Religious Conversion in 40 Countries

Questions about current and prior religion adherence from the International Social Survey Program and the World Values Survey allow us to calculate country-level religious-conversion rates for 40 countries. These conversion rates apply to religion adherence classified into eight major types. In a theoretical model based on rational individual choice, the frequency of religious conversion depends on factors that influence the cost of switching and the cost of having the "wrong" religion. Empirical findings for a panel of countries accord with several hypotheses: religious-conversion rates are positively related to religious pluralism, gauged by adherence shares; negatively related to government restrictions on religious conversion; positively related to levels of education; and negatively related to a history of Communism. Conversion rates are not much related to per capita GDP, the presence of state religion, and the extent of religiosity. Effects from the type of religion adherence are minor, except for a negative effect from Muslim adherence. The empirical results are robust to alternative specifications of the religion groupings used to construct the conversion rates.

What You Export Matters

When local cost discovery generates knowledge spillovers, specialization patterns become partly indeterminate and the mix of goods that a country produces may have important implications for economic growth. We demonstrate this proposition formally and adduce some empirical support for it. We construct an index of the "income level of a country's exports," document its properties, and show that it predicts subsequent economic growth.

The Impact of the Terms of Trade on Economic Development in the Periphery, 1870-1939: Volatility and Secular Change

Most countries in the periphery specialized in the export of just a handful of primary products for most of their history. Some of these commodities have been more volatile than others, and those with more volatile prices have grown slowly relative both to the industrial leaders and to other primary product exporters. This fact helps explain the growth puzzle noted by Easterly, Kremer, Pritchett and Summers more than a decade ago: that the contending fundamental determinants of growth—institutions, geography and culture—exhibit far more persistence than do the growth rates they are supposed to explain. Using a new panel database for 35 countries, this paper estimates the impact of terms of trade volatility and secular change on country performance between 1870 and 1939. Volatility was much more important for accumulation and growth than was secular change. Additionally, both effects were asymmetric between Core and Periphery, findings that speak directly to the terms of trade debates that have raged since Prebisch and Singer wrote more than 50 years ago. The paper also investigates one channel of impact, and finds that foreign capital inflows declined steeply where commodity prices were volatile.

The Terms of Trade and Economic Growth in the Periphery 1870-1938

The contending fundamental determinants of growth -- institutions, geography and culture --exhibit far more persistence than do the growth rates they are supposed to explain. So, what exogenous shocks might account for the variance around those persistent fundamentals? The terms of trade seems to be one good place to look. Using a panel data base for 35 countries, this paper estimates the impact of terms of trade volatility and secular change between 1870 and 1938. We find that volatility was much more important than secular change. Additionally, both effects were asymmetric between core and periphery, findings that speak directly to the terms of trade debates that have raged since Prebisch and Singer wrote more than 50 years ago.

Physicians\u27 Perspectives on the Current Handling of Medical Malpractice in Jordan

Research on medical malpractice has increased over the past few decades. However, such studies have primarily focused on malpractice in Western countries like America. In areas like the Middle East, studies on malpractice has been lacking. Thus, this study tries to fill this gap. The purpose of this study is to understand physicians’ perspectives on the current handling of medical malpractice in Jordan. To answer this research question, the study uses both surveys and interviews to focus on three main themes: one, physicians’ understanding of the term, malpractice; two, evaluation of the current malpractice system; and three, attitudes toward a potential draft law on malpractice called the Medical and Health Accountability Law. The surveys were distributed to physicians in Amman and Irbid, while interviews were conducted with physicians in Amman only. Results suggest that physicians and patients alike need more education on the term, malpractice. In addition, results suggest that physicians tend to support the way malpractice is handled at the local, hospital level but not at the broader levels—that is, though the civil courts and the Ministry of Health (MOH). Lastly, results suggest that physicians do not support the Medical and Health Accountability Law, though they do support one particular provision of it

Gata6 Induces Wnt6 Expression During Primitive Endoderm Differentiation

Mouse F9 teratocarcinoma cells in culture differentiate into primitive endoderm when treated with retinoic acid and into parietal endoderm with subsequent treatment with dibutyryl cAMP. This in vitro model has been studied extensively as these chemically induced events mimic one of the earliest epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions in mouse embryogenesis. During differentiation to primitive endoderm Wnt6 expression is up- regulated by RA, and the result is the activation ofthe canonical Wnt/p-catenin signaling pathway. Thefactor(s)responsiblefortheactivationoftheWnt6geneisnotknown,but in silico analysis reveals that its promoter region contains a putative binding site for the transcription factor GATA6. In this study, the expression of Gata6 following retinoic acid treatment was examined and found to be up-regulated during primitive and parietal endoderm differentiation. Overexpression of Gata6 alone induced biochemical, molecular, and morphological markers of primitive endoderm and was sufficient in up- regulatingtheexpressionofWnt6. Furthermore,thisup-regulationwasaccompaniedby the activation of the canonical Wnt/p-catenin signaling pathway, as evident by the increase in phospho-GSK3$ levels. Gata6 expressing cells were also capable of completing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and differentiating into parietal endoderm when treated with dibutyryl cAMP. Together, these results show that Gata6 overexpression is sufficient to up-regulate the expression of Wnt6, a signaling molecule previously reported by our lab to activate the canonical Wnt/p-catenin pathway, and provides new insight to the signaling mechanisms involved in the specification of primitive endoderm

Gata6 Induces Wnt6 Expression During Primitive Endoderm Differentiation

Mouse F9 teratocarcinoma cells in culture differentiate into primitive endoderm when treated with retinoic acid and into parietal endoderm with subsequent treatment with dibutyryl cAMP. This in vitro model has been studied extensively as these chemically induced events mimic one o f the earliest epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions in mouse embryogenesis. During differentiation to primitive endoderm Wnt6 expression is up- regulated by RA, and the result is the activation o f the canonical W nt/p-catenin signaling pathway. The factor(s) responsible for the activation o f the Wnt6 gene is not known, but in silico analysis reveals that its promoter region contains a putative binding site for the transcription factor GATA6. In this study, the expression of Gata6 following retinoic acid treatment was examined and found to be up-regulated during primitive and parietal endoderm differentiation. Overexpression of Gata6 alone induced biochemical, molecular, and morphological markers o f primitive endoderm and was sufficient in up- regulating the expression of Wnt6. Furthermore, this up-regulation was accompanied by the activation of the canonical Wnt/p-catenin signaling pathway, as evident by the increase in phospho-GSK3p levels. Gata6 expressing cells were also capable of com pleting the epithelial-to-m esenchym al transition and differentiating into parietal endoderm when treated with dibutyryl cAMP. Together, these results show that Gata6 overexpression is sufficient to up-regulate the expression of Wnt6, a signaling molecule previously reported by our lab to activate the canonical Wnt/p-catenin pathway, and provides new insight to the signaling mechanisms involved in the specification of primitive endoderm