453 research outputs found
A Theory of Child Targeting
Get PDFThere is a large empirical literature on policy measures targeted at children but surprisingly very little theoretical foundation to ground the debate on the optimality of the different instruments. In the present paper, we examine the merit of targeting children through two general policies, namely selective commodity taxation and cash transfer to family with children. We consider a household that comprises an adult and a child. The household behavior is described by the maximization of the adult’s utility function, which depends on the child’s welfare, subject to a budget constraint. The relative effects of a price subsidy and of a cash benefit on child welfare are then derived. In particular, it is shown that ‘favorable’ distortions from the price subsidies may allow to redistribute toward the child. The framework is extended to account for possible paternalistic preferences of the State. Finally, it is shown that, in contrast to the traditional view, well-chosen subsidies can be more cost effective than cash transfers in alleviating child poverty.commodity taxation, child benefit, targeting, intrahousehold distribution, social welfare, paternalism, labeling
A Theory of Child Targeting
Get PDFThere is a large empirical literature on policy measures targeted at children but surprisingly very little theoretical foundation to ground the debate on the optimality of the different instruments. In the present paper, we examine the merit of targeting children through two general policies, namely selective commodity taxation and cash transfer to family with children. We consider a household that comprises an adult and a child. The household behavior is described by the maximization of the adult’s utility function, which depends on the child’s welfare, subject to a budget constraint. The relative effects of a price subsidy and of a cash benefit on child welfare are then derived. In particular, it is shown that ‘favorable’ distortions from the price subsidies may allow to redistribute toward the child. The framework is extended to account for possible paternalistic preferences of the State. Finally, it is shown that, in contrast to the traditional view, well-chosen subsidies can be more cost effective than cash transfers in alleviating child poverty.commodity taxation, child benefit, targeting, intrahousehold distribution, social welfare, paternalism, labeling
Characterization of a Non-Canonical Signal Peptidase Cleavage Site in a Replication Protein from Tomato Ringspot Virus.
No full textThe NTB-VPg polyprotein from tomato ringspot virus is an integral membrane replication protein associated with endoplasmic reticulum membranes. A signal peptidase (SPase) cleavage was previously detected in the C-terminal region of NTB-VPg downstream of a 14 amino acid (aa)-long hydrophobic region (termed TM2). However, the exact location of the cleavage site was not determined. Using in vitro translation assays, we show that the SPase cleavage site is conserved in the NTB-VPg protein from various ToRSV isolates, although the rate of cleavage varies from one isolate to another. Systematic site-directed mutagenesis of the NTB-VPg SPase cleavage sites of two ToRSV isolates allowed the identification of sequences that affect cleavage efficiency. We also present evidence that SPase cleavage in the ToRSV-Rasp2 isolate occurs within a GAAGG sequence likely after the AAG (GAAG/G). Mutation of a downstream MAAV sequence to AAAV resulted in SPase cleavage at both the natural GAAG/G and the mutated AAA/V sequences. Given that there is a distance of seven aa between the two cleavage sites, this indicates that there is flexibility in the positioning of the cleavage sites relative to the inner surface of the membrane and the SPase active site. SPase cleavage sites are typically located 3-7 aa downstream of the hydrophobic region. However, the NTB-VPg GAAG/G cleavage site is located 17 aa downstream of the TM2 hydrophobic region, highlighting unusual features of the NTB-VPg SPase cleavage site. A putative 11 aa-long amphipathic helix was identified immediately downstream of the TM2 region and five aa upstream of the GAAG/G cleavage site. Based on these results, we present an updated topology model in which the hydrophobic and amphipathic domains form a long tilted helix or a bent helix in the membrane lipid bilayer, with the downstream cleavage site(s) oriented parallel to the membrane inner surface
Therapy and support services for people with long-term stroke and aphasia and their relatives: a six-month follow-up study
No full textObjective: To evaluate the impact of attending an aphasia therapy centre on quality of life and communication skills in people with stroke and aphasia and their relatives.Design: Before and after study, six months duration.Setting: Community-based aphasia therapy centre in the United Kingdom.Participants: Thirty-eight men and women with aphasia following a stroke, and 22 of their relatives. Mean time since stroke was 33 months (SD 24.1).Interventions: A range of group therapies for people with aphasia and their relatives and counselling for individuals and couples.Outcome measures: Quantitative outcome measures were ratings of quality of life and communication for people with aphasia, and relatives' independent ratings of communication and coping with caring. Qualitative outcomes were perceptions of quality of life and communication skills using semi-structured interviews.Results: Improvement was detected on all outcomes at six months. There were significant changes from baseline on the quality of life measure, mean difference 0.14 (95% confidence interval 0.02, 0.26); and the communication measure assessed by people with aphasia and their relatives, mean difference 12.8 (4.0, 21.5) and 9.7 (3.6, 15.7) respectively. The changes on the coping with caring measure were not significant, though the direction of change was positive. Qualitative interviews revealed a similar pattern of benefit in terms of increased levels of self-confidence and changes in lifestyle and levels of independence.Conclusions: The results suggest that this therapeutic approach has an impact on quality of life and communication for people with aphasia and their relatives.<br/
