Democratic Reforms, Foreign Aid and Production Inefficiency

We construct an endogenous growth model and we employ empirical analysis to investigate the link between foreign aid and production efficiency in the presence of different political orientations of the recipient country. Using a panel of 124 countries from 1971 to 2007 and the production frontier toolbox, we document that regardless of income stratum, decade and type, foreign aid is associated with higher production inefficiency and that this inefficiency is reduced considerably if countries switch to democratic governance. Our study contributes to the aid literature by pointing to the institutional enhancement of the recipient countries through initially the adoption of democratic ruling practices.Democratic reforms, foreign aid, production inefficiency, translog function

Optimal currency shares in international reserves: the impact of the euro and the prospects for the dollar

Foreign exchange reserve accumulation has risen dramatically in recent years. The introduction of the euro, greater liquidity in other major currencies, and the rising current account deficits and external debt of the United States have increased the pressure on central banks to diversify away from the US dollar. A major portfolio shift would significantly affect exchange rates and the status of the dollar as the dominant international currency. We develop a dynamic mean-variance optimization framework with portfolio rebalancing costs to estimate optimal portfolio weights among the main international currencies. Making various assumptions on expected currency returns and the variance-covariance structure, we assess how the euro has changed this allocation. We then perform simulations for the optimal currency allocations of four large emerging market countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), adding constraints that reflect a central bank’s desire to hold a sizable portion of its portfolio in the currencies of its peg, its foreign debt and its international trade. Our main results are: (i) The optimizer can match the large share of the US dollar in reserves, when the dollar is the reference (risk-free) currency. (ii) The optimum portfolios show a much lower weight for the euro than is observed. This suggests that the euro may already enjoy an enhanced role as an international reserve currency ("punching above its weight"). (iii) Growth in issuance of euro-denominated securities, a rise in euro zone trade with key emerging markets, and increased use of the euro as a currency peg, would all work towards raising the optimal euro shares, with the last factor being quantitatively the most important. JEL Classification: F02, F30, G11, G15Currency optimizer, euro, Foreign reserves, international currencies

1814: the Reform of the Notation of Religious Chants in Orthodox Liturgy.

Please note: this article is written in Greek. In 1814, the Patriarchiate in the Fanari of Constantinople transformed the notation for religious chanting, from which came the so-called “new method”. In January 1815 there was founded a “new school” for teaching and disseminating this method. The new method of Greek music of Byzantine and neo-Byzantine melody, and the opening of the new school is the event which signifies an epoch in which there was a turning point in chanting in the Greek Orthodox Church. For the development and dissemination of the New Method and for the creation of the new school of music, around 1815, there circulated a Patriarchal Decree, in one page, sent as a Patriarchal Universal Message by the Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril the 6th, in the month of April or May of 1815. At the same time, an effort was made to translate all the Byzantine and Meta-Byzantine melodies into the system of the new method in a work which contains 62 “Exegitical Manuscripts”. This article, first, discusses the background history of notation and its use up till the transformation, and later discusses the exegetical work in the manuscripts

Optimal Currency Shares in International Reserves: The Impact of the Euro and the Prospects for the Dollar

Foreign exchange reserve accumulation has risen dramatically in recent years. The introduction of the euro, greater liquidity in other major currencies, and the rising current account deficits and external debt of the United States have increased the pressure on central banks to diversify away from the US dollar. A major portfolio shift would significantly affect exchange rates and the status of the dollar as the dominant international currency. We develop a dynamic mean-variance optimization framework with portfolio rebalancing costs to estimate optimal portfolio weights among the main international currencies. Making various assumptions on expected currency returns and the variance-covariance structure, we assess how the euro has changed this allocation. We then perform simulations for the optimal currency allocations of four large emerging market countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), adding constraints that reflect a central bank%u2019s desire to hold a sizable portion of its portfolio in the currencies of its peg, its foreign debt and its international trade. Our main results are: (i) The optimizer can match the large share of the US dollar in reserves, when the dollar is the reference (risk-free) currency. (ii) The optimum portfolios show a much lower weight for the euro than is observed. This suggests that the euro may already enjoy an enhanced role as an international reserve currency ("punching above its weight"). (iii) Growth in issuance of euro-denominated securities, a rise in euro zone trade with key emerging markets, and increased use of the euro as a currency peg, would all work towards raising the optimal euro shares, with the last factor being quantitatively the most important.

