HIPC Debt Relief and Policy Reform Incentives

Debt overhang, incentives, Social expenditure, Investment

Bilateral Donors' Aid Allocation Decisions: A Three-dimensional Panel Analysis

international aid allocation, panel, Tobit

Exploring Lebanon's growth prospects

This paper attempts to identify Lebanon's greatest constraints to economic growth, following a growth diagnosis approach. It concludes that fiscal imbalances and barriers to entry are most binding on long-term growth. Macroeconomic imbalances and related perceived risks affect the nature of investment decisions in Lebanon, in favor of liquid instruments rather than longer-term productive investments. Further, many barriers to entry discourage agents from investing in a number of markets: legal impediments to competition, corruption, and a set of fiscal incentives favoring the allocation of resources to non-tradable sectors, where potential demand and investment opportunities are scarcer. In turn, using a steady-state computable general equilibrium model, the paper assesses the long-term growth impact of a selected set of policy reforms envisaged to lift such constraints. Results suggest that 1 to 2 percentage points of additional GDP growth per year could be gained through public expenditure reform, greater domestic competition, and tax harmonization.Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets,,Emerging Markets,Access to Finance

Measuring the impact of decentralized electricity projects: a triangulation approach

FERDI has created a unique initiative to evaluate the impacts and identify best practices in projects for access to essential services, using decentralized electrification projects as its basis. Large amounts of evaluation data covering such projects have been collected into a database called CoSMMA (Collaborative Smart Mapping of Mini-Grid Action). The evaluations available are of variable scientific quality, with most being of low quality. An innovative approach is suggested to overcome this drawback, based on the triangulation principle, which makes it possible to evaluate the success of a project with an acceptable level of accuracy. It is then possible to construct a meta-analysis to identify factors for success.There are two primary lessons to be drawn from the data available in CoSMMA. The first is that projects seeking to increase the uptake of very low-power equipment have little chance of lasting success. Success for projects of this type will involve construction of mini-grids, not individual solutions, and therefore require collective action at the local level. The second lesson, informed by this first observation, concerns the importance accorded to questions of governance. Bottom-up governance models are more likely to succeed than top-down approaches. Lastly, good quality regulation of the sector increases the probability that the project will succeed. However, this conclusion also serves to highlight the lack of available data on the local governance structures overseeing these projects

Donor characteristics and the allocation of aid to climate mitigation finance

We make use of a panel dataset of 22 donor countries from 1998 to 2009 to examine the links between donor characteristics and the share of overseas development assistance allocated to climate mitigation finance. We find that donors with a larger green domestic budget tend to allocate a smaller portion of overseas aid to mitigation finance (possibly as a result of a competing interest between spending on domestic environmental projects and international climate projects). The opposite holds for donor countries with better institutions (governance) that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. We also find important discrepancies when comparing the effects of donor characteristics on committed versus disbursed mitigation finance (as a share of aid). For the latter, only commitment to the Kyoto Protocol appears to be of high statistical significance

Pythiosis in Africa

We report the first case of pythiosis from Africa in an 8-month-old dog with a chronic and ulcerative cutaneous lesion. The etiologic agent belonged to the genus Pythium. Phylogenetic analysis placed the isolate in a sister group to the other P. insidiosum strains. However, the isolate may belong to a new Pythium species

A representação sociocultural do Brasil no jornal Le Monde depois da crise econômica de 2008

