Impacts of International Migration and Remittances on Source Country Household Incomes in Small Island States: Fiji and Tonga

We use original 2005 survey data from Fiji and Tonga on remittances and household income to estimate the combined impact of migration and remittances on the composition of household income. A two-stage methodology is followed. A variable for the predicted number of migrants in each household is generated to control for selectivity in migration. This variable is then used in a 3SLS remittances and income equation system. In neither country do we observe significant impacts on agricultural cash income, but, in relation to other income sources, including subsistence agriculture, wages and non-agricultural business activities, some significant and different effects are found, both positive and negative. These findings suggest that the duration and intensity of remittance-driven migration, and the structure of economic activity within a community are important in understanding the influences of migration and remittances on household resource allocation and production decisions and on the community's economic transformation

A mixed-motives model of private transfers with subjectively-assessed recipient need: Evidence from a poor, transfer-dependent economy

We extend the mixed-motives model of transfer derivatives developed by Cox et al (2004) introducing subjectively-assessed recipient need in place of an absolute income threshold at which the donor’s dominant motive switches from altruism to exchange. This refinement provides a theoretically justifiable threshold amenable to empirical measurement. We test the extended model with customized survey data from Tonga and find evidence consistent with Cox et al in support of altruism for households below the threshold, but, we also find a positive, exchange-motivated relationship for those above the threshold. We conclude that either crowding-out or crowding-in of private transfers can occur when the recipient’s welfare improves, depending on the household’s pre-transfer welfare level. This also has implications for the distributional impact of private transfers and could explain why poverty reduction can be accompanied by increased income inequality. JEL classification: D13; D64; F24; H55; I30; O15

Remittances and subjective welfare in a mixed-motives model: Evidence from Fiji

To analyze migrants’ remittance motivations we extend the mixed-motives model of private transfers developed by Cox et al (2004), incorporating subjectively-assessed recipient welfare. We test the model with customized survey data from Fiji, finding evidence supportive of altruism for households below a subjective threshold level, indicating that international migrants’ remittances provide important social protection coverage to households where formal social protection systems are lacking.Unlike previous studies, we also find a positive, exchange-motivated relationship for those above the threshold. The conventional linear model applied to the same sample uncovers neither relationship. We conclude that either crowding-out or crowding-in of remittances can occur when recipients’ welfare improves, depending on the household’s pre-transfer welfare level. The net effects of recipients’ welfare improvements on remittances, and the effects of remittances on poverty alleviation and income distribution, are consequently more complex and ambiguous than previous studies suggest

Wealthy and healthy in the South Pacific

Objectives: The main aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and health status at the household level in Fiji, a developing country in the South Pacific, based on original household survey data compiled by the authors. Method: We exploit the geographic conditions of Viti Levu, the relatively small main island of Fiji, to isolate the effects of household wealth on health. For households on this island physical distance is not a significant impediment for access to health care and other publicly-provided services. We use a constructed index of household wealth in place of the more commonly used income measure of socio-economic status. To control for reverse causality and other possible sources of endogeneity we use an Instrumental Variable strategy in the regression analysis. Findings: We find that a household’s socio-economic status, as measured by a constructed wealth index, has a substantial impact on the household’s health status. We estimate that if a household's wealth increased from the minimum to the maximum level, this would decrease its probability of being afflicted by an incapacitating illness by almost 50 per cent. Conclusions: Health outcomes from existing health services can therefore be improved by raising the economic well-being of poor households. Conversely, the provision of additional health services alone may not necessarily improve health outcomes for the poorest

Quorum sensing protects bacterial co-operation from exploitation by cheats

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell–cell communication system found in many bacterial species, commonly controlling secreted co-operative traits, including extracellular digestive enzymes. We show that the canonical QS regulatory architecture allows bacteria to sense the genotypic composition of high-density populations, and limit co-operative investments to social environments enriched for co-operators. Using high-density populations of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa we map per-capita signal and co-operative enzyme investment in the wild type as a function of the frequency of non-responder cheats. We demonstrate mathematically and experimentally that the observed response rule of ‘co-operate when surrounded by co-operators' allows bacteria to match their investment in co-operation to the composition of the group, therefore allowing the maintenance of co-operation at lower levels of population structuring (that is, lower relatedness). Similar behavioural responses have been described in vertebrates under the banner of ‘generalised reciprocity'. Our results suggest that mechanisms of reciprocity are not confined to taxa with advanced cognition, and can be implemented at the cellular level via positive feedback circuits

Hydrogenation of CO on a silica surface: an embedded cluster approach

The sequential addition of H atoms to CO adsorbed on a siliceous edingtonite surface is studied with an embedded cluster approach, using density functional theory for the quantum mechanical (QM) cluster and a molecular force field for the molecular mechanical (MM) cluster. With this setup, calculated QM/MM adsorption energies are in agreement with previous calculations employing periodic boundary conditions. The catalytic effect of the siliceous edingtonite (100) surface on CO hydrogenation is assessed because of its relevance to astrochemistry. While adsorption of CO on a silanol group on the hydroxylated surface did not reduce the activation energy for the reaction with a H atom, a negatively charged defect on the surface is found to reduce the gas phase barriers for the hydrogenation of both CO and H2C = O. The embedded cluster approach is shown to be a useful and flexible tool for studying reactions on (semi-)ionic surfaces and specific defects thereon. The methodology presented here could easily be applied to study reactions on silica surfaces that are of relevance to other scientific areas, such as biotoxicity of silica dust and geochemistry

The Case of Professor James W. Silver

Article about attempts by the legislature and board of trustees to try and remove James Silver from his job at the University of Mississippi; Source: AAUP Bulletinhttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/jws_clip/1030/thumbnail.jp

Predicting the coefficient of thermal expansion for textile composites based on a unit cell approach

The study focuses on unit cell FE modelling to predict coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) for sheared fabric laminates. Shear, as a dominant deformation mode in textile composites forming, introduces high degrees of anisotropy in both elasticity and thermal expansion. The unit cell predictions are based on realistic fibre architecture and measured material properties of constituent fibre and resin. Under the multi-scale framework, the unit cell predictions are part of the essential input data for locally varied material definitions. These definitions are used to model structural components to predict shape distortion. The FE model gives predictions close to the experimental data, when the boundary conditions are correlated to the coupon size. Nesting is an influential factor for CTEs. For true material representation, in-plane periodicity and nesting have been considered