DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS: PAST AND FUTURE

This article appraises the progress in the evolution of ideas that has been accomplished by the first two generations of development economists and focuses on the unsettled questions and unfinished tasks for the next generation. The intention is not to present yet another survey of the literature, but rather to offer a subjective summary appraisal of the past and future of the subject

A CRITIQUE OF THE NEW BRITISH MONOPOLY ACT

In 1948 the British Parliament passed the Monopoly and Restrictive Practices (Inquiry and Control) Act. It is instructive to examine this Act against the background of the criticisms and suggestions for improvement which have emerged with sixty years of American anti-trust legislation. Section one of this paper presents some reasons why the measure has appeared at this time. The next section summarizes the Act\u27s provisions. Section three contrasts the British technique of monopoly control with the American and considers whether the different approach is likely to avoid the debilities which have become evident in the American legislation

Comparative Costs Revisited

The theory of comparative advantage is the oldest – and most fundamental – principle in international economics. Its empirical significance, however, changes with the times. Given the intensification of the forces of globalisation, the importance of comparative costs should now be revisited in order to consider dynamic changes in the global economy, the connection between a country’s comparative advantage and a firm’s competitive advantage, and the effects on more developed countries of trade with less developed countrie

ac-Field-Controlled Anderson Localization in Disordered Semiconductor Superlattices

An ac field, tuned exactly to resonance with the Stark ladder in an ideal tight binding lattice under strong dc bias, counteracts Wannier-Stark localization and leads to the emergence of extended Floquet states. If there is random disorder, these states localize. The localization lengths depend non-monotonically on the ac field amplitude and become essentially zero at certain parameters. This effect is of possible relevance for characterizing the quality of superlattice samples, and for performing experiments on Anderson localization in systems with well-defined disorder.Comment: 10 pages, Latex; figures available on request from [email protected]

Do Development Economists Matter?

SUMMARY If appropriate policies, rather than initial economic conditions, have produced successful development, why are appropriate policies not more widely adopted by developing country governments — or, why has the advice of most development economists not been heeded? The ‘new (neoclassical) political economy’ offers a systematic explanation of why policy?makers behave as they do. Instead of assuming that governments are agencies for promoting the public interest, the new political economy's models endogenise the policy?maker in states characterised variously as predatory (‘the Leviathan state’), as factional, or as bureaucratic. The limitations of these models are addressed, and their relevance to developing countries is questioned. A more eclectic approach to political economy is, therefore, suggested, in which older elements are combined with the new. Such an approach is then applied to the political economy of trade policy. RESUME Les économistes spécialisés dans le domaine du développement sont?ils importants? Si des mesures appropriées, plutôt que des conditions économiques initiales ont produit un développement qui a eu du succès, pourquoi des mesures adéquates ne sont?elles pas adoptées plus largement par les gouvernements des pays en voie de développement. — ou pourquoi le besoin de l'assistance de la plupart des economistes spécialisés dans les problèmes de développement ne s'est?elle pas fait sentir? La nouvelle politique économique (néo?classique) offre une explication systématique expliquant pourquoi ceux qui prennent les décisions se comportent comme ils le font. Au lieu d'assumer que les gouvernements sont des agences pour la promotion de l'intérêt publique, les nouveaux modèles d'économie politique endogénisent ceux qui prennent les décisions, les charactêrisant de prédateurs (‘l’état du Leviathan'), de fonctionel, ou de bureaucratique. Les limitations de ces modèles sont adressés, et leur pertinence concernant les pays en voie de développement sont mis en question. Une approche plus ecclectique à l'economie politique est donc, suggérée, dans laquelle des éléments plus anciens sont associés avec les nouveaux. Une telle approche est ensuite appliquée à l'économie politique du commerce. RESUMEN ¿Importan los economistas del desarrollo? Si el desarrollo exitoso ha sido producido más bien por políticas adecuadas que por condiciones económicas iniciales ¿por qué aquellas no son más ampliamente adoptadas por los gobiernos de los países en desarrollo o por qué no ha sido escuchado el consejo de muchos economistas del desarollo? La “nueva política económica (neoclásica)” ofrece una explicación sistemática del comportamiento de los diseñadores de política. En lugar de suponer que los gobiernos son agencias para promover el interés público, los nuevos modelos de economía política endogenizan el diseño de política en estados caracterizados como predatorios (“el estado Leviathan”), faccionales o burocráticos. Se consideran las limitaciones de estos modelos y se cuestiona su relevancia para los países en desarrollo. En consecuencia, se sugiere un enfoque más ecléctico que combina elementos antiguos con los nuevos aplicándose luego tal enfoque a la política comercial

