Finance, growth, and public policy

Development economists have long argued that modern financial markets are important to growth and that financial repression is a serious obstacle to progress in many developing countries. The authors consider the relationship between finance and growth and the appropriate role of government policy. Many economists have stressed how problems of asymmetric information and contract enforcement impede the functioning of financial markets in developing countries. In addition, they try to elaborate on these theories to make them relevant to policymakers. Information gaps and enforcement frictions introduce a premium in the cost of external funds. Factors such as the borrower's financial health, the efficiency of financial intermediation, and the ease of enforcing private financial contracts govern the size of this premium. How financial factors contribute to development may be understood along these lines. Financial contracts and institutions should be designed to minimize this premium.Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance

Alcohol consumption is associated with increased all-cause mortality in Russian men and women: a cohort study based on the mortality of relatives

Objectives: To examine the relationships between frequency of alcohol consumption and of binge drinking and adult mortality in Russian men and women.Methods : Using modified indirect demographic techniques, a convenience cohort was constructed based on survey respondents? information about their close relatives. A random sample general population of the Russian Federation of 7172 respondents (response rate 61%) provided information on 10475 male and 3129 female relatives, including age, vital status and frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking. These relatives formed the cohort analysed in this report. The outcome measure was all-cause mortality after the age of 30 years.Findings: There was a strong linear relationship between frequency of drinking and of binge drinking and all-cause mortality in men; after controlling for smoking and calendar period of birth, the relative risk of death in daily drinkers compared to occasional drinkers was 1.52 (95% CI 1.33 ?1.75). Male binge drinkers had higher mortality than drinkers who did not binge, which persisted after adjustment for drinking frequency (adjusted RR 1.09 (1.00-1.19). In women, the increased mortality was confined to a small group of those who binged at least once a month (adjusted relative risk 2.68, 1.54-4.66). Conclusions: The results suggest a positive association between alcohol and mortality in Russia. There was no evidence for the protective effect of drinking seen in western populations. Alcohol appears to have contributed to the high long-term mortality rates in Russian men, but it is unlikely to be a major cause of female mortality. Objectives: To examine the relationships between frequency of alcohol consumption and of binge drinking and adult mortality in Russian men and women.Methods : Using modified indirect demographic techniques, a convenience cohort was constructed based on survey respondents? information about their close relatives. A random sample general population of the Russian Federation of 7172 respondents (response rate 61%) provided information on 10475 male and 3129 female relatives, including age, vital status and frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking. These relatives formed the cohort analysed in this report. The outcome measure was all-cause mortality after the age of 30 years.Findings: There was a strong linear relationship between frequency of drinking and of binge drinking and all-cause mortality in men; after controlling for smoking and calendar period of birth, the relative risk of death in daily drinkers compared to occasional drinkers was 1.52 (95% CI 1.33 ?1.75). Male binge drinkers had higher mortality than drinkers who did not binge, which persisted after adjustment for drinking frequency (adjusted RR 1.09 (1.00-1.19). In women, the increased mortality was confined to a small group of those who binged at least once a month (adjusted relative risk 2.68, 1.54-4.66). Conclusions: The results suggest a positive association between alcohol and mortality in Russia. There was no evidence for the protective effect of drinking seen in western populations. Alcohol appears to have contributed to the high long-term mortality rates in Russian men, but it is unlikely to be a major cause of female mortality

Incoherent pion photoproduction on the deuteron with polarization observables I: Formal expressions

Formal expressions are developed for the general five-fold differential cross section of incoherent $\pi$-photoproduction on the deuteron including beam and target polarization. The polarization observables of the cross section are described by various beam, target and beam-target asymmetries for polarized photons and/or polarized deuterons. They are given as bilinear hermitean forms in the reaction matrix elements divided by the unpolarized cross section. In addition, the corresponding observables for the semi-exclusive reaction $\vec d(\vec \gamma,\pi)NN$ are also given.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Beyond the random phase approximation: Stimulated Brillouin backscatter for finite laser coherence times

We develop a statistical theory of stimulated Brillouin backscatter (BSBS) of a spatially and temporally partially incoherent laser beam for laser fusion relevant plasma. We find a new collective regime of BSBS (CBSBS) with intensity threshold controlled by diffraction, an insensitive function of the laser coherence time, $T_c$, once light travel time during $T_c$ exceeds a laser speckle length. The BSBS spatial gain rate is approximately the sum of that due to CBSBS, and a part which is independent of diffraction and varies linearly with $T_c$. We find that the bandwidth of KrF-laser-based fusion systems would be large enough to allow additional suppression of BSBS.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1105.209