Economic Freedom and Economic Growth: A Short-run Causal Investigation

The freedom and growth literature has consistently shown that nations which have fewer restrictions on private agents and transactions tend to higher levels of economic growth. It is less clear, however, whether freedom causes growth, growth causes freedom, or the two are jointly determined. To assess these possibilities, Granger-causality tests are performed on annual freedom indicators developed by the Heritage Foundation and national growth rates. The underlying component indexes, which include Trade Policy, Taxation, Government Intervention, Monetary Policy, Capital Flows and Foreign Investment, Banking, Wage and Price Controls, Property Rights, Regulation, and Black Markets, are also tested in addition to the summary freedom rating. The tests suggest the average level of freedom in a nation, as well as many of the specific underlying components of freedom, precedes growth. However, growth may precede one of the component indexes (Government Intervention), and no relationship is found to exist between growth and two of the indexes (Trade Policy and Taxation).economic freedom; economic growth; Granger-causality

Has assistance from USAID been successful in promoting and sustaining democracy? Evidence from the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Foreign aid, especially official development assistance (ODA), has received increasing criticism in past decades. In particular, it has been put into question if and to what extent aid can help foster the aims for which it has been paid. In most cases, it seems that there is no discernable effect or even a negative effect of ODA on economic development. One reason for aid ineffectiveness may be seen in a lack of good governance on the side of the recipients. It has been argued that aid should concentrate more on creating better institutions. In the past 20 years, democracy promotion has become a pillar of USAID's mission and the funding for democracy and governance has steadily increased. The transition economies in particular have received special attention upon the fall of the Soviet Union. We assess the success of this aid by testing whether US aid is enhancing democracy in 26 transition countries. Using Freedom House Nations in Transit data, we find that in simple linear panel regressions aid has generally not been a significant factor in a country's overall democracy score. However, aid has significantly contributed to certain components of the democracy score, namely civil society, electoral process, judicial framework, and media independence. In addition, the impact of aid is found to depend on the number of years of past central planning. Countries having a history of less than 50 years of central planning had a significantly negative association to aid, whereas countries with more than 65 years of central planning benefited from greater aid.ODA, transition economies, democracy

Corruption and the Institutional Environment for Growth

Several cross-country studies have found that corruption is detrimental to economic growth, but the findings are not universally robust. We utilize the economic freedom index to examine if corruption can facilitate growth by allowing entrepreneurs to avoid inefficient policies and regulations when economic freedom is limited. Using regression analysis, we find that corruption is growth enhancing when economic freedom is most limited but the beneficial impact of corruption decreases as economic freedom increases. Not all areas of economic freedom affect the corruption-growth relationship equally. In particular, we find that when we analyze individual areas of economic freedom the beneficial effect of corruption disappears most quickly when the size of government and the extent of regulation decrease.Corruption; Economic Freedom; Growth

Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture

Health professionals increasingly recognize the value of farm-and garden-scale urban agriculture. Growing food and non-food crops in and near cities contributes to healthy communities by engaging residents in work and recreation that improves individual and public well-being. This article outlines the benefits of urban agriculture with regard to nutrition, food security, exercise, mental health, and social and physical urban environments. Potential risks are reviewed. Practical recommendations for health professionals to increase the positive benefits of urban agriculture are provided

SIZE OF THE MILITARY SECTOR AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS OF AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA

We estimate the influence of defense spending and military labor use on economic growth in African and Latin American countries. Our model integrates disparate implications from the defense economics literature into a Barro-style model of economic growth that controls for political and economic institutional variation across countries. Our panel data analysis of 44 countries in Africa and Latin America from 1975 to 1989 also controls for cross-country variation in lost human capital and public sector production inefficiencies. We find empirical evidence that the defense burden on economic growth is non-linear, with low levels of military spending increasing economic growth but higher levels of military spending decreasing growth. We also find evidence that the influence of military labor use on growth is non-linear, and exhibits a greater drag on economic growth in those countries with relatively higher levels of adult male education attainment.defense burden; economic growth

