Fuel subsidies versus market power : is there a countervailing second-best optimum?

Fuel subsidies distort end-use prices below cost, resulting in overconsumption and huge environmental cost. On the other hand, the mark-up over cost due to the exercise of market power results in the social loss of consumer surplus. We open a new line of inquiry into the potential for a market-based solution from these two countervailing forces: can the two offsetting distortions conceivably achieve a second- best optimum? Relying on dynamic panel techniques and gasoline market data for 68 developing countries, we uncover an excessive second-best subsidy offset to market power mark-up on the order of 4.5. Our results indicate that the potential for policy failure strongly exceeds the potential for market failure in our model, and gasoline prices across our sample may not be aligned with vigorous anti-climate change policy

Examining the Association Between Hurricane and Crime Engagement in Louisiana

Natural disasters have become a lot more widespread in the United States of America, whereby a lot more attention is warranted toward the resulting social ills and the subsequent crime rates, a degree that has spawned an overabundance of studies, including this particular publication. Meanwhile, the effects that natural disasters usually have on an economy are not very well understood by society. Instead, it is generally assumed that economic growth, and businesses, for example, declines shortly after the occurrence of a particular disaster, while crime slowly increases to pre-disaster and post-disaster levels over time. The study used secondary sources of data between the years of 1995 and 2015 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s - Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Following the ravaged caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and in an attempt to prevent a similar occurrence in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette,  in the future, this study tends to examine the association between hurricane disasters and crime in general. The analysis of the crime data in the midst of Hurricanes from 1995 to 2015 has underscored that there is a high association between Hurricanes (i.e. natural disaster) and crime in general. This may be attributed to insufficient adequate preparedness towards natural disaster. Above all, the study recommends that the State of Louisiana should come out with a comprehensive urban design for restoring Louisiana from flood or Hurricane disasters. Such a comprehensive crime defensive urban design must incorporate a workable public policy for the benefit and satisfaction of the people as well as to ensure care for the environment. Keywords: Hurricane, Disasters, Storm, Crime, and Growth DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/87-04 Publication date:July 31st 201

Stratocracy Theory of Governance and Development in Nigeria: Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo Administrations as a Model

The study is quantitative in nature and involves hypotheses testing. This particular study is testing the stratocracy theory of government and development. Ratio scale variables were used for the data analysis. The researcher used paired sample t-test to compare the means of the different regimes under stratocracy system of governance. The paired sample t-test is used because the researcher is tasked to examine Olusegun Obasanjo’s contribution to development at two different times. In other words, the researcher has two measurements (civilian and military) on the same item (stratocracy), and person (Olusegun Obasanjo). The paper used secondary sources of data from World Bank and other development journals and publications by grouping them based on the two different times of ruling (1976-1980 and 1999-2003). A sample of 10 periods was used in the analysis [i.e. 5 for each regime]. Two variables were used in the analysis, namely: (1) overall economic growth rates, and (2) healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP. As part of the study findings, the researcher fails to reject the stratocracy hypothesis with respect to the overall economic growth rates between the two different administrations [military or civilian] under Olusegun Obasanjo periods of governance. This implies that the type of Olusegun Obasanjo governance and his contribution to economic growth can be termed as stratocracy system of government. The researcher concluded that stratocracy is very important in ensuring economic growth because it is characterized by a political philosophy which holds that certain things, such as economic goods or power, should be vested in individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than factors such as sexuality, race, gender, or wealth. This system of government needs to be promoted. Keywords: Stratocracy, Governance, Development, GDP, Economic growth, and Healthcare Expenditure DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/68-0

Examining Implementation of Policy Effects on Coronavirus (Covid-19) in United State of America

