Interest Rate Reforms and Economic Growth in SADC Countries: The Savings and Investment Channel

The 2008/2009 global financial crisis has re-ignited the debate around financial reforms with contrasting views with regards to the impact of financial reforms on economic growth. This study examines the impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth through savings and investments in SADC countries for the period 1990-2015. Three specifications are used for the analysis; the first one determines the influence of interest rate reforms on savings, the second one analyses the effect of savings on investments while the third one examines whether investments have a positive impact on economic growth. The Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation technique is employed for analysis. The results show that interest rate reforms have a positive impact on economic growth through savings and investments. The study therefore recommends that market forces should be allowed to determine real interest rates and furthermore, real interest rates maintained at artificially low levels may harm economic growth.JEL Codes - C50; E20; E6

Interest rate reforms and economic growth: the savings and investment channel

The 2008/2009 global financial crisis has re-ignited the debate around financial reforms with contrasting views with regards to the impact of financial reforms on economic growth. This study examines the impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth through savings and investments in SADC countries for the period 1990-2015. Three specifications are used for the analysis; the first one determines the influence of interest rate reforms on savings, the second one analyses the effect of savings on investments while the third one examines whether investments have a positive impact on economic growth. The Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation technique is employed for analysis. Furthermore, the ARDL bounds tests are conducted for the individual countries to test for cointegration. The results show that cointegration is detected in most countries for each one of the three specifications. Also, interest rate reforms have a positive impact on economic growth through savings and investments. The study therefore recommends that market forces should be allowed to determine real interest rates and furthermore, real interest rates maintained at artificially low levels may harm economic growth

Interest rate reforms and economic growth: the savings and investment channel

The 2008/2009 global financial crisis has re-ignited the debate around financial reforms with contrasting views with regards to the impact of financial reforms on economic growth. This study examines the impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth through savings and investments in SADC countries for the period 1990-2015. Three specifications are used for the analysis; the first one determines the influence of interest rate reforms on savings, the second one analyses the effect of savings on investments while the third one examines whether investments have a positive impact on economic growth. The Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation technique is employed for analysis. Furthermore, the ARDL bounds tests are conducted for the individual countries to test for cointegration. The results show that cointegration is detected in most countries for each one of the three specifications. Also, interest rate reforms have a positive impact on economic growth through savings and investments. The study therefore recommends that market forces should be allowed to determine real interest rates and furthermore, real interest rates maintained at artificially low levels may harm economic growth

A Framework to Contest and Justify Algorithmic Decisions

This is a preprint of an article published in Springer AI & EthicsInternational audienceIn this paper, we argue that the possibility of contesting the results of Algorithmic Decision Systems (ADS) is a key requirement for ADS used to make decisions with a high impact on individuals. We discuss the limitations of explanations and motivate the need for better facilities to contest or justify the results of an ADS. While the goal of an explanation is to make it possible for a human being to understand, the goal of a justification is to convince that the decision is good or appropriate. To claim that a result is good, it is necessary (1) to refer to an independent definition of what a good result is (the norm) and (2) to provide evidence that the norm applies to the case. Based on these definitions, we present a challenge and justification framework including three types of norms, a proof-of-concept implementation of this framework and its application to a credit decision system

Small-scale mobility fostering the interaction networks of Patagonia (Argentina) hunter-gatherers during the Late Holocene: Perspectives from strontium isotopes and exotic items

During the Late Holocene, hunter-gatherer interaction networks significantly grew in intensity and extension across Patagonia. Although this growth is evidenced by the increased flow of exotic items across the region, the mechanisms behind these strengthening social networks remain unclear. Since evidence suggests that some individuals might have performed long-distance trips, this article aims to address the potential relationship between these individuals and the flows of exotic items in North Patagonia. We analyzed 54 enamel teeth for strontium isotopes and reconstructed their probable mobility using mixed-effect models and isotope-based geographic assignments. We inferred population and individual mobility trends and compared them against the flow of exotic items built from a standardized compilation. Our results indicate that most individuals have isotopic composition compatible with residence within their burial and surrounding areas. However, a few individuals show isotopic composition incompatible with their burial areas, which suggests axes -from the burial location to the most likely isotope integration area- of extraordinary mobility. At the same time, the flows of exotic items overlap with these axes around the eastern sector of the study area suggesting that this location could have been a central point of convergence for people and items. We argue that small-scale socially driven mobility could have played a relevant role as a general mechanism of interaction that fostered and materialized Patagonian interaction networks during the Late Holocene

