Early life conditions and financial risk–taking in older age

Using life-history survey data from eleven European countries, we investigate whether childhood conditions, such as socioeconomic status, cognitive abilities and health problems influence portfolio choice and risk attitudes later in life. After controlling for the corresponding conditions in adulthood, we find that superior cognitive skills in childhood (especially mathematical abilities) are positively associated with stock and mutual fund ownership. Childhood socioeconomic status, as indicated by the number of rooms and by having at least some books in the house during childhood, is also positively associated with the ownership of stocks, mutual funds and individual retirement accounts, as well as with the willingness to take financial risks. On the other hand, less risky assets like bonds are not affected by early childhood conditions. We find only weak effects of childhood health problems on portfolio choice in adulthood. Finally, favorable childhood conditions affect the transition in and out of risky asset ownership, both by making divesting less likely and by facilitating investing (i.e., transitioning from non-ownership to ownership)

Early Life Conditions and Financial Risk–Taking in Older Age

Using life-history survey data from eleven European countries, we investigate whether childhood conditions, such as socioeconomic status, cognitive abilities and health problems influence portfolio choice and risk attitudes later in life. After controlling for the corresponding conditions in adulthood, we find that superior cognitive skills in childhood (especially mathematical abilities) are positively associated with stock and mutual fund ownership. Childhood socioeconomic status, as indicated by the number of rooms and by having at least some books in the house during childhood, is also positively associated with the ownership of stocks, mutual funds and individual retirement accounts, as well as with the willingness to take financial risks. On the other hand, less risky assets like bonds are not affected by early childhood conditions. We find only weak effects of childhood health problems on portfolio choice in adulthood. Finally, favorable childhood conditions affect the transition in and out of risky asset ownership, both by making divesting less likely and by facilitating investing (i.e., transitioning from non-ownership to ownership).Portfolio Choice, Childhood Socio-economic Status, Cognition, Health, Financial Risk

Financing smallholder agriculture: an experiment with agent-intermediated microloans in India

We explore the hypothesis that traditional joint-liability microfinance programs fail to increase borrower incomes in part because they cannot screen out unproductive borrowers. In randomly selected villages in West Bengal, India, we implemented trader-agent-intermediated lending (TRAIL), in which local trader-lender agents were incentivized through repayment-based commissions to select borrowers for individual liability loans. In other randomly selected villages, we organized a group-based lending (GBL) program in which individuals formed 5-member groups and received joint liability loans. TRAIL loans increased the production of the leading cash crop by 27% and farm incomes by 22%. GBL loans had insignificant effects. We develop and test a theoretical model of borrower selection and incentives. Farmers selected by the TRAIL agents were more able than those who self-selected into the GBL scheme; this pattern of selection explains at least 30–40% of the observed difference in income impacts.Accepted manuscrip

Teologia de fronteira: encontros com a gnose liminar de Walter Mignolo

1º Congresso Internacional Epistemologias do Sul: perspectivas críticas - 7 a 9 de novembro de 2016, realizada pela Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA).Desde os anos 70 do século XX, o deslocamento migratório tem provocado, além de transformações demográficas, impactos sociais em várias partes do mundo diante do surgimento de situações limites de tolerância. As sociedades mais ricas do planeta, detentoras do poder e do conhecimento, agora são provocadas à convivência com o “outro”, que até então vivia distante, seguramente domesticado. O “outro”, considerado subalterno, ex-colonizado, passa a ocupar os mesmos espaços cotidianamente com aqueles que o dominavam. Os lugares até então frequentados por uma elite branca, heterossexual, cristã e com poder aquisitivo alto passa a receber também pessoas portadoras de diversidades raciais, de gênero, de outras matrizes religiosas, pluricultural e socioeconômica. Essa situação provoca tensões e traz consigo valores que colocam sob suspeita “as verdades” apreendidas. Abre-se um novo embate teórico e prático, seja da parte dos ex-colonizados, seja na perspectiva dos antigos colonizadores, sobre os valores e o conhecimento tradicional impostos pela cultura eurocêntrica e/ou estadunidense

Central retinal vein occlusion associated with high blood levels of lipoprotein (a). Is lipoprotein (a) a reliable marker for identification of predisposed individuals?