Die gebruik van Afrikaanse modale partikels deur voormalige Khoisprekers1

Die doel van die ondersoek is om te bepaal watter bydrae sprekers of voormalige sprekers van Khoi wat Afrikaans as taal aangeneem het tot die ontwikkeling of gebruik van modale partikels in Afrikaans gelewer het. Bronne wat vir hierdie doel ondersoek is, sluit in aangehaalde uitsprake van Khoi-Khoin uit die laat 17de en vroeg-18de eeu, twee briewe van Khoi-Khoin, ‘n onderhoud met ‘n Khoi-Khoi soos vryelik weergegee deur C.E. Boniface, koerantbriewe deur persone wat hulle as Khoi-Khoin voorgedoen het, ‘n kort drama, die novelle Benigna van Groenekloof of Mamre en ander geskrifte met ‘n Genadendal-agtergrond, ‘n uittreksel uit die dagboek van Hendrik Witbooi, transkripsies van onderhoude wat in die 1980s met Griekwas gevoer is en enkele onderhoude wat in Namakwaland gevoer is. As kontrolekorpus is transkripsies van spontane gesprekke gebruik wat ook in die 1980s in Johannesburg opgeneem is en die standaardtaal verteenwoordig, asook Adam Small se drama Kanna hy ko’ hystoe om die variëteit Kaapse Afrikaans te verteenwoordig. As ons na die grootste bronne kyk, dan blyk dit dat mos verreweg die  meeste voorgekom het in tekste met spreektaalkenmerke, met name almal in die onderhoudregister, en dat tog veral sterk staan in oorredende tekste met sterk Nederlandse invloed of konteks. Sommer, maar en darem is ander partikels wat geredelik gebruik is. Die Kanna-drama wyk van die Khoi-Khoinbronne en die kontrolekorpus af deur ‘n relatief hoë voorkoms van darem. As ons onderskei tussen  Nederlandsverwante partikels soos eintlik, maar en tog, enersyds, en tipies Afrikaanse partikels soos  darem, mos en rêrig, dan blyk dit dat eersgenoemdes oorwegend voorkom in Benigna en die  kontrolekorpus, en laasgenoemdes oorwegend in die ander Khoi-Khoinbronne en Kanna. Die  Griekwakorpus verskil van die kontrolekorpus deur die hoë frekwensie van die kollokasie mos nou by eersgenoemde teenoor die hoë frekwensie van maar net en nou maar in laasgenoemde. ‘n Aantal partikels is ook individueel of in samehang met mekaar ondersoek. Die partikel ja kom byvoorbeeld in ‘n hele aantal vroeë aanhalings van Khoi-Khoin-uitings voor, en kan moontlik ‘n funksionele voorloper van immers, mos of tog wees, wat ongeveer in dieselfde semantiese veld val. In Benigna en ander bronne uit dieselfde  sfeer, wil dit voorkom asof darem nog nie ten volle van daarom gedifferensieer is nie. Daar is aanduidings dat sommer verder van Nederlands zo maar ontwikkel het as fokuspartikel en in emotiewe rigting. Ander partikels wat bespreek word, is maskie, reg(t), juist, kamma, hoeka en netnou. Samevattend kan gestel word dat voormalige Khoisprekers te oordeel na gebruiksfrekwensie en die gebruik van tipies Afrikaanse partikels, ‘n deurslaggewende rol gespeel het in die ontwikkeling van Afrikaanse modale partikels.  Sleutelwoorde: modale partikels, Afrikaans, Kaapse Afrikaans, Nederlands, Duits, Khoi, Khoi-Khoin, kollokasies, spreektaal The use of Afrikaans modal particles by former Khoi speakersThe purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the contribution made by previous speakers of Khoi who adopted Afrikaans as language to the development or use of modal particles in Afrikaans. Sources studied for this purpose include quoted utterances by Khoikhoin from the late 17th and early 18th century, two letters by Khoikhoin, an interview with a Khoikhoi freely rendered by C.E. Boniface, letters written to newspapers by persons professing to be Khoikhoin, a short play, the novella Benigna van Groenekloof of Mamre and other writings with a Genadendal background, an excerpt from the diary of Hendrik Witbooi, transcriptions of interviews conducted with Griqua in the 1980s and a small number of interviews  conducted in Namaqualand. Transcriptions of spontaneous conversations representing the standard  language recorded in Johannesburg in the 1980s served as a control, while Adam Small‘s drama Kanna hy ko’ hystoe was added to represent the variety of ―Kaapse Afrikaans‖. If we look at the major texts, it would seem that mos was by far the most frequent particle in sources representing colloquial language, viz. in the interview register, while tog was particularly well represented in persuasive texts with marked Dutch influence or context. Sommer, maar and darem are particles which were also frequently used. The Kanna source departs from the Khoikhoin sources and the control corpus by a having a relatively high  occurrence of darem. If we draw a distinction between Dutch related particles such as eintlik, maar and tog, on the one hand, and typically Afrikaans particles such as darem, mos and rêrig, then it appears that particles of the first kind are predominant in Benigna and the control corpus, while particles of the latter kind predominate in the other Khoikhoin sources and Kanna. The Griqua corpus differs from the control corpus in having a particularly high frequency of the collocation mos nou as opposed to the high  frequencies of maar nou and nou maar in the latter. A number of particles were studied individually or in relation to one another. The particle ja occurs in a substantial number of the early quotations of Khoikhoin utterances, and may be a functional precursor of immers, mos or tog, which fall roughly in the same semantic field. In Benigna and other sources from the same background it would seem that darem has not been fully differentiated from daarom. There are indications that sommer has extended its scope from Dutch zo maar towards becoming a focus particle and in an emotive direction. Other particles to be discussed are maskie, reg(t), juist, kamma, hoeka and netnou.In sum, it seems clear the former Khoi speakers, judging by frequency of usage and the use of typically Afrikaans particles, have played a crucial part in the development of Afrikaans modal particles.Keywords: modal particles, Afrikaans, Kaapse Afrikaans, Dutch, German, Khoi, Khoi-Khoin, collocations, colloquial languag

