400 research outputs found
Accounting for Inequality in India: Evidence from Household Expenditures
No full textJ. Salcedo Cain, Rana Hasan, Rhoda Magsombol, and Ajay Tandon examine the evolution of inequality in India between 1983 and 2004. Inequality levels were relatively stable between 1983 and 1993, but increased between 1993 and 2004, a period of relatively fast economic growth. While the increases in inequality have not precluded reductions in poverty, decompositions of inequality and its change suggest that for the benefits of economic growth to be spread wider, greater dynamism in Indian agriculture and manufacturing will be essential
Regulatory tradeoffs in designing concession contracts for infrastructure networks
No full textNetwork activities typically involve collecting a good or service (such as electric utilities, phone services, and rail transportation) from many producers or distributing them to many users. Producers and users are often widely scattered, geographically. Close financial integration of networks is justified on the basis of economies of scope and scale and the benefits from pooling and coordinating. In many countries, network operators are completely integrated publicly-owned firms (private firms being deemed insufficiently efficient or equitable). Challengers of this practice contend that the inefficiency resulting from lack of competition outweighs the gain from economic integration. With reform, some competitive mechanisms can be introduced even when monopoly seems the best option for delivering a service. But conflicts between policymakers'objectives -including efficiency, equity, speed, speed of reform, and signaling- influence the design of concession contracts for infrastructure network services (including communications and transportation services). Competition begins with the unbundling of various stages of delivery. Then competitive bidding is popular, with the public authority keeping property rights on productive assets but conceding their operation to a private firm. The winner gets the right to maximize profits, within limits (having to provide universal services, for example, and avoid price discrimination). In liberalizing the delivery of a service, policymakers must consider not only efficiency but also social and fiscal feasibility. The authors discuss how relevant information asymmetry is in contract design and the award and regulatory processes. They also discuss how to design pricing to accommodate the obligation to provide universal service. To illustrate, they describe Argentina's experiment in liberalization, which is increasingly viewed as a model for changing private sector and government involvement in infrastructure services. Beginning in 1989, Argentina began privatizing utilities and transport services, because the government had decided that it could no longer afford to subsidize those services or finance the investments needed for their effective operation. To introduce competition, the government unbundled services and introduced competitive bidding. It also created sector-specific regulatory agencies to protect consumers from private monopolies and to protect the private concessionaires from government micromanagement. Making concession-based reform and contracted-based regulation of private monopolists sustainable will require strengthening regulatory agencies, clarifying their terms of reference and accountability, and better separating the responsibilities of sector ministers and regulators.Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Education for the Knowledge Economy,Knowledge Economy,Economic Theory&Research
Long-segment myelitis, meningoencephalitis, and axonal polyneuropathy in a case of scrub typhus
No full textScrub typhus, a mite-borne zoonotic disease, is endemic in several parts of India. It may cause multisystemic disease involving lungs, heart, spleen, liver, hematological system, and nervous system. Neurological involvement may include meningoencephalitis, cerebellitis, cranial nerve palsies, plexopathy, transverse myelitis, muscle dysfunction, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, parkinsonian syndrome, and Guillain–Barre syndrome. Here, we report a rare patient of scrub typhus, who developed meningoencephalitis followed by long-segment myelitis and axonal polyneuropathy, with hepatic, renal, hematological, and pulmonary involvement, following acute febrile illness with associated neurocysticercosis. He gained consciousness with a resolution of almost all of his complaints, with the exception of muscular power, which showed partial improvement following treatment with doxycycline, azithromycin, and steroids. What needs to be explored is whether the existence of neurological scrub typhus with neurocysticercosis is the coincidental price paid for living in the tropics or there is something more to it as in case of Japanese encephalitis and neurocysticercosis co-infection
Sistem Kontrol Motor Pompa Pengisi Tower Air (Tandon)
No full textThe need for clean water has become a basic need that must be met every day. The community needs a lot of water consumption but sometimes a little. Due to the irregular use of water, it will result in the supply of water in the reservoir will quickly decrease which results in the volume of water in the tendon will run out. Usually to monitor the water supply in the water storage tank (tower) using an ordinary pump, where humans fill the pump continuously or permanently. This has an impact on the reduction of water supply due to erratic usage. The author with the title "Pump Motor Control System Filling Water Tower (Tandon)" which aims if at the time of use of water expenditure is very much, the volume in the reservoir will quickly decrease. Then the pump motor will accelerate the automatic rotation so that it will quickly fill the volume of water in the reservoir. So that the tendon is not empty due to more use. And if at the time of using a small amount of water discharge, the volume in the reservoir will decrease slowly, the pump motor will automatically rotate slowly. This will be efficient and flexible due to the uncertainty of excessive usage so that the volume of water in the reservoir does not empt
Essays on Development Economics: Issues in Macroeconomics and Population
No full textThis dissertation consists of three chapters on development economics. The first two chapters are in the area of international macroeconomics. The third chapter is in an area that is the intersection of macroeconomics and population economics.
The first chapter studies currency substitution in an environment where agents' inflation tax evasive demand for foreign money is balanced by the concern for the possibility that the government may impose economy-wide capital controls under which foreign currency transactions are costly. We contrast implications of constant beliefs regarding capital controls with those obtained under endogenous beliefs. With endogenous beliefs, agents expect a greater likelihood of capital controls as economy-wide currency substitution rises. Our results show a persistent demand for foreign money under endogenous beliefs despite efforts by the government to reduce inflation.
