The role of investment, fundamental Q and financing frictions in agricultural investment decisions: an analysis pre and post financial crisis

JEL classifcation: G31, G32, F34This paper uses a fundamental Q model of investment to consider the role played by nancing frictions in agricultural investment decisions, controlling econometrically for censoring, heterogeneity and errors-in-variables. Our ndings suggest that farmer's in- vestment decisions are not driven by market fundamentals. We nd some evidence that debt overhang restricts investment but investment is not dependent on liquidity or internal funds. The role of nancing frictions in determining investment decisions changes in the post- nancial crisis period when debt overhang becomes a signi cant impediment to farm investment. The evidence suggests that farmers increasingly rely on internal liquidity to drive investment. Finally, we nd no evidence that farmers use o -farm capital to fund on-farm investment.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programm

Seller Concentration in Irish Services: Evidence from the Annual Services Inquiry

Seller concentration and its interactions on the performance of markets has occupied industrial organisation and competition economists for decades. While there has been much research on concentration in manufacturing markets, few studies have considered concentration in the services sector, which typically accounts for the majority of economic activity in developed countries. This paper presents estimates of the concentration ratio (i.e. the cumulative market share accounted for by the top 5, 20 and 100 firms) in the Irish services sector using publicly available data from the Annual Services Inquiry (ASI). It might be thought that the grouped nature of the ASI data render it impractical to estimate concentration accurately in this context but a technique due to McCloughan and Abounoori (2003), and subsequently applied to grouped data in the British construction sector (McCloughan, 2004) and the Irish manufacturing sector (McCloughan, 2005), facilitates estimation of concentration in Irish services sub-sectors for the first time. While the ASI data are aggregated, and while the analysis suggests that the Irish services sector is characterised by low concentration, the results nevertheless provide some interesting new information, based on adding value to an existing, publicly available data source, on which services sub-sectors are relatively concentrated and on the trend in concentration in recent years.Concentration, size distribution of firms, services, competition, competitiveness

The role of fundamental Q and financing frictions in agricultural investment decisions: an analysis pre and post financial crisis

This paper uses a fundamental Q model of investment to consider the role played by financing frictions in agricultural investment decisions, controlling econometrically for censoring, heterogeneity and errors-in-variables. Our findings suggest that farmer's investment decisions are not driven by market fundamentals. We find some evidence that debt overhang restricts investment but investment is not dependent on liquidity or internal funds. The role of financing frictions in determining investment decisions changes in the post-financial crisis period when debt overhang becomes a significant impediment to farm investment. The evidence suggests that farmers increasingly rely on internal liquidity to drive investment. Finally, we find no evidence that farmers use off-farm capital to fund on-farm investment.Credit Constraints, Firm Level Investment, Tobin's Q, Debt

Does financial liberalisation improve access to investment finance in developing countries?

This paper considers the effect of financial liberalisation on access to investment finance using firm level data covering 57 developing and transition countries. An index is presented which measures financial market liberalisation along the following policy dimensions: directed lending, credit controls and reserve requirements, state control of banking,openness of international financial flows, banking market entry, prudential regulation and supervision, and securities market development. Categorising firms as financially constrained across four measures, the results indicate that financial liberalisation reduces the probability of being credit constrained, with the effect strongest for young, domestic private small and medium sized enterprises. Increases in the degree of liberalisation, decrease the probability of being constrained by between 5 and 20 percent depending on the constraint definition. However, for Sub-Saharan Africa, the results indicate that financial liberalisation actually increases financing constraints for firms. This may help explain the stylised fact that despite a commitment to financial reform, the predicted growth benefits have not been realised in this region

An analysis of factors association with responsibility attribution in incidents of medical malpractice

Approximately twelve-hundred medical malpractice claims make it to the state courts each year. Within this setting, a growing concern is the influence of extralegal factors, which are factors outside the scope of the law that impact the manner in which jurors assign responsibility. The purpose of this study was to identify the strength and influence of two extralegal factors when attributing responsibility for claims of medical malpractice: severity effects and personal choice. A 2X2 research design with follow-up questionnaires was employed to assess participants' attribution of responsibility. The data revealed a relationship between personal choice and responsibility attribution, but failed to identify a relationship between severity effects and responsibility attribution. These results, in part, highlight the role extra-legal factors play in the decision-making process, which can inform the trial strategy of both plaintiffs and defendants in medical malpractice litigation

