Project finance as a driver of economic growth in low-income countries

This study investigates the role of project finance as a driver of economic growth. We hypothesize that project finance is beneficial to the least developed economies as it is able to compensate for a lack of domestic financial development. The contractual structure unique to project finance leads to better investment management and governance. Investigating 90 countries from 1991 to 2005, we find support for our hypothesis. Results show that project finance fosters economic growth and that its effect is strongest in low-income countries, where financial development and governance is weakest

An overview of decision table literature 1982-1995.

This report gives an overview of the literature on decision tables over the past 15 years. As much as possible, for each reference, an author supplied abstract, a number of keywords and a classification are provided. In some cases own comments are added. The purpose of these comments is to show where, how and why decision tables are used. The literature is classified according to application area, theoretical versus practical character, year of publication, country or origin (not necessarily country of publication) and the language of the document. After a description of the scope of the interview, classification results and the classification by topic are presented. The main body of the paper is the ordered list of publications with abstract, classification and comments.

Education, Globalisation and the Role of Comparative Education

Comparative education has traditionally meant the study of national education systems. But how far is this approach valid today? Doesn’t the ‘decline’ of the nation state make national systems obsolete? Isn’t the very idea of a ‘system’ anachronistic in a world of market triumphalism and global disorganization? The purpose of this article is to explore how globalisation is changing education and the implication of this for comparative study. Why study education systems and why study national education systems in particular? What else should comparativists study, and how? What defines the field of comparative education? These questions are approached first historically and secondly methodologically

The Bioterrorism Act of the USA and international food trade: evaluating WTO conformity and effects on bilateral imports

The September 11th event focused the world’s attention on the threat of bioterrorism on the food chain. As a consequence, the USA implemented the Bioterrorism Act (BTA) containing new import requirements that can be classified as non-tariff barriers (NTBs). This paper analyses these NTBs by performing an assessment of WTO conformity and trade impact: hereby general problems in the analysis of bioterrorist risks are explored as for this new and unknown threat explicit WTO rules are still missing. Additionally, in exploring the BTA relevant process standard rules laid out by the WTO, the analysis indicates the extensive flexibility provided in this framework. This leads to larger scope for national polices on process standards compared to product standards (e.g. residua levels). The empirical trade flow analysis illustrates differences in the compliance costs between countries. This differentiation can be caused by learning costs that may differ among countries. The analysis highlights that perishable products and countries with small import quantities are mostly affected.food terrorism, non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, Bioterrorism Act, international food trade, SPS Agreement, International Relations/Trade,

Project Finance as a Driver of Economic Growth in Low-Income Countries

This study investigates the role of project finance as a driver of economic growth. We hypothesize that project finance is beneficial to the least developed economies as it compensates for any lack of domestic financial development. The contractual structure unique to project finance should lead to better investment management and governance. Investigating 90 countries from 1991 to 2005, we find support for our hypothesis. Project finance indeed fosters economic growth and this effect is strongest in low-income countries, where financial development and governance is weak.financial economics and financial management ;

Hybrid model using logit and nonparametric methods for predicting micro-entity failure

Following the calls from literature on bankruptcy, a parsimonious hybrid bankruptcy model is developed in this paper by combining parametric and non-parametric approaches.To this end, the variables with the highest predictive power to detect bankruptcy are selected using logistic regression (LR). Subsequently, alternative non-parametric methods (Multilayer Perceptron, Rough Set, and Classification-Regression Trees) are applied, in turn, to firms classified as either “bankrupt” or “not bankrupt”. Our findings show that hybrid models, particularly those combining LR and Multilayer Perceptron, offer better accuracy performance and interpretability and converge faster than each method implemented in isolation. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that the introduction of non-financial and macroeconomic variables complement financial ratios for bankruptcy prediction

"General Conclusions: From Crisis to A Global Political Economy of Freedom"

In this chapter I sum up the basic problems for a new theory of 21st century financial crises in light of the Asian and other subsequent crises. My conclusion is that there are indeed deep structural causes at work in the global markets that affect the political economy of countries and regions. Methodologically, new concepts, models and theories are constructed, at ;least partially, to conduct further meaningful empirical work leading to relevant policy conclusions. This book belongs to the beginning of intellectual efforts in this direction. Political economic analyses at the country level, CGE modeling within a new theoretical framework, and neural network approach to learning in a bounded rationality framework point to a role for reforms at the state, firm and regional level. A new type of institutional analysis called the 'extended panda's thumb approach' leads to the recommendation that path dependent hybrid structures need to be constructed at the local, national, regional and global level to lead to a new global financial architecture for the prevention--- and if prevention fails--- management of financial crises.

Article X: Some Building Blocks

YesThe Ad Hoc Group (AHG) of the States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) has the consideration of measures to implement Article X of the Convention as an element of its mandate agreed by the Special Conference in September 1994. The AHG has considered how to address this at each of its substantive meetings with a Friend of the Chair, initially Ambassador Jorge Berguno of Chile and subsequently, Carlos Duarte of Brazil carrying out this responsibility. As progress is being made on the development of the rolling text for the Protocol to strengthen the Convention, it is timely to consider how the implementation of Article X might contribute to the strengthening of the effectiveness of the Convention. This Briefing Paper considers some of the developments that have occurred nationally, regionally and internationally in respect of the use of bacteriological (biological) agents and toxins for peaceful purposes. It has become apparent that there is increasing awareness world-wide because of public health and environmental concerns of the need to control the handling, use, storage and transfer of such biological agents. This paper examines some of the current controls and regulations for biological agents and the international initiatives that are ongoing to strengthen biosafety around the world. These are seen as building blocks which might be considered from a point of view of strengthening the BTWC as well as contributing to the implementation of Article X although care will need to be taken in the Protocol for the AHG to avoid unnecessary duplication with other international activities. The challenging goal is to identify how these other national, regional and international activities can be utilised to contribute to the strengthening of the BTWC

"Minsky Moments, Russell Chickens, and Gray Swans--The Methodological Puzzles of the Financial Instability Analysis"

The recent revival of Hyman P. Minsky's ideas among policymakers, economists, bankers, financial institutions, and the mass media, synchronized with the increasing gravity of the subprime financial crisis, demands a reappraisal of the meaning and scope of the "financial instability hypothesis" (FIH). We argue that we need a broader approach than that conventionally pursued, in order to understand not only financial crises but also the periods of financial calm between them and the transition from stability to instability. In this paper we aim to contribute to this challenging task by restating the strictly financial part of the FIH on the basis of a generalization of Minsky's taxonomy of economic units. In light of this restatement, we discuss a few methodological issues that have to be clarified in order to develop the FIH in the most promising direction.Financial Instability; Financial Fragility; Financial Fluctuations; Subprime Crisis; Minsky Moments; Minsky Meltdown; Speculative Units; Hedge Units; Ponzi Units; Business Cycles