The second chapter is a theoretical study of currency substitution in an overlapping-generations economy. We focus on the role of beliefs in determining the relative demands for domestic and foreign money. Domestic money suffers from a lack of confidence leading agents to demand foreign money as an alternate store-of-value. We study equilibria in which the level of confidence in domestic money evolves as a function of expected future aggregate domestic money demand: agents increase their demand for domestic money only if aggregate economy-wide real domestic money demand is expected to rise.
The third chapter is a study of intertemporal substitution and fertility dynamics. The demographic experience of Iran after the revolution poses an interesting puzzle. A brief increase in period fertility after the 1979 revolution interrupted a trend of decline that had started in the 1950s. The rise in fertility, however, appears to have lasted only a few years: in the late 1980s fertility decline resumed its course at an even faster pace. We present evidence that suggests that the changes in Iranian fertility since the revolution were in part a birth timing phenomenon. The revolution may well have been a transient economic shock which temporarily depressed the relative "price" of children and caused adjustment in fertility patterns which, at least in an ex post sense, is suggestive of intertemporal substitution.Ph. D
Measuring Efficiency of Macro Systems: An Application to Millennium Development Goal Attainment
No full textAt least part of the effort toward MDG attainment in the social sector could come from improvements in efficiency of delivery mechanisms. Hence, it is important to know which countries - or which regions within countries - are able to attain higher MDG outcomes even after controlling for resource inputs. This information can be useful for policymakers and enable a second-stage analysis of why is it that some are doing better than others. This paper reviews the methodology for measuring efficiency in macro systems using the health and education sectors as examples. A simpler characterization of efficiency that is less dependent on econometric specifications is introduced. As an example, this method of measuring efficiency is applied to assess health system outcomes at the district (kabupatam) level in Indonesia
Measuring Government Inclusiveness: An Application to Health Policy
No full textThis paper examines the issue of government inclusiveness—i.e., the extent to which a government can be characterized as “pro-poor”—within the context of inequalities in the health sector. The paper discusses different ways of measuring government inclusiveness and argues that benefit incidence analysis comes closest to measuring the extent to which a government can be characterized as pro-poor. Using this perspective, the paper examines broad determinants of government inclusiveness, especially the role of democracy. Analysis of data indicates a positive relationship between democratization and government inclusiveness, even after controlling for additional determinants of “pro-poorness.” Ethnic heterogeneity, on the other hand, has a negative effect on government inclusiveness. Overall, the analysis suggests the importance of political freedoms for ensuring that the poor benefit from government programs. In countries with high levels of ethnic diversity, special provisions may need to be made to ensure that elite capture of government expenditure does not occur
Measuring Efficiency of Macro Systems: An Application to Millennium Development Goal Attainment
No full textAt least part of the effort toward attainment of health and education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could come from improvements in efficiency of delivery mechanisms. Hence, it is important to know which countries—or which regions within countries—are able to attain higher MDG outcomes even after controlling for resource inputs. This information can be useful for policymakers and can enable a second-stage analysis of why is it that some regions or countries are doing better than others. This paper reviews the methodology for measuring efficiency of macro systems using the health and education sectors as examples. A simpler characterization of efficiency that is less dependent on econometric specifications is introduced. As an example, this method of measuring efficiency is applied to assess the efficiency of health system outcomes at the district (kabupaten) level in Indonesia
The politics of strategic trade: South Korea and Mexico in a comparative perspective
No full textThis thesis examines the applicability of the theoretical framework of strategic trade to the export-led growth of the automobile industry in South Korea. The study focuses on four areas. First, the "new" theory of international trade is elaborated in order to identify the “prerequisite” industrial characteristics under which policies of strategic trade are theoretically advantageous. Secondly, the development of the automobile industry in South Korea is analyzed. The focus is on examining the role of the state in initiating industrial and trade policies that specifically targeted the automobile sector. This thesis argues that strategic trade is a valid analytical framework in the case of the South Korean automobile industry. Thirdly, the development of the automobile industry in South Korea is compared with that of Mexico. The comparative perspective helps highlight several factors that may have helped make policies of strategic trade effective in the South Korean case. These factors include a virtual absence of transnational corporations and domestic industrial conglomeration in the South Korean automobile industry. Finally, based on the possible critical importance of these factors for policy implementation and outcomes, the thesis ends with a discussion on the relevance of strategic trade as a model for economic development.Master of Art
Macroeconomic Impact of HIV/AIDS in the Asian and Pacific Region
No full textThis paper reports estimates of the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in the Asian and Pacific region using a standard growth model. Following previous research on this issue, an economywide aggregate production function is estimated with health capital as an input. HIV/AIDS is assumed to influence the accumulation of health capital proxied by a life expectancy shortfall measure. The model is estimated empirically using cross-country panel data spanning the period 1960–2000. Using a global sample, results indicate a negative impact of increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence on health capital and on economic growth. Using fairly conservative projections for HIV/AIDS prevalence, the model predicts a particularly large adverse impact on economic growth in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea
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