The relationships between interest rates and inflation changes: An analysis of long-term interest rate dynamics in developing countries

Interest rates lie at the centre of monetary policy, not just as passive reflectors on money supply but rather as one of the main policy instruments. Interest rates have played a central role macroeconomic policy. In developing countries, interest rates have also enjoyed high popularity as policy instruments. For instance, high interest rate has been an essential component of many stabilization programs in countries with chronic inflation during the 1980s. This paper deals with theoretical and empirical aspects of the interactions between interest rates and inflation in developing countries. In the theoretical part reviewing literature revealed that many researchers argue that increasing inflation rate results in increasing interest rate. It is also argued that increasing product costs by increasing interest rate raises product’s prices and consequently inflation. This research examines the causal relationship between the interest rate and inflation rate in a panel of 40 selected Islamic countries using new causality approach and applying panel data methodology over the 2002 – 2005 periods. The results of this study show a unidirectional causality from interest rate to inflation rate in 40 Islamic countries. The findings have practical policy implications for decision makers in the area of macroeconomic planning particularly in Islamic countries. The results imply that banks must reduce interest rate to decrease the inflation

Nanostructured model implants for in vivo studies: influence of well-defined nanotopography on de novo bone formation on titanium implants

An implantable model system was developed to investigate the effects of nanoscale surface properties on the osseointegration of titanium implants in rat tibia. Topographical nanostructures with a well-defined shape (semispherical protrusions) and variable size (60 nm, 120 nm and 220 nm) were produced by colloidal lithography on the machined implants. Furthermore, the implants were sputter-coated with titanium to ensure a uniform surface chemical composition. The histological evaluation of bone around the implants at 7 days and 28 days after implantation was performed on the ground sections using optical and scanning electron microscopy. Differences between groups were found mainly in the new bone formation process in the endosteal and marrow bone compartments after 28 days of implantation. Implant surfaces with 60 nm features demonstrated significantly higher bone-implant contact (BIC, 76%) compared with the 120 nm (45%) and control (57%) surfaces. This effect was correlated to the higher density and curvature of the 60 nm protrusions. Within the developed model system, nanoscale protrusions could be applied and systematically varied in size in the presence of microscale background roughness on complex screw-shaped implants. Moreover, the model can be adapted for the systematic variation of surface nanofeature density and chemistry, which opens up new possibilities for in vivo studies of various nanoscale surface-bone interactions

The Effects of Resource Rent, Human Capital and Government Effectiveness on Government Health Expenditure in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

The low economic growth and lack of qualified institutions have led to a lower level of health in the resource-rich developing countries. This paper explores the effects of resource rent, human capital and government effectiveness on government health expenditure in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It uses Panel Fully Modified Least Squares (Panel-FMOLS) method in Eviews software over the period 2002 – 2015. Findings imply that the resource rent, human development index and government effectiveness influence directly the government expenditure on health, when the interactions between explanatory variables are ignored. However, the sign and magnitude of coefficients are changed, when interaction terms are included in regression models. The oil rents affect the healthcare sector in OPEC. Accordingly, the abundance of oil resources is not bad per se. Thus, the key determinant in the transformation of rents from oil resources into disaster or blessing is the government effectiveness across oil exporting countries. Keywords: Health, Resource rent, Panel-FMOLS JEL Classifications: C52, I15, P48 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.757

Reclassification Risk Management in the Health Insurance Market of Iran

Introduction: Reclassification risk in the health insurance market happens when premiumprices are determined based on the health level. It is necessary for insurance applicants tomanage this risk due to uncertainty about the individual’s health status in later periods.Guaranteed renewable insurance fully covers this risk because the health level is not takeninto account in calculating the premiums. This study is an attempt to calculate the welfarebenefits resulting from the coverage of this risk by providing guaranteed renewable insurancein this market.Methods: The economic welfare model in the form of computable general equilibrium hasbeen used to measure welfare. The model is calibrated by the data of social accounting matrixand national health accounts in 2011. Social accounting matrix is extracted based on the latestinput-output table for the economy of Iran presented in this yeaResults: The results show that, in general, the more guaranteed renewable insurance expandsin the health insurance market, the greater the welfare effects will be; therefore, the eliminationof basic insurance from this market and provision of the same insurance for all people in theform of guaranteed renewable insurance (complete elimination of reclassification risk) canincrease economic welfare up to 6%.Conclusion: Reclassification risk management by providing guaranteed renewable insurancein the health insurance market of Iran, due to increasing the welfare of the insured, will leadto the provision of a unit insurance plan and equal access to health services for all