A linguistically informed autosomal STR survey of human populations residing in the Greater Himalayan Region
Get PDFThe greater Himalayan region demarcates two of the most prominent linguistic phyla in Asia: Tibeto-Burman and Indo-European. Previous genetic surveys, mainly using Y-chromosome polymorphisms and/or mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms suggested a substantially reduced geneflow between populations belonging to these two phyla. These studies, however, have mainly focussed on populations residing far to the north and/or south of this mountain range, and have not been able to study geneflow patterns within the greater Himalayan region itself. We now report a detailed, linguistically informed, genetic survey of Tibeto-Burman and Indo-European speakers from the Himalayan countries Nepal and Bhutan based on autosomal microsatellite markers and compare these populations with surrounding regions. The genetic differentiation between populations within the Himalayas seems to be much higher than between populations in the neighbouring countries. We also observe a remarkable genetic differentiation between the Tibeto-Burman speaking populations on the one hand and Indo-European speaking populations on the other, suggesting that language and geography have played an equally large role in defining the genetic composition of present-day populations within the Himalayas
Food for Thought: Basic Needs and Persistent Educational Inequality
Get PDFThis research demonstrates that human capital accumulation by the poor is only possible if a minimum level of health and well-being has been attained. When families do not have enough resources to invest in the satisfaction of basic needs and health care, and finance is not available for this purpose, a poverty trap exists with low health, education and income. These poverty traps may persist if policies financing education are applied which do not also address deficiencies in nutrition and health impairing human potential, and in particular early child development. This link between health and education contributes to explain the important, long-term effects of nutrition and health on economic growth and implies that nutrition and health play a causal role in the persistence of inequality and in the effects of inequality on growth.Health, Human Capital, Growth, Credit constraints
Children and intra-household inequality : a theoretical analysis
Get PDFArguing that resources within the household are not allocated according to need, several researchers have tried to model intra-household allocative behavior. One group (1990) argued that as households become better off, intra-household inequality first increases then decreases. The behavior of intra-household inequality as household welfare improves is clearly important for policy, as interventions are often restricted to the household level - although the objective is to improve the welfare of the least-well-off individual. The author shows here that many of the tractable derivations of intra-household resource allocation are available in what might be called the"linear expenditure systems"framework. He analyzes the relationship between intra-household inequality and total household resources for models of intra-household allocation that lead to a linear expenditure reduced form. He then investigates three structural models : household welfare maximization; cooperative bargaining; and a noncooperative game with children as public goods. The author indicates how these models should be modified to produce reduced forms that are better represented in the evidence.Urban Housing,Poverty Lines,Environmental Economics&Policies,Inequality,Housing&Human Habitats
Food security and health security : explaining the levels of nutrition in Pakistan
Get PDFMost influential studies of malnutrition and public policy have focused on energy availability and consumption, tending to equate hunger with malnutrition. But recent studies have explored how other factors - notably infection and levels of maternal education - affect nutrition. Alderman and Garcia's study of nutrition levels in Pakistan shows that raising household food consumption, for example, has less impact on nutritional levels than raising a mother's education does. They found that educating mothers to at least the primary level tends to reduce the level of child stunting 16.5 percent, or roughly 10 times the impact achieved by increasing per capita income 10 percent. (The impact of education is not immediately realized; the diffusion of knowledge about good hygiene and child care associated with learning has a cumulative effect.) Alderman and Garcia found that in Pakistan, food security alone is not enough to improve children's nutritional status. There may be welfare justifications for various food policies, but in rural Pakistan, especially, it is equally important to improve health and reduce infection.Health Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Child and Children's Health,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems
The measurement of household cost functions: Revealed preference versus subjective measures
Get PDFHousehold Economics;Costs
- …
