8,394 research outputs found
Bank credit and economic activity
Bank loans ; Vector autoregression ; Supply and demand ; Monetary policy - United States
The Purposes and Accountability of the Corporation in Contemporary Society: Corporate Governance at a Crossroads
Little attention has been paid to how the governance structures of public corporations adapt to structural changes in the social, political, economic and legal environments in which they operate. Bradley et al chronicle the recent changes in the conduct of business enterprise and establish the necessary conditions for a system of corporate governance capable of accommodating these changes
Contrasts in European awareness between Irish and Zimbabwean students
This paper summarises the results of a suvey of the level of recognition of
European countries by university level students in Ireland and Zimbabwe. While Irish
students have a significantly higher level of recognition there are a number of common
features between the results of both surveys. Countries with distinctive shapes, large size
and/or coastal locations are best recognised. Also the member state"s of the European
Community are generally better known than members of other regional groupings. There is
also a high degree of confusion amongst both student samples in relation to members of
groupings that are frequently identified by historical/regional labels such as Scandinavia or
the Balkan states
Income Distribution and Redistribution in Ireland: A Geographical Exploration
The distribution and redistribution of household incomes are explored at multiple geographical
scales (state, region, county, metropolitan area and electoral district) using several databases
compiled by the Central Statistics Office. This work complements an extensive body of
published research that has been mostly undertaken at the level of the State without much
consideration of trends and patterns at the levels of regions and smaller units. The focus
here is primarily on a geographical exploration at different spatial scales of the distribution
of incomes and of the factors that have influenced the distributions. International research
has concluded that the transition to neoliberal economic strategies in most economically
advanced countries over the last forty years was accompanied by an increasing divergence in
per capita incomes between regions. In Ireland, however, the impact of neoliberal economic
strategies in the context of an exceptionally open economy, was moderated for a period of
over twenty years from the mid 1980s by an innovative and dynamic national model of social
partnership.
Personal and household incomes in Ireland increased significantly over the last 30 years and
the overall level of inequality measured across all households in the State decreased, but
it is still high in comparison to other EU countries, especially for market-based income. At
the regional level, disparities in household incomes have declined but there remain large
differences between the Dublin-dominated East region and the strongly rural Border and
Midland regions. The transition to lower levels of inequality occurred in phases linked to the
trajectory of the national economy. Inter-regional convergence was more likely during periods
of significant economic slow-down as in the 1980s and again in the immediate aftermath of
the economic and financial crisis in 2008. This particular form of convergence was not due to
poorer regions ‘catching up’ with richer regions. It was instead more likely to be associated
with a weakening of the stronger regions, while State transfers to low-income households
and regions remained more resilient.
Over the longer term, the evidence points towards a pattern of convergence between urban
and rural areas in average household incomes. The micro-geographical data for 2016 at the
level of Electoral Districts provide two important insights that are not apparent from regional
data. Firstly, after exclusion of the five largest cities, there is no statistical relationship
between median household incomes and the population size of settlements. The relative
location of settlements in relation to the larger centres of employment, and especially the
extent of commuting, is much more important. Secondly, the 2016 data show that the highest
levels of inequality in income distribution profiles occur in both the cities and in some of the
poorest rural counties, while the lowest levels are found in counties that experienced the
highest levels of population increase over recent decades.
The overall distribution map of household incomes is directly influenced by two sets of
factors. The first relates to the spatial distributions of employment and earnings in different
economic sectors. The second relates to the role of State transfers that provide benefits to a
wide range of persons and households. They are especially important for places that may be
considered ‘left-behind’ in the overall restructuring of the economy and society. In addition
to the direct influences on the geography of incomes levels there are important background
factors related especially to demography, education, female participation in the labour force
and where households choose to live.
The findings from the research have implications for many areas of public policy, most
especially in relation to the spatial organisation of economic and social development. These
challenges are not unique to Ireland and have contributed to narratives that extend beyond
economic considerations to include potential adverse impacts on social cohesion, spatial
justice and on basic principles of democracy if the underlying processes are not addressed.
