Labor Migration and Social Networks Participation: Evidence from Southern Mozambique

There is a large literature pointing to community participation and social networks as salient components of household well-being in developing settings. Yet, there are few insights into whether people mobility affects incentive problems associated with social networks, or whether labor migration displaces social informal institutions in village economies at origin. This paper directly tests the role of international migration in shaping participation in groups and social networks by migrant sending households in village economies at origin. By using an original household survey from two southern regions in Mozambique, we find that households with successful migrants (i.e. those receiving either remittances or return migration) engage more in community based social networks. Our findings are robust to alternative definitions of social interaction and to endogeneity concerns suggesting that stable migration ties and higher income stability through remittances may decrease participation constraints and increase household commitment in cooperative arrangements in migrant-sending communities.International Migration, Social Capital, Networks, Group Participation, Mozambique

Gender differences in time allocation of poor children in Colombia

This paper studies the e§ect of credit constraints and constraints on transfers between parents and children, on di§erences in labor and schooling across children within the same household, with an application to gender. When families are unconstrained in these respects, di§erences in labor supply or education are driven by di§erences in wages or returns to education. If the family faces an imperfect capital market, the labor supply of each child is ine¢ cient, but di§erences across children are still driven by comparative advantage. However, if interfamily transfers are constrained so that parents cannot o§set inequality between their children, they will favor the human capital accumulation of the more disadvantaged child -generally the one who works more as a child. We use our theory to examine the gender gap in child labor. Using a sample of poor families in Colombia, we conÖrm our prediction among rural households, although this is less clear for urban households. The gender gap is largely explained by the wage gap between girls and boys. Moreover, families with the potential to make capital transfers to adult children (e.g. those with large animals), can compensate adult sons for their greater child labor and reduced educational attainment. In such families, as predicted, the male/female labor gap isgreater.Child labor, schooling, credit constraints.

Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa

We investigate how emigration flows from a developing region are affected by xenophobic violence at destination. Our empirical analysis is based on a unique survey among more than 1000 households, collected in Mozambique in summer 2008, a few months after a series of xenophobic attacks in South Africa killed dozens and displaced thousands of immigrants from neighbouring countries. We estimate migration intentions of Mozambicans before and after the attacks, controlling for the characteristics of households and previous migration behaviour. Using a placebo period, we show that other things equal, the migration intention of household heads decreases from 37% to 33%. The sensitivity of migration intentions to violence is larger for household heads with many children younger than 15 years, decreasing the migration intention by 11% points. Most importantly, the sensitivity of migration intentions is highest for those household heads with many young children whose families have no access to social networks. For these household heads, the intention falls by 15% points. Social networks provide insurance against the consequences young children suffer in case the household head would be harmed by xenophobic violence and consequently could not provide for the family.household behaviour, risk, violence, Mozambique

The determinants of the health status in a developing country: results form the colombian case

ABSTRACT This paper tries to find empirical evidence of the health determinants, as a measure of health capital in a developing country after a deep reform of its health-care sector. It follows the Grossman model (1972) and also takes, besides individual and socioeconomic variables, institutional factors of the health sector. Two surveys from 1997 and 2000 in Colombia, with a subjective (self-report) health status of the individuals, and information about the health system affiliation type, were used. The estimation method is an order probit model. At the end, the results show an important connection between individual, institutional and socioeconomic variables with the health status of a person in Colombia. The effect of the type of access to medical care strengths the inequities in health outcome. *************************************************************************** RESUMEN El artículo busca encontrar evidencia empírica de los determinantes de la salud, como una medición de capital salud en un país en desarrollo después de una profunda reforma en el sector salud. Siguiendo el modelo de Grossman (1972) y tomando factores institucionales, además de las variables individuales y socioeconómicas. Se usaron las encuestas de 1997 y 2000 donde se responde subjetivamente sobre el estado de salud y tipo de afiliación al sistema de salud. El proceso de estimación usado es un probit ordenado. Los resultados muestran una importante conexión entre las variables individuales, institucionales y socioeconómicas con el estado de salud. El efecto de tipo de acceso al sistema de salud presiona las inequidades en salud.Demand for health, health production, developing countries, probit estimations

Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa

We investigate how emigration flows from a developing region are affected by xenophobic violence at destination. Our empirical analysis is based on a unique survey among more than 1000 households collected in Mozambique in summer 2008, a few months after a series of xenophobic attacks in South Africa killed dozens and displaced thousands of immigrants from neighbouring countries. We estimate migration intentions of Mozambicans before and after the attacks, controlling for the characteristics of households and previous migration behaviour. Using a placebo period, we show that other things equal, the migration intention of household heads decreases from 37 to 33 percent. The sensitivity of migration intentions to violence is larger for household heads with many children younger than 15 years, decreasing the migration intention by 11 percentage points. Most important-ly, the sensitivity of migration intentions is highest for those household heads with many young children whose families have no access to social networks. For these household heads, the intention falls by 15 percentage points. Social networks provide insurance against the consequences young children suffer in case the household head would be harmed by xenophobic violence and conse-quently could not provide for the family.violence, risk, migration, household behaviour, Mozambique

Xenophobic Attacks, Migration Intentions and Networks: Evidence from the South of Africa

