Financial stability challenges in EU candidate countries - Financial systems in the aftermath of the global crisis

This paper reviews financial stability challenges in the EU candidate countries: Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. It follows a macro-prudential approach, emphasising systemic risks and the stability of financial systems as a whole. The paper recalls that the economies of all three countries experienced a recession in 2008-09 and shows how this slowed the rapid process of financial deepening that had been taking place since the beginning of the last decade. The deteriorating economic and financial conditions manifested themselves, first and foremost, through a marked deterioration in asset quality. These direct credit risks were compounded by the transformation of exchange and interest rate risks through a widespread use of foreign exchange-denominated or indexed loans and variable or adjustable interest rate loans. Moreover, funding and liquidity risks also materialised to some extent, although fully fledged bank runs were avoided, and none of the countries experienced a sharp reversal in external financing. Overall, the deterioration in asset quality has so far been managed well by the banking systems of the candidate countries, facilitated by large capital buffers, pro-active macro-prudential policies pursued by the authorities both before and during the crisis and the relative stability of exchange rates. Looking ahead, although uncertainties remain high regarding credit quality, the shock-absorbing capacities of the banking systems are fairly robust, as also evidenced by their relative resilience so far. Nevertheless, as the economic recovery sets in, the central banks should return to and possibly reinforce the implementation of measures to avoid a pro-cyclical build-up of credit asset) boom-bust cycles. Furthermore, given the relevance of foreign-owned banks in two of the three countries, a continued strengthening of home-host cooperation in the supervisory area will be crucial to avoid any kind of regulatory arbitrage. JEL Classification: E3, E52, E58banking sector, emerging markets, Europe, macro-prudential approach, vulnerability indicators

Taking a multiple-use approach to meeting the water needs of poor communities brings multiple benefits

Water use / Domestic water / Irrigation water / Poverty / Water supply / Drinking water

Влияние неоднородностей температуры поверхности на теплообмен воздуха с Землей

В работе проведено моделирование процесса натекания воздуха с холодной поверхности воды на теплую поверхность суши и сравнение расчетов с результатами измерений. Из расчетов следует, что потоки тепла в прибрежной зоне могут более чем на 20% превышать значения потоков тепла, вычисленных из предположения о горизонтальной однородности приземного слоя. Таким образом, горизонтальную неоднородность атмосферы следует учитывать при расчетах охлаждения водоемов, горизонтальный размер которых имеет масштаб ~100 м.В роботі проведено моделювання процесу натікання повітря з холодної поверхні води на теплу поверхню суші та порівняння розрахунків із вимірюваннями. З розрахунків видно, що потоки тепла в прибережній зоні можуть більш ніж на 20% перевищувати значення потоків тепла, обчислених з припущення про горизонтальну однорідність приземного шару. Таким чином, горизонтальну неоднорідність атмосфери слід враховувати при розрахунках охолодження водойм, горизонтальний розмір яких має масштаб ~100 м.In the paper, the air flow process from the cold water surface onto the warm land surface was simulated. The comparisons of calculations with measurements were performed as well. The calculations show that the heat flux in the narrow coastal zone may be more than 20% higher than the values of heat fluxes calculated from the assumption of horizontal homogeneity of the surface layer. Thus, the horizontal inhomogeneity of the atmosphere must be taken into account in the calculation of the cooling water, the horizontal size of which has a scale of ~100 m

Effects of interactions between anthropogenic stressors and recurring perturbations on ecosystem resilience and collapse

