Income Inequality in Developing Countries

Globally, it is reported that the top 1 percent of income recipients receive about 15 percent of worldwide income, and the top 5 percent receive 40 percent of all income. Meanwhile, the poorest 20 percent receive only 1 percent of the global income. This paper attempts to unlock the significant factors that affect income inequality. In 1963, Simon Kuznets derived the inverted U hypothesis from which he inferred that through the course of development, as per capita income increases, initially, income inequality will increase before it starts to improve. Hence he inferred that the trend of income inequality through a country\u27s development takes the form of an inverted U. However, Kuznets\u27 inverted U is a development pattern and not a theory. Therefore, the inverted U pattern does not explain income inequality. In this study, using data on 61 countries, an inverted u pattern is found. The labor surplus model supports that the share of labor in industry and high population growth rates explain the inverted U. An explanation given by Arthur Lewis also supports that education explains the inverted U pattern. Using empirical tests, this paper addresses whether the share of labor, high population growth rates and education determine the inverted U pattern that was also found using data in this study

Competitiveness and efficiency of commercial banks and economic growth in the frontier economies of Africa

Various studies have examined the relationship between competition and efficiency in the banking sector, and others have looked at how this relates to broader economic growth. Goldsmith (1969) and King and Levine (1993), among others, consequently found that financial reform in the banking sector has led to improved efficiency and competition and, as a result, led to economic growth. Financial reform in Africa came about as a result of financial liberalization that took place during the late 1980’s. This reform process was structured to increase competition and efficiency of the financial sector. This has motivated academic inquiry into the assessment and measurement of bank efficiency, bank competition and the impact on economic growth. The literature available indicates a myriad of factors that impact upon bank efficiency and bank competition. A determinant that is scarcely addressed in the literature on Africa however is the quality of institutions. Against this background, this thesis presents a collection of empirical papers on competition, efficiency and economic growth of the banking sector in Africa. Explicitly, annual firm level data on banks from 10 frontier African countries is employed to study different economic theories using various panel data econometric methodologies. The findings reveal that the banking industry in Frontier Africa is characterised by monopolistic competition. In addition, our results may suggest that bank competition could be beneficial for economic growth. As bank competition increases via the efficiency channel, this would ultimately increase economic growth. Furthermore, we also analyse the relationship between bank competition and efficiency. We observe a positive relationship between bank competition and both profit and cost efficiency, as a consequence these findings reject the Quiet Life Hypothesis. We also observe low levels of bank efficiency and competition across the sample. However, the study finds that diversification into non-interest generating activities enables Frontier African banks increase their earnings potential. The study also looks at the quality of institutions and the impact on bank competition. Our results indicate in general, we find that regulatory quality has a positive effect on the degree of competition in the banking sector. The findings recommend that to improve economic growth, policy makers should aim at improving competitive and efficiency conditions in the banking sector because a competitive banking system will allocate resources more efficiently and spur economic growth is as a result. The focus of this policy should therefore be on competition policies, comprehensive financial liberalisation policies, macroeconomic policies and regulatory and supervisory policies

HARAPAN PEMBEBASAN : REFLEKTIF TEOLOGI HITAM MENURUT YESAYA 35:1-10 TERHADAP ORANG BERKULIT HITAM DI INDONESIA

Indonesia is known as a country rich in various races, ethnicities, cultures, religions and languages. Behind this wealth, there are problems that influence the author to raise this research, namely acts of racism experienced by black people in Indonesia. From the existing problems, the author is interested in examining more deeply the meaning of a hope for liberation for the people of Judah who were in the Babylonian Exile according to Isaiah 35:1-10 and how this is related to black theology as part of the theology of liberation against racism that occurred in black people in Indonesia. The author uses a qualitative research method using a historical-critical interpretation approach to see the condition of the people at that time and interpret this text. The result achieved by the author is that this theology will not only have an impact on the struggle against acts of racism that occur because of differences in skin color, but includes all aspects of differences that result in acts of racism and discrimination and injustice against other minority groups

A comparative study of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device acceptance between vaginal delivery and caesarean delivery of women in a 2nd tire Government hospital in West Bengal, India