The socioeconomic and political determinants of life expectancy in selected countries of the world

Background: Longevity as an important measure of health is evaluated based on life expectancy at birth. Since the mid-twentieth century, increasing life expectancy has been considered as an evident indication of demographic change, and most countries have experienced a significant increase in life expectancy. The aim of this study is to identify the economic, social and political determinants of life expectancy and to estimate their related effects. Methods: With the use of panel data obtained from World Bank and GLS approach, we investigate the effects of the factors on life expectancy at birth in selected countries of the world during 2000-2016. Result: The econometric results show that GDP per capita, literacy rate, health expenditure per capita and democracy impact the life expectancy positively. Reversely, GDP per capita squared (in logarithm) influence life expectancy negatively. GDP per capita has the strongest impact on life expectancy. The results indicate at per to 20000 capita income equal US$, 1% increase in GDP per capita causes 0.205%, 0.207% and 0.209% increase in life expectancy for total population, males and females, respectively. Conclusion: Positive effect of economic variables of GDP per capita and health expenditure per capita on life expectancy conducts to adopt policies and interventions to improve economic status on a global scale, especially in poor and low income countries. Also, the provision of education opportunities, especially in the low-income countries, and the transition from autocratic political systems to democratic societies may result in longevity and increase the supply of labor in the long-run

Nanostructured Artificial Biointerfaces

AbstractThe interactions occurring between biological systems and the surface of biomaterials hasbeen an area of strong research focus for a number of decades. There has been a realisation ofthe importance of macromolecular interactions and a consequent need to understandbiointerfacial events at the nanometer length-scale. A set of tools for working at thenanometer scale are critical for the study, design and evaluation of new biomaterials forapplication to improve medical devices and therapies and there has been a significant researchdrive to develop engineering approaches able to perform in the nanometer regime. One suchengineering approach to nanopattern model biomaterial interfaces over large areas is colloidallithography. In this thesis work colloidal lithography is extended from metals and ceramicsfor use with organic materials including bulk homopolymers, thin films of bothhomopolymers and block copolymers and monolayers of proteins. Large area arrays oftopographic nanostructures with a range of aspect ratios and shapes are demonstrated bysystematic control of processing parameters. Templating of block copolymers via topographicor chemical nanopatterns was shown and a templated PLL-g-PEG layer was subsequentlyused to create large area nanopatterns of the protein Laminin. A novel approach to quantifyingprotein binding from AFM height histograms was developed and utilised to characterise thefunctional properties of the surface bound Laminin. Artificial nanostructured biointerfacesproduced by these approaches giving nanoscale topographic or chemical cues were used tostudy the influence of nanoscale surface structures on the behaviour of adherent cells inculture. Significant changes in cellular morphology and cytoskeletal arrangement wereobserved which correlated to reduced focal adhesion formation. Cells adherent tonanopatterns of protein adhesive domains and high aspect ratio

Nanostructured Artificial Biointerfaces

AbstractThe interactions occurring between biological systems and the surface of biomaterials hasbeen an area of strong research focus for a number of decades. There has been a realisation ofthe importance of macromolecular interactions and a consequent need to understandbiointerfacial events at the nanometer length-scale. A set of tools for working at thenanometer scale are critical for the study, design and evaluation of new biomaterials forapplication to improve medical devices and therapies and there has been a significant researchdrive to develop engineering approaches able to perform in the nanometer regime. One suchengineering approach to nanopattern model biomaterial interfaces over large areas is colloidallithography. In this thesis work colloidal lithography is extended from metals and ceramicsfor use with organic materials including bulk homopolymers, thin films of bothhomopolymers and block copolymers and monolayers of proteins. Large area arrays oftopographic nanostructures with a range of aspect ratios and shapes are demonstrated bysystematic control of processing parameters. Templating of block copolymers via topographicor chemical nanopatterns was shown and a templated PLL-g-PEG layer was subsequentlyused to create large area nanopatterns of the protein Laminin. A novel approach to quantifyingprotein binding from AFM height histograms was developed and utilised to characterise thefunctional properties of the surface bound Laminin. Artificial nanostructured biointerfacesproduced by these approaches giving nanoscale topographic or chemical cues were used tostudy the influence of nanoscale surface structures on the behaviour of adherent cells inculture. Significant changes in cellular morphology and cytoskeletal arrangement wereobserved which correlated to reduced focal adhesion formation. Cells adherent tonanopatterns of protein adhesive domains and high aspect ratio