This particular study examines public policy implementation theories on the various interventions to combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As underscored in the literature COVID-19 is perceived to be a respiratory disease caused by a novel Coronavirus. The virus was first noticed in Wuhan in China. This global killer-COVID-19 has caused many countries, including the United States of America, to get on rigorous policies measures to help contain the spread. Some of the perceived preventive measures taken by the United States of America include travel restrictions, official and self quarantines, postponements of events facility closures and curfews.  All these are possible immediate solution proposed by healthcare experts and professionals to flatten the COVID-19 curve.  As a result of adding to public policy literature and to also assist policymaker to understand the implication of their choice of intervention procedures, the study uses the two main approaches of policy or program implementation-top-down and bottom-up to all governors, decision makers on possible ways to approach pandemic issues.  In the face of this COVID-19 pandemic, the study recommended that all preventive care, possible treatment tools (or medication), screening and if possible vaccination must be either free or demanded at a subsidized rate in order make eradication possible (see Table 1 for more details). Keywords: Theory, Implementation, Policies, Coronavirus, Eradication, Preventive, Interventions, Subsidy, Health, Healthcare, Practitioners, Respiratory. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/96-14 Publication date: April 30th 202

Repackaging Louisiana’s Crawfish Production and Marketing to Generate Revenue and Employment

Louisiana accounts for 90% to 95% of the total U.S. production of Crawfish from year to year, either from wild waters of the state, or on farms. Even though, the commercial sales of crawfish in Louisiana date back to the late 1800s—the state is still actively engaged in crawfish industry to provide millions of pounds harvested from farms and natural waterways in the Bayou State. The harvesting of wild crawfish from natural habitats such as bayous, swamps and marshes provides a significant number of jobs for Louisiana residents. The Atchafalaya Basin is world famous for its crawfish production. More than 800 commercial fishermen harvest crawfish from wetlands, mostly in the Atchafalaya Basin. The governor making an attempt to set the favorable environment and also give incentives to the crawfish farmers may boost its production to add to the GDP of the economy. Because revenue generation and employment diversification are very critical to the state of Louisiana, this particular study is devoted to unearth the numerous repackaging techniques for Louisiana crawfish production and its marketing strategies to assist the state in diversifying or broaden its revenue base and employment avenues to ensure growth and development. As a result the study used 200 sample size of crawfish farmers across the state of Louisiana. To better inform policymakers, the study used binomial logistic regression to analyze the perceived determinants of crawfish production in Louisiana. The study found out that the Louisiana State can diversify its marketing strategies to employ more people to work on the promotion of the crawfish production in the state of Louisiana. The following marketing strategies (deployment, channel management, contact database, email marketing, event triggered actions, lead management, multi-campaign and the use of social media platform) revealed in the study to assist the state of Louisiana to improve upon it employment avenues through sales and also expected to generate more revenue for the state through taxes. The study reveals that crawfish farmers continue to be in business due to the following factors: price/profit, government regulations, transport assistance, and the market trends/demand for the product. The study further revealed that repackaging the Louisiana crawfish farming will lead to revenue generation, employment creation, cultural enrichment & promotion and also improve upon the export earnings associated with crawfish products. Above all, the study strongly recommends that the governors and the federal government should support the repackaging of the old marketing tools used by the farmers to adapt to the modern forms of sales-marketing in order to enhance more jobs creation and also promote the sales of the crawfish products to boost the nation’s GDP and revenue generation. Keywords: Employment, Revenue, Crawfish, Logistic Regression, Regulations, Sales, Cultural, and Transport DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-12-05 Publication date:June 30th 202

The Effect of L-Proline on Two Recombinant AMPA Glutamate Receptors

L-proline is a non-essential amino acid and one of the major amino acid constituents of extracellular fluid. Specific mutations in genes that control proline metabolism lead to hyperprolinemia which is characterized by an increase in the level of blood and cerebrospinal fluid concentration of l-proline. In fact, deletion or mutation of the PRODH gene which codes for proline oxidase (POX) / proline dehydrogenase which is critical for proline metabolism leads to Type I hyperprolinemia and is strongly associated with schizophrenia, autism and mental retardation. Proline has previously been shown to be a low affinity agonist at glutamate and glycine receptors. Because schizophrenia is thought to arise from glutamate receptor hypofunction and l-proline can act at glutamate receptors, it is necessary to understand whether increase in l-proline can contribute to glutamate receptor hypofunction. The aim of this research was to determine the pharmacological profile of physiological and pathophysiological relevant concentrations of l-proline at two recombinant AMPA receptors: homomeric GluR1 and heteromeric GluR1/2. Dose response to l-proline (concentrations of 3 µM – 10 mM) at homomeric GluR1 and heteromeric GluR1/2 receptors were determined and compared to saturating concentration of glutamate (10 mM). The effect of tonically present physiological (3 µM) or pathophysiological (30 µM) levels of l-proline on glutamate-evoked responses at both receptor types were also determined. This research supports previous findings that l-proline is a low affinity agonist at glutamate receptors activating less than 5 % of current elicited by a saturating concentration of glutamate (10 mM). Tonically present pathophysiological concentration of l-proline was observed to lead to a decrease in glutamate activation of homomeric GluR1 but not heteromeric GluR1/2 receptors. This decrease in glutamate-induced current was blocked by the application of 0.1 mM cyclothiazide indicating that at pathophysiological concentrations l-proline leads to selective desensitization of GluR1 receptors. These actions of l-proline may be relevant for understanding how hyperprolinemia contributes to glutamate receptor hypofunction in schizophrenia

