The life cycle of malnutrition: IFPRI 1999-2000 Annual Report Essay

This year some 30 million babies in the developing world—around 82,000 every day—will be born with impaired growth due to poor nutrition during fetal life. term. The authors examine each stage of the life cycle, from birth and infancy to childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. In developing countries the main direct causes of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) are nutritional. IUGR infants are more likely to become stunted children. Data on the nutritional status of school-age children are increasingly being collected, as evidence mounts linking malnutrition or hunger with poor school attendance, performance, and learning. The economic livelihood of populations depends on the health and nutritional well-being of adults. Recent multicountry studies have shown significant malnutrition among older adults. Vicious circles—such as the life cycle of malnutrition—based as they are on mutually reinforcing processes, can be transformed into virtuous circles by more consistently and effectively applying our growing knowledge of what works, and where, in combating malnutrition. While preventing fetal and early childhood malnutrition deserves particular attention, the life cycle dynamics of cause and consequence demand a holistic, inclusive approach to malnutrition. Adequate nutrition is a human right for all people, and intervening at each point in the life cycle will accelerate and consolidate positive change.Malnutrition Prevention., Nutrition Research.,

The Dynamics of Innovation and Investment, with application to Australia 1984 - 1998

Ever since the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the 1760s, innovation and investment have been crucial elements in economic explanations of the dynamics of capitalism. Classical economics recognises that innovation embodied in the form of new machines through fixed capital investment is the essential process for realising economic development. This study sets up a theoretical linkage between innovation and investment in historical time, without reference to any static equilibrium model. In this way, the relationship between instability of cycles and trend growth can be clearly identified. A theoretical framework and specific model of innovation and investment are developed. This is followed by an empirical investigation in support of this analysis to show plausibility in the important linkages between innovation and investment that have been missed when examined through static analysis of these relations. The statistical analysis is based on recent Australian industry sector data (1984-98) on R&D and capital expenditure in panel data form and in evolutionary industry life-cycle form. Conclusions from this work indicate the need to re-examine the way strategies are formed and developed in both the private and public sectors for more effective appropriation of innovation into the investment planning process.economics of technology ;

Economic Growth and Human Development -

This paper explores the links between economic growth and human development, identifying two chains, one from economic growth to human development, and the other, conversely, from human development to economic growth. The various links in each chain are explored, together with a review of some existing empirical material on their importance. The paper examines the significance of the relationships, for the chains as a whole and for particular links in them, with the help of cross-country statistics for the period 1970-92. It finds that there exists a strong positive relationship in both directions and that public expenditure on social services and female education are especially important links determining the strength of the relationship between economic growth and human development, while the investment rate and income distribution are significant links in determining the strength of the relationship between human development and economic growth. The existence of these chains gives rise to the potential for virtuous or vicious cycles of development, with good or bad performance on HD and economic growth reinforcing each other over time. The paper concludes by classifying the actual performance of developing countries into these virtuous and vicious cycles, as well as identifying lop- sided performers, with good performance in one dimension but not the other, and explores how country classification can change over time. We find that lop-sided development almost never persists: countries which are initially lop-sided favoring economic growth always lapse into the vicious category; but countries where HD is favored can move into the virtuous category. This has strong sequencing implications, implying that, while ideally both HD and economic growth should be jointly promoted, HD should be given priority where a choice is necessary.

Eating the elephant whole or in slices: views of participants in a smoking cessation intervention trial on multiple behaviour changes as sequential or concurrent tasks

Background: This paper explores smoking cessation participants’ perceptions of attempting weight management alongside smoking cessation within the context of a health improvement intervention implemented in Glasgow, Scotland. <p/>Methods: One hundred and thirty-eight participants were recruited from smoking cessation classes in areas of multiple deprivation in Glasgow and randomised to intervention, receiving dietary advice, or to control groups. The primary outcome of the study was to determine the % change in body weight. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 intervention and 15 control participants at weeks 6 (during the intervention) and 24 (at the end of the intervention). The current paper, though predominantly qualitative, links perceptions of behaviour modification to % weight change and cessation rates at week 24 thereby enabling a better understanding of the mediators influencing multiple behaviour change. <p/>Results: Our findings suggest that participants who perceive separate behaviour changes as part of a broader approach to a healthier lifestyle, and hence attempt behaviour changes concurrently, may be at comparative advantage in positively achieving dual outcomes. <p/>Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to assess participants’ preference for attempting multiple behaviour changes sequentially or simultaneously in addition to assessing their readiness to change. Further testing of this hypothesis is warranted

Growth and Human Development: Comparative Latin American Experience

This paper seeks to examine the interdependence between economic growth (EG) and human development (HD). It is concerned with changes in per capita income and its two-way relationship with the basic societal objective of human development. Regressions across various Latin American countries are run for 1960-92. Country performance is separated into virtuous/vicious cycles or HD/EG lopsidedness. The study makes an attempt to correct the commonly held view that ensuring increases in economic growth automatically leads to advances in human development. Human development has to occur prior to or simultaneous with improvements in economic growth, if a country is to reach a virtuous cycle. The Latin American experience indicates that a balanced approach to development has to be adopted. It is imperative to focus on human development from the outset of any reform program, as policies that emphasize economic growth alone are futile in sustaining high levels of human development.Human Development, Economic Growth, Latin America

INSTITUTIONS AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF DISTRUST IN THE RUSSIAN HOUSEHOLD DEPOSIT MARKET, 1992-1999

In our analysis of the Russian household deposit market during the 1990s, we show how the initial conditions of market emergence contributed to a vicious circle in which private commercial banks progressively lost the trust of potential depositors. The roots of this destructive dynamic lay in the initial conditions of market emergence. Initial experiences of fraud and financial loss led Russian households to distrust that commercial banks would honor their contractual obligations. As distrust grew and became more ingrained, the competitive conditions in the deposit market changed in a way that further increased the gains to opportunism and decreased the returns to trust production. In a self-reinforcing process, fraud begat more fraud.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39974/3/wp588.pd

INSTITUTIONS AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF DISTRUST IN THE RUSSIAN HOUSEHOLD DEPOSIT MARKET, 1992-1999

In our analysis of the Russian household deposit market during the 1990s, we show how the initial conditions of market emergence contributed to a vicious circle in which private commercial banks progressively lost the trust of potential depositors. The roots of this destructive dynamic lay in the initial conditions of market emergence. Initial experiences of fraud and financial loss led Russian households to distrust that commercial banks would honor their contractual obligations. As distrust grew and became more ingrained, the competitive conditions in the deposit market changed in a way that further increased the gains to opportunism and decreased the returns to trust production. In a self-reinforcing process, fraud begat more fraud.

Virtuous or vicious circles? Exploring the behavioural connections between developer contributions and path dependence: Evidence from England

How urban economies evolve has a rich literature. The impulse to discern longitudinal patterns of development can be seen in the body of work on path dependence. However, it has been noted that the drivers of path dependence are under-specified. In this paper we seek to make an association between real estate development in England and the longer term path dependence that has bequeathed an extremely geographically unequally pattern of economic development. In so doing we present empirical research from a major study of ‘developer contributions’ that associates behavioural aspects of the planning process through which developer contributions are determined and the creation of virtuous/vicious circles of development. It is our contention that these virtuous and vicious circles represent an important but under-researched aspect of the highly varied path dependencies observed in settings such as England that we describe here as poverty and affluence traps