We examine the role of rainfall trends in poor growth performance of sub-Saharan African nations relative to other developing countries, using a new cross-country panel climatic data set in an ...empirical economic growth framework. Our results show that rainfall has been a significant determinant of poor economic growth for African nations but not for other countries. Depending on the benchmark measure of potential rainfall, we estimate that the direct impact under the scenario of no decline in rainfall would have resulted in a reduction of between around 15% and 40% of today's gap in African GDP per capita relative to the rest of the developing world.
This analysis makes use of economic forecasts for 2020 issued by the European Commission in Autumn 2019 and Spring 2020, and of a counterfactual under a no-policy change assumption, to analyse the ...impact of the COVID-19 crisis on EU households´ income. Additionally, our analysis assesses the cushioning effect of discretionary fiscal policy measures taken by the EU Member States. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to affect significantly households’ disposable income in the EU, with lower income households being more severely hit. However, our results show that due to policy intervention, the impact of the crisis is expected to be similar to the one experienced during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. In detail, our results indicate that discretionary fiscal policy measures will play a significant cushioning role, reducing the size of the income loss (from −9.3% to −4.3% for the average equivalised disposable income), its regressivity and mitigating the poverty impact of the pandemic. We conclude that policy interventions are therefore instrumental in cushioning against the impact of the crisis on inequality and poverty.
Using a large international firm-level data set, we examine the separate effects of host and additional parent country taxation on the location decisions of multinational firms. Both types of ...taxation are estimated to have a negative impact on the location of new foreign subsidiaries. The impact of parent country taxation is estimated to be sizeable consistent with its international discriminatory nature. Our results show that international double taxation by the parent country – despite the general possibility of deferral of taxation until income repatriation – is instrumental in shaping the structure of multinational enterprise.
► Multinational firm location decisions respond to host and parent country taxes. ► Impact of parent country tax is sizeable despite general possibility of deferral. ► This reflects international discriminatory nature of parent country taxation.
We investigate the role that climatic change has played in the pattern of urbanization in sub-Saharan African countries compared to the rest of the developing world. To this end we assemble a ...cross-country panel data set that allows us to estimate the determinants of urbanization. The results of our econometric analysis suggest that climatic change, as proxied by rainfall, has acted to change urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa but not elsewhere in the developing world. Moreover, this link has become stronger since decolonization, which is likely due to the often simultaneous lifting of legislation prohibiting the free internal movement of native Africans.
We argue that the measures of backward linkages used in recent papers on spillovers from multinational companies are potentially problematic, as they depend on a number of restrictive assumptions, ...namely that (i) multinationals use domestically produced inputs in the same proportion as imported inputs, (ii) multinationals have the same input sourcing behaviour as domestic firms, irrespective of their country of origin, and (iii) the demand for locally produced inputs by multinationals is proportional to their share of locally produced output. We discuss why these assumptions are likely to be violated in practice, and provide alternative measures that overcome these drawbacks. Our results, using plant level data for Ireland, clearly show that the choice of backward linkage measure and thus, the assumptions behind it, matters greatly in order to draw possible conclusions regarding the existence of foreign direct investment (FDI)-related spillovers. Using the standard measure employed in the literature we fail to find robust evidence for spillovers through backward linkages. However, when we use alternative measures of backward linkages that relax assumptions (i)–(iii), we find robust evidence for positive FDI backward spillover effects.
This paper analyses the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the development of local firms. We focus on two likely effects of FDI: A competition effect which deters entry of domestic firms ...and positive market externalities which foster the development of local industry. Using a simple theoretical model to illustrate how these forces work we show that the number of domestic firms follows a u-shaped curve, where the competition effect first dominates but is gradually outweighed by positive externalities. Evidence for Ireland tends to support this result. Specifically, applying semi-parametric regression techniques on plant level panel data for the manufacturing sector we find that while the competition effect may have initially deterred local firms’ entry, this initial effect has been outpaced by positive externalities making the overall impact of FDI largely positive for the domestic industry.
