Tax policy and toxic housing bubbles in China

This paper explores the effects of a government tax policy in a growth model with economic transition and toxic housing bubbles applied to China. Such a policy combines taxing entrepreneurs with a one-time redistribution to workers in the same period. Under the tax policy, we find that the welfare improvement for workers is non-monotonic. In particular, there exists an optimal tax at which social welfare is maximized. Moreover, we consider the welfare effects of setting the tax at its optimum. We show that the tax policy can be welfare-enhancing, compare to the case without active policies. The optimal tax may also yield a higher level of welfare than the case even without housing bubbles. Finally, we calibrate the model to China. Our quantitative results show that the optimal tax rate is about 23 percent, and social welfare is significantly improved with such a tax policy

Surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis in Hong Kong: 1997 to 2002

Objectives. To describe the characteristics of patients reported with acute flaccid paralysis between 1997 and 2002, and to evaluate the performance of the acute flaccid paralysis surveillance system using indicators recommended by the World Health Organization. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. Department of Health, Hong Kong. Participants. Children aged younger than 15 years who were reported to the Department of Health between 1997 and 2002 with acute flaccid paralysis. Results. Of 120 children with acute flaccid paralysis reported between 1997 and 2002, 42% were younger than 5 years of age. None of the cases were acute poliomyelitis or polio-compatible. A neurological cause was identified in 67.5% of cases, of which the most common was Guillain-Barré syndrome (42%), followed by transverse myelitis (15%). All except one of the performance indicators consistently met World Health Organization requirements and thus demonstrated the effectiveness of the acute flaccid paralysis surveillance programme. The acute flaccid paralysis notification rate consistently exceeded 1.0 per 100 000 population below 15 years of age. The requirement for adequate stool investigation was the single indicator that did not satisfy World Health Organization requirements. This highlighted the importance of maintaining physicians' awareness of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance. Conclusion. Hong Kong should remain vigilant for acute flaccid paralysis. The effective surveillance system and its evaluation may serve as a model for surveillance of other infectious diseases.published_or_final_versio

Differential Dynamics of Transposable Elements during Long-Term Diploidization of Nicotiana Section Repandae (Solanaceae) Allopolyploid Genomes

PubMed ID: 23185607This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Brazilin Isolated from Caesalpinia sappan Suppresses Nuclear Envelope Reassembly by Inhibiting Barrier-to-Autointegration Factor Phosphorylation

To date, many anticancer drugs have been developed by directly or indirectly targeting microtubules, which are involved in cell division. Although this approach has yielded many anticancer drugs, these drugs produce undesirable side effects. An alternative strategy is needed, and targeting mitotic exit may be one alternative approach. Localization of phosphorylated barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) to the chromosomal core region is essential for nuclear envelope compartment relocalization. In this study, we isolated brazilin from Caesalpinia sappan Leguminosae and demonstrated that it inhibited BAF phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we demonstrated direct binding between brazilin and BAF. The inhibition of BAF phosphorylation induced abnormal nuclear envelope reassembly and cell death, indicating that perturbation of nuclear envelope reassembly could be a novel approach to anticancer therapy. We propose that brazilin isolated from C. sappan may be a new anticancer drug candidate that induces cell death by inhibiting vaccinia-related kinase 1-mediated BAF phosphorylation.X1153Ysciescopu

An Examination of Monetary Aggregates in Cambodia: A Vector Autoregressive Model

In order to investigate the movement of monetary aggregate in Cambodia, a system of equations known as the Vector Autoregression (VAR) model was adopted. The model included four endogenous variables, namely broad money, inflation rate, exchange rate, and interest rate. The study period covered from January 2002 to March 2023. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test indicated that the money supply and consumer price index series were integrated of order one, I(1), while the exchange rate and interest rate were integrated of order zero, I(0). To avoid spurious results, all data series were transformed to first differences and the VAR model was run. The optimal lag length of the model was determined to be one lag, as indicated by the Schwarz Information Criterion. The impulse response function revealed that inflation rate had a positive impact on the movement of monetary aggregate, while exchange rate depreciation had a negative impact on monetary aggregate. In contrast, the movement of interest rate had a less significant influence on money supply. The forecast error variance decomposition over twelve months into the future showed that the variation of monetary aggregate was mainly explained by exchange rate fluctuation, followed by inflation rate, and the least variation was caused by interest rate

