56 research outputs found
Growing to shrink: grafting alumina mesopores for molecular separations
No full textThe Ph.D. thesis Growing to Shrink expands the capabilities of ceramic membranes. Membranes are selective barriers that provide a product of added-value. Membranes made from ceramics can be used in harsh conditions (high temperature, for example) and have a long lifetime. However, their potential has not been fully explored. To realize the potential of ceramic membranes, they have been combined with organic molecules to make new hybrid membranes for a variety of applications. In this thesis you will find hybrid membranes developed for non-polar solvent nanofiltration, CO2 separation, and for use in highly acidic streams. The methods to achieve this were pioneered inside this thesis. They include adapting controlled polymerization methods to the inside of nano-sized pores, as well as developing a new thiol-based networked film. You will also find a review of the organic solvent nanofiltration field as well as perspectives on the topics covered to conclude the thesis. The author believes that this work opens new avenues for research and industrial interest of ceramic membranes. This thesis is a product of the project “Modular functionalized hybrid organic-inorganic membranes”, in partnership with TU Delft and jointly funded by the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), supervised by professors Louis Winnubst and Arian Nijmeijer of the Inorganic Membranes research group at the University of Twente
Contractual savings for housing : How suitable are they for transitional economies?
No full textProblems of developing financial services for housing are acute in transitional socialist economies. The authors examine contractual savings for housing (CSH), which are often advocated as a primary solution, especially in Central and Eastern European countries. A CSH instrument links a phase of contractual savings remunerated at below-market rate to the promise of a housing loan at a rate also fixed below market at the time the contract is signed. This contract can contain a variety of options. CSH were used very successfully in Europe after World War II. The issue today is not whether such specialized instruments can work. They clearly can under low inflation. The issue is whether CSH systems are advisable today in latecomer countries with vastly different financial technology and financial policy environments. The authors focus on two influential CSH systems: the"closed"German Bausparsystem and the"open"French epargne-logement. In a"closed"CSH system, access to a housing loan is based on queuing: a loan can be made only if funds are available in the specialist institution. In an"open"system, the saver can legally call his or her loan at contract maturity, regardless of the liquidity conditions in the CSH system. From the perspective of households, CSH contracts facilitate the accumulation of equity and offer the prospect of a low-interest loan. They promote savings discipline and provide a concrete goal that many households find important. But CSH instruments leave the objective of providing a primary loan unmet. In additon, even moderate inflation quickly leads to very low loan-to-value ratios for CSH loans and a large financing gap for housing purchases. From the perspective of financial institutions, CSH can help overcome the severe information asymmetries they face in transitional socialist economies, where there are no retail financial markets, no credit bureaus, problematic income reporting. CSH are very effective in screening, monitoring, and establishing the reputation of steady savers as future borrowers, and they are good at lowering credit risks. With their saving periods of four to five years, CSH also help bridge the gap between long-term loans and short-term deposits. Finally, CSH can be an important commercial tool for developing cross-lending activities. But CSH can be risky. When the interest rate on outstanding contracts is low compared with current market rates, holders of mature contracts will want to call their loans. And new savers will be reluctant to sign on at very low contract rates. Eliminating this liquidity risk with a"closed"CSH system erodes the attractiveness of CSH. From the perspective of government, a CSH instrument can work in a noninflationary environment, yet a CSH system would have no justification in fully developed and competitive financial markets today. CSH instruments can play a useful but not a dominant role in housingfinance. After stabilization, they can overcome information constraints on financial contracts, and contribute to higher financial savings rates. CSH instruments are best used to finance home improvements. They can also be used as part of a social policy to reach targeted social groups.Financial Intermediation,Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Housing Finance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Housing Finance,Financial Intermediation,Non Bank Financial Institutions
The evolution of poverty and welfare in Nigeria, 1985-92
No full textThe authors profile Nigerian poverty, showing its evolution from 1985 to 1992. This paper is divided into 6 sections, beginning with an overview. Section 2 looks at the sources of data used. Section 3 examines household income and expenditure distribution, interprets poverty indices, and calculates relative poverty lines for Nigeria. Section 4, the paper's core, presents the spatial characteristics of poverty in Nigeria and their evolution over the seven-year period, indicating in which regions and states the poor are located and the extent and severity of their poverty; lays out the poor's basic demographic characteristics including time use and employment patterns, detailing how these have evolved; features the roles the poor play in various sectors of the economy; and discuss how changes in poverty could be explained by growth-related and redistribution factors. Section 5 discusses the evolution of expenditures and explains how expenditure patterns correspond to poverty. Section 6 presents conclusions, among them: the extremely poor -who dominate the ranks of the uneducated- became poorer, while all other income groups had a higher standard of living; an increase in mean per capita household spending reduced the proportion of the population in poverty but different regions did not share equally in the benefits of growth; household spending grew faster in southern and central Nigeria and slower in the north; and poverty was overwhelmingly rural and regional, but also greatly influenced by age, educaton, and the nature of employment.Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Poverty Reduction Strategies,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty Assessment,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth,Health Economics&Finance,Poverty Lines
