On the measurement and impact of fiscal decentralization

The typical post-Bretton Woods era development approach that emphasized central government-led development efforts has changed dramatically, and local governments have clearly emerged as players in development policy. The thinking about what is important to achieve in development objectives is changing as fiscal decentralization reforms are being pursued by many countries around the world. In this context, a number of studies have attempted to quantify the impact of decentralization by relating some measure of it to economic outcomes of fiscal stability, economic growth, and public sector size. But decentralization is surprisingly difficult to measure. Nearly all cases examining the relationship between decentralization and macroeconomic performance have relied on the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) of the International Monetary Fund. However, despite its merits, GFS falls short in providing a full picture of fiscal decentralization. For some countries, however, there is data that more accurately captures fiscal responsibilities among different types of governments.Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Public&Municipal Finance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Urban Economics

Measurement of finger coordination during a motor learning task

The focus of this study is to observe the changes in whole hand grasp strategy, in healthy subjects, over time in a series of isometric force control learning tasks. During a series of trials with real-time visual feedback of the five finger forces, subjects adapted their grasp strategy in order to reach the target in a time efficient manner. In early trials, it is very evident that subjects focus on controlling the force output of one finger at a time until they reach the goal. As the block of trials progresses, subjects alter their strategy to a more coordinated movement to reach the target faster as they learn the coordination task. Throughout the study, forces are measured using a custom designed force measurement device. Many stroke patients do not fully recover hand function after a stroke. It has previously been shown that stroke subjects have an increase in finger enslavement or an increase in unintended force production between adjacent fingers. Ideally, using a force measurement device and a grasp shaping task, as described here, could translate to a therapy for stroke subjects enabling a faster recovery and greater finger independence

Geopolítica del petróleo en Eurasia

En el contexto actual, la seguridad nacional y la seguridad energética están tan estrechamente relacionadas que es imposible plantearlas como dos cuestiones distintas. En primer lugar hay que preguntarse a qué nos referimos cuando hablamos de seguridad nacional. Propongo la que, en mi opinión, es la mejor definición del término. Hace ya unos años el ilustre diplomático estadounidense George Kennan formuló la definición probablemente más clara: seguridad nacional se refiere a ‘la capacidad de este país para proseguir con su vida interna sin graves interferencias’. Queda entonces por acotar el término seguridad energética. Para el consumidor estadounidense la respuesta es sencilla, ya que únicamente le preocupan dos cosas: el precio y la disponibilidad. Poco más importa, y resulta irrelevante si el petróleo que se consume es de origen nacional o si ha sido importado. Con toda probabilidad, estas preocupaciones son extensibles a los consumidores del resto del mundo. Sin embargo, los gobiernos importadores deben adoptar una perspectiva distinta y aspirar a la seguridad energética (o la seguridad de abastecimiento) mediante la diversidad del suministro, así como a la diversidad de los tipos de combustible que se consumen. Las opciones de seguridad energética de que dispone cualquier nación importadora de petróleo o gas son limitadas. Los países importan porque las necesidades internas son superiores a sus capacidades de producción. EEUU, por ejemplo, importa petróleo de alrededor de 60 proveedores distintos. Aunque medir la diversidad de esta forma nos conduciría a engaño, puesto que no nos dejaría ver el peso específico que ocupan el Golfo Pérsico, en concreto, y la Organización de Países Exportadores de Petróleo (OPEP) en general. La búsqueda de nuevos suministros de crudo fuera del Golfo Pérsico prosigue en un intento por maximizar la diversidad de las fuentes de suministro, aunque todavía no se haya encontrado un sustituto total, y posiblemente nunca se encuentre

"No-Till" Farming Is a Growing Practice

Most U.S. farmers prepare their soil for seeding and weed and pest control through tillage—plowing operations that disturb the soil. Tillage practices affect soil carbon, water pollution, and farmers’ energy and pesticide use, and therefore data on tillage can be valuable for understanding the practice’s role in reaching climate and other environmental goals. In order to help policymakers and other interested parties better understand U.S. tillage practices and, especially, those practices’ potential contribution to climate-change efforts, ERS researchers compiled data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey and the National Resources Inventory-Conservation Effects Assessment Project’s Cropland Survey. The data show that approximately 35.5 percent of U.S. cropland planted to eight major crops, or 88 million acres, had no tillage operations in 2009.Tillage, no-till, Agricultural Resource Management Survey, ARMS, U.S. crop practices, National Resources Inventory-Conservation Effects Assessment Project, NRI-CEAP, carbon baseline, carbon sequestration, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

Evaluation of Risk Management Methods for Satsuma Mandarin

Simulation of production budgets were used to compare net discounted returns and the distribution of returns under alternative risk-mitigation scenarios. Results indicate that the combination of freeze protection and crop insurance increases expected net discounted 20-year returns while decreasing the downside risk. Break-even prices ranged from $.257 to$.289 per pound. Crop insurance returns were constant across price.Satsuma oranges, freeze protection, crop insurance, production budget, simulation, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty, C63, D81, Q12,