Infrastructure regulation and poverty reduction in developing countries: a review of the evidence and a research agenda

Poverty reduction is a primary goal of development policy. In large parts of the World people have to live on meagre incomes and have limited access to infrastructure services, such as mains water, safe sanitation, mains power supplies, maintained roads and telephones. In response, more and more infrastructure provision has been opened up to private investment over the last two decades and regulatory institutions have been introduced to protect the public interest in the absence of state ownership. In this paper the role of infrastructure regulation in poverty reduction is investigated drawing on the published evidence. The conclusion is that the evidence is both patchy and sometimes contradictory. There is mixed knowledge regarding the extent to which regulators address poverty issues and about the results of regulatory decisions. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda aimed at improving our understanding of the ways in which infrastructure regulation impacts on poverty, with the objective of improving actual regulatory policy in developing economies

A Dynamic Analysis of Mortgage Arrears in the UK Housing Market

The UK economy has enjoyed an unprecedented period of positive economic growth since the early 1990s. The absence of recession for more than a decade has been accompanied by a sustained decline in the level of mortgage arrears, as reported by major lenders. This paper seeks to examine the factors which have driven the reduction in mortgage arrears and, in doing so, identify those factors which are most likely to cause arrears to increase in the future, should economic conditions deteriorate. The paper employs the Johansen methodology to test for the presence of multiple cointegrating vectors. An error correction model is estimated in order to examine long-run and short-run dynamics in mortgage arrears. In line with previous research concerning the causes of mortgage arrears, the results presented here emphasise the importance of changes in the rate of unemployment, loan–income and debt–service ratios. More importantly, our results highlight the statistical significance of unwithdrawn housing equity as an explanatory variable with respect to mortgage arrears.mortgage arrears, housing market, cointegration

Banking performance and technological change in non-core EU countries: A study of Spain and Portugal

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost efficiency of banks operating in two "non-core" EU countries, Portugal and Spain, over a number of years. Specifically, the paper aims to examine the extent to which banks' efficiency is influenced by their portfolio orientation and scale of operation. Data envelopment analysis is used to identify banks' levels of performance over time in both countries. In order to decompose banks' total factor productivity change into technological, scale efficiency and pure efficiency changes, the Malmquist index method is applied. Banks operating in both countries have improved their performance over time and savings banks and large banks, in particular, have tended to outperform other types of banks. Banks operating in Spain tend to perform better than in Portugal and Spanish-owned banks perform better than their Portuguese-owned counterparts. The improvements in performance revealed have mainly been due to technological change. Bankscope is a well- respected data source and has been the basis of many studies of performance in international banking. Unfortunately, owing to data deficiencies, around 20 per cent of the banks operating in Portugal and Spain were not included. Practical implications - If Portuguese banks are to be competitive internationally, there is considerable need for efficiency improvements. The paper provides insights into the dynamics of the Portuguese and Spanish banking systems. The results should be of interest to management in banking and bank regulators in Europe, and economists and others studying bank performance trends. The research reported may shed light on some of the challenges facing the banking sectors of the "new" EU states (such as Poland and Hungary)

Testing for international financial markets integration

This paper examines the extent to which financial markets across the main international financial centres integrated between 1988 and 2001 in the face of technological change and capital market liberalisation. Two empirical approaches are adopted based on principal components analysis and cointegration tests, applied respectively to covered interest rate differentials and real interest rates.. The results suggest that some financial integration occurred during the 1990s but that integration is far from complete at the international level. The study also confirms differing trends in the integration of financial markets in different geographical regions.School of Managemen

Challenges Facing the Polish Banking Industry: A Comparative Study with UK Banks

In 2004 Poland entered the EU. This paper investigates the performance of the Polish banking industry over the period 1999–2004, by looking specifically at its comparative efficiency in relation to one of the largest banking sectors in the EU namely, that of the UK. Based on a range of efficiency measures, the empirical results reveal a surprising degree of relative efficiency in the Polish banking industry, no doubt reflecting the substantial economic changes introduced in Poland since 1989. The findings suggest that the Polish banking sector should be able to withstand the new competitive pressures that it faces following entry into the banking sector of the EU.Poland, UK, banking, efficiency, performance