Insights into declines in ecosystem resilience and their causes and effects can inform preemptive action to avoid ecosystem collapse and loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being. Empirical studies of ecosystem collapse are rare and hampered by ecosystem complexity, nonlinear and lagged responses, and interactions across scales. We investigated how an anthropogenic stressor could diminish ecosystem resilience to a recurring perturbation by altering a critical ecosystem driver. We studied groundwater-dependent, peat-accumulating, fire-prone wetlands known as upland swamps in southeastern Australia. We hypothesized that underground mining (stressor) reduces resilience of these wetlands to landscape fires (perturbation) by diminishing groundwater, a key ecosystem driver. We monitored soil moisture as an indicator of ecosystem resilience during and after underground mining. After landscape fire, we compared responses of multiple state variables representing ecosystem structure, composition, and function in swamps within the mining footprint with unmined reference swamps. Soil moisture declined without recovery in swamps with mine subsidence (i.e., undermined), but was maintained in reference swamps over 8 years (effect size 1.8). Relative to burned reference swamps, burned undermined swamps showed greater loss of peat via substrate combustion; reduced cover, height, and biomass of regenerating vegetation; reduced postfire plant species richness and abundance; altered plant species composition; increased mortality rates of woody plants; reduced postfire seedling recruitment; and extirpation of a hydrophilic animal. Undermined swamps therefore showed strong symptoms of postfire ecosystem collapse, whereas reference swamps regenerated vigorously. We found that an anthropogenic stressor diminished the resilience of an ecosystem to recurring perturbations, predisposing it to collapse. Avoidance of ecosystem collapse hinges on early diagnosis of mechanisms and preventative risk reduction. It may be possible to delay or ameliorate symptoms of collapse or to restore resilience, but the latter appears unlikely in our study system due to fundamental alteration of a critical ecosystem driver. Efectos de las interacciones entre los estresantes antropogénicos y las perturbaciones recurrentes sobre la resiliencia y el colapso de los ecosistemas

Knockdown of zif268 in the posterior dorsolateral striatum does not enduringly disrupt a response memory of a rewarded T-maze task

Under certain conditions pavlovian memories undergo reconsolidation, whereby the reactivated memory can be disrupted by manipulations such as knockdown of zif268. For instrumental memories, reconsolidation disruption is less well established. Our previous, preliminary data identified that there was an increase in Zif268 in the posterior dorsolateral striatum (pDLS) after expression of an instrumental habit-like ‘response’ memory, but not an instrumental goal-directed ‘place’ memory on a T-maze task. Here, the requirement for Zif268 in the reconsolidation of a response memory was tested by knockdown of Zif268, using antisense oligodeoxynucleotide infusion into the pDLS, at memory reactivation. Zif268 knockdown reduced response memory expression 72H, but not 7d later. Western blotting revealed a non-significant increase in Zif268 in the pDLS in rats using response memories, but there was no change in Zif268 expression in the hippocampus following retrieval of a place memory. Zif268 expression increased in the basolateral amygdala after memory reactivation whether a response or place strategy was used during reactivation. We propose that Zif268 expression in the basolateral amygdala may be linked to prediction error, generated by the absence of reward at reactivation. Taken together, these results suggest a complex role for Zif268 in the maintenance of instrumental memories.This work was conducted within the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), a joint initiative funded by the Wellcome Trust and the UK Medical Research Council, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. This work was funded by a UK Medical Research Council programme grant (no. G1002231) awarded to B.J.E. and A.L.M. G.H.V. was supported by a doctoral training grant from the BCNI. A.L.M. is the Ferreras-Willetts Fellow in Neuroscience at Downing College, Cambridge. E.N.C is a BBSRC Anniversary Future Leaders Fellow

Economic assessment of use of pond ash in pavements

The paper introduces a new type of industrial waste-based subbase material which can replace conventional subbase material (CSM) in pavement construction. Utilisation of this industrial waste, namely pond coal ash produced from a thermal power plant in road construction will help to reduce the disposal problem of this waste and also will help to reduce the problem of scarcity of CSM. Lime and fibre were also added to the pond ash at various percentages to improve the suitability of this type of mix as subbase material. The optimum service life of pavement is studied with the help of numerical modelling and the cost benefit is also presented in the current study. The study reveals that stabilisation of the coal ash with 2% lime may produce an optimal material and, even though a greater thickness may be required to deliver the same pavement performance, direct cost savings of around 10% may be achieved in addition to less easily quantifiable environmental benefits. Design charts are provided to exploit the findings

