Productivity Growth and Levels in France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States in the Twentieth Century.

This study compares labor and total factor productivity (TFP) in France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States in the very long (since 1890) and medium (since 1980) runs. During the past century, the United States has overtaken the United Kingdom and become the leading world economy. During the past 25 years, the four countries have also experienced contrasting advances in productivity, in particular as a result of unequal investment in information and communication technology (ICT). The past 120 years have been characterized by: (i) rapid economic growth and large productivity gains in all four countries; (ii) a long decline in productivity in the United Kingdom relative to the United States, and to a lesser extent also relative to France and Japan, a relative decline that was interrupted by the second world war (WW2); (iii) the remarkable catching-up to the United States by France and Japan after WW2, interrupted in the case of Japan during the 1990s. Capital deepening (at least to the extent this can be measured) accounts for a large share of the variations in performance; increasingly during the past 25 years, this has meant ICT capital deepening. However, the capital contribution to growth varies considerably over time and across the four countries, and it is always less important, except in Japan, than the contribution of the various other factors underlying TFP growth, such as, among others, labor skills, technical and organizational changes and knowledge spillovers. Most recently (in 2006), before the current financial world crisis, hourly labor productivity levels were slightly higher in France than in the United States, and noticeably lower in the United Kingdom (by roughly 10%) and even lower in Japan (30%), while TFP levels are very close in France, the United Kingdom and the United States, but much lower (40%) in Japan.Productivity, growth accounting, macro-economic history.

State Aid in the Financial Services Sector and the Implications of the Recent Financial Crisis

Financial services sector is fundamental to economic growth and development in all advanced economies. Financial services such as banking, savings and investment, insurance, and debt and equity financing constitute a nation’s economic engine by fulfilling three core functions in the economy. Firstly, these services provide financial intermediation functions between savers/investors that are looking for security and growth and consumers/businesses who are looking for access to credit and capital. This intermediation is vital for allocating capital to the most profitable investments, providing a mechanism for saving, raising productivity, and consequently, increasing competitiveness of the nation in the global economy. Secondly, in addition to pooling investment risks, financial services sector provides a mechanism to manage other risks effectively and efficiently by way of insurance and increasingly sophisticated derivatives. These tools help private citizens and businesses cope with diverse global risks and uncertainties. Finally, financial services sector provides the practical mechanisms for money to be managed, transferred and received quickly and reliably. This is an essential requirement for commercial activities to take place and for participation in international trade and investment. Therefore, the financial services sector is specific and can easily be distinguished from other sectors. A serious downturn encountered in this specific sector might have disastrous impacts on the real economy of a nation. The current economic crisis in the United States and Europe, marked by the ongoing weaknesses of major banks and the resulting credit and capital crunch, highlights the critical importance of the financial services sector in national and global economies. Considering the importance of this sector, it is very hard for States to be unresponsive to the calls for assistance from ailing financial institutions. In such a situation, the States ask for a well-targeted and organized public measures in order to safeguard financial stability and restore economic viability. The State aid measures are perceived as part of the solution and thus, they are generally implemented to rescue failing firms in the financial services sector. However, Member States in the EU should follow certain State aid rules while intervening to this specific sector. Unfortunately, the specific nature of this sector is not recognized in the EU until the recent banking crisis. Member States are required to follow the same State aid rules as in other sectors. To realize this fact, the Commission had to wait until the end of 2008 when the financial crisis spilled into the real economy. Later then, the Commission adopted some flexible measures for this sector but their sufficiency is also highly doubtful. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overview of the State aid rules applied in financial services sector. In the first part, two common types of State aid measures granted in the financial services sector, rescue and restructuring aid and State guarantees, are discussed in detail. After a review of applicable rules in the form of guidelines and notice for these two forms of aid measures, implications of the recent financial crisis are discussed in the final chapter

Pen/paper and electronic portfolios : an effective tool for developing reflective thinking of Turkish EFL student teachers?