Migrant entrepreneurs as cosmopolitan change agents:a Bourdieuan perspective on capital accumulation

Purpose : The aim of this paper is to provide novel insights into how the cosmopolitan mind-set can be fostered at a time of globalization by considering a group of social actors that has received scant attention in the literature on institutional change, notably migrant entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach : This is a conceptual study that draws on Bourdieu’s theory of capital to develop a set of testable propositions as to how the economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital endowments of migrant entrepreneurs shape their agency in bringing about cosmopolitan transformation. Findings : Together, migrant entrepreneurs endowed with higher levels of capital may act as institution reformers and promote the cosmopolitan mind-set by influencing the beliefs, incentives and behaviors of those embedded in more entrenched traditional institutions. Research limitations/implications : Our conceptual framework deals with only one of the many agents that may help bring about cosmopolitan change and is particularly well suited to a Western European context. Practical implications This conceptual paper provides a number of testable propositions that can be central to an empirical investigation into how the levels of capital possessed by migrant entrepreneurs affect their engagement in cosmopolitan change. Originality/value : The novelty of this paper lies in the development of a set of propositions that shows how divergent change toward a cosmopolitan vision might be engendered by spatially dispersed actors endowed with varying degrees of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital

The effects of ownership on bank efficiency in Latin America

In recent years many countries have privatized their state-owned banks and encouraged foreign investment. This paper investigates the roles of state and private ownership and foreign and domestic ownership on the performance of banks across Latin America. Using a range of financial and economic ratios, data envelopment analysis and regression modelling, the study reveals that by 2001 there was surprisingly little difference in performance between state-owned and privately-owned banks and between foreign and domestically-owned banks. The study also reports significantly different levels of bank performance in different Latin American countries, suggesting that country differences outweighed ownership differences in explaining performance

A organização das atividades de enriquecimento curricular

Mestrado em Ciências da EducaçãoOs municípios são os principais promotores do programa das Atividades de Enriquecimento Curricular (AEC) no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico que visa responder socialmente às necessidades das famílias. Tendo em consideração a problemática da descentralização da administração educativa, o referencial teórico-normativo debruça-se sobre o papel dos municípios em Educação e a territorialização das políticas educativas. Numa lógica de continuidade da política educativa de Escola a Tempo Inteiro (ETI), é caracterizada a organização normativa das AEC e contraposta com a realidade encontrada. A metodologia adotada é um estudo de caso que visa conhecer e analisar a organização das AEC num município através da criação de parcerias educativas. Como métodos de recolha de dados optámos pela realização de entrevistas e análise documental. Concluiu-se que não há uma descentralização efetiva, visto o programa das AEC ser concebido e decretado pelo poder central, cabendo ao poder local executá-lo mediante contrapartidas financeiras. No entanto, assistimos a uma grande entrega do município, dos parceiros e dos agrupamentos para a planificação, monitorização e avaliação do programa. A continuidade das AEC está comprometida pela verba transferida pelo Ministério da Educação (ME), visto não estar a ser suficiente para fazer frente às despesas do programa.The municipalities are the main promoters of Curricular Enrichment Activities (CEA) in Primary Schools, a program which aims to give a social response to the families' needs. Considering the administrative decentralization of education, the theoretical normative framework focuses the role of municipalities and the territorialization of educative policies. Continuing the Full Time School policy, the CEA are characterized by the organization of their normative and compared to the analyzed reality. To analyze the organization of the CEA in a municipality, we adopted a case study as methodology to understand its educational partnerships. As methods of data collection we opted for interviews and document analysis. We concluded there's no effective decentralization because the CEA are conceived and enacted by the central power and municipalities are merely financed to execute the program. However, we found a great effort among the municipality, its partners and school groups for planning, monitoring and evaluating the program. The program’s future is compromised by the transferred amount from the Ministry of Education (ME), because nowadays it's ineffective to face the expenditures of the program