Public health, conflict and human rights: toward a collaborative research agenda

Although epidemiology is increasingly contributing to policy debates on issues of conflict and human rights, its potential is still underutilized. As a result, this article calls for greater collaboration between public health researchers, conflict analysts and human rights monitors, with special emphasis on retrospective, population-based surveys. The article surveys relevant recent public health research, explains why collaboration is useful, and outlines possible future research scenarios, including those pertaining to the indirect and long-term consequences of conflict; human rights and security in conflict prone areas; and the link between human rights, conflict, and International Humanitarian Law

INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE

Summary The concept of integrated water resources management (WRM) is currently high on the international policy making agenda and has gained momentum as an approach important from both economic and environmental viewpoints. This article looks critically at the broad approach to women adopted in the WRM policy and then examines, using a gender perspective, two key areas of the policy agenda: pricing and environmental protection and conservation. Although the approach has potential for increased responsiveness of WRM to the interests of women, it is argued that to the extent that gender analysis is limited, these potentialities may be lost. Given the likely influence of the policy, it is crucial at this stage to ensure that a gender analysis of the conceptual, methodological and empirical dimensions of WRM informs the frameworks and practices currently being developed and authenticated under the ‘new consensus’. RESUME La gestion intégrée des resources en eau: une perspective basée dans le genre Le concept WRM de la gestion intégrée des ressources en eau occupe actuellement une place avancée à l'ordre du jour de la politique internationale; qui plus est, l'importance de ce concept s'accroît non seulement en termes économiques mais aussi, du point de vue de l'environnement. Les auteurs de l'article offrent un aperçu critique de l'approche générale adoptée dans la politique WRM au niveau des femmes; puis, à partir de la perspective du genre, l'article examine deux aspects clef du programme politique: la détermination des prix, et la protection/conservation de l'environnement. Bien que l'approche offre plus de potentiel au niveau de l'accroisement et de l'amélioration du concept WRM en ce qui concerne les intérêts des femmes, il est par contre proposé que (dans la mesure où l'analyse par le genre est peu développée dans ce concept), ces potentialités manquent de se concrétiser. Si l'on tient compte des éventuelles influences de cette politique de gestion intégrée, il est essentiel de veiller à ce stade à ce que l'analyse par le genre des dimensions conceptuelles, méthodologiques et empiriques du concept de la gestion intégrée des ressources en eau puisse informer les structures et les pratiques en voie d'élaboration et de valorisation dans le “nouveau concensus”. RESUMEN El manejo integrado de la provisión de agua: una perspectiva de género El concepto de un manejo integrado en la provisión de agua (WRM) va adquiriendo mucha importancia en la agenda de elaboración de políticas internacionales, y ha cobrado más impulso como enfoque importante desde puntos de vista tanto económicos como medio ambientales. Este artículo da una opinión crítica de la actitud hacia la mujer adoptada por las políticas de WRM, y también examina, desde una perspectiva de género, dos áreas clave de esta agenda: el precio de la protección ambiental y la conservación. Aunque el enfoque se presta para una mayor repuesta de WRM a los intereses de la mujer, mientras este análisis de género se mantenga limitado este potencial puede perderse. Tomando en cuenta la posible influencia de este enfoque, es esencial en la presente etapa asegurar que el análisis de género de las dimensiones conceptuales, metodológicas y empíricas de WRM informen exhaustivamente a los esquemas y prácticas de trabajo actualmente en proceso de desarrollo y autenticación bajo el ‘nuevo consenso’

Block Rate Pricing of Water in Indonesia: An Analysis of Welfare Effects

Block rate pricing of piped water in Indonesian cities has a progressive structure: the marginal price paid increases with the volume of demand. This paper estimates household water demand in Salatiga city using the Burtless and Hausman model, and finds that its distribution is not unimodal—that data cluster around kinks. The main estimation results are a price elasticity of approximately –1.2 and an income elasticity of 0.05. These elasticities are mutually dependent. The estimated model is used to investigate the social welfare consequences of a shift to uniform pricing. The principal beneficiaries would be large households, which are not necessarily wealthy. While replacing the complex rate structure by a uniform marginal price would have positive effects on average welfare, the equity consequences would be small. To improve equity, water companies could reduce installation fees, giving low-income households access to water connections, or reinvest profits in network expansion to unserviced areas