124 research outputs found

    Words, deeds, and outcomes: A survey on the growth effects of exchange rate regimes

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    Recent studies on the growth effects of exchange rate regimes offer a wide range of different, sometimes contradictory results. In this paper, we systematically compare three prominent contributions in this field. Using a common data set, a common specification, and common estimation methods, we argue that the contradictory findings can be explained by the fact that these studies use regime classifications which reflect fundamentally different aspects of exchange rate policy.

    Flexible Exchange Rates as Shock Absorbers

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    This paper studies how institutional factors and systemic risks (driven by macroeconomic conditions) prevalent in emerging economies may impact market discipline among banks (traditionally understood as market responses to bank fundamentals). First, we discuss how certain institutional features of emerging economies (underdeveloped capital markets, pervasive government ownership of banks, greater guarantees, inadequate disclosure and transparency) may affect market responses to bank risk. Second, using the recent Argentine crisis as an illustration, we argue that systemic risks may exert an overwhelming impact on market behavior, overshadowing the link between the latter and bank fundamentals. Thus, market discipline, while missing in the traditional sense, may be indeed quite robust once systemic risks are factored in. We conclude that in emerging economies the analysis of market discipline should take into account the importance of institutional and systemic factors.

    Does democracy cause growth? A meta-analysis perspective

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    The relationship between democracy and economic growth has long been investigated both in the political science and in the economic literature with inconclusive outcomes. By adopting a multi-level meta-analysis framework, we tried to shed lights on this conundrum. Our hierarchical sample includes 103 studies containing 942 point-estimates. Our random effects model suggests that the sign of this relationship, albeit positive, is statistically weak. We then address the high between-studies heterogeneity by adopting meta-regression analysis models. Results are striking: the effect sizes\u2019 variance is largely driven by spatial and temporal differences in the samples, indicating that the democracy and growth nexus is not homogeneous across world regions and time periods. Conversely, the large number of control variables included in the papers, do not impact the reported results. At the same time, models estimated by means of the within estimator have a significant, albeit negative, impact on economic growth. This seems to suggest that scholars have not yet found the appropriate control variables - or their suitable proxies - to explain such widely debated relationship

    Managing financial crises in emerging market economies - experience with the involvement of private sector creditors

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    Ensuring the involvement of private sector creditors in the resolution of sovereign debt crises is crucial to ensure an effective management and orderly resolution of those crises. A review of experience gained in past financial crises suggests that crisis management practices have been largely following a case-by-case approach. This has led to some uncertainty about how the official sector addresses different types of crises, which in turn might partially account for the very mixed results achieved so far. From a global welfare perspective, the resolution of international financial crises is too costly and takes too long. Efforts to improve predictability of crisis resolution processes – through guiding debtor, creditor and official sector behaviour – could lower overall costs of such crises and bring about a better distribution of these costs. Past experience with such private sector involvement shows that, in certain cases, existing instruments have successfully contributed to minimising the economic disruptions caused by crises. However, the effective use of these instruments requires predictable and strong commitment of all parties involved. Key variables in that regard are the country’s economic fundamentals and its track record prior to the crisis, underscoring the importance of effective surveillance and crisis prevention. Success also hinges on the country’s resolve to implement necessary domestic adjustment measures. A transparent process providing for early dialogue between a debtor and its creditors also facilitates private sector involvement. Finally, the IMF plays a key role in crisis situations, as accurate and timely diagnosis by the IMF helps identify at an early stage the need for private sector involvement.Sovereign default, bond restructuring, emerging markets, financial crises, moral hazard, international financial architecture.