This study investigates the role of portfolio development on the improvement of the reflective thinking ability of five Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) student teachers from a University in Turkey. In this case study, participants’ reflective papers written for their pen/paper and electronic portfolios and their interviews were analysed. The results showed that the process of preparing a pen/paper portfolio provided a useful approach to enhancing professional development, with a few negative comments regarding the time involved in keeping the portfolio, positive comments regarding the support and collaboration that peers provided, as well as its contribution to their professional development in terms of reflective thinking and self-confidence. The results of the interview analysis also supported the notion that student teachers generally responded favourably to the development of a written portfolio. On the other hand, the process of preparing an electronic portfolio did not enhance reflective thinking since the student teachers were more concerned about the technicalities and the layout of the electronic portfolios rather than the content of the artefacts.peer-reviewe

Assessing Entrepreneurial Intentions of University Students: A Comparative Study of Two Different Cultures: Turkey and Pakistani

Researchers have been considered about why people prefer to become entrepreneurs. The major aim of this study is to test the cross-cultural generalizability of how well Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) would predict entrepreneurial intention (EI) amongst Turkish and Pakistani University students. The results demonstrated that the relationships among the TPB components are equally intense and comparable across Pakistani and Turkish cultures – the only exception being the relation of social norms with intentions. However, SN would prove its impact on EI through both PA and PBC, but not directly on intention. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Intention, Theory of Planned Behavior, Pakistan, Turke

Effets de la diffusion des technologies de l’information sur la croissance potentielle et observée

L’étude propose une analyse des effets de l’émergence et de la diffusion des technologies de l’information sur la croissance potentielle et observée de l’output et de la productivité du travail en France, au cours des deux dernières décennies. De façon habituelle, les technologies de l’information regroupent ici le matériel informatique, les logiciels et les matériels de communication. Il en ressort que la diffusion des technologies de l’information élève le rythme de la croissance potentielle (par rapport à une situation très théorique où les technologies de l’information n’existeraient pas) via l’accélération de la productivité induite par l’utilisation de ces biens et services. Cet effet sur la croissance potentielle se décompose en un effet de moyen à long terme correspondant au capital deepening en technologies de l’information et aux gains de productivité multifactorielle que l’utilisation des technologies de l’information entraîne. L’effet transitoire de court à moyen terme est lié à la baisse transitoire du NAIRU (Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) elle-même induite par l’indexation retardée des salaires sur la productivité. Les ordres de grandeur auxquels aboutissent les chiffrages proposés montrent que l’enjeu est considérable pour la composante de moyen à long terme. Concernant l’effet transitoire de court à moyen terme, l’analyse rétrospective de l’évolution des taux de marge des entreprises semble démentir un effet favorable.This study examines the effects that the introduction and diffusion of information technology have had on potential and actual growth of output and labour productivity in France over the last two decades.We show that IT diffusion boosts the potential output growth rate (as compared to a highly theoretical situation in which IT does not exist) via the productivity spurt resulting from the use of IT. This effect on potential output growth may be broken down into two components: i) a medium to long term effect that corresponds to IT capital deepening and to the gains in multifactor productivity associated with IIT use, and ii) a short to medium term transitory effect linked to the temporary fall in the NAIRU ensuing from the lagged indexation of wages to productivity. The results show that the stakes are significant for the medium to long term component. With regard to the short to medium term transitory effect, the backward-looking analysis of the trend in corporate profit margins seems to refute the existence of a positive effect

An investigation of the psychosocial and demographic determinants of anxiety and hopelessness during COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: COVID-19, which has spread rapidly around the world since December 2019, has been defined as an infectious disease by the World Health Organization. Infection and mortality rates from COVID-19 are high and the COVID-19 pandemic has many negative impacts in health, economic and security fields. The aim of this study is therefore to examine the psychosocial and demographic determinants of anxiety and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic among Turkish population. Method: The study group of the research consists of 1026 participants between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Personal Information Form, Beck Hopelessness Scale and Beck Anxiety Scale were used for data collection. Results: The majority of the participants reported that both national and global health, economic, and security precautions were not sufficient in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. About one in four participants had symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety and about one in three had symptoms of moderate to severe hopelessness. Women had significantly higher levels of anxiety compared to men. Participants who reported that the health, economics, and safety precautions were not adequate had higher levels of anxiety and hopelessness than those who reported that the precautions were adequate. Discussion: Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with negative psychological and social consequences, the preventive programs for mental health should be promoted and the psychosocial support services should be made available to everyone in the society. © 2020 ANP Publishing. All rights reserved