We investigate how emigration flows from a developing region are affected by xenophobic violence at destination. Our empirical analysis is based on a unique survey among more than 1000 households collected in Mozambique in summe 2008, a few months after a series of xenophobic attacks in South Africa killed dozens and displaced thousands of immigrants from neighbouring countries. We estimate migration intentions of Mozambicans before and after the attacks, controlling for the characteristics of households and previous migration behaviour. Using a placebo period, we show that other things equal, the migration intention of household heads decreases from 37 to 33 percent. The sensitivity of migration intentions to violence is larger for household heads with many children younger than 15 years, decreasing the migration intention by 11 percentage points. Most importantly, the sensitivity of migration intentions is highest for those household heads with many young children whose families have no access to social networks. For these household heads, the intention falls by 15 percentage points. Social networks provide insurance against the consequences young children suffer in case the household head would be harmed by xenophobic violence and consequently could not provide for the family.violence, risk, migration, household behaviour, Mozambique

Predicting the electricity demand response via data-driven inverse optimization

A method to predict the aggregate demand of a cluster of price-responsive consumers of electricity is discussed in this presentation. The price-response of the aggregation is modeled by an optimization problem whose defining parameters represent a series of marginal utility curves, and minimum and maximum consumption limits. These parameters are, in turn, estimated from observational data using an approach inspired from duality theory. The resulting estimation problem is nonconvex, which makes it very hard to solve. In order to obtain good parameter estimates in a reasonable amount of time, we divide the estimation problem into a feasibility problem and an optimality problem. Furthermore, the feasibility problem includes a penalty term that is statistically adjusted by cross validation. The proposed methodology is data-driven and leverages information from regressors, such as time and weather variables, to account for changes in the parameter estimates. The estimated price-response model is used to forecast the power load of a group of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, with positive results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. European Research Council: This research work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 755705)

Policies and Motivations for the CO2 Valorization through the Sabatier Reaction Using Structured Catalysts. A Review of the Most Recent Advances

The current scenario where the effects of global warming are more and more evident, has motivated different initiatives for facing this, such as the creation of global policies with a clear environmental guideline. Within these policies, the control of Greenhouse Gase (GHG) emissions has been defined as mandatory, but for carrying out this, a smart strategy is proposed. This is the application of a circular economy model, which seeks to minimize the generation of waste and maximize the efficient use of resources. From this point of view, CO2 recycling is an alternative to reduce emissions to the atmosphere, and we need to look for new business models which valorization this compound which now must be considered as a renewable carbon source. This has renewed the interest in known processes for the chemical transformation of CO2 but that have not been applied at industrial level because they do not offer evident profitability. For example, the methane produced in the Sabatier reaction has a great potential for application, but this depends on the existence of a sustainable supply of hydrogen and a greater efficiency during the process that allows maximizing energy efficiency and thermal control to maximize the methane yield. Regarding energy efficiency and thermal control of the process, the use of structured reactors is an appropriate strategy. The evolution of new technologies, such as 3D printing, and the consolidation of knowledge in the structing of catalysts has enabled the use of these reactors to develop a wide range of possibilities in the field. In this sense, the present review presents a brief description of the main policies that have motivated the transition to a circular economy model and within this, to CO2 recycling. This allows understanding, why efforts are being focused on the development of different reactions for CO2 valorization. Special attention to the case of the Sabatier reaction and in the application of structured reactors for such process is paid

Devriesea agamarum associated cheilitis in a North African spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx acanthinura) in Spain

An 11-year-old, male North African spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx acanthinura) was presented with hyperkeratotic cheilitis. Based on clinical examination, histology and microbiological testing, Devriesea agamarum was identified as the causative agent of the dermal disorder. Moreover, an abundant culture of D. agamarum was obtained following sampling of the oral cavity. Cheilitis was present for three years in the spiny-tailed lizard and during the first year of that period the lizard was housed together with an ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus), an Algerian orange-tailed skink (Eumeces algeriensis) and a female U. acanthinura. The latter lizard showed signs of chronic dermatitis and had deceased approximately 2.5 years prior to initial presentation of the male dab lizard because of renal failure. The other cohabiting lizards showed no dermal lesions and D. agamarum could not be demonstrated following dermal, cloacal and oral sampling. Recurrence of the bacterial skin infection was observed following a first antimicrobial treatment. This was considered to result from failure to eliminate the bacterium from the treated dab lizard or re-infection from the environment or asymptomatic carriers. A second treatment, including disinfection of the enclosure with household bleach 0.1%, weekly mechanical debridement of the crusty lesion and treatment with ceftazidime at 20 mg/kg intramuscularly every 72 hours for 57 days resulted in resolution of the skin lesions, elimination of D. agamarum from the oral cavity based on repetitive microbiological sampling and no recurrence of the lesions during a 31 month follow up period. The present case is the first report of devrieseasis in Spain and highlights the importance of a multidirectional diagnostic and therapeutic approach towards controlling devrieseasis in captive lizard collections. Several disease aspects such as persistency are discussed in the light of the contemporary available literature

An Algorithm for the Generation of Segmented Parametric Software Estimation Models and Its Empirical Evaluation

Parametric software effort estimation techniques use mathematical cost-estimation relationships derived from historical project databases, usually obtained through standard curve regression techniques. Nonetheless, project databases -- especially in the case of consortium-created compilations like the ISBSG --, collect highly heterogeneous data, coming from projects that diverge in size, process and personnel skills, among other factors. This results in that a single parametric model is seldom able to capture the diversity of the sources, in turn resulting in poor overall quality. Segmented parametric estimation models use local regression to derive one model per each segment of data with similar characteristics, improving the overall predictive quality of parametrics. Further, the process of obtaining segmented models can be expressed in the form of a generic algorithm that can be used to produce candidate models in an automated process of calibration from the project database at hand. This paper describes the rationale for such algorithmic scheme along with the empirical evaluation of a concrete version that uses the EM clustering algorithm combined with the common parametric exponential model of size-effort, and standard quality-of-adjustment criteria. Results point out to the adequacy of the technique as an extension of existing single-relation models