Do Worker Remittances Reduce Output Volatility in Developing Countries?

Remittance inflows have increased considerably in recent years and are large relative to the size of many recipient economies. The theoretical and empirical effects of remittance inflows on output growth volatility are, however, ambiguous. On the one hand, remittances have been a remarkably stable source of income, relative to other private and public flows, and they seem to be compensatory in nature, rising when the home countryÂ’s economy suffers a downturn. On the other hand, the labor supply effects induced by altruistic remittances could cause the output effects associated with technology shocks to be magnified. This paper finds robust evidence for a sample of 70 remittance-recipient countries, including 16 advanced economies and 54 developing countries that remittances have a negative effect on output growth volatility, thereby supporting the notion that remittance flows are a stabilizing influence on output.Remittances, output volatility, developing countries

A two parameter ratio-product-ratio estimator using auxiliary information

We propose a two parameter ratio-product-ratio estimator for a finite population mean in a simple random sample without replacement following the methodology in Ray and Sahai (1980), Sahai and Ray (1980), Sahai and Sahai (1985) and Singh and Ruiz Espejo (2003). The bias and mean square error of our proposed estimator are obtained to the first degree of approximation. We derive conditions for the parameters under which the proposed estimator has smaller mean square error than the sample mean, ratio and product estimators. We carry out an application showing that the proposed estimator outperforms the traditional estimators using groundwater data taken from a geological site in the state of Florida.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, 4 table

Workers' Remittances and the Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate: Theory and Evidence

This paper investigates the impact of workers’ remittances on equilibrium real exchange rates (ERER) in recipient economies. Using a small open economy model, it shows that standard “Dutch Disease” results of appreciation are substantially weakened or even overturned depending on: degree of openness, factor mobility between domestic sectors, and countercyclicality of remittances; the share of consumption in tradables; and the sensitivity of a country’s risk premium to remittance flows. Panel integration techniques on a large set of countries provide support for these analytical results, and show that ERER appreciation in response to sustained remittance flows tends to be quantitatively small.Remittances, Real Exchange Rate, Dutch Disease

Associations of blood pressure with body composition among Afro-Caribbean children in Barbados

Despite complex presentation of adult hypertension and a concomitant obesity epidemic, little is known about overweight in relation to blood pressure among Caribbean children. We examined blood pressure in relation to body size in a cross-sectional study of 573 Barbadian children aged 9–10 years (2010-2011).The United States normative blood pressure percentiles were used to identify children with high (≥ 95th percentile) or high normal blood pressure (90th – 95th percentile). The World Health Organization body mass index cut-off points were used to assess weight status. Major findings: Thirty percent of children were overweight/obese. Percentage fat mass differed between girls (20.4%) and boys (17.72%) (p< 0.05). Mean systolic blood pressure among girls was 106.11 (95% CI 105.05, 107.17) mmHg and 105.23 (104.09, 106.38) for boys. The percentages with high or high-normal mean systolic blood pressurewere14.38% (10.47, 18.29) for girls and 8.08% (4.74, 11.41) for boys. Height and body mass index were independent correlates of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Mean systolic blood pressure was related to lean mass but not fat mass, while diastolic blood pressure was associated with fat mass index and overweight. Principal conclusion: One third of 9-10 year old children in Barbados were overweight/obese and 12% had elevated mean systolic blood pressure. BP was related to body size. These findings signal potential adverse trends in weight gain and BP trends for children growing up in the context of a country that has recently undergone rapid economic transition

GALENE - Understanding coastal and inland ecosystem properties, processes and dynamics

Coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems are of fundamental interest for societal and economical purposes due to a significant part of the population living there. They both highly contribute to carbon cycling and biodiversity. Those ecosystems are continuously impacted by natural processes and human activities. Many of these impacts become more frequent and severe, particularly with increasing population and climate change. Hence, there is a need (i) to generate reliable, robust and timely evidence of how these environments are changing, (ii) to understand processes causing these changes and their societal, health, and economic consequences, and (iii) to identify steps towards conservation, restoration and sustainable use of water and dependent ecosystems, and resources. Systematic, high-quality and global observations, such as those provided by satellite remote sensing techniques, are key to understand complex aquatic systems. While multitudes of remote sensing missions have been specifically designed for studying ocean biology and biogeochemistry as well as for evaluating terrestrial environments, remote sensing missions dedicated to studying critical coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems at global scale are non-existent. Thus, these ecosystems remain among the most understudied habitats on the Earth’s surface. Specific reasons for such an observational gap lie in the dynamic and optical complexity of water ecosystems, in combination with technological challenges to optimize the relevant spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal characteristics. Current and forthcoming missions are either not suited to provide a global coverage (e.g., PRISMA, EnMAP) or to obtain reliable data over dark waters (e.g., carbon-rich lakes) due to inadequate radiometric sensitivity (e.g., Sentinel-2/MSI). They are also not adapted for characterizing the biodiversity patchiness of submerged habitats and water column compositions such as phytoplankton assemblages due to their inadequate spectral resolution (e.g., Sentinel-2/MSI, Sentinel-3/OLCI). Wetland ecosystems are insufficiently described as current sensors do not adequately capture their diversity, which compromises their management and protection. A future satellite mission, so-called Global Assessment of Limnological, Estuarine and Neritic Ecosystems (GALENE), has been proposed to the Earth Explorer 11 call (ESA) to respond to the future challenges linked to coastal and inland ecosystems. GALENE will provide optimized measurements of these aquatic ecosystems, and enable an adaptive sampling of dynamic properties and processes in water columns, benthic habitats and associated wetlands. GALENE will thus fill a major gap by comprehensively quantifying the state of Earth’s water bodies and aquatic ecosystems. It will substantially contribute addressing global water challenges, including water pollution and ensuring clean drinking water supply for all and protecting coastal environments and populations. GALENE mission concept consists of a synergy of three innovative instruments, namely a hyperspectral sensor, a panchromatic camera and a polarimeter. The GALENE science objectives and main technological features will be presented

Development of Core Outcome Measures sets for paediatric and adult Severe Asthma (COMSA)

BACKGROUND: Effectiveness studies with biological therapies for asthma lack standardised outcome measures. The COMSA (Core Outcome Measures sets for paediatric and adult Severe Asthma) working group sought to develop Core Outcome Measures (COM) sets to facilitate better synthesis of data and appraisal of biologics in paediatric and adult asthma clinical studies.METHODS: COMSA utilised a multi-stakeholder consensus process among patients with severe asthma, adult, and paediatric clinicians, pharmaceutical representatives and health regulators from across Europe. Evidence included a systematic review of development, validity, and reliability of selected outcome measures plus a narrative review and a pan-European survey to better understand patients' and carers' views about outcome measures. It was discussed using a modified GRADE Evidence to Decision framework. Anonymous voting was conducted using predefined consensus criteria.RESULTS: Both adult and paediatric COM sets include forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) as z scores, annual frequency of severe exacerbations and maintenance oral corticosteroid use. Additionally, the paediatric COM set includes the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, and Asthma Control Test (ACT) or Childhood-ACT while the adult COM includes the Severe Asthma Questionnaire and the Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 (symptoms and rescue medication use reported separately).CONCLUSIONS: This patient-centred collaboration has produced two COM sets for paediatric and adult severe asthma. It is expected that they will inform the methodology of future clinical trials, enhance comparability of efficacy and effectiveness of biological therapies, and help assess their socioeconomic value. COMSA will inform definitions of non-response and response to biological therapy for severe asthma.</p

Determinants of penetrance and variable expressivity in monogenic metabolic conditions across 77,184 exomes

Penetrance of variants in monogenic disease and clinical utility of common polygenic variation has not been well explored on a large-scale. Here, the authors use exome sequencing data from 77,184 individuals to generate penetrance estimates and assess the utility of polygenic variation in risk prediction of monogenic variants