Literacy Practices and Schooling: A Case Study from Mozambique

A novel approach to the assessment of literacy is used to tackle the issue of effectiveness of years of schooling. The dichotomy inherent in the literacy rate is rejected in favor of a " practice-based" approach, which considers literacy as a multifaceted phenomenon as advocated in anthropological and economic research. Primary data collected in the poorest region in Mozambique suggest that years of schooling have a differentiated impact on acquired literacy practices of adults. Results that are robust to different specifications are reported. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Quantized Maxwell Theory in a Conformally Invariant Gauge

Maxwell theory can be studied in a gauge which is invariant under conformal rescalings of the metric, and first proposed by Eastwood and Singer. This paper studies the corresponding quantization in flat Euclidean 4-space. The resulting ghost operator is a fourth-order elliptic operator, while the operator P on perturbations of the potential is a sixth-order elliptic operator. The operator P may be reduced to a second-order non-minimal operator if a dimensionless gauge parameter tends to infinity. Gauge-invariant boundary conditions are obtained by setting to zero at the boundary the whole set of perturbations of the potential, jointly with ghost perturbations and their normal derivative. This is made possible by the fourth-order nature of the ghost operator. An analytic representation of the ghost basis functions is also obtained.Comment: 8 pages, plain Tex. In this revised version, the calculation of ghost basis functions has been amended, and the presentation has been improve

Spectral asymptotics of Euclidean quantum gravity with diff-invariant boundary conditions

A general method is known to exist for studying Abelian and non-Abelian gauge theories, as well as Euclidean quantum gravity, at one-loop level on manifolds with boundary. In the latter case, boundary conditions on metric perturbations h can be chosen to be completely invariant under infinitesimal diffeomorphisms, to preserve the invariance group of the theory and BRST symmetry. In the de Donder gauge, however, the resulting boundary-value problem for the Laplace type operator acting on h is known to be self-adjoint but not strongly elliptic. The latter is a technical condition ensuring that a unique smooth solution of the boundary-value problem exists, which implies, in turn, that the global heat-kernel asymptotics yielding one-loop divergences and one-loop effective action actually exists. The present paper shows that, on the Euclidean four-ball, only the scalar part of perturbative modes for quantum gravity are affected by the lack of strong ellipticity. Further evidence for lack of strong ellipticity, from an analytic point of view, is therefore obtained. Interestingly, three sectors of the scalar-perturbation problem remain elliptic, while lack of strong ellipticity is confined to the remaining fourth sector. The integral representation of the resulting zeta-function asymptotics is also obtained; this remains regular at the origin by virtue of a spectral identity here obtained for the first time.Comment: 25 pages, Revtex-4. Misprints in Eqs. (5.11), (5.14), (5.16) have been correcte

Non-stationary inflation and panel estimates of the n ew Keynesian Phillips curve for Australia

This paper uses a recent panel method of Russell and Banerjee (2008) to estimate the new Keynesian Phillips curve for Australia. Our estimates show that while the hybrid new Keynesian Phillips curve and backward looking conventional Phillips curve are well determined, estimates of the Phillips curve with the pure forward looking expectations are unsatisfactory.Panel data estimates, new Keynesian Phillips curve, Australia and Unit roots in the rate of inflation.

The dynamics of French public debt: Paths for fiscal consolidations

We analyze possible targets for the French debt-to-GDP ratio with a small model. The role of the US and German GDP growth, prices of raw materials, ECB monetary policy, and domestic policy is analyzed in the debt dynamics. We find that external conditions, together with policies to stimulate growth and to generate a government surplus, play a fundamental role in the French fiscal consolidation.Debt to GDP Ratio, French Economy, International Factors

