Banking Crises and the Lender of Last Resort: How crucial is the role of information?

This article develops a model of bank runs and crises and analyses how the presence of a lender of last resort (LOLR) affects the solvency of the banking system. We obtain a one to one mapping from the depositors' equilibrium strategy to an optimal contract prevailing in the economy. The study finds that the difference between a perfectly informed and an imperfectly informed LOLR can be crucial. Our results indicate that a perfectly informed LOLR is a Pareto improvement. However, if the supervisory process of the LOLR is subject to noise, then the gains from ex post efficiency may be outweighed by ex ante inefficiency induced by moral hazard which is conducive to lower lending rates in the economy.Bank runs, lender of last resort, transparency

The Valuation of Corporate Debt with Default Risk

This article values equity and corporate debt by taking into account the fact that in practice the default point differs from the liquidation point and that it might be in the creditors' interest to delay liquidation. The article develops a continuous time asset pricing model of debt restructuring which explicitly considers the inalienability of human capital. The study finds that even though in general the creditors will not liquidate the firm on the incidence of default, but nevertheless would liquidate the firm prematurely relative to the first best threshold. This agency problem leads to the breakdown of the capital structure irrelevance result.Debt pricing, default risk, inalienability of human capital

A Flight Test Study to Assess the Utility of an Aircraft Referenced 3D Audio Display to Improve Pilot Performance under High Workload Conditions

A study to assess the utility of an aircraft referenced 3D audio display was undertaken to determine if there could be any improvements to pilot performance when operating under high workload conditions. Test subjects flew a general aviation light twin-engine aircraft under simulated single-pilot instrument flight rule conditions. Workload was elevated by ensuring each test subject had to execute an unexpected missed approach procedure and simultaneously handle a simulated engine failure. Subjective data was gathered using the NASA Task Load Index and a post-flight questionnaire on perceived performance, workload and situational awareness. Objective data on pilot performance was gathered using the research aircraft’s onboard instrumentation system. Within the limitations of having a low number (5) of test subjects available, subjective data results showed a perceived increase in situational awareness, performance, and a statistically significant reduction in workload. Although not statistically significant, the only objective impact to performance was a slight increase in heading control and course intercept. There was no corresponding performance increase in airspeed control, angle of bank control, or improvements to aircraft track. Overall, the results indicate that a 3D audio display would have utility and pilot acceptance as a supplemental navigational display, but would not result in any substantial improvements to pilot performance

Physician migration at its roots: a study on the factors contributing towards a career choice abroad among students at a medical school in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Physician migration, also known as “brain drain,” results from a combination of a gap in the supply and demand in developed countries and a lack of job satisfaction in developing countries. Many push and pull factors are responsible for this effect, with media and internet playing their parts. Large-scale physician migration can pose problems for both the donor and the recipient countries, with a resulting reinforcement in the economic divide between developed and developing countries. The main objectives of our study were to determine the prevalence of migration intentions in medical undergraduates, to elucidate the factors responsible and to analyze the attitudes and practices related to these intentions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study, conducted at Dow Medical College of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, between January, 2012 and May, 2012. A total of 323 students responded completely. The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections, and was aimed at collecting demographic details, determining students’ migratory intentions, evaluating reasons for and against migration and assessing attitudes and practices of students related to these intentions. RESULTS: Out of 323 respondents, 195 wanted to pursue their careers abroad, giving a prevalence rate of 60.4% in our sample. United States was the most frequently reported recipient country. The most common reasons given by students who wished to migrate, in descending order, were: lucrative salary abroad followed by quality of training, job satisfaction, better way of life, relatives, more opportunities, better working environment, terrorism in Pakistan, harassment of doctors in Pakistan, desire to settle abroad, more competition in Pakistan, better management, peer pressure, longer working hours in Pakistan, religious reasons, parent pressure, political reasons and favoritism in Pakistan. A considerable number of respondents had already started studying for licensing examinations, and were also planning of gaining clinical experience in their desired country of interest. CONCLUSION: Physician migration is a serious condition that requires timely intervention from the concerned authorities. If considerable measures are not taken, serious consequences may follow, which may pose a threat to the healthcare system of the country

The Seeds of a Crisis: A Theory of Bank Liquidity and Risk-Taking over the Business Cycle