    Interpersonal deceit and lie-detection using computer-mediated communication

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    This thesis examines the use of computer-mediated communication for lie-detection and interpersonal deceit. The literature within the fields of lie-detection and mediated communication are reviewed and it is proposed that there is a lack of knowledge surrounding how people use CMC to deceive one another. Qualitative research was carried out in order to address this shortcoming, exploring the self-reported experiences of chat room users who have been exposed to online deceit. Reports were provided that describe the misrepresentation of age, gender, vocation, affection, and appearance. The importance of stereotypes in driving suspicions is also emphasised within the reports. It is suggested that this key characteristic has more dominance in CMC than it would do face-to-face because of the occlusion of the traditional nonstrategic clues to deceit. Evidence for an alternative set of nonstrategic leakage clues was examined further by conducting a variant of the Guilty-Knowledge test within the context of a CMC based crime. It was found that participants exhibited a response time inhibition effect when presented with 'guilty knowledge' and that this effect was detectable through a standard two-button mouse. The use of such nonstrategic cues to deceit was explored further in a study that examined how CMC might be used to add additional control to a Statement Validity Assessment truth-validation test. It was found that the content analysis technique used by SVA was unable in its present form to correctly distinguish between truthful and fabricated statements of participants interviewed using a CMC chat program. In addition, it was found that the deletion-behaviours of participants fabricating a story within CMC provided no quantitative or qualitative evidence that they were lying

    Who is engaging with lateral flow testing for COVID-19 in the UK? The COVID-19 Rapid Survey of Adherence to Interventions and Responses (CORSAIR) study

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    OBJECTIVES: To investigate uptake of lateral flow testing, reporting of test results and psychological, contextual and socio-demographic factors associated with testing. DESIGN: A series of four fortnightly online cross-sectional surveys. SETTING: Data collected from 19 April 2021 to 2 June 2021. PARTICIPANTS: People living in England and Scotland, aged 18 years or over, excluding those who reported their most recent test was a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test (n=6646, n≈1600 per survey). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Having completed at least one lateral flow test (LFT) in the last 7 days. RESULTS: We used binary logistic regressions to investigate factors associated with having taken at least one LFT. Increased uptake of testing was associated with being vaccinated (adjusted ORs (aORs)=1.52-2.45, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.07, analysed separately by vaccine dose), employed (aOR=1.94, 95% CI 1.63 to 2.32), having been out to work in the last week (aOR=2.30, 95% CI 1.94 to 2.73) and working in a sector that adopted LFT early (aOR=2.54, 95% CI 2.14 to 3.02) . Uptake was higher in people who reported cardinal COVID-19 symptoms in the last week (aOR=1.89, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.66). People who had heard more about LFTs (aOR=2.28, 95% CI 2.06 to 2.51) and knew they were eligible to receive regular LFTs (aOR=2.98, 95% CI 2.35 to 3.78) were also more likely to have tested. Factors associated with not taking a test included agreeing that you do not need to test for COVID-19 unless you have come into contact with a case (aOR=0.51, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: Uptake of lateral flow testing is low. Encouraging testing through workplaces and places of study is likely to increase uptake, although care should be taken not to pressurise employees and students. Increasing knowledge that everyone is eligible for regular asymptomatic testing and addressing common misconceptions may drive uptake

    A political ecology of bovine tuberculosis eradication in Northern Ireland

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    Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is arguably the most important animal health problem in the world. TB is endemic in the Global South, and also affects several nations and regions with highly developed cattle farming industries and statutory eradication programmes in the European Union, including Northern Ireland. The disease has implications for livestock agriculture, wildlife ecology, public health, and the national economy. In addition to scientific and technical complexities, socio-economic and socio-cultural factors affect efforts to control the disease. Disease problems such as TB at the human-nature interface are complex and indeterminate, and require innovative multidisciplinary research to find holistic and workable solutions: geography has much to contribute. This investigation uses a political ecology framework, and provides explanations for the historical and geographical patterns of the disease through a ‘chain of explanation’ approach (Blaikie & Brookfield, 1987). It utilizes political ecology, STS, rural, cultural, health, ‘more-than-human’ and veterinary literatures to produce a political ecology of animal disease control in the First World. Significantly, this account is as much about people and politics as it is about land use, technology, cattle, badgers, bacteria and disease. Conducted from the positionality of being a vet and a farmer’s son, and based on ethnographic interviews with farmers, vets, policy makers and other agricultural industry representatives, the links in the chain explain why the statutory eradication programme has not yet been successful in achieving its original aim. The disease continues to spread across the landscape and evades efforts to eradicate. The thesis shows how TB permeates time and space shaped by global economic forces, political structures, cultural practices and complex ecologies. TB, often invisible and underestimated, must be made visible again. New network structures are required to rescale governance and move closer to the target of TB eradication