Euclidean Maxwell Theory in the Presence of Boundaries. II

Zeta-function regularization is applied to complete a recent analysis of the quantized electromagnetic field in the presence of boundaries. The quantum theory is studied by setting to zero on the boundary the magnetic field, the gauge-averaging functional and hence the Faddeev-Popov ghost field. Electric boundary conditions are also studied. On considering two gauge functionals which involve covariant derivatives of the 4-vector potential, a series of detailed calculations shows that, in the case of flat Euclidean 4-space bounded by two concentric 3-spheres, one-loop quantum amplitudes are gauge independent and their mode-by-mode evaluation agrees with the covariant formulae for such amplitudes and coincides for magnetic or electric boundary conditions. By contrast, if a single 3-sphere boundary is studied, one finds some inconsistencies, i.e. gauge dependence of the amplitudes.Comment: 24 pages, plain-tex, recently appearing in Classical and Quantum Gravity, volume 11, pages 2939-2950, December 1994. The authors apologize for the delay in circulating the file, due to technical problems now fixe

The dynamics of Spanish public debt and sustainable paths for fiscal consolidation

This paper analyses possible patterns for the Spain debt-to-GDP ratio with a small macroeconomic model. The role of international macroeconomic variables (such as the US and French GDP growth rates, prices of raw materials, ECB monetary policy stance) and domestic policy instruments is analyzed in the debt dynamics. We find that external conditions, together with policies aimed to stimulate the growth and fulfilling Maastricht restrictions on deficit, play a fundamental role for fiscal consolidation in Spain and help to reach a sustainable pattern.Debt to GDP Ratio, Spain Economy, International Factors, SUR

New Developments in the Spectral Asymptotics of Quantum Gravity

A vanishing one-loop wave function of the Universe in the limit of small three-geometry is found, on imposing diffeomorphism-invariant boundary conditions on the Euclidean 4-ball in the de Donder gauge. This result suggests a quantum avoidance of the cosmological singularity driven by full diffeomorphism invariance of the boundary-value problem for one-loop quantum theory. All of this is made possible by a peculiar spectral cancellation on the Euclidean 4-ball, here derived and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, latex file. Paper prepared for the Conference "QFEXT05: Quantum Field Theory Under the Influence of External Conditions", Barcelona, September 5 - September 9, 2005. In the final version, the presentation has been further improved, and yet other References have been adde

Quantum Effects in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Cosmologies

Electrodynamics for self-interacting scalar fields in spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space-times is studied. The corresponding one-loop field equation for the expectation value of the complex scalar field in the conformal vacuum is derived. For exponentially expanding universes, the equations for the Bogoliubov coefficients describing the coupling of the scalar field to gravity are solved numerically. They yield a non-local correction to the Coleman-Weinberg effective potential which does not modify the pattern of minima found in static de Sitter space. Such a correction contains a dissipative term which, accounting for the decay of the classical configuration in scalar field quanta, may be relevant for the reheating stage. The physical meaning of the non-local term in the semiclassical field equation is investigated by evaluating this contribution for various background field configurations.Comment: 17 pages, plain TeX + 5 uuencoded figure

One-Loop Effective Action for Euclidean Maxwell Theory on Manifolds with Boundary

This paper studies the one-loop effective action for Euclidean Maxwell theory about flat four-space bounded by one three-sphere, or two concentric three-spheres. The analysis relies on Faddeev-Popov formalism and $\zeta$-function regularization, and the Lorentz gauge-averaging term is used with magnetic boundary conditions. The contributions of transverse, longitudinal and normal modes of the electromagnetic potential, jointly with ghost modes, are derived in detail. The most difficult part of the analysis consists in the eigenvalue condition given by the determinant of a $2 \times 2$ or $4 \times 4$ matrix for longitudinal and normal modes. It is shown that the former splits into a sum of Dirichlet and Robin contributions, plus a simpler term. This is the quantum cosmological case. In the latter case, however, when magnetic boundary conditions are imposed on two bounding three-spheres, the determinant is more involved. Nevertheless, it is evaluated explicitly as well. The whole analysis provides the building block for studying the one-loop effective action in covariant gauges, on manifolds with boundary. The final result differs from the value obtained when only transverse modes are quantized, or when noncovariant gauges are used.Comment: 25 pages, Revte