsias.org/online/2011/1/203/
Upcoming updates on TEKT are on the way. Introductory presentation made during conference excerpts at http://youtu.be/kZkGKkbnGKE Comments and collaboration proposals are welcome. Thank you!

The laws governing natural economic flow are recommended to be used as model for a sustainable anthropogenic economy.... more The laws governing natural economic flow are recommended to be used as model for a sustainable anthropogenic economy. Life can't be monopolized. Biodiversity has a paramount importance to sustainable development. This article is intended to be the first in a series of applicative works based on the Triangular Eco-Kinematics Theory «TEKT» proposed here as foundation for global cooperation mechanisms. It is an urgent call for global anthropogenic economic reforms. Planet Earth can sustain a maximum population load if it's properly managed. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights needs to be revised. A Life Equivalent Etalon [LEE] as currency reference is proposed. Key words: natural rights, Life Equivalent Etalon, LEE, gold, energy, protein, organization equilibrium theory, monetary system, entropy, antientropy, negentropy, syntropy, UNESCO, intangible commodities, economics, religion, protein, amino acids, seed germination, carbon dioxide, oxigen, dinitrogen, nitrogen, air, global warming, occupy wall street, occupy movement, evolution, macroeconomics.
Introduction.
Ecological issues should not be separated from economic issues or from public health concerns as they correlate. The global crises have their beginnings back in the history of mankind. Lately they are acutely identified and discussed as our natural resources are depleting visibly. Furthermore, the strong polarization of wealth, abusive exploitation of natural resources and excessive material accumulation do not just hinder the free economic flow, but are also unethical. It conducts to social segregation and conflicts; the expanding “occupy movement” is just one of the latest examples. With this paper, I am also calling for an urgent and closer look at Human Rights principles. Human Rights need to be a section of a future Universal Declaration of Natural Rights.
This paper (as part 1) is an attempt to address several interconnected issues in a fashion such as an overture to an upcoming series of work (work is in progress) with the belief that readers have a fairly strong natural inducement to co-operate [20] with the author in order to build and consolidate the proposed model, the presently included applications and the upcoming ones as well.
Fighting Nature is a historical human endeavor for which we just recently started to see the beginning of its outcome. Public health, ecological systems and global economics, being intimately interconnected, undergo a cycle of crises that I take the freedom to call “The Bermuda Triangle of Human Endeavors”. Planet Earth offers us as Humanity the means to support our very material existence. Health and ecology together are the primary life supporting elements that form the structures of a sustainable social and economic development.
Deprivation of proper living conditions represents an acute denial of Human Rights. No one has the right to deprive others from the inherited Natural Rights, the rights to exist. The economic principles need to be brought up to date and restructured such as to observe the non-monetary values going beyond Human Rights. For the economic system to be sustainable it needs to use a currency that has a sustainable etalon as reference. Life Equivalent Etalons (LEE) can assure economic and international stability as they are fixed and indispensable.
Each one of us is responsible for the global economy as it is an expression of human endeavor and its dynamics, more so in the context of globalization. I’ll tailor my work in a way to make it accessible to most people. It does not matter how good are whatever ideas one may have if they are not well understood by the intended audience, in this particular case, Humanity at large.The M.A.Sholokhov Moscow State University of Humanities is a great place to present this paper addressing ecological issues; such subjects are only about Humanity and concerns Humanity at large. What can be more human than human activity and its overall outcome?
Primary conclusions – Life’s properties and limitations
1) Acute and severely disastrous possible outcomes are due, a total collapse of the system is expected if one living entity is lowering its entropy (increasing anti-entropy) and comes too close to exhausting its own life support, regardless of the energy that may be available. Outgrowing life’s support capacity induces the destruction of the entire system, its entire collapse to decay possibly into lifeless while keeping the energy tightly locked into a stinky slime form of existence.
2) If our planet was to be populated only by forests and plants, cyanobacteria and green algae, Earth could have exhausted its life support and its destiny would have been limited to a continuous energy and structural accumulation up to the point when a total decay would have follow, perhaps a slimy world. Strange as it may appear my statement, we’ve seen in the above experimental example that as long as there are living entities consuming oxygen, ready synthesized sugars and proteins, having CO2 as waste on which the plants can feed on, the cycle of life can continue as long as the relative organizational equilibrium is being kept to a sustainable level or why not a sustainable rapport as represented by TEKT.
3) Based on the above, the biological classifications are forming two major groups:
a) The self-sustaining, food independent living entities (i.e. cyanobacteria, plantae),
b) The by-sustaining, food dependent living entities (i.e. animalia, etc.)
4) Thermodynamically, utilization of energy is not a mere “emerging property” of life, it is Life itself. Utilization of energy by living forms of existence is a self organizing and a conducting mechanism that “knows” to use energy efficiently. It knows when and how to accumulate the dissipated free energy, to “pump it” in the re-assembled structures. It concentrates energy reserves; it creates protective resistant ergonomic structures. The Life forms of material existence have as main property (as opposed to emerging property) the thermo-dynamical ability to act as heat energy pumps; Life forms of material existence are structures of concentrated energy ready to be used. A small seed has the ability to act as a heat energy pump concentrating dissipated free energy into a chemical structure with energy ready to use (i.e. burning wood producing heat).
5) The minerals and vitamins play a key roll in the kinematics of the Life phenomena, the energy, the dynamics of it, but the mother of all dynamics is the mystery of Life, the low entropy or high anti-entropy of information encoded in the DNA folds confers the ability to use and further concentrate more energy into a structural body, into the high anti-entropy of the newly grown living entity, the plants, the trees with their fruits and byproducts holding enormous incorporated energy as well. The high anti-entropy of information has the ability to concentrate low negentropy (high entropy) into high anti-entropy, ready to use concentrated forms of energy, a real gift of Life.
The ability to self-acquiring, holding, using and transmitting information we can also identify it as being a main property of Life.
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