The experience from other countries, along with the patterns that remained dominant
in Ireland, is that traditional approaches to regional development are no longer adequate.
Policies that sought to overcome market failures and that relied on welfare transfers from
rich to poor regions did not succeed. Neither did policies that sought to maximise the national
economic growth by promoting agglomeration into the largest cities. The more recent focus
on place-based development with a more explicit concern for a holistic, human-centred
approach informed by principles of spatial justice offers a prospect for a better future in all
regions and places.
While this research was being undertaken, there were some significant events that may impact
on the future geography of incomes in Ireland. These include such international events as the
departure of the UK from the EU, the legacy of the COvID 19 pandemic which accelerated
a transition to new working arrangements including remote working, and the disruption of
the global economy following the Russian invasion of Ukraine with consequent impacts on
the costs of living especially for the elderly and those living in some rural areas. In addition,
in Ireland there are very significant challenges in relation to the supply and affordability of
housing. The critical roles of further and higher education in relation to employment and
regional development are being addressed through recent reforms in both sectors, though
these need to be linked more strongly to the overall strategy for regional development.
Further research is needed to examine in more detail the relationship between the geographical
distribution of incomes and commuting, and how it may be impacting on summary measures
for rural and urban areas. In addition, a more sophisticated approach to the identification of
a multi-level typology of places that includes both urban and rural areas and the linkages
between them is urgently required to avoid a risk of over-simplification in the interpretation
of the patterns revealed by the data
A Farm-Level Evaluation of Conditions Under Which Farmers Will Supply Biomass Feedstocks for Energy Production
This study evaluated the risk management potential of including biomass crops as a diversification strategy for a grain farm in northwest Tennessee. Results indicate that adding biomass crops to the farm enterprise mix could improve mean net revenues and reduced net revenue variability.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Disease activity flares and pain flares in an early rheumatoid arthritis inception cohort; characteristics, antecedents and sequelae
© 2019 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: RA flares are common and disabling. They are described in terms of worsening inflammation but pain and inflammation are often discordant. To inform treatment decisions, we investigated whether inflammatory and pain flares are discrete entities. Methods: People from the Early RA Network (ERAN) cohort were assessed annually up to 11 years after presentation (n = 719, 3703 person-years of follow up). Flare events were defined in 2 different ways that were analysed in parallel; DAS28 or Pain Flares. DAS28 Flares satisfied OMERACT flare criteria of increases in DAS28 since the previous assessment (≥1.2 points if active RA or ≥ 0.6 points if inactive RA). A ≥ 4.8-point worsening of SF36-Bodily Pain score defined Pain Flares. The first documented episode of each of DAS28 and Pain Flare in each person was analysed. Subgroups within DAS28 and Pain Flares were determined using Latent Class Analysis. Clinical course was compared between flare subgroups. Results: DAS28 (45%) and Pain Flares (52%) were each common but usually discordant, with 60% of participants in DAS28 Flare not concurrently in Pain Flare, and 64% of those in Pain Flare not concurrently in DAS28 Flare. Three discrete DAS28 Flare subgroups were identified. One was characterised by increases in tender/swollen joint counts (14.4%), a second by increases in symptoms (13.1%), and a third displayed lower flare severity (72.5%). Two discrete Pain Flare subgroups were identified. One occurred following low disease activity and symptoms (88.6%), and the other occurred on the background of ongoing active disease and pain (11.4%). Despite the observed differences between DAS28 and Pain Flares, each was associated with increased disability which persisted beyond the flare episode. Conclusion: Flares are both common and heterogeneous in people with RA. Furthermore our findings indicate that for some patients there is a discordance between inflammation and pain in flare events. This discrete flare subgroups might reflect different underlying inflammation and pain mechanisms. Treatments addressing different mechanisms might be required to reduce persistent disability after DAS28 and Pain Flares.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
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