Strengthening the Human Development Indicators to Minimize the Health inequity and Health Disparities in United States of America: A case in Point of the African-American Community

This study examines the following Human Development Indicators such as education, income, poverty, employment and other growth factors and their respective relationship with health equity and equality. The study used 2017 US Census Bureau and 2017 US Department of Health datasets for the examination. The study examines the datasets related to the top ten (10) United States of America states dominated by African-American Population. The study revealed that health inequity leads to health disparities. Therefore, ensuring equal access to health insurance, education, resources, employment and many other human growth and development indicators are more likely to improve the lives of the citizens across the different racial groups in the nation.  Because the finding is attributing the high disparities to health inequity in the ten (10) states, including unequal access to health care and other human development growth indicators such as income, employment and education. Therefore, the study recommends that federal government, policymakers, lawmakers, governors and mayors should collaborate with local, regional, state, and national partners from public health and social justice communities to advance health equity, and to help solidify a movement for progressive health equity practice; promote the work of other health departments to make the case for investing in health equity work; work with community organizers to train health department staff on the principles and practices of community organizing; hold provider networks and other public health system partners accountable for advancing health equity; and finally, listen and learn from broader social movements to better understand their issues, processes, and narratives, and how they can build power and motivate their base to ensure health equity. Keyword: Health, Disparities, HDI, Employment, Income, Education, Insurance, Inequity, and Poverty DOI: 10.7176/JPID/54-06 Publication date:June 30th 202

Three essays on rebound effects

This thesis investigates three major aspects of energy consumption rebound effects (RE) in three papers. More specifically, the issues addressed are (i) the magnitude of economy-wide rebound effect (ii) the role of energy policy instruments in mitigating it and (iii) its channels of impact. The research begins with the estimation of cross-country economy-wide rebound effects for a panel of 55 countries over the period 1980 to 2010. A two-stage approach is utilized in which energy efficiency is first estimated from a stochastic input distance frontier (SIDF). The estimated energy efficiency is then used in a second stage dynamic panel model to derive short-run and long-run RE for an array of developing and developed countries. The cross-country point estimates indicate substantial RE magnitudes across sampled countries during the period under consideration, although a positive and encouraging finding is the declining RE trend across most of the sampled countries during the study period. The second paper contains an RE benchmark for 19 EU countries, as well as an investigation of the effects of two energy policy instruments (energy taxes and ener-gy R&D) on RE performance over the period 1995 to 2010. The results indicate that RE performance improved over the sample period, reinforcing the results from paper one. In addition, there is also some evidence suggesting that binding market-based instruments such as energy taxes have been more effective in restricting RE than in-direct instruments such as energy R&D during the period under consideration. This is consistent across both estimated model specifications. An important observation from the first essay is the slightly larger average RE across the non-OECD countries. For this reason, the last empirical chapter evaluated the channels through which RE stimulated energy use across productive sectors of major developing/emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and China. To achieve this, the essay relied on duality theory to decompose changes in energy demand into substitution and output effects through the estimation of a trans-log cost function using data spanning 1995-2009. Findings reveal that energy use elasticities across sampled sectors/countries are dominated by substitution effects. One intriguing result that also emerges from this analysis is the role of economies of scale and factor accumulation, rather than technical progress, in giving rise to eco-nomic growth and energy consumption in these countries during the period under consideration