Orientador : João Carlos Vitorino PereiraCoorientador : Walter Lima Torres NetoDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 07/07/2017Inclui referências e anexosResumo: Partindo da ideia de que grande parte do que sabemos sobre um determinado país provém do discurso midiático, o presente trabalho discute a representação sociocultural do Brasil no jornal Le Monde em dois períodos: de outubro de 2008 até outubro de 2009 e de junho de 2013 até julho de 2014. Ao fazer a análise dos artigos publicados nos períodos mencionados, observamos que o Brasil que é atualmente não é o mesmo apresentado anteriormente à crise econômica de 2008. Na primeira parte da pesquisa, definimos os conceitos de cultura, de diversidade cultural, de identidade e de nação. Na segunda parte, estudamos as relações econômicas e diplomáticas do Brasil com o exterior. Segundo Yves Gervaise e Hervé Théry o Brasil conheceu um rápido crescimento econômico à partir dos anos 2000 que não passou despercebido nos países desenvolvidos. Os resultados apresentados na terceira parte da pesquisa revelam essa mudança de perspectiva com relação ao Brasil. Apenas um fator alterou negativamente a imagem do Brasil nos textos estudados: as manifestações sociais de junho de 2013. Notamos também que existem ainda estereótipos e informações incompletas ou incorretas a cerca do Brasil na França.Resumé: Partant de l'idée qu'une grande partie de ce que nous savons d'un pays vient du discours médiatique, le présent travail questionne la représentation socioculturelle du Brésil dans le journal Le Monde sur deux périodes: d'octobre 2008 jusqu'à octobre 2009 et de juin 2013 à juillet 2014. A partir de l'analyse des articles publiés durant les périodes mentionnées, nous avons observé que le Brésil présenté actuellement n'est pas le même que celui d'avant la crise économique de 2008. Dans la première partie du travail, nous avons défini les concepts de culture, de diversité culturelle, d'identité et de nation. Dans la deuxième partie, nous avons étudié les relations économiques et diplomatiques du Brésil avec l'extérieur. Selon Yves Gervaise et Hervé Théry, le Brésil à connu une croissance économique rapide depuis les années 2000, ce qui n'a pas échappé aux pays développés. Les résultats présentés dans la troisième partie du travail montrent ce changement de perspective par rapport au Brésil. Seul un facteur a changé de façon négative l'image du Brésil dans les textes étudiés: les manifestations et mouvements sociaux de juin 2013. Nous remarquons aussi qu'existent encore des stéréotypes et des informations incomplètes, voire incorrectes concernant le Brésil en France

Small Vessel Replacement by Human Umbilical Arteries With Polyelectrolyte Film-Treated Arteries In Vivo Behavior

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the patency of human umbilical arteries treated with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) after rabbit implantation.BackgroundThe development of small-caliber vascular substitutes with high patency after implantation remains a real challenge for vascular tissue engineering.MethodsCryopreserved human umbilical arteries were enzymatically de-endothelialized and the luminal surfaces were coated with poly(styrene sulfonate)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PSS/PAH) multilayers. The PEM-untreated arteries and PEM-treated rabbit carotids were used as graft control. The native rabbit carotids were bypassed by grafts.ResultsThe Doppler ultrasound evaluation, performed in vivo, showed that all PEM-treated grafts remained patent during the full experimental period, whereas after only 1 week, no blood circulation was detected in untreated arteries. Scanning electron microscopy and histological graft examination showed pervasive thrombus formation on the luminal surface of untreated arteries after 1 week and clean luminal surface for treated arteries for at least up to 12 weeks. The arterial wall cells were identified through alpha-smooth muscle actin αυδ platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 expression. The smooth muscle cells positive to alpha-smooth muscle actin were identified in adventitia and media and the endothelial cells positive to platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule in intima. Von Kossa reaction didn't reveal any calcium salt deposits on the wall arteries, suggesting a good wall remodelling with no sign of graft rejection.ConclusionsThe in vivo evaluation of human umbilical arteries treated with PSS/PAH multilayers demonstrated a high graft patency after 3 months of implantation. Such modified arteries could constitute a useful option for small vascular replacement

The Credit–Growth Nexus: New Evidence from Developing and Developed Countries

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between credit market development and economic growth for a heterogeneous panel of 20 developing and developed countries with varied growth experiences. The empirical study is based on estimations of generalized method of moments (GMM) and pooled mean group (PMG) on heterogeneous panel data model. Difference GMM estimation indicates that credit market development has a negative effect on economic growth. This result is robust for our full sample and for the subsample of non-OECD countries, but not for the subsample of OECD countries. However, using a PMG model, we provide evidence of a positive impact in the long run between credit market development and economic growth. When considering heterogeneity in the short-run relationship across countries, our findings suggest that the credit–growth relationship is specific across countries, depending on each country-specific legal and macroeconomic environment