We examine how the banking sector may ignite the formation of asset price bubbles when there is access to abundant liquidity. Inside banks, given lack of observability of effort, loan officers (or risk takers) are compensated based on the volume of loans but are penalized if banks suffer a high enough liquidity shortfall. Outside banks, when there is heightened macroeconomic risk, investors reduce direct investment and hold more bank deposits. This ‘flight to quality’ leaves banks flush with liquidity, lowering the sensitivity of bankers’ payoffs to downside risks of loans and inducing excessive credit volume and asset price bubbles. The seeds of a crisis are thus sown. We show that the optimal monetary policy involves a “leaning against liquidity” approach: A Central Bank should adopt a contractionary monetary policy in times of excessive bank liquidity in order to curb risk-taking incentives at banks, and conversely, follow an expansionary monetary policy in times of scarce liquidity so as to boost investment

T-cell activation by ethanol: a possible mechanism for immunosuppression

Alcohol abuse has been commonly associated with enhanced susceptibility to pathogens. Studies on the effects of ethanol on the immune system are complicated by a lack of consensus on whether ethanol activates, inhibits or has no effect on immune cells. We present data showing that acute exposure of T cells to ethanol elicits responses that broadly parallel responses seen in normally stimulated T cells such as the formation of the immune synapse, polarization of the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) to the synapse and tyrosine phosphorylation of signaling proteins as seen when the T cell Receptor (TcR) engages antigen-MHC. However, incomplete activation of the T cell signaling program leads to unresponsive or anergic T cells. Our data suggests the hypothesis that ethanol can activate T cells in a manner that leads to anergy. We have found that ethanol triggers calcium signaling and this has provided one of the primary tools for analyzing the effects of ethanol on T cells. Ethanol induced calcium transients are dose-dependent and are comparable to those triggered by low doses of anti-TcR antibody. This is important because it allows us to compare ethanol dependent signaling to that normally triggered through stimulation of the T cell receptors. Analysis of the calcium signaling pathway indicates that ethanol-stimulated calcium transients depend on calcium entry and are likely due to opening of CRAC type calcium channels. The observed calcium transients go a long way towards explaining how ethanol may stimulate T cells and provides a mechanism for immune suppression through the observed translocation of NF-AT in ethanol pulsed cells. The translocation of NF-AT is particularly important because of reports that it plays a crucial role in triggering anergy and immunosuppression. Taken together, these data can help explain how ethanol can both activate T cells and cause immunosuppression.Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biolog

On the Transport Capability of LAN Cables in All-Analog MIMO-RoC Fronthaul

Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture is the only viable solution to handle the complex interference scenario generated by massive antennas and small cells deployment as required by next generation (5G) mobile networks. In conventional C-RAN, the fronthaul links used to exchange the signal between Base Band Units (BBUs) and Remote Antenna Units (RAUs) are based on digital baseband (BB) signals over optical fibers due to the huge bandwidth required. In this paper we evaluate the transport capability of copper-based all-analog fronthaul architecture called Radio over Copper (RoC) that leverages on the pre-existing LAN cables that are already deployed in buildings and enterprises. In particular, the main contribution of the paper is to evaluate the number of independent BB signals for multiple antennas system that can be transported over multi-pair Cat-5/6/7 cables under a predefined fronthauling transparency condition in terms of maximum BB signal degradation. The MIMO-RoC proves to be a complementary solution to optical fiber for the last 200m toward the RAUs, mostly to reuse the existing LAN cables and to power-supply the RAUs over the same cable

Does public investment crowd out private investment? Evidence on investment and growth in Asia, 1971-2000

The paper looks at the growth and investment performance of six Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand. Having discussed the time series properties of the public and private investment series and the GDP growth rate, the paper goes on to use the concept of Granger-block causality in a three-variable VAR in the presence of possible unit roots. The analysis is based on the lag-augmented VAR concept developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995). We find that no single relationship holds in all countries and that the relationship between public and private investment varies from country to country.peer-reviewe

A Synthetic Review of Contraceptive Supplies in Punjab

Use of contraceptive supplies around the world has given couples a chance to choose the number and spacing of their children and has had remarkable lifesaving benefits. Healthy time and spacing for pregnancies is helpful for mother’s and newborn’s health. Yet despite these efforts, contraceptive use is still low in Pakistan. In this paper an annual comparison of contraceptive commodities in Punjab obtained by Bureau of statistics and Pakistan Development statistics has been made. A consolidation of contraceptive commodities of first quarter of 2015 in Punjab in collaboration with Policy and Strategic Planning Unit (PSPU) and Integrated Reproductive Mother, Neonatal and Child Health (IRMNCH) & Nutrition Program of Punjab has been discussed. Suggestions have been given that how use of FP services can be improved through filling gaps for the implementation and evaluation of FP2020 initiatives. Family planning commodities requires a strategy for bridging the gaps to overcome the unmet needs