Efficiency and equity considerations in pricing and allocating irrigation water
No full textEconomic efficiency has to do with how much wealth a given resource base can generate. Equity has to do with how that wealth is to be distributed in society. Economic efficiency gets far more attention, in part because equity considerations involve value judgements that vary from person to person. The authors examine both the efficiency and the equity of different methods of pricing irrigation water. After describing water pricing practices in a number of countries, they evaluate their efficiency and equity. In general they find that water use is most efficient when pricing affects the demand for water. The volumetric, output, input, tiered, and two-part tariff schemes all satisfy this condition and can be efficient although whether efficiency is short-run or long-run, first- or second-best, varies. Pricing schemes that do not directly influence water input -- per-unit areas fees for example -- lead to inefficient allocation. But they are usually easier to implement and administer and require less information. The extent to which water pricing methods can effect income redistribution is limited, the authors conclude. Disparities in farm income are mainly the result of factors such as farm size and location and soil quality, but not water (or other input) prices. Pricing schemes that do not involve quantity quotas cannot be used in policies aimed at affecting income inequality. The results somewhat support the view that water prices should not be used to effect income redistribution because water prices are a poor vehicle for reducing income inequality. But pricing schemes that involve water quota rules can reduce income inequality. The authors demonstrate this with a two-rate tiered pricing scheme combined with equal quotas of the cheaper water.Water Conservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Drylands&Desertification,Economic Theory&Research,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water Conservation,Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies
Child labor : a review
No full textOn September 30, 1990, the first World Summit for Children promised to reduce child mortality and malnutrition. It set targets to be reached by the year 2000. Although it established no explicit goals on child labor, the targets included basic education for all children and the completion of primary education by at least 80 percent of children. Meeting these goals will reduce child labor, say the authors. The evidence they review shows that education intervention play a key role in reducing child labor and should play a key role in its eventual abolition. But other interventions are also needed, including legislative action, appropriate labor market policies, fertility interventions, the adoption of technology, and better job opportunities for parents. There must also be advocates for better conditions for working children and for the empowerment of children and their families. An encouraging consensus is emerging - both in the literature and in the policies of international agencies concerned with child labor - that action, to be effective, must aim first to protect children and improve their living and working conditions. This implies a less stigmatized view of child labor, and the recognition that child labor itself can be used as a targeting device to help children through health, nutrition, schooling, and other interventions. In the long term, the objective of eliminating child labor must be approached through legislative action combined with social and economic incentives that take into account not only the types of child labor and child labor arrangements in a country but that country's institutional and administrative capacity.Children and Youth,Labor Policies,Street Children,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,Health Economics&Finance,Street Children,Youth and Governance,Children and Youth,Environmental Economics&Policies
Erratum to: "Search for first generation scalar leptoquarks in pp collisions at with the ATLAS detector" [Phys. Lett. B 709 (2012) 158]
No full textSee paper for full list of author
Population aging and financing of government liabilities in New Zealand
No full textIn New Zealand in the next 50 years, an aging population is expected to elevate government liabilities and weaken the government's fiscal position. To maintain fiscal balance, the government must either substantially pre-fund future increases in its liabilities or significantly raise taxes in the 2030's-40's, following few small possible tax cuts in the next 10 to 15 years. Expected fiscal problems are related to the increasing costliness of publicly providing for health care and retirement. Moreover, the aging population's negative effects on the fiscal balance could be exacerbated by any slackening in economic performance or in fiscal prudence. Long-term fiscal projections for the country, and literature on the problem, indicate that the most effective way to contain the expected rise in government liabilities is to reform health care and pension policies.Environmental Economics&Policies,PublicHealth Promotion,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform
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