Social Networks and Credit Access in Indonesia

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this paper, we investigate how family and community networks affect an individual's access to credit institutions using new data from the Indonesia Family Life Surveys. Our theoretical framework emphasizes the family and community's role in providing information, thus lowering the search costs of the borrower and monitoring and enforcement costs for the lender. From our empirical results, community and family networks are important in knowing a place to borrow, as well as for loan approval. Consistent with an information-based explanation of networks, family and community networks have a larger impact on credit awareness of new credit institutions with a lower impact on awareness of established credit sources. Interestingly, we find that women benefit from participating in community networks more than men. There is no evidence that the rich benefit from community networks more than the poor. Our results on the benefits from participation in the community network are robust to the inclusion of community fixed effects. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Labor-force Participation of Married Women in Turkey: A Study of the Added-Worker Effect and the Discouraged-Worker Effect

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We analyze married women's labor-supply responses to their husbands' job loss (added-worker effect) and worsening of unemployment conditions (discouraged-worker effect). We construct six two-year pseudopanels based on the previous year's labor market outcomes using nationally representative Turkish Household Labor Force Surveys from 2005 to 2010. We find that women whose husbands involuntarily transition from employment to unemployment are more likely to participate in the labor force. We pool the six-year pseudopanels and examine the effects of aggregate employment conditions on wives' transition to the labor force. A worsening of unemployment conditions has a small discouraging effect on wives' labor-supply responses

Intermediaries and Corruption

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Surveys of businessmen and anecdotal evidence blame intermediary agents (middlemen hired by corporations and individuals) for increasing corruption in the developing world. Although this problem has gained the attention of policy makers, there has been little formal analysis of it in the economics literature. In a game theoretic model analyzing the interaction between clients, public official and intermediary agents, we find that intermediary agents worsen the impact of corruption and that traditional methods of fighting corruption can actually increase corruption in the presence of intermediary agents. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The Effects of Privatization on Efficiency: How Does Privatization Work?

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Uncovering the effects of privatization is difficult, because privatization of a particular firm usually is not an accident. This paper tests the effects of privatization on productive and allocative (market) efficiency using a rich panel data set of 22 privatized cement plants from Turkey in the 1983-99 period. Since, all public cement firms were privatized and we have preand post-privatization data for all, we are able to avoid the problem of endogeneity associated with sample selection. Our analysis goes beyond just examining the privatization effects and explores how privatization really works. Changes in objectives of the firm (ownership effect) and changes in market structure (environment effect) may both be responsible for privatization outcomes. We find that ownership effects are sufficient to achieve improvements in labor productivity. Our results on allocative efficiency, however, are dependent on changes in the competitive environment. While all plants seem to improve labor productivity through works force reductions, plants privatized to foreign buyers also increase their capital and investment significantly. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Risk and career choice: Evidence from Turkey

In this paper, we examine the college major choice decision in a risk and return framework using university entrance exam data from Turkey. Specifically we focus on the choice between majors with low income risk such as education and health and others with riskier income streams. We use a unique dataset that allows us to control for the choice set of students and parental attitudes towards risk. Our results show that father's income, self-employment status and social security status are important factors influencing an individual in choosing a riskier career such as business over a less risky one such as education or health. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd

Is Roger Federer more loss averse than Serena Williams?

Using data from the high-stakes 2013 Dubai professional tennis tournament, we find that, compared with a tied score, (i) male players have a higher serve speed and thus exhibit more effort when behind in score, and their serve speeds get less sensitive to losses or gains when score difference gets too large, and (ii) female players do not change their serve speed when behind, while serving slower when ahead. Thus, male players comply more with Prospect Theory exhibiting more loss aversion and reflection effect. Our results are robust to controlling for player fixed effects and characteristics with player random effects. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

A gossypiboma (foreign body granuloma) mimicking a residual odontogenic cyst in the mandible: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Gossypiboma (foreign body granuloma) in the tooth socket as a complication of tooth removal is rare. Several cases of gossypiboma have been reported after orthopedic, abdominal, otorhinolaryngology, or plastic surgery, but there has been only one reported case after oral surgery.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 42-year-old Caucasian German-speaking Swiss woman applied to our clinic for removal of her right mandibular first molar. Her right mandibular third molar had been removed seven years ago. Post-operatively, she complained of pain and foreign body sensation for six months in the area of the removed tooth. A panoramic radiograph of our patient showed a defined and oval radiolucent area in the socket of the right mandibular third molar evoking a residual cyst. An operation was planned to remove the cyst-like lesion. During surgery, a foreign body composed of gauze was found in the right mandibular third molar region. The histological findings were compatible with a foreign body reaction around gauze.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Retained gauze must be considered if patients complain of pain and foreign body sensation after tooth removal. The use of gauze with radio-opaque markers and extensive irrigation of the socket with saline to remove gauze fragments can avoid this mishap.</p

Gastric Juvenile Polyposis with High-Grade Dysplasia in Pachydermoperiostosis

Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP) is the primary form of hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. It is a very rare disease consisting of pachydermia, digital clubbing and radiologic periostosis. Various digestive symptoms in PDP are seen in 11–49% of patients and juvenile polyps may be found at gastric endoscopy. We report here the history of a patient with PDP who was referred for assessment of severe anemia. Endoscopy of the upper digestive tract showed multiple polyps of the stomach with two huge lesions exhibiting foci of high-grade dysplasia. This observation suggests that PDP can be considered as a precancerous condition of the stomach and systematic screening using endoscopy should be considered in these patients

Malignant mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a fatal asbestos-associated malignancy originating from the lining cells (mesothelium) of the pleural and peritoneal cavities, as well as the pericardium and the tunica vaginalis. The exact prevalence is unknown but it is estimated that mesotheliomas represent less than 1% of all cancers. Its incidence is increasing, with an expected peak in the next 10–20 years. Pleural malignant mesothelioma is the most common form of mesothelioma. Typical presenting features are those of chest pain and dyspnoea. Breathlessness due to a pleural effusion without chest pain is reported in about 30% of patients. A chest wall mass, weight loss, sweating, abdominal pain and ascites (due to peritoneal involvement) are less common presentations. Mesothelioma is directly attributable to occupational asbestos exposure with a history of exposure in over 90% of cases. There is also evidence that mesothelioma may result from both para-occupational exposure and non-occupational "environmental" exposure. Idiopathic or spontaneous mesothelioma can also occur in the absence of any exposure to asbestos, with a spontaneous rate in humans of around one per million. A combination of accurate exposure history, along with examination radiology and pathology are essential to make the diagnosis. Distinguishing malignant from benign pleural disease can be challenging. The most helpful CT findings suggesting malignant pleural disease are 1) a circumferential pleural rind, 2) nodular pleural thickening, 3) pleural thickening of > 1 cm and 4) mediastinal pleural involvement. Involvement of a multidisciplinary team is recommended to ensure prompt and appropriate management, using a framework of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and symptom palliation with end of life care. Compensation issues must also be considered. Life expectancy in malignant mesothelioma is poor, with a median survival of about one year following diagnosis