The role of financing frictions in agricultural investment decisions: an analysis pre and post financial crisis

This paper uses a fundamental Q model of investment to consider the role played by financing frictions in agricultural investment decisions, controlling econometrically for censoring, heterogeneity and errors-in-variables. Our findings suggest that farmer's investment decisions are not driven by market fundamentals. We find some evidence that debt overhang restricts investment but investment is not dependent on liquidity or internal funds. The role of financing frictions in determining investment decisions changes in the post-financial crisis period when debt overhang becomes a significant impediment to farm investment. The evidence suggests that farmers increasingly rely on internal liquidity to drive investment. Finally, we find no evidence that farmers use on-farm capital to fund on-farm investment.Credit Constraints, Firm Level Investment, Tobin's Q, Debt, Agricultural Finance, G31, G32, F34,

The development of motility in spermatozoa

Mammalian spermatozoa acquire the capacity for motility during passage through the epididymis. This study on rat spermatozoa shows that pH, cAMP and protein kinase C (PKC) all play an important role in the initiation of motility. pH has the most critical role and until the initial pH change in spermatozoa has occurred between the caput and caudal epididymal regions of the rat, second messengers are not effective in stimulating motility, but they are involved once such pH change has occurred. The spermatozoa of Fucus serratus differ from mammalian spermatozoa in that they are released into the sea prior to fertilisation and the motility of these spermatozoa is initiated upon their release into sea water. The ionic composition of sea water plays an important role in this activation and it is evident that the presence of Na+ is vital for the Initiation of motility. This study shows that a Na+/H+ exchanger, a N+-dependent bicarbonate/chloride exchanger and a Na+/K+ pump, which regulate the concentration of Na+, are present in Fucus serratus and integrated activity of these exchangers/pumps causes an increase in intracellular pH (pHi). An elevation in pHi correlates to an increase in motility, mediated through the activation of the dynein ATPase of the flagella. Motility and respiration of these spermatozoa are closely linked, probably because the ATP produced by respiration is used primarily by the dynein ATPase. Second messengers have also been Implicated in the initiation/regulation of motility and respiration. Indirect evidence shows cAMP and PKC are present and regulate motility, possibly through the phosphorylation and thereby activation of key regulatory proteins, such as the Na+/H+ exchanger. A rise in intracellular Ca2+ is also associated with the activation of Fucus serratus spermatozoa but the exact mechanism by which such a rise regulates motility remains unclear

Beneficial modulation of the gut microbiota

peer-reviewedThe human gut microbiota comprises approximately 100 trillion microbial cells and has a significant effect on many aspects of human physiology including metabolism, nutrient absorption and immune function. Disruption of this population has been implicated in many conditions and diseases, including examples such as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer that are highlighted in this review. A logical extension of these observations suggests that the manipulation of the gut microbiota can be employed to prevent or treat these conditions. Thus, here we highlight a variety of options, including the use of changes in diet (including the use of prebiotics), antimicrobial-based intervention, probiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation, and discuss their relative merits with respect to modulating the intestinal community in a beneficial way.C.J.W, C.M.G. and P.D.C are supported by a SFI PI award “Obesibiotics” (11/PI/1137

The MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope campaign: 2m spectroscopy of the V361 Hya variable PG1605+072

We present results and analysis for the 2m spectroscopic part of the MultiSite Spectroscopic Telescope (MSST) campaign undertaken in May/June 2002. The goal of the project was to observe the pulsating subdwarf B star PG1605+072 simultaneously in velocity and photometry and to resolve as many of the >50 known modes as possible, which will allow a detailed asteroseismological analysis. We have obtained over 150 hours of spectroscopy, leading to an unprecedented noise level of only 207m/s. We report here the detection of 20 frequencies in velocity, with two more likely just below our detection threshold. In particular, we detect 6 linear combinations, making PG1605+072 only the second star known to show such frequencies in velocity. We investigate the phases of these combinations and their parent modes and find relationships between them that cannot be easily understood based on current theory. These observations, when combined with our simultaneous photometry, should allow asteroseismology of this most complicated of sdB pulsators.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A; Figure 1 at lower resolution than accepted versio