Alien Registration- Tselikis, Gregorios (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/31649/thumbnail.jp

A short study on the compositions of the 'mathēma' Ἄνωθεν οἱ προφῆται, from the "Golden Age" of kalophonia (14th–15th centuries) as food for thought on the concepts of eponymity, tradition and innovation in Byzantine music

The present study will transfer us to the era of kalophony and take us back through the post-Byzantine centuries, using as a vehicle the manuscript tradition of the theotokion mathema Ἄνωθεν οἱ προφῆται. Aiming to understand the concepts of eponymity, tradition and innovation as regards Byzantine compositions, in fact, I shall examine the adventures of the most widely-disseminated Byzantine mathēmatarian compositions, which survive even today in liturgical praxis

Effects of Profitability towards Enterprise Value with Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and Brand Value as Mediating Variables

Currently, many companies are taking many actions to put their most vigorous efforts into enterprise value creation, which enables the company to achieve its highest market capitalization. They plan and do many strategies, such as value-added creation by creating intangible values through CSR activities, creating CSR performance, and brand value creation through brand valuation. This research seeks to determine whether companies profitability, ROA, and ROE affect the enterprise value. Therefore, two mediating variables, CSR performance and Brand Value, have been set to analyze whether one impacts another. To do research, the researcher utilizes secondary data, which is the data that has been collected by someone other than the researcher. The finding shows that companies profitability has no impact on the enterprise value and CSR performance.; On the other hand, the results show a strong relationship between brand value and enterprise value, and brand value is a mediating variable between companies profitability and enterprise valu

Essays on exchange rates, capital flows and growth

My thesis comprises of two parts. The first part consists of two chapters. The first chapter titled "A Model of Real Exchange Rates and Real Consumption Spending with Time Varying Discount Factors" generalizes a "no-arbitrage" or "real business cycle" equilibrium model by allowing for different time varying impatience parameters across countries and provides empirical evidence for this model vis-ä-vis a restricted one, where impatience parameters are constant. My contribution is to show, based on a generalization of the equilibrium model of exchange rates, that the test equation linking exchange rates to fundamentals should allow for heterogeneity in time preferences across countries and across time, as well as noise-that is the model should not be tested as an exact relation. The second chapter titled "Capital Flows and Exchange Rates" investigates the empirical relationship between capital flows and nominal exchange rates for five major countries. Recent international finance theory suggests that currencies are influenced by capital flows as much as by current account balances and log-term interest rates. Using Vector Auto Regressions (VAR's) I document the following: Incorporating net cross-border equity flows into linear exchange rate models can improve their in-sample performance. Using net cross-border bond flows, however, has no such effect; (ii) An equity-augmented linear model supports exchange rate predictability and outperforms a random walk in several cases. The second part of my thesis consists also of two chapters (co-authored with Elias Papaioannou, LBS). In the third chapter titled "Democratization and Growth" we revisit the relationship between democracy and growth. Addressing several drawbacks of previous studies yields new evidence: (i) A permanent democratization results in a positive and significant increase of real per capita GDP growth of approximately one percent. (ii) A J-shaped dynamic pattern emerges, with output costs around the transition, but significantly positive growth gains after democracy's stabilization. The empirical evidence thus validates Hayek's (1960) insight that "the merits of democracy will only come in the long-run". The fourth chapter titled "What Drives Democracy? " is directly linked to the previous one since it aims to explore further the endogenous formation of democratization. We examine countries that enter our sample as non-democratic to identify the systematic factors that led certain countries to abandon autocracy permanently. This approach stands in contrast to the limited empirical studies that pool all countries to quantify the correlates of long-run democracy. We document that: (i) In contrast to recent studies that challenge the income-freedom link, a permanent democratization is more likely to occur in wealthy (but not oil-abundant) countries. ii) In line with the liberal hypothesis (Friedman, 1962), economic and political liberalizations appear to be re-enforcing. (iii) Democratic transitions are more likely to occur after an economic crisis. (iv) Beyond economic factors, religion and fractionalization are key determinants of political systems

Acute appendicitis in preschoolers: a study of two different populations of children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To assess the incidence and the risk factors implicated in acute appendicitis in preschoolers in our region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Over a 7-year period, 352 children underwent appendectomy for suspected acute appendicitis. Of these, data for 23 children were excluded because no inflammation of the appendix was found on subsequent histology. Of the remaining 329, 82 were ≤ 5 years old (i.e., preschool children) and 247 were 5-14 years old. These two groups of children were further divided according to their religion into Muslims and Christian Orthodox: 43 of the children aged ≤ 5 years were Muslims and 39 were Christian Orthodox. A household questionnaire was designed to collect data concerning age, gender, type of residence area, living conditions, vegetable consumption, and family history of surgery for acute appendicitis as preschool children. The removed appendices were also assessed histologically for the amount of lymphoid tissue.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Acute appendicitis of preschoolers developed more frequently in Muslims (39.4%) than in Christians (17.7%; <it>p </it>< 0.001). The lack of inside toilet facilities at home, overcrowded living conditions, living in rural areas, and the amount of appendix lymphoid tissue were significantly more frequent among the Muslim preschool children (<it>p </it>< 0.05), while there were no statistically significant differences between Muslim and Christian children with regard to gender, the family history of acute appendicitis, or the vegetable consumption (<it>p </it>> 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In our region, the percentage of preschool-aged Muslim children with acute appendicitis was remarkably high. One possible explanation for this finding could be the higher amount of lymphoid tissue in the wall of the appendix in Muslim preschool children together with their low standard of hygiene.</p