Relatório de estágio de intervenção comunitária - Hábitos de vida saudáveis dos adolescentes da Escola Secundária Mouzinho da Silveira de Portalegre

A adolescência deve ser considerada como uma etapa do ciclo vital do ser humano, onde ocorrem importantes processos de crescimento e desenvolvimento. É um período de transição da infância para a idade adulta, sendo difícil estabelecer uma delimitação etária do princípio e do seu fim, uma vez que existem «muitas adolescências» conforme cada infância, cada fase de maturação, cada família, cada época, cada cultura. Enquanto se tenta entender a si próprio e aos outros, o adolescente experiência novas sensações, diferentes sentimentos, passando por situações únicas na sua vida. Coabitam nesta fase desejos ambivalentes de crescimento e regressão, de autonomia e dependência, ligado ao passado, vontade de se projetar no futuro. É durante a adolescência que se poderão verificar comportamentos e o estabelecer de hábitos de vida prejudiciais à sua saúde, com implicações no momento e/ou a longo prazo. Políticas de Promoção da Saúde envolvem a implementação estratégica de Programas de Educação para a Saúde, com vista a capacitar os adolescentes para a aquisição e/ou manutenção de hábitos de vida saudáveis, possuindo deste modo um papel fundamental e decisivo na sua saúde. No âmbito do III Mestrado em Enfermagem, com a área de Especialização em Enfermagem Comunitária, o presente relatório ambiciona descrever, analisar e refletir as atividades desenvolvidas durante o estágio. O estágio sucedeu o Diagnóstico da Situação de Saúde, efetuado em grupo (4 mestrandas), tendo decorrido na Escola Secundaria Mouzinho da Silveira em Portalegre, junto dos adolescentes do 8.º e 9.º Anos, no Ano Letivo 2013/2014, durante o período de 16 de setembro de 2013 a 31 de janeiro de 2014. Elegeu-se a comunidade adolescente, dado o elevado interesse desta para a saúde comunitária, com o intuito de se promover a capacitação dos adolescentes na aquisição/manutenção de Hábitos de Vida Saudáveis. Com a efetivação do estágio, tornou-se um desafio para a mestranda a aquisição de competências como enfermeira Especialista em Enfermagem Comunitária.The adolescence should be considered as a stage of the human being's life cycle where there are major growth and development processes. It is a transition period from childhood to adulthood, being difficult to establish bounds for its beginning and its end, since there are «many adolescences» depending on each childhood, maturation phase, family, era, culture. While trying to understand oneself and the others, the adolescent experiences new sensations, different feelings, going through unique situations in his life. In this phase there co-exist ambivalent desires of growth and regression, autonomy and dependence, attached to the past, willing to project himself into the future. It is during the adolescence that behaviours and the establishment of harmful living habits to one’s health can be verified, with immediate implications and/or at long term. Health Promotion policies involve the strategic implementation of Education Programs for Health, aiming to enable adolescents for the acquisition and/or maintenance of healthy living habits, thus having an essential and decisive role in their health. Within the III Master’s Degree in Nursing, with the area of specialisation in Community Nursing, this report aims to describe, analyse and reflect the activities developed during the internship. The internship succeeded the Health Situation Diagnosis, made in group (4 master’s students), at the Secondary School Mouzinho da Silveira in Portalegre, among adolescents of the 8th and 9th grades, in the academic year 2013/2014, from 16th september 2013 to 31st january 2014. The adolescent community was elected given its high interest for the community health, in order to promote the adolescents capacity in the acquisition/maintenance of Healthy Living Habits. With the conclusion of the internship, the acquisition of skills as a Community Nursing Specialist nurse has become a challenge for the master’s studen