Crossing the threshold : an analysis of IBRD graduation policy

According to World Bank policy, countries remain eligible to borrow from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development until they are able to sustain long-term development without further recourse to Bank financing. Graduation from the Bank is not an automatic consequence of reaching a particular income level, but rather is supposed to be based on a determination of whether the country has reached a level of institutional development and capital-market access that enables it to sustain its own development process without recourse to Bank funding. This paper assesses how International Bank for Reconstruction and Development graduation policy operates in practice, investigating what income and non-income factors appear to have influenced graduation decisions in recent decades, based on panel data for 1982 through 2008. Explanatory variables include the per-capita income of the country, as well as measures of institutional development and market access that are cited as criteria by the graduation policy, and other plausible explanatory variables that capture the levels of economic development and vulnerability of the country. The authors find that the observed correlates of Bank graduation are generally consistent with the stated policy. Countries that are wealthier, more creditworthy, more institutionally developed, and less vulnerable to shocks are more likely to have graduated. Predicted probabilities generated by the model correspond closely to the actual graduation and de-graduation experiences of most countries (such as Korea and Trinidad and Tobago), and suggest that Hungary and Latvia may have graduated prematurely -- a prediction consistent with their subsequent return to borrowing from the Bank in the wake of the global financial crisis.Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Labor Policies,Debt Markets

Ikonisiteit en Afrikaanse reduplikasie

Iconicity and Afrikaans reduplication While the relationship between the form and meaning of a lexical item is in most cases seen as being arbitrary or unmotivated, there is a growing awareness that many reduplications are indeed motivated in that their form does resemble their referent in some way or other. This non-arbitrary relationship is best understood as being iconic in nature. The main focus of the paper is Afrikaans reduplication, understood as representing various types of diagrammatic iconicity. It will be argued that the iconic possibilities of a set of reduplicated speech elements should not be restricted by assuming semantic cores from which all meanings or functions of reduplications are then derived, and indicated, with reference to a wide range of examples mainly from recent Afrikaans prose, how these can be interpreted as being directly representative of various kinds of diagrammatic iconicity, such as repetition, intensification, duration and interruption. Key Words: iconic, reduplication, repetition, duration, interruption Kernbegrippe: ikonies, reduplikasie, herhaling, duur, onderbreking Journal for Language Teaching Vol.38(2) 2004: 334-34

Size of the Military Sector and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis of Africa and Latin America

We estimate the influence of defense spending and military labor use on economic growth in African and Latin American countries. Our model integrates disparate implications from the defense economics literature into a Barro-style model of economic growth that controls for political and economic institutional variation across countries. Our panel data analysis of 44 countries in Africa and Latin America from 1975 to 1989 also controls for cross-country variation in lost human capital and public sector production inefficiencies. We find empirical evidence that the defense burden on economic growth is non-linear, with low levels of military spending increasing economic growth but higher levels of military spending decreasing growth. We also find evidence that the influence of military labor use on growth is non-linear, and exhibits a greater drag on economic growth in those countries with relatively higher levels of adult male education attainment

Industry 4.0: Mining Physical Defects in Production of Surface-Mount Devices

With the advent of Industry 4.0, production processes have been endowed with intelligent cyber-physical systems generating massive amounts of streaming sensor data. Internet of Things technologies have enabled capturing, managing, and processing production data at a large scale in order to utilize this data as an asset for the optimization of production processes. In this work, we focus on the automatic detection of physical defects in the production of surfacemount devices. We show how to build a classification model based on random forests that efficiently detects defect products with a high degree of precision. In fact, the results of our preliminary experimental analysis indicate that our approach is able to correctly determine defects in a simulated production environment of surface-mount devices with a MCC score of 0.96. We investigate the feasibility of utilizing this approach in realistic settings. We believe that our approach will help to advance the production of surface-mount devices