Background: About third fourth of the world’s population lines in the developing countries. Indian population contributes 17.7% of world population. Family planning is key factor for declining the population. It is related to every phase of maternity cycle i.e., antenatal, intranatal, postnatal or postpartum. IUCD is one the most effective reversible contraceptive method in family planning program. Methods: It was comparative study conducted over a period of two years at Gynae & Obstetrics department in a second-tier hospital in WB in India. Total 984 women had PPIUCD insertion immediately after delivery of placenta in vaginal (group A) and caesarean section (group B) after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. All women are counseled who delivered at this hospital over the mentioned period, were included in this study. Medical eligibility criteria were used for selection.Results: Around 50% of total delivery in both groups were accepted PPIUCD. There are 68% approximately women accepted PPIUCD who delivered virginally. In primiparous women acceptance of PPIUCD was 45.5%. Acceptance of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device was significantly higher in multipara (40.8%) who delivered vaginally.Conclusions: Acceptance of PPIUCD was significantly higher in women who delivered vaginally than cesarean section in both primiparous and multiparous women. Most common cause behind this acceptance was family planning counselling and awareness program.

Performance Modelling of Consolidated Virtual Machines

With rapid and flexible resource provisioning of virtualization in data centers, problems of determining optimal virtual machine (VM) placements and dealing with virtualization overheads have emerged due to workload fluctuations and changing needs. These challenges have impacts on system performance.In this work, a performance model based on queuing theory, statistical methods and basic theories on system performance is proposed in which the researcher models the response time distribution of an application performance metric conditioned on variables that can be measured or controlled, such as system resource utilization and allocation metrics. The research also examined the relationships between virtualized CPU allocation, CPU contention, and application response time to identify the influence of CPU allocation and how it affects system performance.Comparing estimated values with measured values, empirical result shows that the proposed model validated for all the CPU allocations in the experiments conducted. The response time increases as workload increases; it is also observed from the analysis that the response time increases with low CPU. Thus by varying the CPU allocation base on business needs, am optimal point can be reached such that the CPU can be efficiently managed

A community-engaged infection prevention and control approach to Ebola.

The real missing link in Ebola control efforts to date may lie in the failure to apply core principles of health promotion: the early, active and sustained engagement of affected communities, their trusted leaders, networks and lay knowledge, to help inform what local control teams do, and how they may better do it, in partnership with communities. The predominant focus on viral transmission has inadvertently stigmatized and created fear-driven responses among affected individuals, families and communities. While rigorous adherence to standard infection prevention and control (IPC) precautions and safety standards for Ebola is critical, we may be more successful if we validate and combine local community knowledge and experiences with that of IPC medical teams. In an environment of trust, community partners can help us learn of modest adjustments that would not compromise safety but could improve community understanding of, and responses to, disease control protocol, so that it better reflects their 'community protocol' (local customs, beliefs, knowledge and practices) and concerns. Drawing on the experience of local experts in several African nations and of community-engaged health promotion leaders in the USA, Canada and WHO, we present an eight step model, from entering communities with cultural humility, though reciprocal learning and trust, multi-method communication, development of the joint protocol, to assessing progress and outcomes and building for sustainability. Using examples of changes that are culturally relevant yet maintain safety, we illustrate how often minor adjustments can help prevent and treat the most serious emerging infectious disease since HIV/AIDS

Relationship between pulmonary exacerbations and daily physical activity in adults with cystic fibrosis

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pulmonary exacerbations and physical activity (PA) in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF)

Should we abandon the APTT for monitoring unfractionated heparin?

INTRODUCTION: The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) is commonly used to monitor unfractionated heparin (UFH) but may not accurately measure the amount of heparin present. The anti-Xa assay is less susceptible to confounding factors and may be a better assay for this purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The validity of the APTT for monitoring UFH was assessed by comparing with an anti-Xa assay on 3543 samples from 475 patients (infants [n=165], children 1-15years [n=60] and adults [n=250]) receiving treatment dose UFH. RESULTS: Overall concordance was poor. The highest concordance (66%; 168/254) was seen in children. Concordance (51.8%) or discordance (48.4%) was almost equal in adult patients. Among adult patients whose anti-Xa level was within 0.3-0.7IU/mL, only 38% had an APTT in the therapeutic range whilst 56% were below and 6% were above therapeutic range. Children and adult patients with anti-Xa of 0.3-0.7IU/mL but sub- therapeutic APTT had significantly higher fibrinogen levels compared to those with therapeutic or supra-therapeutic APTT. CONCLUSIONS: When the anti-Xa level was 0.3-0.7IU/mL, the majority of samples from infants demonstrated a supra-therapeutic APTT, whilst adults tended to have a sub-therapeutic APTT. This may lead to under anticoagulation in infants or over anticoagulation in adults with risk of bleeding if APTT is used to monitor UFH. These results further strengthen existing evidence of the limitation of APTT in monitoring UFH. Discordance of APTT and anti-Xa level in adults and children may be due to elevation of fibrinogen level