An Examination of Monetary Aggregates in Cambodia: A Vector Autoregressive Model

In order to investigate the movement of monetary aggregate in Cambodia, a system of equations known as the Vector Autoregression (VAR) model was adopted. The model included four endogenous variables, namely broad money, inflation rate, exchange rate, and interest rate. The study period covered from January 2002 to March 2023. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test indicated that the money supply and consumer price index series were integrated of order one, I(1), while the exchange rate and interest rate were integrated of order zero, I(0). To avoid spurious results, all data series were transformed to first differences and the VAR model was run. The optimal lag length of the model was determined to be one lag, as indicated by the Schwarz Information Criterion. The impulse response function revealed that inflation rate had a positive impact on the movement of monetary aggregate, while exchange rate depreciation had a negative impact on monetary aggregate. In contrast, the movement of interest rate had a less significant influence on money supply. The forecast error variance decomposition over twelve months into the future showed that the variation of monetary aggregate was mainly explained by exchange rate fluctuation, followed by inflation rate, and the least variation was caused by interest rate

The dynamics of corruption and unemployment in a growth model with heterogeneous labour

This paper presents an overlapping generations growth model with heterogeneous labour, endogenous unemployment, and public sector corruption. Unlike most previous studies, the model does not separate public officials and private individuals into two distinct groups. Instead, taking up bureaucratic appointment as a public servant is modelled as an occupational choice, which then allows for the endogenous determination of the proportion of public o¢fficials, the share of corrupt officials among them, and the public investment efficiency of the economy within the dynamic system. Parameterised for Nigeria, the dynamics of endogenous corruption and unemployment, as well as their policy tradeoff, are studied using numerical policy experiments based on relevant themes in the country, which include public sector downsizing and social intervention schemes

Equity market performance and public debt: an empirical investigation

While the empirical relationship between public debt and economic growth has been well-researched, there is a gap in terms of understanding the relationship between equity market performance and public debt. Based on propositions derived from a theoretical model and using a quarterly unbalanced panel dataset of 56 economies in the period 1995–2017, we examine this nexus by first estimating a threshold value of public debt above which equity market performance is adversely affected by a change in public debt. After that, the dynamics of equity market performance and change in public debt are examined. We estimate the threshold level to be approximately 17.97 percent of GDP. The short-run and long-run multipliers of a one-percent increase in public debt on equity market returns are 11.57–37.59 and 27.51–78.72 percentage points. These dynamics appear to be different between the economies that are below and above the estimated debt threshold

Modelling the dynamics of corruption and unemployment with heterogeneous labour

This paper presents an endogenous growth model with heterogeneous labour, endogenous unemployment, and public sector corruption. Unlike most previous studies, the model does not separate public officials and private individuals into two distinct groups. Instead, taking up bureaucratic appointment as a public servant is modelled as an occupational choice, which then allows for the endogenous determination of the proportion of public officials, the share of corrupt officials among them, and the public investment efficiency of the economy. The dynamics of endogenous corruption and unemployment are studied using numerical policy experiments based on a stylized representation of a middle-income African economy with high corruption and unemployment. The main finding is that, large-scale public infrastructure push has no effect on raising growth in an economy with high corruption. However, if preceded by social and anti-corruption policies that successfully induce a structural change, it will then be effective in raising growth

Industrial transformation with heterogeneous labour and foreign experts

This paper develops an endogenous growth model with industrial transformation and a stylised foreign expert-based 'internalisation advantage' framework to determine the composition of heterogeneous foreign multinationals in a developing host economy. A key feature of the model is the introduction of a dichotomous relationship between domestic and foreign firms, where the latter perceives heterogeneity among the productivity of domestic workers. This results in the skills acquisition decision and foreign subsidiaries' operational mode choice to be determined along the same ability distribution of the host economy. This subsequently determines the shares of the di¤erent types of multinationals in a host economy. Parameterised for Malaysia, policy experiments are conducted. A balanced investment liberalisation measure for all foreign firms is found to outperform measure targeting only selected types, though there is a threshold doing-business cost value below which such a standalone FDI-promoting policy does not generate positive growth effect. This then calls for composite programme that maximises the policy complementarities between human capital and FDI-promoting policies