Comparing labour and total factor productivity growth and level in France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States over the past century and in recent years

The present study contributes to the analysis of economic growth by comparing labour ant total factor productivity (TFP) in France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States in the very long run (since 1890) and in the medium run (since 1980). During the past century, the United States has overtaken the United Kingdom and became the leading world economy. During the last 25 years, productivity growth has also known contrasted developments in the four countries, in particular as a result of an unequal growth of information and communication technology (ICT) investments. The past 120 years have been characterised by: (i) rapid economic growth and large productivity gains in the four countries; (ii) a decline in productivity in the United Kingdom relative to the United States, and to a lesser extent also relative to France and Japan until the second world war (WW2), and its subsequent come-back; (iii) the remarkable catching-up of the United States by France and Japan after WW2, which was however interrupted in the case of Japan during the 1990s. The contribution of capital deepening as it can be measured- accounts for a large share of these different performances, with an increasing share of ICT capital in the last 25 years. This contribution varies considerably over time and across the four countries, and it is always less important, except in Japan, than that of the unmeasured factors underlying TFP, such as labour skills, technical and organisational changes and knowledge spillovers. Most recently (in 2006), before the current world crisis, hourly labour productivity levels are slightly higher in France than in the United States, and significantly lower in the United Kingdom (by roughly 10%) and even more in Japan (30%), while TFP levels are very close in France, the United Kingdom and the United States, but much lower (40%) in Japan

Analysis between Adrenal MRI Mass Size and 1 mg Dexamethasone Suppression Test in Patients with Adrenal Incidentaloma

This study aimed to investigate the correlation of adrenal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mass size and 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test results in patients with adrenal incidentaloma diagnosis. Eighty-six patients (82.6% female) with incidentally discovered adrenal masses, diagnosed and treated in the Department of Endocrinology Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital between June and August 2017, were included in the analysis. All the patients evaluated for their hormonal functionality. 24-h urinary excretion of cortisol did not correlate with tumor size. But there was a positive correlation between longer adrenal nodule diameter and metanephrine, and there was a negative correlation between shorter adrenal nodule diameter and renin levels. We found that smaller and clinically “silent” tumors often do not demonstrate subclinical hormonal activity

Insertion Professionnelle des Diplômés Universitaires en Tunisie: Comparaison Public-Privé

34 pagesLa progression rapide des niveaux d'éducation en Tunisie s'est traduite par un accroissement de l'off re de compétences qui, comme en témoigne le taux de chômage élevé des jeunes diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur, n'a pas rencontré une demande aussi dynamique. L'objectif de cette étude est d'expliquer le rôle joué par les évolutions de la demande de travail émanant de la sphère publique. Dans quelles mesures les choix de formation sont-ils in fluencés par le secteur (public versus privé) dans lequel les individus espèrent décrocher un emploi ? Ces préférences sont-elles justi fiées par des écarts en termes de rémunération entre le secteur public et privé ? Nous exploitons une base de données issue de l'enquête sur l'insertion professionnelle des diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur réalisé par le Ministère de l'Emploi et de l'Insertion Professionnelle des Jeunes en Tunisie auprès d'un échantillon de 4763 diplômés de 2004 en vue de suivre leur devenir professionnel après une période de 18 mois à compter du mois d'obtention du diplôme. Nous estimons un modèle d'équations de salaire à double régime (public - privé) avec contrôle des biais de sélection endogène qui caractérise l'accès à un emploi rémunéré et le choix entre le secteur public ou privé. Les résultats montrent que l'écart salarial entre emplois du secteur public et du secteur privé est quasi-exclusivement lié aux caractéristiques de l'insertion des maitrisards. Sur les autres diplômés, nous observons, à diplôme équivalent, des distributions des salaires très proches qui ne rendent pas assez attractif le secteur privé