Price Transmission to Ugandan Coffee Growers in a Liberalized Market

Replaced with revised version of poster 07/21/11.Trade Liberalization, Future Prices, Price Transmissions, Ugandan Coffee Growers, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, F13,

Factors influencing international graduate students' preferences concerning where they prefer to start their careers

Studentsâ career decisions can impact the global economy through brain drain and gain. This study investigates factors affecting international studentsâ preferences regarding where to start their careers. It is an ex ante study, conducted before final career decisions are made, and uses micro-level primary data. Information was collected from international graduate students at Texas A&M University, using a computer-assisted survey. Multinomial probit and logit models were used to analyze the data. Unique to this study is that students could indicate they are not sure where they prefer to start their careers. An inference from the statistical test based on the inverse Mills ratio is that there are no significant differences between two groups, those who are not sure and those with defined preferences. Fifty-one percent of the students surveyed indicated they preferred to begin their careers in the U.S., 22 percent preferred their home countries, and 27 percent were not sure. Of the students who preferred their home country over the U.S., significant influencers are political and career indices, number of years lived in the U.S., enrollment in Engineering and Business, and gender. A change in either the political or career indices to favor the U.S. systems and more years lived in the U.S. both increased the likelihood of studentsâ preferring to start their careers in the U.S. Both female students and students enrolled in Engineering and Business were more likely to prefer the U.S. For students unsure of their preferences, significant variables are career and civil indices, number of years lived in the U.S., degree level, source of funding, and marital status. Results are consistent with previous studies, but with notable differences. For students who are unsure of their preferences, salary differences between the U.S. and their home countries are not statistically significant. Contrary to earlier literature, regional differences do not have a statistically significant effect on studentsâ preferences. Consistency between this study of preferences and previous studies on actual decisions indicates students act on their preferences when starting their careers. Hence, this studyâÂÂs results provide insights for policies to deter brain drain or to enhance brain gain

Co-movement of the BRICS stock markets : a continuous wavelet transform analysis

Abstract: During the past two decades, financial markets across the globe have experienced sporadic waves of crashes, raising concerns about the vulnerability of the global financial markets and the transmission mechanisms of shocks beyond borders. This minor-dissertation attempts to investigate the co-movement of stock markets in the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and the United States (US) and their vulnerability to contagion effects during the recent major financial crises. The innovative approach used in the current work consists of performing wavelet transformation on return-series to determine the multi-horizon nature of co-movement, whether it is caused by pure contagion or interdependence and the dynamics of market integration. It further examines the lead-lag relationships among stock markets. It was found that before the 2006 US housing bubble, shocks were transmitted via pure contagion, thereby generating short-term shocks, in contrast to the 2007/2009 US subprime crisis and the 2010/2013 European Union sovereign debt crisis, which showed evidence supporting independence. Furthermore, when analysing the episodes of market integration, it was discovered that, in general, the presence of short- and long-term integration has deepened and strengthened correlations among equity markets. From a portfolio-diversification and risk-management perspective, these results indicate that the market in China provides fruitful ground for short-run investors from the other countries included in the current study. They also suggest that opportunities for benefits are lost for long-term investors owing to the interdependence that continually exists between states and which is enhanced by improvement in economic integration and trade linkages.M.Com. (Financial Economics

Three Essays on Economic Development in Africa

To achieve economic development, regional authorities have to address issues that relate to climate change, efficient information flow in the market place, and health care. This dissertation presents three essays on current issues of concern to economic development in Africa. Climate change is examined in terms of its effects on the Egyptian agricultural sector; transmission of world price to small scale growers is examined in Uganda; and the benefits of insecticide-treated bed nets use is examined in Africa. In essay I, to address the impact of climate change on the Egyptian agricultural sector under alternative population growth rates, water use and crop yield assumption; the Egyptian Agricultural Sector Model (EASM) is updated and expanded to improve hydrological modeling and used to portray agricultural activity and hydrological flow. The results indicate that climate change will cause damages (costs) to the Egyptian agricultural sector and these will increase over time. Egypt may reduce these future damages by controlling its population growth rate and using water conservation strategies. In essay II, I use vector autoregressive analysis to examine the transmissions of price information to Uganda coffee growers; using monthly coffee price data on retail, futures, farmgate and world prices from 1994 to 2010. Improved transmission of world prices to farmers may increase their decision making to obtain a better market price. Directed acyclic graphs reveal that there is a causal flow of information from the indicator price to the London futures price to the Uganda grower?s price in contemporaneous time. Forecast error variance decomposition indicates that at moving ahead 12 months, the uncertainty in Uganda grower price is attributable to the indicator price (world spot price), own price (farmgate), London future and Spain retail price in rank order. In essay III, the cost of malaria in children under five years and the use of insecticide treated bed nets is examined in the context of 18 countries in Africa. I examine the direct and indirect cost of malaria in children under five years and the benefit of investing in insecticide treated mosquito nets as a preventative strategy in 18 African countries. The results indicate that the use of mosquito treated nets reduces the number of malaria cases in children; and this can induce 0.5% reduction in outpatient treatment costs, 11% reduction in inpatient treatment costs, 11% reduction in productivity loss, and 15% reduction in disability adjusted life years (DALY) annually

Assessment of factors affecting residential real estate prices in Nairobi County

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Commerce at Strathmore UniversityThe study analyzes the effect of selected economic factors on real estate market in Kenya. House prices in Kenya have continued to rise over the past years. The study employed both cross sectional and time series data analysis to establish the relationship between growth in house prices in real estate and selected economic variables. Physical attributes of the property, locational factors and proximity to social amenities are fundamental in the determination of house prices. A factor analysis on cross sectional data showed that number of rooms, number of bathrooms, backup generator, swimming pool, balcony, parking garage and lift (micro variables) had significant effect on house prices at 5% level of significance. This is important for real estate developers when designing and building houses to capture home owners’ preferences that can add value and catalyze the residential real estate sector. Macro analysis of time series data using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) revealed that on one hand inflation rate, Hass price index, investments in real estate and GDP while forex and diaspora remittances on the hand have asymmetric long run effects on growth in house prices on average, ceteris paribus. This implies that economic growth and conducive investment environment in the country stimulates developments in real estate which in turns leads to a steady supply of housing units at affordable prices for potential home owners. Lack of centralized housing data posed a challenge in collecting and collating time series data was one of the limitations faced by the researcher where it necessitated the researchers own calculation. This research will be of value as it gives insights on what matters most to different income groups as opposed to generalized findings

Introducing the sustainable intensification assessment framework

United States Agency for International Developmen