A Simple and Flexible Dynamic Approach to Foreign Direct Investment Growth: The Canada-United States Relationship in the Context of Free Trade.

This paper asks a simple question: Did Wilfred Laurier’s dream of free trade with the United States, when it came to fruition in 1989, also impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) into Canada by US multinationals? This paper argues that the customary static econometric approach found in the FDI literature, along with the assumption that policy changes influence only the intercept term, are inadequate to address the question. Instead we introduce an innovative dynamic framework to support the testing of hypotheses on behavioural changes in the variables using a structural break framework. A key conclusion is that prior to signing the free trade agreement US FDI responded only to current growth in the Canadian economy, in a unitary fashion, and current exchange rate shifts. This can be described as a static relationship. The implementation of the free trade agreements between Canada and the USA increased the responsiveness of US FDI to growth in the Canadian economy by a factor greater than two. Furthermore, dynamics are found in the form of a lagged effect for changes in the growth in the Canadian economy and interest rate differentials. These conclusions challenge the dominant view, including that in official policy circles, that the free trade agreement had no impact on US firms’ FDI decisions in Canada. Note: Previous versions of this paper were entitled: “A Simple and Flexible Dynamic Approach to Foreign Direct Investment Growth: Did Canada Benefit From the Free Trade Agreements with the United States?”Canada-United States, foreign direct investment, empirical relationship

A Simple and Flexible Dynamic Approach to Foreign Direct Investment Growth: Did Canada Benefit From the Free Trade Agreements with the United States?

This paper asks a simple question: Did Wilfred Laurier’s dream of free trade with the United States, when it came to fruition in 1989, also have a benefit by increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) into Canada by US multinationals? This paper introduces a dynamic framework, rather than the literature’s traditional static framework, and uses a structural break framework, rather than modelling policy changes as an intercept shift alone. Its conclusions are (a) The signing of the free trade agreements between Canada and the United States increased the responsiveness of growth in the Canadian economy on the US FDI decision by a factor of two. (b) Limited dynamics are found in the form of lagged effect of changes in the real Canadian interest rate. (c) The effect of the change in the exchange rate is static and constant over the whole 1955 to 2000 period and was unaffected by the introduction of free trade between the United States and Canada.Foreign Direct Investment, Distributed Lag Model, Policy as Structural Break.

Use of herbal medicine in French Guiana: Influences and challenges for prevention strategies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction In French Guiana, the COVID-19 pandemic was marked by very high levels of transmission in the population, low rates of hospitalizations and deaths and high vaccine hesitancy. The use of traditional herbal remedies is very common in the population and understanding its influence as part of the population’s healing strategy is important. We investigated the use of traditional remedies for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in French Guiana and its influence on vaccine hesitancy. Methods An online survey was conducted between April and May 2021 among 1,295 participants aged 18 years or older. Demographic characteristics, attitudes and perceptions of the population about the pandemic, vaccination intentions and use of traditional remedies were collected through a standardized questionnaire. The cited plants were collected and deposited at the Cayenne herbarium for identification. Results For combating COVID-19, 31.7% of people used traditional remedies while 71.4% reported usually treating themselves with remedies unrelated to COVID-19. A total of 604 use reports were recorded as "anti-coronavirus". Quassia amara (Simaroubaceae) was the most frequently used species (153/604), representing 25.3% of the citations. Preventive use was more prevalent than curative use. Vaccine hesitancy was more common among people using traditional remedies. Discussion/Conclusions Several species commonly used in French Guiana such as Quassia amara, Neurolaena lobata, Alpinia zerumbet, and Tinospora crispa were found to be used in the context of COVID-19. Further studies would be useful to investigate qualitative and quantitative components of interest, mechanisms and effects

Seasonal dynamics of marine protist communities in tidally mixed coastal waters

Major seasonal community reorganizations and associated biomass variations are landmarks of plankton ecology. However, the processes of plankton community turnover rates have not been fully elucidated so far. Here, we analyse patterns of planktonic protist community succession in temperate latitudes, based on quantitative taxonomic data from both microscopy counts (cells > 10 μm) and ribosomal DNA metabarcoding (size fraction > 3 μm, 18S rRNA gene) from plankton samples collected biweekly over 8 years (2009-2016) at the SOMLIT-Astan station (Roscoff, Western English Channel). Based on morphology, diatoms were clearly the dominating group all year round and over the study period. Metabarcoding uncovered a wider diversity spectrum and revealed the prevalence of Dinophyceae and diatoms but also of Cryptophyta, Chlorophyta, Cercozoa, Syndiniales and Ciliophora in terms of read counts and or richness. The use of morphological and molecular analyses in combination allowed improving the taxonomic resolution and to identify the sequence of the dominant species and OTUs (18S V4 rDNA-derived taxa) that drive annual plankton successions. We detected that some of these dominant OTUs were benthic as a result of the intense tidal mixing typical of the French coasts in the English Channel. Our analysis of the temporal structure of community changes point to a strong seasonality and resilience. The temporal structure of environmental variables (especially Photosynthetic Active Radiation, temperature and macronutrients) and temporal structures generated by species life cycles and or species interactions, are key drivers of the observed cyclic annual plankton turnover

Seasonal temporal dynamics of marine protists communities in tidally mixed coastal waters

Major seasonal community reorganizations and associated biomass variations are landmarksof plankton ecology. However, the processes determining marine species and communityturnover rates have not been fully elucidated so far. Here, we analyse patterns of planktonicprotist community succession in temperate latitudes, based on quantitative taxonomic datafrom both microscopy counts and ribosomal DNA metabarcoding from plankton samplescollected biweekly over 8 years (2009-2016) at the SOMLIT-Astan station (Roscoff, WesternEnglish Channel). Considering the temporal structure of community dynamics (creatingtemporal correlation), we elucidated the recurrent seasonal pattern of the dominant speciesand OTUs (rDNA-derived taxa) that drive annual plankton successions. The use ofmorphological and molecular analyses in combination allowed us to assess absolute speciesabundance while improving taxonomic resolution, and revealed a greater diversity. Overall,our results underpinned a protist community characterised by a seasonal structure, which issupported by the dominant OTUs. We detected that some were partly benthic as a result ofthe intense tidal mixing typical of the French coasts in the English Channel. While theoccurrence of these microorganisms is driven by the physical and biogeochemical conditionsof the environment, internal community processes, such as the complex network of bioticinteractions, also play a key role in shaping protist communities

Cross-border Acquisitions by Indian Multinationals: Asset Exploitation or Asset Augmentation?

This paper examines cross-border acquisitions by Indian multinationals and places them in the context of Emerging Country Multinationals. It tests hypotheses based on internalisation theory and the resource based view to ask if these firms are asset exploiting or asset augmenting in their takeover behaviour. Internal financial and technological resources are found to be important explanatory variables, as is asset seeking; of brands, technology and market access. The home environment in India allows firms to amass profits, to manage in a culturally diverse setting and to develop asset bundling skills. All these factors are significant in determining cross-border acquisitions

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally