Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tax Policy and Endogenous Factor Supply in a Small Open Economy

Since a paper by Kemp and Jones [6], there have been few attempts at modeling the effects of variable factor supply in a simple trade model, with almost all papers confined to a two-good, two-factor, small-open-economy model. Papers were typically concerned with the effect of variable factor supply on the shape of the economy's production possibility set, and with the result derived in Kemp and Jones [6] that when one factor is endogenously supplied in a simple twogood, two-factor general equilibrium trade model, output supply functions may no longer be upward-sloping, as in Frenkel and Razin [5], and Martin [7; 8], for example. A more general treatment is given in Dixit and Norman [3] and Woodland [14], where in an m-good, n-factor general equilibrium trade model, it is assumed that a subset of the factors of production are endogenously supplied, but very few comparative statics experiments are explored. A recent paper by Mayer [9] synthesizes much of this earlier work in a two-good, two-factor general equilibrium model, and provides an initial attempt at modeling the employment effects of tariff changes. Since the existence of variable factor supply in even a very simple general equilibrium trade model has been shown to complicate the simplest comparative statics results, the literature has paid very little attention to the exploration of the effects of various tax policy changes on factor supply. As a result, an important channel of the effects of trade tax changes on equilibrium has been largely ignored, that being the effect of trade tax changes on factor market equilibrium, and the concomitant effects on equilibrium in the small open economy. The question of the effects of variable factor supply is also important given the obvious attention that policy-makers and various interest groups pay to the employment effects and industry output effects of trade and factor tax policy changes. Another important implication of the lack of attention paid to endogenous factor supply in international trade models is the inability of trade models to analyze the effects of taxes on factor supply. In the standard Heckscher-Ohlin trade model of a small open economy with an endowment of factors of production, factor taxes can have no real effects. The objective of this paper is to use the general equilibrium trade model with endogenous factor supply developed in Dixit and Norman [3] and Woodland [14] to illustrate the implications
Design of hypermedia script languages: the KMS experience

This briefing describes the design of the KMS script language and some of the lessons learned from experience using it. The language -- the result of over 20 years of ZOG/KMS development -- is a procedural, block-structured language characterized by a simple ‘command line’ syntax, a large number of intrinsic commands (approximately 800), and the use of nodes and links as a central aspect of the syntax and semantics of the language. The intrinsic use of nodes and links in the script language provides interesting opportunities, not only for the design of other aspects of the language such as control structures, but also for the use of hypermedia as a programming environment to facilitate development and maintenance of scripts. In addition to designing the language, we have used it extensively to develop many hypermedia-based applications. Our experience, and that of end-user organizations, strongly reinforces our general belief that a script language is a valuable adjunct to hypermedia systems and instrumental to the utility of hypermedia for real world task environments.
Evaluating Government Training Programs for the Economically Disadvantaged

This article examines past evaluations of government training programs for the economically disadvantaged and offers an agenda for future research. It is found that government training programs are producing modest increases in earnings for adult men and women, but are probably not producing positive effects for youth. Future research must better document links between program-provided training and acquisition of valuable skills and must explore potential returns from increased scale. The recent adoption of random assignment has improved the accuracy of field evaluations but would benefit from an economic theory of evaluation to guide research into increasing training effectiveness.
A million off Incapacity Benefit: how achievable is Labour's target?

Since 1997, welfare reform has been a defining feature of the UK's Labour government. This article assesses the extent to which the new aspiration to reduce the number of incapacity benefit claimants by one million within 10 years is deliverable. The assessment is based on a model of flows on and off incapacity benefits and their impact on the stock of claimants. In particular, the analysis takes account of the major geographical variations in the distribution of incapacity claimants and the ability of Britain's divergent regional economies to absorb substantial numbers of extra workers. The article concludes that without an accelerated revival in the economies of the North, Scotland and Wales, Labour looks set to fall short of the one million target.
Some dynamics of central city-suburban interactions.

There is widespread concern about the current decline of cities in the United States a concern encompassing such phenomena as population loss job loss rising unemployment rates declining relative incomes rising local taxes combined with declining public service levels growing physical blight and increasing racial and economic segregation. Without policy intervention will such decline continue indefinitely? Or will there be a natural slowing down and eventual stop to the processes threatening the economic social and governmental functioning of many older large cities? Our thesis is that many of the market forces currently operating in cities cause decline to exacerbate itself in a chain of circular causation. Therefore some policy intervention to break the cycle in the interest of both the nation as a whole and the affected cities. (excerpt)
Signalling pathways in the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus

Efficient communication with the environment is critical for all living organisms. Fungi utilize complex signalling systems to sense their environments and control proliferation, development and in some cases virulence. Well‐studied signalling pathways include the protein kinase A/cyclic AMP (cAMP), protein kinase C (PKC)/mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), lipid signalling cascades, and the calcium–calcineurin signalling pathway. The human pathogenic basidiomycetous fungus Cryptococcus neoformans deploys sensitive signalling systems to survive in the human host, leading to life‐threatening meningoencephalitis. Known virulence traits of this fungus, including the antioxidant melanin production, the antiphagocytic polysaccharide capsule and the ability to grow at 37°C, are orchestrated by complex signalling networks, whose understanding is crucial to better treat, diagnose and prevent cryptococcosis.
The political economy of hedge fund regulation

The currency crises and episodes of market unrest of the 1990s sparked a series of regulatory initiatives to reform the Global Financial Architecture. One of these initiatives tackled the activities of hedge funds, a type of investment vehicle that was frequently cited as one of the causes of these crises. The key research question of this thesis is why efforts to regulate an apparently destabilising aspect of financial markets failed, despite the setting up of an ad hoc forum at the international level (the Financial Stability Forum) and various domestic initiatives in the US, the country where most hedge funds operate. The thesis develops a theoretical framework that examines this regulatory inaction through three explanatory models. The first model draws upon mainstream economic accounts and argues that the empirical evidence did not justify more interventionist public regulation of hedge funds. The second model assumes that a form of relational power has been exercised at the regulatory table: those actors with an interest in leaving hedge funds unregulated prevailed over those that favoured a more mandatory approach. The third model argues that it was not just relational power that determined outcomes, but mainly the power of the structure of meaning within which discussions took place and problems were framed. This structure of meaning led to a particular formulation of the problem at stake, which excluded other concerns and actors from the regulatory agenda. Each model is analysed for its policy implications. The first model leads to regulatory solutions that rely upon private actors' due diligence and self-assessment of risk. The second model leads to policy options that favour a greater inclusion of developing countries and other stakeholder groups in decision-making processes in global finance. The third model leads to a rethinking of the very tenets of financial market regulation and of the financial theories used to explain and govern the market. The thesis argues that the third model is better able to grasp the complexity of power beyond the seemingly technical nature of financial regulation. For this reason, it is deemed more suitable to provide policy solutions that challenge the current neo-liberal framework of regulation.
COORDINATION IN GOVERNMENT: DECOMPOSITION AND BOUNDED RATIONALITY AS A FRAMEWORK FOR “USER FRIENDLY” STATUTE LAW*

: Many interactions between adjacent elements of public administration are “resolved” by a weak form of bi-lateral and non-hierarchical coordination. There are quite intractable obstacles to achieving a good fit between bi-lateral resolution and higher order aims of government. Formal limits to the results that can be achieved by coordination may be derived from the requirements for optimality in the “Decomposition Model” of decentralised administration. Limits to human capabilities are widely recognised in contemporary computer software that is designed to be “user friendly”, yet in the design of systems of statute and administration the limits of human rationality are commonly ignored. Proper statutory definition of functional boundaries can harness innate strengths in the “bounded rationality” of which mere mortals and their institutions are capable, and partially guard against the unwanted effects of its weaknesses. Three main classes of interactions may be defined, and can be dealt with respectively by (a) an external and superior source of statutory power, (b) the use of temporary concurrence powers, and (c) statutory plans. The trick is to be clear about which applies in the circumstances.
Fetal Atrioventricular, Venous, and Arterial Flow Velocity Waveforms in the Small for Gestational Age Fetus

Arterial, venous, and intracardiac Doppler flow velocity waveforms were studied in 50 women with a small for gestational age (SGA) fetus according to a cross-sectional study design. No Doppler signals could be obtained in five women for technical reasons. The remaining 45 women were compared with normal control subjects matched for gestational age and maternal parity. The 45 SGA fetuses were divided into birth weight below the 5th centile for gestational age (group I, n = 35) and birth weight between the 5th and 10th centile for gestational age (group II, n = 10). A significant difference in baseline characteristics was found between both SGA subsets and normal controls. In SGA I fetuses, the pulsatility index in the umbilical artery and descending aorta was significantly higher, but lower in the middle cerebral artery when compared with normal controls. At the atrioventricular and venous level (umbilical vein, ductus venosus, and inferior vena cava) reduced time-averaged velocities were established. PIV in the ductus venosus and IVC showed a significant increase. Within the same SGA subset, no relationship could be established between arterial downstream impedance and1) atrioventricular flow velocities and 2) pulsatility index in the ductus venosus and inferior vena cava. Also, no relationship existed between flow velocity waveforms and pregnancy-induced hypertension and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Umbilical venous pulsations and absent/reverse flow in the umbilical artery were associated with a high intrauterine mortality rate and low birth weights. In SGA II fetuses, the pulsatility index in the umbilical artery and decending aorta was significantly higher than in normal controls. It can be concluded that fetuses with a birth weight below the 5th centile demonstrate marked changes in arterial, atrioventricular, and venous flow velocity waveforms. Atrioventricular and venous flow velocity waveforms change independently from arterial downstream impedance, suggesting that other factors, such as reduced volume flow and myocardial contraction force, may play a role in the observed changes.
Protocols for in vivo measurement of the ion transport defects in cystic fibrosis nasal epithelium.

New treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF), including gene therapy, are currently being assessed. These aim to correct the basic defects of increased sodium absorption and decreased chloride secretion in airway epithelia. Assessment of these bioelectric parameters, particularly in the nasal epithelium, is likely to be used as a measure of treatment efficacy. However, the optimal in vivo protocol to discriminate cystic fibrosis from non-cystic fibrosis subjects is unclear. We have, therefore, compared three protocols for measurement of the cystic fibrosis ion transport defects in vivo in the nasal epithelium. Sodium absorption was measured using both the baseline potential difference and the response to the sodium channel blocker, amiloride. Chloride secretion was assessed in the presence of amiloride, using perfusion with isoprenaline, or terbutaline, or a low chloride solution followed by isoprenaline. Baseline potential difference (PD) and the absolute response to amiloride clearly differentiated the increased sodium absorption in the cystic fibrosis subjects. The responses both to terbutaline (delta PD: non-CF: -0.8 (SEM 0.7) mV; CF: -3.6 (0.5) mV) and isoprenaline (non-CF: 1.5 (0.6) mV; CF: -2.9 (0.6) mV) differentiated the two groups of subjects, but there was considerable overlap of values. Perfusion with a low chloride solution (non-CF: 12.6 (1.2) mV; CF: 0.6 (0.4) mV), as well as subsequent perfusion with isoprenaline (non-CF: 10.0 (1.1) mV; CF: -1.4 (0.4) mV) allowed clear separation of the two groups, with no overlap of values. Some CF subjects showed a transient hyperpolarization to these stimuli, which could clearly be differentiated from the sustained responses seen in non-cystic fibrosis subjects. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effect of Boar Seminal Immunosuppressive Component on Humoral Immune Response in Mice

PROBLEM: The effect of seminal immunosuppressive component (ISF) on the primary and secondary antibody response, induced by soluble and/or corpuscular antigens, was evaluated in the sera obtained at different intervals before and after immunizations. The duration of the immune suppression induced by ISF treatment within the primary and secondary immunizations was also determined.
Africa’s second half‐centenary: Sustainable human development/citizen security?

Africa faces an unanticipated ‘second chance’ at the start of the second decade of the 21st century: how many ‘developmental’ versus ‘fragile’ states by 2020? The interrelated prospects for both BRICs & the continent are being transformed by the current global financial crisis: as the South expands & the North contracts, what S‐N relations in future? The EU of 27 now includes the PIIGS: a disincentive to African regions to sign EPAs unlike the Caribbean? African political economies are now located in second, third & fourth worlds: will they identify with the G20 and/or the G192 (G193 once Southern Sudan independent at start 2011? ). Half the dozen fastest growing countries identified in the Economist’s World in 2011 are African (Economist 2010a): from Ghana to Liberia; the CGD in DC now suggests that 17 African countries are ‘leading the way’ & the BCG has identified 40 African corporations as global ‘challengers’. To maximize its development & security, Africa would need to advance ‘network’ or ‘public’ rather than traditional ‘club’ diplomacy, involving civil society & private companies as well as states & intergovernmental agencies. But climate change may yet emerge as the spoiler, hence the importance of COP17 in Durban before the end of 2011! This paper has four parts which stake out paths to a brighter future for the continent, including its myriad diasporas. First: post‐Washington Consensus, ODA from the OECD is of declining importance or attraction. Rather, a range of ‘innovative sources of finance’ are appearing, encouraged by the ‘Leading Group’: global solidarity fund, currency transaction tax, carbon taxes/trading, climate change funds, controls on money laundering & remittance taxes etc. Plus emerging donors like the BRICs & Gulf states, some with SWFs; FBOs; & new private foundation like Gates, Clinton & Ibrahim leading to GAVI etc.Second, Africa has generated an innovative range of ‘new regionalisms’ involving non‐state actors: from Maputo Corridor & Kgalagadi trans‐frontier peace‐park to Nile Basin Initiative/Dialogue; and from International Conference on the GLR to corporate supply chains.Third, ‘new multilateralisms’ or ‘transnational governance’ with African dimensions, from ICBL & Ottawa Process & PAC/GW & Kimberley Process & now DDI to EITI, FCS & MCS to IANSA & ATT; yet coalitions over SALW & children/women’s security are stalled due to US vetoes. And finally, fourth, what implications of this trio of novel directions & players for our analyses & policies, state & non‐state: who are the ‘drivers’, innovators & animators? How to transit from dependency & neoliberalism towards a Beijing Consensus? Where ACBF & its partners in 2030/2040/2050?
Management Development and Organizational Development: An Integrative Approach

ganizations and their administrators to human resource programs is a tenuous, enigmatic experience. We do know that development efforts occur but we never actually know the how, why, and when, so necessary in determining effectiveness and success. Optimistically, organizations must assume that in the complex, urban, high-technology society of the future, effective management will make the difference between successful and unsuc-
Breakfast skipping is associated with differences in meal patterns, macronutrient intakes and overweight among pre-school children

Abstract Objectives To examine the association between skipping breakfast, daily energy, macronutrients and food intakes, and BMI in pre-school children. Design A cross-sectional study using information on children’s food consumption and measured height and weight. Energy and macronutrient intakes of the children were derived from parent/day-care attendant’s responses to 24 h recall interviews and eating behaviour questionnaires. Setting Data obtained from a representative sample (n 2103) of children born in Quebec (Canada) in 1998. Subjects One thousand five hundred and forty-nine children, with a mean age of 49 (sd 3·12) months. Results Ten per cent of children ate breakfast on fewer than 7 days per week. This behaviour was associated with a lower diet quality and concentrated energy intakes through higher protein intakes at lunch and the consumption of snacks higher in energy and carbohydrate in the afternoon and evening; yet total daily energy intakes were not significantly different from those of pre-school children who ate breakfast every day. Breakfast skippers’ mean BMI increased as intake of energy, carbohydrates or servings of grain products increased; however, this was not the case for breakfast eaters. When Cole’s cut-off for overweight/obesity was used, overweight/obesity in breakfast skippers was related to the dinner-time consumption of approximately 3000 kJ (700 kcal) or more for energy intake, approximately 100 g or more of carbohydrates, or approximately 3 servings or more of grain products. Conclusions Eating breakfast every day is associated with having a healthy body weight, likely due to a more even distribution of energy intake across meals throughout the day.
Arsenic in drinking water wells on the Bolivian high plain: Field monitoring and effect of salinity on removal efficiency of iron-oxides-containing filters

In the rural areas around Oruro (Bolivia), untreated groundwater is used directly as drinking water. This research aimed to evaluate the general drinking water quality, with focus on arsenic (As) concentrations, based on analysis of 67 samples from about 16 communities of the Oruro district. Subsequently a filter using Iron Oxide Coated Sand (IOCS) and a filter using a Composite Iron Matrix (CIM) were tested for their arsenic removal capacity using synthetic water mimicking real groundwater. Heavy metal concentrations in the sampled drinking water barely exceeded WHO guidelines. Arsenic concentrations reached values up to 964 μ g L−1 and exceeded the current WHO provisional guideline value of 10 μ g L−1 in more than 50% of the sampled wells. The WHO guideline of 250 mg L−1 for chloride and sulphate was also exceeded in more than a third of the samples, indicating high salinity in the drinking waters. Synthetic drinking water could be treated effectively by the IOCS- and CIM-based filters reducing As to concentrations lower than 10 μ g L−1. High levels of chloride and sulphate did not influence As removal efficiency. However, phosphate concentrations in the range from 4 to 24 mg L−1 drastically decreased removal efficiency of the IOCS-based filter but had no effects on removal efficiency of the CIM-based filter. Results of this study can be used as a base for further testing and practical implementation of drinking water purification in the Oruro region.
Dynamic pricing under first order Markovian competition

We evaluate the effect of competition on prices, profits, and consumers' surplus in multiperiod, finite horizon, dynamic pricing settings. In our base model, a single myopic consumer visits two competing retailers, who offer identical goods, in a (first order Markovian) probabilistic fashion—if the posted price exceeds the consumer's valuation for the good, he returns to the same store in the following period with a certain probability. We find that even a small reduction in the return probability from one—which corresponds to the monopoly case at which prices decline linearly—is sufficient to revert the price decline from a linear into an exponential shape. Each retailer's profit is particularly sensitive to changes in his return probability when it is relatively high, and is maximized under complete loyalty behavior (i.e., return probability is one). On the other hand, consumer surplus is maximized under complete switching behavior (i.e., return probability is zero). In the presence of many similar consumers, the insights remain valid. We further focus on the extreme scenario where all consumers follow a complete switching behavior, to derive sharp bounds, and also consider the instance where, in this setting, myopic consumers are replaced with strategic consumers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011
The Financial Crisis and Macroeconomic Activity: 2008-2013

This paper provides estimates of the effects of the fall in financial and housing wealth in 2008-2009 on overall macroeconomic activity. These effects are large and account for a large fraction of the slowdown in activity. Much of the 2008-2009 recession is estimated to be simply standard wealth effects at work.