220 research outputs found
Sharing and cooperation in an experiment with heterogeneous groups
No full textWe investigate the impact of inequality on sharing and cooperation using a dictator game and a linear public good game where some participants work for their endowment (“workers”) while others do not (“non-workers”). Moreover, we differentiate between two types of inequality, namely in source and in level. In contrast to most studies, participants are fully informed about the endowment of the other players. The key finding of our paper is that both sharing and cooperation critically depend on the source of the endowment. In particular, workers are more likely to share with other workers than with non-workers and more inclined to contribute to the public good when grouped with other workers rather than when grouped with non-workers. Considering also the choices made by non-workers, we argue that the worker premium in sharing and cooperation is based on fairness considerations rather than an in-group bias. Adding inequality in the level of endowment reduces the importance of the source of endowment as driver of behavior. This also suggests that reducing one layer of inequality may not improve cooperative behavior in society significantly, implying that a big-push policy tackling many dimensions of inequality at the same time may be required
Immigrants' demand for informal and formal education: Evidence from US time use data
No full textThis paper contributes to the migration literature studying the time devoted to educational activities. It uses US time-diary surveys to study the allocation of time to informal as well as formal learning and educational activities by immigrants and natives. We develop a simple theoretical framework, which highlights the different constraints/opportunity costs faced by immigrants as compared with natives. Consistently with our theoretical model, the estimates show that immigrants are more likely to engage in informal and formal education and conditional on participation, they allocate more time to these activities. We find that the main drivers are economic incentives, mostly in the early phase of working life, and that the differences between natives and immigrants persist across generations. We also find that differences between immigrants and natives are generally larger in informal education than in formal education. The investment in informal and formal learning and educational activities is likely to boost immigrants' human and social capital and contribute to their socio-economic integration
On the evolution of comparative advantage: Path-dependent versus path-defying changes
No full textA country's specialization evolves over time in a dynamic process, with shifts in comparative advantages, resulting in new products being added to the country's export basket. According to the renowned Product Space (PS) framework (Hausmann and Klinger, 2007; Hidalgo et al., 2007), this dynamic process is characterized by strong path dependence, as a country's current production capabilities (technologies, production factors, institutions, etc.) determine what a country produces today, but also limits what it can produce tomorrow. We use a novel methodology to explore whether the patterns of specialization of a large sample of countries for the period 1995–2015 correspond to the predictions of the PS framework. Despite finding evidence of path dependence, our analysis also finds that a significant number of new products later added to countries’ export baskets were unrelated to their initial specialization pattern. We shed light on the determinants of these path-dependent changes in countries’ export baskets and show that economic growth is weaker in countries with a higher degree of path dependence
"Organized Crime, Migration and Human Capital Formation: Evidence from the South of Italy"
No full textSERIES, Working Paper no. 002
Economic enclaves or bridges to the global economy? : foreign and diaspora investments in developing countries
No full textThis paper examines the main determinants of linkages between foreign and domestic firms in developing countries. Based on existing evidence, we highlight the relevance of linkages generated by MNEs in developing countries and then we discuss the factors which boost or hamper the interactions between foreign and domestic firms and draw some policy implications. A particular attention is given to diaspora investments – i.e. investments carried out by members of the diaspora or return migrants – that represent a potentially powerful engine of growth and structural change in poor countries
Organized Crime, Migration and Human Capital Formation: evidence from the South of Italy
No full textThe presence of organized crime is a pervasive feature of many developed and developing countries. Even if ‘mafia’ organizations have greatly enlarged the geographical scope of their activities, as in the past they are still deeply rooted in specific territories where their presence generates a host of influences on socio-economic performances (perverse social capital). In this paper we analyse the consequences of the presence of organized crime on the long-term accumulation of human capital, a key determinant of economic growth. To do this we build a unique dataset where – among other information – we identify municipalities where the presence of organized crime is particularly pervasive in an Italian region, Calabria, where is based one of the most powerful international criminal organization, ‘Ndrangheta. Our results suggest that the presence of organized crime inhibits the accumulation of human capital both directly (reducing the incentive to invest in formal education) and indirectly by increasing migration outflows.
Keywords: Organized crime, Human capital, social capital, migration.