Citrullination is catalyzed by the peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) enzyme, encoded by the PADI4 gene. Increased PAD4 activity promotes the onset and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ...This study aimed to evaluate the association of PADI4 haplotypes with RA risk, mRNA expression, and the PAD4 activity in patients with RA from Mexico. Methodology: 100 RA patients and 100 control subjects (CS) were included. Genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP method, PADI4 mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR, the contribution of PADI4 alleles (PADI4_89 G>A, PADI4_90 T>C, and PADI4_92 G>C) to mRNA expression by the ASTQ method, and PAD4 activity by HPLC. Also, the anti-CCP and anti-PADI4 antibodies were quantified by ELISA. Results: The three PADI4 polymorphisms were associated with RA susceptibility (OR = 1.72, p = 0.005; OR = 1.62; p = 0.014; OR = 1.69; p = 0.009; respectively). The 89G, 90T, and 92G alleles have a higher relative contribution to PADI4 mRNA expression from RA patients than 89A, 90C, and 92C alleles in RA patients. Moreover, the GTG/GTG haplotype was associated with RA susceptibility (OR = 2.86; p = 0.024). The GTG haplotype was associated with higher PADI4 mRNA expression (p = 0.04) and higher PAD4 enzymatic activity (p = 0.007) in RA patients. Conclusions: The evaluated polymorphisms contribute to PADI4 mRNA expression and the enzymatic activity of PAD4 in leukocytes. Therefore, the GTG haplotype is a genetic risk factor for RA in western Mexico, and is associated with increased PADI4 mRNA expression and higher PAD4 activity in these patients.
This paper examines the impact of climatic change on the level of total agricultural production of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and non-Sub-Sahara Africa (NSSA) developing countries. In doing so it uses ...a new cross-country panel climatic dataset in an agricultural production framework. The results show that climate, measured as changes in country-wide rainfall and temperature, has been a major determinant of agricultural production in SSA. In contrast, NSSA countries appear not to be affected by climate in the same manner. Simulations using the estimates suggest that the detrimental changes in climate since the 1960s can account for a substantial portion of the gap in agricultural production between SSA and the rest of the developing world.
The dynamics of regional inequalities Barrios, Salvador; Strobl, Eric
Regional science and urban economics,
09/2009, Letnik:
39, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This paper analyses the link between regional inequalities and GDP per capita at the country-level. Our starting hypothesis is that the evolution of regional inequalities should follow a bell-shaped ...curve as national GDP per capita rises since growth by its very nature is unlikely to appear everywhere at the same time, as has been argued by a number of authors, from Kuznets Kuznets, S., (1955), Economic growth and income inequality, American Economic Review 45(1), 1–28 to Lucas Lucas, R.E., (2000), “Some macroeconomics for the 21st century”, Journal of Economic Perspectives 14 (1), 159–168. We test this hypothesis econometrically using semi-parametric estimation techniques and regional data for a panel of European countries. Our results provide strong support for such a bell-shaped curve and are robust to changing the regional administrative units and the time period, as well as controlling for other possible determinants of regional inequalities. We also find support for this hypothesis when considering non-European countries.
is associated with milk, dairy product, and dairy farm contamination. The aim of this study was to characterize strains of
in the small-scale artisanal cheese production chain in southwestern Mexico.
...130 samples were collected.
isolation was performed on Mannitol Egg Yolk Polymyxin (MYP) agar. Genotyping, enterotoxigenic profile, and determination of genes involved in the formation of
biofilm were performed by PCR. An antimicrobial susceptibility test was made by broth microdilution assay. The phylogenetic analysis was performed by amplification and sequencing of 16s rRNA.
was isolated and molecularly identified in 16 samples and
(
) was the most frequently isolated and identified species (81.25%). Of all the isolated
strains, 93.75% presented at least one gene for some diarrheagenic toxins, 87.5% formed biofilms, and 18.75% were amylolytic. All
strains were resistant to beta-lactams and folate inhibitors. A close phylogenetic relationship between isolates was found between the cheese isolates and the air isolates.
Strains of
were found in small-scale artisanal cheeses on a farm in southwestern Mexico.
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