AbstractTo report a case of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) associated with abnormal elevation of Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] plasma levels, without local or systemic risk factors.A 74-year-old man was referred to our department for cataract surgery in his left eye, and his anamnesis was negative for systemic diseases. Two months later, the patient presented with sudden visual loss in his operated eye, and comprehensive ophthalmic examination was performed, including Fluorescein Angiography (FA) and Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT). Serum concentrations of anticardiolipin and antiphospholipids antibodies, homocysteine and Lp(a) were measured.Ophthalmoscopy showed the classic features of acute CRVO, FA and OCT confirmed the initial diagnosis. Blood tests were negative for hyperhomocysteinemia, anticardiolipin and antiphospholipids antibodies, and an abnormal Lp(a) plasma concentration of 1.7g/L was found. The patient was sent to the internist for further investigation and treatment.Lp(a) can be an useful marker for early identification of predisposed individuals to CRVO and may be involved in its pathogenesis, presumably through its pro-atherogenic and antifibrinolytic action

Mobile Devices to Bridge the Gap in VET: Ease of Use and Usefulness as Indicators for Their Acceptance

In the dual-track Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, apprentices gain experiences in different learning locations (i.e. workplace and school) but the bridges between these experiences are difficult to construct. Mobile devices could help to promote connectivity across learning contexts, provided they are accepted by the various persons and institutions involved. Ease of use and usefulness, here interpreted as the main elements of usability in the large, are indicators of the acceptance of mobiles. We involved apprentices from three different professional fields – cooks, pastry cooks and car mechanics – and two different mobile devices – headband cameras and smartphones. These devices served to capture visual material on professional situations lived at the workplace. Different software applications were then used to allow such material to be brought to school and discussed with teachers and classmates or shared with supervisors at work. To evaluate the usability of such tools we used a five-section questionnaire mainly based on the TAM and UTATUT model, which had been adequately adapted to the peculiarity of the VET system. Results confirm the feasibility of the approach and the usability of both tools: no significant difference is shown, neither between the two devices in the same field, nor between the different professions with respect to the same device. These results underline the potential of mobile devices to foster connectivity between learning locations in VET

Measuring the Effectiveness of National Enforcers in the IFRS Context: A Proactive Approach

It is widely acknowledged that an effective enforcement system represents a crucial element to achieve significant improvements in financial reporting through the adoption of high-quality accounting standards. Indeed, the quality of financial reporting is considerably influenced not only by the standards to be adopted but also by their actual implementation, and consequently by enforcement mechanisms.The topic has generated considerable interest among scholars, who devoted their attention to developing different measures of the quality of the enforcement system. Building upon this literature, this paper aims at exploring the accounting enforcement system and focuses on controls over financial reporting considering two levels, namely the auditing activity and the controls performed by national enforcers.This paper extends the prior literature by proposing a dynamic measure of the accounting enforcement system capturing controls at those two levels. More specifically, the index here proposed focuses on the quality of the accounting enforcement operated by national enforcers in terms of proactivity, intended as the national enforcers’ capability to detect problems not highlighted in the auditors’ opinions, thus shifting the focus from an input to an output perspective. Indeed, the activities of auditors and national enforcers are strictly connected, given that the auditors’ opinion is the first public output of accounting controls and that is normally one of the bases for further investigation by national enforcers. An illustrative empirical analysis is carried out on the German and the Italian contexts to show the potential of the index for enforcement studies.</jats:p

How Often and for What Purposes Apprentices Seek Help in Workplaces: A Mobile Technology-Assisted Study

In the ‘dual' system of vocational training, working in company represents the major part of training. At the workplace, apprentices are expected to acquire the typical skills of their profession but, at the same time, to contribute to the production of the company. For this reason apprentices are expected to carry out activities on their own from early on in their training and to ask for help only when they need it. Learning to ask questions and to seek help appropriately is, therefore, an important competence for learners to acquire during vocational training, just as it is important for the company to offer the learner every opportunity to ask for help when needed. In this study, we used mobile phones to follow at a distance 19 apprentices in car mechanics at the workplace. We then analyzed a corpus of approximately 77 hours of work, in search of all questions and requests they addressed during this time. Data show that requests for information are twice as frequent as requests for assistance (i.e. intervention or physical help) and that all together, requests are introduced more often by more advanced apprentices than by those in the early stages of their training. These findings are linked with the facts that: a) bringing apprentices to be autonomous early in their work is a deciding factor of the philosophy of work in many of the enterprises training apprentices, b) more advanced apprentices are given more complex tasks to work on, c) more advanced apprentices work more is often undertaken in collaboration with an expert car mechanics and d) questions and requests for help are more likely to be addressed when working collaboratively than when working alone. These findings are interpreted as evidences of a natural regulation which takes place at the workplace between the learner's engagement and the workplace affordance

Optical Crosstalk in InGaAs/InP SPAD Array: Analysis and Reduction with FIB-Etched Trenches

This letter describes the reduction of optical crosstalk by means of focused ion beam-etched trenches in InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diode arrays. Platinum-filled trenches have been fabricated in a linear array in order to limit the direct optical crosstalk between neighboring pixels. Experimental measurements prove that optical crosstalk has been reduced by ∼60 % thanks to a strong suppression of direct optical paths. An optical model is introduced in order to describe the main contributions to crosstalk and to validate measurements