    Research and Creative Activity, July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021: Major Sponsored Programs and Faculty Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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    Foreword by Bob Wilhelm, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: This booklet highlights successes in research, scholarship and creative activity by University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty during the fiscal year running July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. It lists investigators, project titles and funding sources on major grants and sponsored awards received during the year; fellowships and other recognitions and honors bestowed on our faculty; books and chapters published by faculty; performances, exhibitions and other examples of creative activity; patents and licensing agreements issued; National Science Foundation I-CORPS teams; and peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations. In recognition of the important role faculty have in the undergraduate experience at Nebraska, this booklet notes the students and mentors participating in the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) and the First-Year Research Experience (FYRE) programs. While metrics cannot convey the full impact of our work, they are tangible measures of growth. A few achievements of note: ‱ UNL achieved a record 320millionintotalresearchexpendituresinFY2020,a43‱Ourfacultyearned1,508sponsoredresearchawardsinFY2020.University−sponsoredindustryactivityalsospurredeconomicgrowthforNebraska.‱NebraskaInnovationCampuscreated1,948jobsstatewideandhadatotaleconomicimpactof320 million in total research expenditures in FY 2020, a 43% increase over the past decade. ‱ Our faculty earned 1,508 sponsored research awards in FY 2020. University-sponsored industry activity also spurred economic growth for Nebraska. ‱ Nebraska Innovation Campus created 1,948 jobs statewide and had a total economic impact of 372 million. ‱ Industry sponsorship supported 19.2millioninresearchexpenditures.‱NUtechVenturesbroughtin19.2 million in research expenditures. ‱ NUtech Ventures brought in 6.48 million in licensing income. I applaud the Nebraska Research community for its determination and commitment during a challenging year. Your hard work has made it possible for our momentum to continue growing. Our university is poised for even greater success. The Grand Challenges initiative provides a framework for developing bold ideas to solve society’s greatest issues, which is how we will have the greatest impact as an institution. Please visit research.unl.edu/grandchallenges to learn more. We’re also renewing our campus commitment to a journey of anti-racism and racial equity, which is among the most important work we’ll do. I am pleased to present this record of accomplishments. Contents Awards of 5MillionorMoreAwardsof5 Million or More Awards of 1 Million to 4,999,999Awardsof4,999,999 Awards of 250,000 to 999,99950EarlyCareerAwardsArtsandHumanitiesAwardsof999,999 50 Early Career Awards Arts and Humanities Awards of 250,000 or More Arts and Humanities Awards of 50,000to50,000 to 249,999 Arts and Humanities Awards of 5,000to5,000 to 49,999 Patents License Agreements National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Teams Creative Activity Books Recognitions and Honors Journal Articles 105 Conference Presentations UCARE and FYRE Projects Glossar

    The Interpretive Pathway of Team Decision Making

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    Organizations are increasingly making their decisions through multifunctional teams that must interpret, prioritize and discuss an issue to respond to it. Research on achievement goals and framing are each instructive for understanding part of this process. The literature on achievement goals, high-level priorities, is important for understanding team discussions and decisions but it has not found any actionable antecedents to those goals. Studies on frames, cognitive structures, demonstrates that most issues are interpreted as threats or opportunities, which impacts individual and organizational actions. However, framing research does not show how those interpretations impact team priorities or behaviors. The purpose of this dissertation is to merge the two literatures to further both of them and knowledge about team decision making. The theoretical integration suggests that frames activate achievement goals thereby affecting the collaborative behaviors that determine team decision quality. This proposition is tested in an experiment that finds that opportunity framing improves decision quality and increases interdisciplinary collaboration but that it does so through perspective taking instead of achievement goals
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