Association of Blood Biomarkers With Acute Sport-Related Concussion in Collegiate Athletes: Findings From the NCAA and Department of Defense CARE Consortium

Importance: There is potential scientific and clinical value in validation of objective biomarkers for sport-related concussion (SRC). Objective: To investigate the association of acute-phase blood biomarker levels with SRC in collegiate athletes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter, prospective, case-control study was conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the US Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium from February 20, 2015, to May 31, 2018, at 6 CARE Advanced Research Core sites. A total of 504 collegiate athletes with concussion, contact sport control athletes, and non-contact sport control athletes completed clinical testing and blood collection at preseason baseline, the acute postinjury period, 24 to 48 hours after injury, the point of reporting being asymptomatic, and 7 days after return to play. Data analysis was conducted from March 1 to November 30, 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1), neurofilament light chain, and tau were quantified using the Quanterix Simoa multiplex assay. Clinical outcome measures included the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-Third Edition (SCAT-3) symptom evaluation, Standardized Assessment of Concussion, Balance Error Scoring System, and Brief Symptom Inventory 18. Results: A total of 264 athletes with concussion (mean [SD] age, 19.08 [1.24] years; 211 [79.9%] male), 138 contact sport controls (mean [SD] age, 19.03 [1.27] years; 107 [77.5%] male), and 102 non-contact sport controls (mean [SD] age, 19.39 [1.25] years; 82 [80.4%] male) were included in the study. Athletes with concussion had significant elevation in GFAP (mean difference, 0.430 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.339-0.521 pg/mL; P < .001), UCH-L1 (mean difference, 0.449 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.167-0.732 pg/mL; P < .001), and tau levels (mean difference, 0.221 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.046-0.396 pg/mL; P = .004) at the acute postinjury time point compared with preseason baseline. Longitudinally, a significant interaction (group × visit) was found for GFAP (F7,1507.36 = 16.18, P < .001), UCH-L1 (F7,1153.09 = 5.71, P < .001), and tau (F7,1480.55 = 6.81, P < .001); the interaction for neurofilament light chain was not significant (F7,1506.90 = 1.33, P = .23). The area under the curve for the combination of GFAP and UCH-L1 in differentiating athletes with concussion from contact sport controls at the acute postinjury period was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.64-0.78; P < .001); the acute postinjury area under the curve for all 4 biomarkers combined was 0.72 (95% CI, 0.65-0.79; P < .001). Beyond SCAT-3 symptom score, GFAP at the acute postinjury time point was associated with the classification of athletes with concussion from contact controls (β = 12.298; 95% CI, 2.776-54.481; P = .001) and non-contact sport controls (β = 5.438; 95% CI, 1.676-17.645; P = .005). Athletes with concussion with loss of consciousness or posttraumatic amnesia had significantly higher levels of GFAP than athletes with concussion with neither loss of consciousness nor posttraumatic amnesia at the acute postinjury time point (mean difference, 0.583 pg/mL; 95% CI, 0.369-0.797 pg/mL; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: The results suggest that blood biomarkers can be used as research tools to inform the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of concussion and provide additional support for future studies to optimize and validate biomarkers for potential clinical use in SRC