ON THE RENTAL PRICE OF CAPITAL AND THE PROFIT RATE: THE PERILS AND PITFALLS OF TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH

This paper considers the implications of the conceptual difference between the rental price of capital, embedded in the neoclassical cost identity (output equals the cost of labour plus the cost of capital), and used in growth accounting studies; and the profit rate, which can be derived from the national income and product accounts (NIPA). The neoclassical identity is a "virtual" identity in that it depends on a series of assumptions (constant returns to scale and perfectly competitive factor markets). The income side of the NIPA also provides an accounting identity for output as the sum of the wage bill plus the surplus. This identity, however, is a "real" one, in the sense that it does not depend on any assumptions and thus it holds always. It is shown that because the neoclassical cost identity and the income accounting identity according to the NIPA are formally equivalent expressions, estimations of aggregate production functions and growth accounting studies are tautologies. Likewise, the test of the hypothesis of competitive markets using Hall's (1988) framework gives rise to a null hypothesis that cannot be rejected statistically.

CORRECTING FOR BIASES WHEN ESTIMATING PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS: AN ILLUSION OF THE LAWS OF ALGEBRA?

this paper argues that the true cause of the endogeneity bias that allegedly appears when estimating production functions, and which the literature has tried to deal with since the 1940s, is s imply the result of omitted-variable bias due to an incorrect approximation to an accounting identity. As a result we question recent attempts to solve the problem by developing new estimators.

INCOME INEQUALITY AND GROWTH: PROBLEMS WITH THE ORTHODOX APPROACH

Abstract. This paper discusses the main issues about increasing inequality, whether it matters and its impact on economic activity and growth. It starts by briefly considering the empirical evidence of the share of income going to the top one percent since 1945 in the advanced countries. It then considers whether this represents an increase in the productivity of the top one percent or merely an extraction of economic rent. The empirical evidence suggests the latter is generally the case and, as a consequence, there is not likely to be a trade-off between greater income equality and efficiency (the latter being reflected in a lower economic growth rate). This is reinforced by considering the mainstream explanation of the distribution of income and by a consideration of the argument as to whether labor is paid its marginal product, which is found to be problematic. Hence, some reservations about the use of the aggregate production function are raised. The paper turns next to the question of whether or not a greater degree of inequality causes a slower economic growth, both for the advanced and the developing countries. It next considers if the increasing gap between the top one percent and the rest of the income distribution has been either responsible for, or exacerbated, the Great Recession. It concludes that the degree of inequality is an important factor in determining economic activity and one that has been ignored for too long in macroeconomics

Primacy of effective communication and its influence on adherence to artemether-lumefantrine treatment for children under five years of age: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Prompt access to artemesinin-combination therapy (ACT) is not adequate unless the drug is taken according to treatment guidelines. Adherence to the treatment schedule is important to preserve efficacy of the drug. Although some community based studies have reported fairly high levels of adherence, data on factors influencing adherence to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) treatment schedule remain inadequate. This study was carried-out to explore the provider's instructions to caretakers, caretakers' understanding of the instructions and how that understanding was likely to influence their practice with regard to adhering to AL treatment schedule.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud A qualitative study was conducted in five villages in Kilosa district, Tanzania. In-depth interviews were held with providers that included prescribers and dispensers; and caretakers whose children had just received AL treatment. Information was collected on providers' instructions to caretakers regarding dose timing and how to administer AL; and caretakers' understanding of providers' instructions.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud Mismatch was found on providers' instructions as regards to dose timing. Some providers' (dogmatists) instructions were based on strict hourly schedule (conventional) which was likely to lead to administering some doses in awkward hours and completing treatment several hours before the scheduled time. Other providers (pragmatists) based their instruction on the existing circumstances (contextual) which was likely to lead to delays in administering the initial dose with serious treatment outcomes. Findings suggest that, the national treatment guidelines do not provide explicit information on how to address the various scenarios found in the field. A communication gap was also noted in which some important instructions on how to administer the doses were sometimes not provided or were given with false reasons.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS\ud \ud There is need for a review of the national malaria treatment guidelines to address local context. In the review, emphasis should be put on on-the-job training to address practical problems faced by providers in the course of their work. Further research is needed to determine the implication of completing AL treatment prior to scheduled time

Finite element model with imposed slip surfaces for earth mass safety evaluation

The study of earth masses requires numerical methods that provide the quantification of the safety factor without requiring detrimental assumptions. For that, equilibrium analysis can perform fast computations but require assumptions that limit its potentiality. Limit analysis does not require detrimental assumptions but are numerically demanding. This work provides a new approach that combines the advantage of both the equilibrium method and the limit analysis. The defined hybrid model allows probabilistic analysis and optimization approaches without the assumption of interslice forces. It is compared with a published case and used to perform probabilistic studies in both a homogeneous and a layered foundation. Analyses show that the shape of the density probability functions is highly relevant when computing the probability of failure, and soil elasticity hardly affects the safety of factor of the earth mass.Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade—COMPETE, and by Portuguese Funds through FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within the projects PEst –C/MAT/UI0013/2011 and PEst–OE/ECM/UI4047/2011

Improvement of the oryza sativa nipponbare reference genome using next generation sequence and optical map data

Background: Rice research has been enabled by access to the high quality reference genome sequence generated in 2005 by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP). To further facilitate genomic-enabled research, we have updated and validated the genome assembly and sequence for the Nipponbare cultivar of Oryza sativa (japonica group). Results: The Nipponbare genome assembly was updated by revising and validating the minimal tiling path of clones with the optical map for rice. Sequencing errors in the revised genome assembly were identified by re-sequencing the genome of two different Nipponbare individuals using the Illumina Genome Analyzer II/IIx platform. A total of 4,886 sequencing errors were identified in 321 Mb of the assembled genome indicating an error rate in the original IRGSP assembly of only 0.15 per 10,000 nucleotides. A small number (five) of insertions/ deletions were identified using longer reads generated using the Roche 454 pyrosequencing platform. As the re-sequencing data were generated from two different individuals, we were able to identify a number of allelic differences between the original individual used in the IRGSP effort and the two individuals used in the re-sequencing effort. The revised assembly, termed Os-Nipponbare-Reference-IRGSP-1.0, is now being used in updated releases of the Rice Annotation Project and the Michigan State University Rice Genome Annotation Project, thereby providing a unified set of pseudomolecules for the rice community. Conclusions: A revised, error-corrected, and validated assembly of the Nipponbare cultivar of rice was generated using optical map data, re-sequencing data, and manual curation that will facilitate on-going and future research in rice. Detection of polymorphisms between three different Nipponbare individuals highlights that allelic differences between individuals should be considered in diversity studies

Hybrid assembly with long and short reads improves discovery of gene family expansions

BACKGROUND: Long-read and short-read sequencing technologies offer competing advantages for eukaryotic genome sequencing projects. Combinations of both may be appropriate for surveys of within-species genomic variation. METHODS: We developed a hybrid assembly pipeline called "Alpaca" that can operate on 20X long-read coverage plus about 50X short-insert and 50X long-insert short-read coverage. To preclude collapse of tandem repeats, Alpaca relies on base-call-corrected long reads for contig formation. RESULTS: Compared to two other assembly protocols, Alpaca demonstrated the most reference agreement and repeat capture on the rice genome. On three accessions of the model legume Medicago truncatula, Alpaca generated the most agreement to a conspecific reference and predicted tandemly repeated genes absent from the other assemblies. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest Alpaca is a useful tool for investigating structural and copy number variation within de novo assemblies of sampled populations