TVET as the last educational chance : employability and family background of Ethiopian urban youth

This paper analyzes the effect of TVET schooling of Ethiopian urban youth on their employability using the Urban Employment and Unemployment Survey (UEUS). In estimating the personal returns of TVET experience, we put special focus on family background of workers, with the hypothesis that family characteristics strongly influence on the employability of workers. We find general positive effects of TVET on employability in benchmark regressions as well as sample selection model. However once we controlled endogeneity of TVET choice and family background, the TVET positive effect disappeared. The results suggest the possibility that public vocational school is viewed and chosen as a last resort of education or alternative to general education, especially for those who were denied to proceed to further education, failed to enter upper secondary schools, and females, but only if they are financially fit

The effect of crude oil price change and volatility on Nigerian economy

This study analyses the effects of changes in the international oil price and price volatility on the macro-economy of an African oil exporter, Nigeria. Applying the five-variable Structural Vector Auto Regression (SVAR) model to monthly data series from January 1970 to May 2011, impulse response functions are calculated to see the influences among the crude oil price, Nigeria’s exchange rate, money supply (M2), domestic price levels (CPI) and the policy interest rate (Discount Rate). The estimation results suggest that Nigeria’s exchange rate is affected not only by the changes in the international oil price but also by its price volatility. M2 increases as a response to an oil price increase, which suggests that as the international oil price rises there is a huge increase in the money supply into the domestic market from the national oil company and international oil companies, which are the largest suppliers of dollars next to the monetary authority itself

Capital Flight and Transfer from Resource-Rich Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the influence of international resource price movements on capital outflows from resource-rich developing countries (RRDCs) by distinguishing capital flight and capital transfers. The volume of capital flight and transfers are calculated and their determinants are analyzed using macro-panel data constituting 21 resource-rich developing countries from 1990 to 2011. Through the regression analysis, the linkage between capital flight and resource revenue as well as that between capital flight and debt is suggested. The results of this analysis suggest the need to focus on capital outflow from RRDCs through transnational companies

Capital Flight and Transfer from Resource-Rich Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the influence of international resource price movements on capital outflows from resource-rich developing countries (RRDCs) by distinguishing capital flight and capital transfers. The volume of capital flight and transfers are calculated and their determinants are analyzed using macro-panel data constituting 21 resource-rich developing countries from 1990 to 2011. Through the regression analysis, the linkage between capital flight and resource revenue as well as that between capital flight and debt is suggested. The results of this analysis suggest the need to focus on capital outflow from RRDCs through transnational companies

The effect of crude oil price change and volatility on Nigerian economy

This study analyses the effects of changes in the international oil price and price volatility on the macro-economy of an African oil exporter, Nigeria. Applying the five-variable Structural Vector Auto Regression (SVAR) model to monthly data series from January 1970 to May 2011, impulse response functions are calculated to see the influences among the crude oil price, Nigeria’s exchange rate, money supply (M2), domestic price levels (CPI) and the policy interest rate (Discount Rate). The estimation results suggest that Nigeria’s exchange rate is affected not only by the changes in the international oil price but also by its price volatility. M2 increases as a response to an oil price increase, which suggests that as the international oil price rises there is a huge increase in the money supply into the domestic market from the national oil company and international oil companies, which are the largest suppliers of dollars next to the monetary authority itself

Markerless tumor-tracking algorithm using prior 4D-CBCT

Respiratory motion management is a huge challenge in radiation therapy. Respiratory motion induces temporal anatomic changes that distort the tumor volume and its position. In this study, a markerless tumor-tracking algorithm was investigated by performing phase recognition during stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) using four-dimensional cone-beam computer tomography (4D-CBCT) obtained at patient registration, and in-treatment cone-beam projection images. The data for 20 treatment sessions (five lung cancer patients) were selected for this study. Three of the patients were treated with conventional flattening filter (FF) beams, and the other two were treated with flattening filter-free (FFF) beams. Prior to treatment, 4D-CBCT was acquired to create the template projection images for 10 phases. In-treatment images were obtained at near real time during treatment. Template-based phase recognition was performed for 4D-CBCT re-projected templates using prior 4D-CBCT based phase recognition algorithm and was compared with the results generated by the Amsterdam Shroud (AS) technique. Visual verification technique was used for the verification of the phase recognition and AS technique at certain tumor-visible angles. Offline template matching analysis using the cross-correlation indicated that phase recognition performed using the prior 4D-CBCT and visual verification matched up to 97.5% in the case of FFF, and 95% in the case of FF, whereas the AS technique matched 83.5% with visual verification for FFF and 93% for FF. Markerless tumor tracking based on phase recognition using prior 4D-CBCT has been developed successfully. This is the first study that reports on the use of prior 4D-CBCT based on normalized cross-correlation technique for phase recognition