Frisch Demand Functions and Intertemporal Behaviour in Consumption: The Turkish Case

This paper examines the intertemporal behaviour in consumption for Turkey which has been experiencing high and chronic inflation since the late 1970s. The Frisch demand system is used to estimate three separate but inextricably intertemporal elasticities: intertemporal price elasticities of demand, commodity-specific intertemporal elasticities, and the intertemporal substitution elasticity of consumption. Our main result is that the Turkish households are reluctant to move their expenditures on non-durable goods from the current period to the next period, regardless of how high nominal interest rates are. This interesting result shows that the consumption behaviour in Turkey has been mainly shaped by uncertainty created by inflationary process and the tendency towards hedging against inflation.

Frisch Demand Functions and Intertemporal Behaviour in Consumption: The Turkish Case

This paper examines the intertemporal behaviour in consumption for Turkey which has been experiencing high and chronic inflation since the late 1970s. The Frisch demand system is used to estimate three separate but inextricably intertemporal elasticities: intertemporal price elasticities of demand, commodity-specific intertemporal elasticities, and the intertemporal substitution elasticity of consumption. Our main result is that the Turkish households are reluctant to move their expenditures on non-durable goods from the current period to the next period, regardless of how high nominal interest rates are. This interesting result shows that the consumption behaviour in Turkey has been mainly shaped by uncertainty created by inflationary process and the tendency towards hedging against inflation

An Observational, Prospective, Multicenter, Registry-Based Cohort Study Comparing Conservative and Medical Management for Patent Ductus Arteriosus

No consensus has been reached on which patent ductus arteriosus (PDAs) in preterm infants require treatment and if so, how, and when they should be treated. A prospective, multicenter, cohort study was conducted to compare the effects of conservative approaches and medical treatment options on ductal closure at discharge, surgical ligation, prematurity-related morbidities, and mortality. Infants between 24(0/7)and 28(6/7)weeks of gestation from 24 neonatal intensive care units were enrolled. Data on PDA management and patients' clinical characteristics were recorded prospectively. Patients with moderate-to-large PDA were compared. Among the 1,193 enrolled infants (26.7 +/- 1.4 weeks and 926 +/- 243 g), 649 (54\%) had no or small PDA, whereas 544 (46\%) had moderate-to-large PDA. One hundred thirty (24\%) infants with moderate-to-large PDA were managed conservatively, in contrast to 414 (76\%) who received medical treatment. Eighty (62\%) of 130 infants who were managed conservatively did not receive any rescue treatment and the PDA closure rate was 53\% at discharge. There were no differences in the rates of late-onset sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity, intraventricular hemorrhage (>= Grade 3), surgical ligation, and presence of PDA at discharge between conservatively-managed and medically-treated infants (p> 0.05). Multivariate analysis including perinatal factors showed that medical treatment was associated with increased risk for mortality (OR 1.68, 95\% Cl 1.01-2.80,p= 0.046), but decreased risk for BPD or death (BPD/death) (OR 0.59, 95\%Cl 0.37-0.92,p= 0.022). The preferred treatment options were ibuprofen (intravenous 36\%, oral 31\%), and paracetamol (intravenous 26\%, oral 7\%). Infants who were treated with oral paracetamol had higher rates of NEC and mortality in comparison to other treatment options. Infants treated before postnatal day 7 had higher rates of mortality and BPD/death than infants who were conservatively managed or treated beyond day 7 (p= 0.009 and 0.007, respectively). In preterm infants born at <29 weeks of gestation with moderate-to-large PDA, medical treatment did not show any reduction in the rates of open PDA at discharge, surgical or prematurity-related secondary outcomes. In addition to the high incidence of spontaneous closure of PDA in the first week of life, early treatment (<7 days) was associated with higher rates of mortality and BPD/death