Natural Resource Endowment and Sustainable Development Linkage in Ethiopia

Natural resource endowment in many economies of the world became a curse rather than blessing. The purpose of this study is to examine the link between natural resource endowment and sustainable development in Ethiopia over the period 1981 to 2016 using an Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modeling approach. The findings suggest that natural resource endowment has no significant effect on sustainable development (measured by adjusted net national income) in Ethiopia in the long run but it has a statistically significant negative effect in the short run, supporting the hypothesis in the resource curse literature. Among the other variables included in the model of sustainable development, investment (gross capital formation) and human capital are found to have a significant positive effect while debt servicing is found to affect sustainable development in Ethiopia negatively in the long run. On the other hand, population growth and trade openness are found to have a statistically significant negative effect on sustainable development in Ethiopia both in the long run and short run. Policies towards increasing the human capital stock in the country, among others, are the policy options that the government could work on so as to tackle the possible problems of natural resource curse and achieve sustainable development goals in the country. Keywords: Natural Resources Endowment; Sustainable Development; Resource Curse; Ethiopia. DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/63-03 Publication date:March 31st 202

Optimal barrier subdivision for Kramers' escape rate

We examine the effect of subdividing the potential barrier along the reaction coordinate on Kramers' escape rate for a model potential. Using the known supersymmetric potential approach, we show the existence of an optimal number of subdivisions that maximises the rate.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, To appear in Pramana - J. Phys, Indi

Noise-created bistability and stochastic resonance of impurities diffusing in a semiconductor layer

We investigate the dynamics of impurities walking along a semiconductor layer assisted by thermal noise of strength $D$ and external harmonic potential $V(x)$. Applying a nonhomogeneous hot temperature in the vicinity of the potential minimum may modify the external potential into a bistable effective potential. We propose the ways of mobilizing and eradicating the unwanted impurities along the semiconductor layer. Furthermore, the thermally activated rate of hopping for the impurities as a function of the model parameters is studied in high barrier limit. Via two state approximation, we also study the stochastic resonance (SR) of the impurities dynamics where the same noise source that induces the dynamics also induces the transition from mono-stable to bistable state which leads to SR in the presence of time varying field.Comment: Accepted for publication in EPJ

Impacts of saving and credit cooperatives in sustaining the livelihoods of its members in Elfeta Woreda, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Saving and credit cooperatives play a great role in the livelihood of rural communities. Yet their role varies across cooperatives and places. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the impacts of saving and credit cooperatives in improving the livelihoods of its members’ in Elfeta district. The study employed descriptive research design, and both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data were collected from 146 members through scheduled interview and 3 key informant interviews. The result of the study indicated that the major source of livelihoods of respondents was agriculture alone (i.e.,62.32%). The cooperative in the study area were established mainly for delivering credit services to its members’, with the role of poverty reduction followed by employment creation. The study also indicated that saving and credit cooperatives were facing lack of awareness and knowledge, lack of access to credit facilities and poor management as major challenges hindering their role in poverty alleviation. Therefore, the government and the other financial sectors should provide support to cooperatives, which could allow them to expand and diversify their business operations

Effect of Landauer's blowtorch on the equilibration rate in a bistable potential

Kinetic aspect of Landauer's blowtorch effect is investigated for a model double-well potential with localized heating. Using the supersymmetric approach, we derive an approximate analytical expression for the equilibration rate as function of the strength, width and the position of the hot zone, and the barrier height. We find that the presence of the hot zone enhances the equilibration rate, which is found to be an increasing function of the strength and width of the hot zone. Our calculations also reveal an intriguing result, namely, that placing the hot zone away from the top of the potential barrier enhances the rate more than when it is placed close to it. A physically plausible explanation for this is attempted. The above analytical results are borne out by detailed numerical solution of the associated Smoluchowski equation for the inhomogeneous medium.Comment: 15 pages in LaTeX format and 6 figures in postscript E-Mail : [email protected] [email protected]

Machine Learning of Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in an Ising Model on Square Lattice

This paper presents the investigation of convolutional neural network (CNN) prediction successfully recognizing the temperature of the non-equilibrium phases and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) Ising spins on square-lattice. The model uses image snapshots of ferromagnetic 2D spin configurations as an input shape to provide the average out put predictions. By considering supervised machine learning techniques, we perform the (modified) Metropolis Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to generate the equilibrium (and non-equilibrium) configurations. In equilibrium Ising model, the Metropolis algorithm respects detailed balance condition (DBC), while its modified non-equilibrium version violates the DBC. Violating the DBC of the algorithm is characterized by a parameter $-8 < \varepsilon < 8$. We find the exact result of the transition temperature in terms of $\varepsilon$. This solution is used to encode the two (high-and low-temperature) phases through an order parameter of the model. If we set $\varepsilon = 0$, the usual single spin flip algorithm can be restored and the equilibrium configurations (training dataset) generated with such set up are used to train our model. For $\varepsilon \neq 0$, the system attains the non-equilibrium steady states (NESS), and the modified algorithm generates NESS configurations (test dataset), not defined by Boltzmann distribution. Finally, the trained model has been validated and successfully tested on the test dataset. Our result shows that CNN can correctly determine the nonequilibrium phase transition temperature $T_c$ for various $\varepsilon$ values, consistent with the exact result (our study) and also in agreement with MC result (literature).Comment: 14 page

Energetics of a simple microscopic heat engine

We model a microscopic heat engine as a particle hopping on a one-dimensional lattice in a periodic sawtooth potential, with or without load, assisted by the thermal kicks it gets from alternately placed hot and cold thermal baths. We find analytic expressions for current and rate of heat flow when the engine operates at steady state. Three regions are identified where the model acts either as a heat engine or as a refrigerator or as neither of the two. At quasistatic limit both efficiency of the engine and coefficient of performance of the refrigerator go to that for Carnot engine and Carnot refrigerator, respectively. We investigate efficiency of the engine at two operating conditions (at maximum power and at optimum value with respect to energy and time) and compare them with those of the endoreversible and Carnot engines.Comment: 6 pages and 8 figure

Perception of Water Quality in Rural/Agricultural Areas of Machakel District, North West Ethiopia

Potable water with high quality is a basic requirement for human wellbeing. However, the perceptions on the quality of potable water sources and associated factors influencing the later have not been well studied. Hence, this study aims at examining the perception of water quality in rural/agricultural areas of Machakel district, North West Ethiopia. The study used cross sectional survey design. structured interviews with 293 sample respondents, who were selected using probability sampling technique, were conducted to capture their views on water quality at the source. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression were used to identify factors affecting the perception of households on water quality in rural/agricultural areas. Most of the household heads used protected hand-dug well, protected spring and protected shallow well. Variables such as education, income, past experiences of health risks, chemicals (chlorine) and poor trust in supplier have a significant effect on perception of rural agricultural communities on water quality at the source. The study suggests education and chlorination of water sources to be promoted among the rural/agricultural communities to enhance better quality perception on potable water sources. On the other hand water quality control systems should be created to avoid health jeopardy from water born sickness. For high income groups it may be better to provide access to pipe water. User participation should be considered in the process of water source construction