Retirement Saving in the UK: a Life-Cycle Analysis

This paper studies long term savings accumulation in the UK. We use cross-sectional information from the extensive dataset of the Family Resources Survey to compare long term saving amongst different ethnic groups with our control group, the native population. We reflect on whether different groups are more likely to suffer poverty in retirement. In our analysis we apply the life cycle framework to explain saving profiles. This theoretical model has been used extensively in the field of economics and can be applied to empirical studies to examine changes in income and saving patterns over the life-course. The framework contends that individuals make savings decisions to smooth consumption over different phases of their life-cycle. Our findings indicate that socio-economic factors are key elements in determining whether individuals plan for retirement, if factors are controlled for the differences in saving behaviours between ethnic minorities and the control population decrease considerably. Asian women, with good education and social standing display greater saving rates than the control group, while the socio-economic disadvantage suffered especially by Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is key to their inability to save long-term. High levels of poverty in retirement are more likely to be caused by the interaction of low levels of education, part-time work and long spells of unemployment than by ethnicity. Our important contribution to the debate on savings by ethnic minorities is the extension of the life-cycle model to specific sections of the population, to proffer new insights into their saving / dis-saving patterns, and ultimately their welfare in retirement

The decision to go public and the IPO underpricing with locally biased investors

We provide new evidence that local investors are peculiarly biased towards local IPO stocks. Taking the well-known investor preference for local stocks a step further, we contribute by showing that local IPOs boost stock market participation far more intensely than local listed firms. Interestingly, the effect is driven by individuals born and raised in the region, having zero effect for those who have moved to the area. Consistent with underwriters significantly under-estimating the local investors’ demand in local IPOs, the probability of a private firm to go public, the IPO underpricing and the cross-sectional volatility of IPO initial returns, increase in remote firms where the local investors’ demand in local IPOs is particularly high. Overall, our results suggest that local investors are crucial for the IPO decision

Clinical and radiological outcomes of novel digital workflow and dynamic navigation for single-implant immediate loading in aesthetic zone: 1-year prospective case series

Objectives To evaluate clinical, radiological performance of novel digital workflow integrating dynamic navigation to streamline in one-visit single-implant immediate loading in aesthetic zone. Material and methods Consecutive patients requiring one single-implant in aesthetic zone of both jaws were treated between May and September 2017. Primary outcomes were implant and prosthetic success rates, surgical and prosthetic complications, marginal bone loss (MBL), final pink aesthetic score (PES-f), and implant stability quotient (ISQ-f). Secondary outcomes were ISQ-0 and PES-0 at implant positioning and PES-p at definitive prosthesis placement. Potential effect of jaw (maxilla vs mandible), biotype (thin vs thick), type of incision (flap vs flapless), and implant site (healed vs. post-extractive) on the primary outcomes (MBL, PES-f, and ISQ-f) was evaluated through a multivariable analysis. Results Fifty-two implants were placed (follow-up 18.6, 15-20 months). One post-extractive implant failed. No other surgical, biological complications occurred, accounting for 98.10% cumulative success rate (CSR). No definitive prostheses failed. Mean MBL was -0.63 +/- 0.25 mm (-1.69 to -0.06). PES-f was 12.34 +/- 1.41 (9-14). ISQ-f was 78.1 +/- 3.2 (70-84). Age had significantly negative effect on MBL and PES-f (p = .0058 and p = .0052). No other variables significantly affected primary outcomes. Conclusions Within study limitations, investigated digital workflow integrating dynamic navigation was reliable for single-implant immediate loading in aesthetic zone in one visit. No statistically significant difference was found for MBL, PES-f, and ISQ-f, considering type of incision (flap vs. flapless), implant site (healed vs post-extractive), jaw (maxilla vs. mandible), and biotype (thick vs. thin). Live-tracked dynamic navigation may have contributed to improve operator clinical performance regardless of implant site characteristics. Further investigations are needed to confirm positive outcomes

Morphology of a new blister beetle (Coleoptera, Meloidae) larval type challenges the evolutionary trends of phoresy-related characters in the genus Meloe

The discovery of some specimens of a new first instar larval type in blister beetles, collected in Iran on Anthophora bees, confirms the existence of repetitive and parallel trends in morphological specialization to phoresy in distinct lineages of Meloidae and in particular in the subfamily Meloinae. The new Iranian larva, herein described and illustrated, shows several characters and a peculiar phoretic strategy that closely parallel that of the Meloe subgenus Lampromeloe, with similar modifications of the fronto-clypeal setae into strong lanceolate spines used to pierce the intersegmental membranes of the bees. Both parallel and shared derived evolution of these characters seem possible. The coexistence in this larva of characters in both primitive and derived state is of particular interest in order to analyse the different rates and trends of evolution of phoretic adaptations. A morphological comparison (SEM) of this new meloine larva (incertae sedis), tentatively assignable to Meloe, with the M. (Lampromeloe) larvae is carried out in order to discuss the evolutionary implications of its placement in Lampromeloe, and the relative characters that would support it, vs other possible alternative scenarios

Ecological effects of the European barbel Barbus barbus (L., 1758) (Cyprinidae) invasion on native barbel populations in the Tiber River basin (Italy)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the European barbel Barbus barbus (L., 1758) invasion in the Tiber River basin (Italy) on the native Tiber barbel Barbus tyberinus Bonaparte, 1839, verifying whether the co-occurrence played a negative impact on growth rate and relative weight. Fish census data were collected during three periods (2000–2005, 2006–2010, 2011–2015) at 158 sampling sites. Since its first record in 1998, European barbel rapidly spread in the study area: it was present in more than 20% of the monitoring sites, where it is leading to the gradual replacement of Tiber barbel by widening its distribution in the Tiber River and in the downstream reaches of the main tributaries. By contrast, Tiber barbel has suffered from this competition, as demonstrated by the fact that the mean value of the relative weight was significantly higher where European barbel was absent. The results obtained suggested that this non-native species could be a serious threat to the conservation status of endemic Tiber barbel, and constitute the premise to underpin conservation strategies aiming to preserve native freshwater biodiversity