Survival and Success among African Manufacturing Firms

Recent reforms in most African economies of their trading and exchange rate regimes have eliminated much of the protection which previously limited competition. Despite these reforms, African manufacturing firms remain unsuccessful, particularly in international export markets. In this paper we consider the roles of learning, competition and market imperfections in determining three aspects of firm performance, namely firm exit, firm growth and productivity growth. We use a pooled panel data set of firms in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania that spans a period of five years. We find that the main determinant of exit is firm size, with small firms having much higher exit rates than large ones.Productivity impacts on firm survival among large firms, but not among small firms. Reasons for this result are discussed. We find evidence that, among surviving firms, old firms grow slower than young firms, which is interpreted as evidence consistent with market constraints limiting growth of firms in Africa. We find no evidence that larger firms have faster rates of productivity or input growth, or are more efficient in the sense of benefiting from scale economies. We also find that competitive pressure enhances productivity growth. Given that one of the objectives of the reform programmes implemented in all three countries was to stimulate higher efficiency levels, this finding shows that one aspect of the reform programme has been successful.

Survival and Success among African Manufacturing Firms

Recent reforms in most African economies of their trading and exchange rate regimes have eliminated much of the protection which previously limited competition. Despite these reforms, African manufacturing firms remain unsuccessful, particularly in international export markets. In this paper we consider the roles of learning, competition and market imperfections in determining three aspects of firm performance, namely firm exit, firm growth and productivity growth. We use a pooled panel data set of firms in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania that spans a period of five years. We find that the main determinant of exit is firm size, with small firms having much higher exit rates than large ones. Productivity impacts on firm survival among large firms, but not among small firms. Reasons for this result are discussed. We find evidence that, among surviving firms, old firms grow slower than young firms, which is interpreted as evidence consistent with market constraints limiting growth of firms in Africa. We find no evidence that larger firms have faster rates of productivity or input growth, or are more efficient in the sense of benefiting from scale economies. We also find that competitive pressure enhances productivity growth. Given that one of the objectives of the reform programmes implemented in all three countries was to stimulate higher efficiency levels, this finding shows that one aspect of the reform programme has been successful.

Introducing the modified paranormal belief scale: distinguishing between classic paranormal beliefs, religious paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity among undergraduates in Northern Ireland and Wales

Previous empirical studies concerned with the association between paranormal beliefs and conventional religiosity have produced conflicting evidence. Drawing on Rice's (2003) distinction between classic paranormal beliefs and religious paranormal beliefs, the present study proposed a modified form of the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale to produce separate scores for these two forms of paranormal belief, styled 'religious paranormal beliefs' and 'classic paranormal beliefs'. Data provided by a sample of 143 undergraduate students in Northern Ireland and Wales, who completed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity alongside the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, demonstrated that conventional religiosity is positively correlated with religious paranormal beliefs, but independent of classic paranormal beliefs. These findings provide a clear framework within which previous conflicting evidence can be interpreted. It is recommended that future research should distinguish clearly between these two forms of paranormal beliefs and that the Tobacyk Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale should be routinely modified to detach the four religious paranormal belief items from the total scale score

Religious orientation, mental health and culture : conceptual and empirical perspectives

This special edition of Mental Health, Religion and Culture brings together thirteen original empirical studies that employ theories and measures based on the notion of ‘religious orientation’. As originally conceived, Allport’s notion of religious orientation distinguished between the two motivational styles of intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity. Subsequent work distinguished between extrinsic-personal and extrinsic social motivations, and added the third orientation styled as quest religiosity. The first set of seven studies draws on a variety of measures of religious orientation developed since the mid-1960s, including single-item measures. The second set of six studies draws on the New Indices of Religious Orientation proposed by Francis in 2007. Collectively these studies confirm the continuing vitality of the notion of religious orientation for informing empirical research within the psychology of religion and strengthen the foundation for future work in this area

Integrins affecting mechanical strain-induced expression of egr-1 in vascular smooth muscle cells

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29).Integrins are transmembrane proteins that anchor cells to the extracellular matrix, ECM, and they are thought to play a very important role in the transmission of signals between the ECM and the cell. The cells of interest in this study are the vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells, specifically the mouse aortic VSM cells, which are constantly under cyclic mechanical strain. It has been shown in previous studies that this strain induces proliferation of the cells by autocrine action of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF). The PDGF promoter contains a binding site for the transcription factor, early growth response gene-1 (Egr-1). It was previously shown that when the cell undergoes cyclic mechanical strain, Egr-1 mRNA expression is significantly increased. The scope of this study is to determine the integrins that are involved in the mechanical signaling via cyclic mechanical strain. Introducing neutralizing antibodies that block the function of the integrins and subjecting VSM cells to mechanical strain with the Flexercell strain unit may lead to the deduction of the integrins that are involved in transmitting the signal to increase Egr-1 mRNA expression. Egr-1 expression would be expected to decrease when the integrin that is transducing the strain response is blocked. The RT-PCR procedure was developed and used for determination of Egr- 1 mRNA expression through the course of this study. There are still many problems that must be assessed before the integrin may deduced. Problems in the procedure including antibody concentrations, in the handling of cells and RNA, and in the basal expression of the Egr-1 mRNA arose through the course of the study. From the latest experiment and from previous studies by Wilson et al., it is suggested that the b3 subunit and thus the anb3 integrin may be responsible for transducing the mechanical strain signal and increasing Egr-1 mRNA expression

American Protestantism and world politics, 1898-1960: a typological approach to the functions of religion in the decision-making processes of foreign policy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityProblem. It is the primary problem of the dissertation to develop a schematic and comprehensive approach to the empirical study of the relationships between Protestantism and American foreign policy in the modern period, 1898-1960. There is a secondary and normative concern: to define these relationships in such a way as to guide the most fruitful further research and the most responsible reliiious action. After 1898, American foreign policy increasingly came to require a "total diplomacy." At the same time, Protestantism was developing a "total religion." This parallel expansion of national interests and religious interests to ultimate boundaries made the relationships between them complex beyond the ready apprehension of leaders and scholars in both politics and reli gion. Neither the ethicists nor the empirical students of religion have developed a theoretical structure adequate for the understanding of religious behavior in world politics. [TRUNCATED

The treatment of tuberculosis in Ireland from the 1890s to the 1970s a case study of medical care in Leinster

In the late nineteenth century tuberculosis was endemic in Ireland being responsible for more deaths than any other single cause. There was no medical cure for the disease, although various treatment regimes were tried, some with modest success. In the decade to 1891, 103,314 deaths were attributed to the disease, a ratio of one in every 8.5 deaths. By the late 1960s the contribution of tuberculosis to mortality statistics was insignificant. In 1970, 221 persons died from tuberculosis in the Republic of Ireland, a ratio of one in every 152.4 deaths. In terms of medical disease statistics, this fall in mortality was spectacular. This thesis sets out to explore what was behind this dramatic change. It will do so by examining in detail the key international and national developments pertaining to the treatment of tuberculosis. How did the international understanding of tuberculosis evolve and how did this in turn influence the development of facilities to manage the disease? What models of treatment were followed in Ireland and did they contribute to effecting the change? In what way did the political system retard or accelerate the process of change