The Impact of Poor Health on Total Factor Productivity

A number of recent studies have illustrated the link between health and growth (Gallup and Sachs 2000, McCarthy et al. 2000, Bhargava et al. 2000). This paper argues that a key mechanism through which health affects growth is via total factor productivity (TFP). We first estimate TFP based on a production function and then estimate the determinants of TFP, paying particular attention to three indicators of health that are particularly problematic in developing regions: malnutrition, malaria and waterborne diseases. We find the impact of poor health on TFP to be negative, significant, and robust across a wide variety of specifications.Total factor productivity, disease, health, underdevelopment

Talking in the present, caring for the future: Language and environment

This paper identifies a new source that explains environmental behaviour: the presence of future tense marking in language. We predict that languages that grammatically mark the future affect speakers' intertemporal preferences and thereby reduce their willingness to address environmental problems. We first show that speakers of languages with future tense marking are less likely to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours and to support policies to prevent environmental damage. We then document that this effect holds across countries: future tense marking is an important determinant of climate change policies and global environmental cooperation. The results suggest that there may be deep and surprising obstacles for attempts to address climate change

Beneficial effect of early initiation of lipid-lowering therapy following renal transplantation

Background. Renal transplant recipients have a significantly reduced life expectancy, largely due to premature cardiovascular disease. The aim of the current analysis was to investigate the importance of time of initiation of therapy after transplantation, on the benefits of statin therapy. Methods. 2102 renal transplant recipients with total cholesterol levels of 4.0-9.0 mmol/l were randomly assigned to treatment with fluvastatin (n = 1050) or placebo (n = 1052) and followed for a mean time of 5.1 years. The end-points were major cardiac events. The average median time from transplantation to randomization was 4.5 years (range: 0.5-29 years). Results. In patients starting treatment with fluvastatin 6 years, respectively. The risk reduction for patients initiating therapy with fluvastatin at years 0-2 (compared with >6 years) following transplantation was 59% (RR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.18-0.92; P = 0.0328). This is also reflected in total time on renal replacement therapy: in patients in the first quartile (120 months) (P = 0.033). Conclusions. Our data support an early introduction of fluvastatin therapy in a population of transplant recipients at high risk of premature coronary heart diseas

State-building, war and violence : evidence from Latin America

In European history, war has played a major role in state‐building and the state monopoly on violence. But war is a very specific form of organized political violence, and it is decreasing on a global scale. Other patterns of armed violence now dominate, ones that seem to undermine state‐building, thus preventing the replication of European experiences. As a consequence, the main focus of the current state‐building debate is on fragility and a lack of violence control inside these states. Evidence from Latin American history shows that the specific patterns of the termination of both war and violence are more important than the specific patterns of their organization. Hence these patterns can be conceptualized as a critical juncture for state‐building. While military victories in war, the subordination of competing armed actors and the prosecution of perpetrators are conducive for state‐building, negotiated settlements, coexistence, and impunity produce instability due to competing patterns of authority, legitimacy, and social cohesion

Local Environmental Non-Profit Organizations and the Green Investment Strategies of Family Firms

We add to the debate on the determinants of firms\u2019 green investment strategies (GIS) by looking at societal stakeholders and explicitly testing the role of local environmental non-profit organizations (ENPOs) in GIS engagement by family and non-family firms. We argue that ENPOs favor GIS engagement only by family firms, which, due to their resource constraints, risk aversion and local embeddedness, are more sensitive to ENPOs normative pressure. We also suggest that the role of ENPOs is especially important for family firms\u2019 GIS in those sectors with less stringent regulations, where ENPOs may act as a substitute for the coercive pressure of regulation, and promote firms\u2019 self-regulatory behaviors. We test and find support for our arguments on a sample of about 2000 Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2001\u20132003. Our results are robust to the control of observable omitted variables, reverse causality and to alternative model specifications