JEL Classification: J61, J24, 015, 01
Human capital accumulation and migration in a peripheral EU region: the case of Basilicata
No full textWe investigate the challenges that migration flows pose on policymaking aimed at fostering human capital accumulation in peripheral regions. We employ a unique data set generated through a postal survey designed and conducted by the authors. The focus of our analysis is on the micro-level location decisions of a sample of highly educated and skilled individuals residing in Basilicata, an Italian Mezzogiorno region, who have benefited from a locally funded human capital investment policy. Copyright (c) 2007 the author(s).
Combining Valuations With Society Semantics
No full textSociety Semantics, introduced by W. Carnielli and M. Lima-Marques, is a method for obtaining new logics from the combination of agents (valuations) of a given logic. The goal of this paper is to present several generalizations of this method, as well as to show some applications to many-valued logics. After a reformulation of Society Semantics in a wider setting, we develop in detail two examples of application of the new formalism, characterizing a hierarchy of paraconsistent logics called Pn (for n ? N) and a hierarchy of paracomplete logics In (for n ? N). We also propose three further generalizations, obtaining Society Semantics for several many-valued logics, including a hierarchy of logics called InPk which are both paraconsistent and paracomplete.1312146BéZiau, J., The logic of confussion (2001) Proceedings Of The International Conference On Artificial Intelligence (Ic-Ai, 2 (2001), pp. 822-827. , [BéZ 01] Arabnia H. R., Ed. Csrea PressBlackburn, P., De Rijke, M., Why combine logics? (1997) Studia Logica, 59 (1), pp. 5-27. , [Bla 97]Caleiro, C., Carnielli, W., Coniglio, M., Sernadas, A., Sernadas, C., Fibring non-truth-functional logics: Completeness preservation (2003) Journal Of Logic, Language And Information, 12 (2), pp. 183-211. , [Cal 03]Carnielli, W., Coniglio, M., A categorial approach to the combination of logics (1999) Manuscrito, 22 (2), pp. 69-94. , [Car 99A]Carnielli, W., Lima-Marques, M., Society semantics for multiple-valued logics (1999) Advances In Contemporary Logic And Computer Science, 235 Of Contemporary Mathematics Series, pp. 33-52. , [Car 99B] Carnielli W. A., D'ottaviano I. M. L., Eds. American Mathematical SocietyCarnielli, W., Possible-translations semantics for paraconsistent logics (2000) Frontiers Of Paraconsistent Logic: Proceedings Of The I World Congress On Paraconsistency, Logic And Computation Series, pp. 159-172. , [Car 00] Batens D., Mortensen C., Priest G., Van Bendegem J. P., Eds. Baldock: Research Studies Press, King's College PublicationsDa Costa, N., BéZiau, J., ThéOrie De La Valuation (1994) Logique & Analyse, 34 (146), pp. 95-117. , [Cos 94]Fernández, V., (2001) SemâNtica De Sociedades Para LóGicas Nvalentes (Society Semantics For N-Valued Logics, In Portuguese), , http://www.Cle.Unicamp.Br/Prof/Coniglio/Teaching.Htm, [Fer 01] Master's Thesis, Ifch-Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil, Available AtGabbay, D., Fibred semantics and the weaving of logics: Part 1 (1996) Journal Of Symbolic Logic, 61 (4), pp. 1057-1120. , [Gab 96]Gotwald, S., (2001) A Treatise On Many-Valued Logic, , [Got 01] Research Studies Press LtdJáSkowski, S., Un Calcul De Propositions Pour Les SysteMes DéDuctifs Contradictoires (1948) Studia Soc. Scien. Torunensis Sect. A, 1, pp. 55-77. , [JáS 48](1969) English Translation In Studia Logica, 24, pp. 143-160Marcos, J., (1999) SemâNticas De TraduçÕEs PossíVeis (Possible Translations Semantics, In Portuguese), , [Mar 99] Master's Thesis, Ifch-Unicamp, Campinas, BrazilMarcos, J., (2000) Many Values, Many Semantics, , [Mar 00] DraftRescher, N., (1993) Many-Valued Logic, Gregg Revivals, , [Res 93] 2Nd. EditionSette, A., On the propositional calculus p 1 (1973) Mathematica Japonicae, 18 (13), pp. 173-180. , [Set 73]Sette, A., Carnielli, W., Maximal weakly-intuitionistic logics (1995) Studia Logica, 55, pp. 181-203. , [Set 95]Wójcicki, R., (1984) Lectures On Propositional Calculi, , [Wój 84] The Publishing House Of The Polish Academy Of Sciences, WarsawWójcicki, R., (1988) Theory Of Logical Calculi, Synthese Library, , [Wój 88] Kluwer Academic PublishersZanardo, A., Sernadas, A., Sernadas, C., Fibring: Completeness preservation (2001) Journal Of Symbolic Logic, 66 (1), pp. 414-439. , [Zan 01
Mass spectrometric characterization of aminophospholipids containing N-(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine in kombu algae extracts
No full textRationale: 1,2-Diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-O-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)glycines] (PHEGs) are a class of rare aminophospholipids found specifically in brown algae, including kombu seaweed. Despite their potential importance in algal physiology, a comprehensive mass spectrometry (MS) characterization, useful to understand their biological behaviour, is still lacking.