The fecal microbiota of piglets during weaning transition and its association with piglet growth across various farm environments

This study describes the fecal microbiota from piglets reared in different living environments during the weaning transition, and presents the characteristics of microbiota associated with good growth of piglets after weaning. Fecal samples were collected pre- (d26) and post-weaning (d35) from 288 male piglets in 16 conventional indoor commercial farms located in the West of France. The changes one week after weaning on the most abundant microbial families was roughly the same in all farms: alpha diversity increased, the relative abundance of Bacteroidaceae (-61%), Christensenellaceae (-35%), Enterobacteriaceae (-42%), and Clostridiaceae (-32%) decreased, while the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae (+143%) and Lachnospiraceae (+21%) increased. Among all the collected samples, four enterotypes that were ubiquitous in all farms were identified. They could be discriminated by their respective relative abundances of Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, and Lachnospira, and likely corresponded to a gradual maturational shift from pre- to post-weaning microbiota. The rearing environment influenced the frequency of enterotypes, as well as the relative abundance of 6 families at d26 (including Christensenellaceae and Lactobacillaceae), and of 21 families at d35. In all farms, piglets showing the highest relative growth rate during the first three weeks after weaning, which were characterized as more robust, had a higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, a lower relative abundance of Proteobacteria, and showed a greater increase in Prevotella, Coprococcus, and Lachnospira in the post-weaning period. This study revealed the presence of ubiquitous enterotypes among the farms of this study, reflecting maturational stages of microbiota from a young suckling to an older cereal-eating profile. Despite significant variation in the microbial profile between farms, piglets whose growth after weaning was less disrupted were, those who had reached the more mature phenotype characterized by Prevotella the fastest

Comparison of the properties of two fossil groups of galaxies with the normal group NGC 6034 based on multiband imaging and optical spectroscopy

We collected multiband imaging and spectroscopy for two fossil groups (RX J1119.7+2126 and 1RXS J235814.4+150524) and one normal group (NGC 6034). We computed photometric redshifts in the central zones of each group, combining previous data with the SDSS five-band data. For each group we investigated the red sequence (RS) of the color-magnitude relation and computed the luminosity functions, stellar population ages and distributions of the group members. Spectroscopy allowed us to investigate the large-scale surroundings of these groups and the substructure levels in 1RXS J235814.4+150524 and NGC 6034. The large-scale environment of 1RXS J235814.4+150524 is poor, though its galaxy density map shows a clear signature of the surrounding cosmic web. RX J1119.7+2126 appears to be very isolated, while the cosmic environment of NGC 6034 is very rich. At the group scale, 1RXS J235814.4+150524 shows no substructure. Galaxies with recent stellar populations seem preferentially located in the group outskirts. A RS is discernable for all three groups in a color-magnitude diagram. The luminosity functions based on photometric redshift selection and on statistical background subtraction have comparable shapes, and agree with the few points obtained from spectroscopic redshifts. These luminosity functions show the expected dip between first and second brightest galaxies for the fossil groups only. Their shape is also regular and relatively flat at faint magnitudes down to the completeness level for RX J1119.7+2126 and NGC 6034, while there is a clear lack of faint galaxies for 1RXS J235814.4+150524. RX J1119.7+2126 is definitely classified as a fossil group; 1RXS J235814.4+150524 also has properties very close to those of a fossil group, while we confirm that NGC 6034 is a normal group.Comment: Accepted in A&A, english-improved, 5 jpeg figures, and shortened abstrac

Baseline disease burden in severe asthma patients treated with biologics, and eligible but not treated : Spanish patients in the ISAR Registry

Peer reviewe

Puumala hantavirus Infection in Humans and in the Reservoir Host, Ardennes Region, France

We compared the occurrence of nephropathia epidemica cases, over a multi-annual population cycle, in northeastern France with the hantavirus serology for bank voles captured in the same area. We discuss hypotheses to explain the pattern of infection in both humans and rodents and their synchrony