Methods: To establish the structural regiochemical features of PHEGs, we employed hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). Following separation, the isolated band of PHEGs was analyzed using MS techniques. This included multistage tandem MS experiments, performed in both positive and negative electrospray ionization modes at low and high resolution.
Results: By comparing MS/MS and MS3 spectra acquired in negative ion mode, the regiochemical rules for PHEG identification were established. The most abundant PHEG species in kombu seaweed, from both Laminaria ochroleuca (European Atlantic) and Laminaria longissima (Japan), was identified as PHEG 20:4/20:4. Less abundant species included PHEG 20:4/20:5 and hydroxylated forms of both PHEG 20:4/20:4 (i.e. 40:8;O) and 20:4/20:5 (40:9;O). The presence of a lyso PHEG 20:4 was consistently detected but at very low levels.
Conclusions: This study employed MS analysis to elucidate the regiochemical patterns of PHEGs in kombu seaweed. We identified PHEG 20:4/20:4 as the dominant species, along with several less abundant variants, including hydroxylated forms. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential roles and metabolism of PHEGs in brown algae, paving the way for further investigation into their biological functions
Arsenosugar Phospholipids (As-PL) in Edible Marine Algae: An Interplay between Liquid Chromatography with Electrospray Ionization Multistage Mass Spectrometry and Phospholipases A1 and A2 for Regiochemical Assignment
No full textThe chemical identity of arsenosugar phospholipids (As-PL) as mono- (i.e., lyso, L-As-PL) and diacyl-arsenosugar PL in four edible and common marine alga samples, such as nori (Porphyra spp.), wakame (Undaria pinnatifida), dulse (Palmaria palmata), and kombu (Saccharina japonica), was successfully investigated. Adopting negative polarity electrospray ionization (ESI), not common for As-PL, conjugated with hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and mass spectrometry (MS), performed either at low resolution using a linear ion trap (LIT) with sequential MSn (n = 2, 3) or at high resolution using a high-resolution/high-accuracy Fourier-transform MS (FTMS), based on an orbital trap instrument, more than 20 As-PL and 2 L-As-PL species were identified. The absence of As-PL standard compounds encouraged us to generate an in-house-built database of As-PL/L-As-PL for a rapid and simple classification. Despite their compositional diversity, tandem MS of deprotonated As-PL and L-As-PL ([M - H]-) demonstrated the occurrence of a highly diagnostic product ion at m/z 389.0 ([AsC10H19O9P]-). The fatty acid composition and distribution of As-PL were easily assigned on the basis of the ratio intensity between sn-1 and sn-2 product ions. Indeed, the preferential formation of [R1C3H5O4P]- ions over [R2C3H5O4P]- ions, both containing the glycerol backbone, enabled the regiochemical assignment of As-PL. These outcomes were confirmed by MSn (n = 2, 3) analyses and using sn-1- and sn-2-regioselective hydrolase enzymes (i.e., phospholipases A1 and A2). The predominant As-PL's in samples of nori (red alga), wakame, and kombu (both brown algae) were identified as containing palmitic acyl chains (i.e., As-PL958 (As-PL 16:0/16:0) with ca. 66 ± 3, 82 ± 4, and 58 ± 3% as relative abundances, respectively), while the main species in dulse (red alga) samples was As-PL982 (As-PL 18:1/16:1) at ca. 38 ± 3%
- …
