International migration, remittances, and poverty in developing countries

Few studies have examined the impact of international migration and remittances on poverty in a broad cross-section of developing countries. The authors try to fill this gap by constructing a new data set on poverty, international migration, and remittances for 74 low- and middle-income developing countries. Four key findings emerge: 1) International migration-defined as the share of a country's population living abroad-has a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international migrants in a country's population will lead to a 1.9 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty ($1.00 a person a day). 2) Distance to a major labor-receiving region-like the United States or OECD (Europe)-has an important effect on international migration. Developing countries that are located closest to the United States or OECD (Europe) are also those countries withthe highest rates of migration. 3) An inverted U-shaped curve exists between the level of country per capita income and international migration. Developing countries with low or high per capita GDP produce smaller shares of international migrants than do middle-income developing countries. The authors find no evidence that developing countries with higher levels of poverty produce more migrants. Because of considerable travel costs associated with international migration, international migrants come from those income groups which are just above the poverty line in middle-income developing countries. 4) International remittances-defined as the share of remittances in country GDP-have a strong, statistical impact in reducing poverty. On average, a 10 percent increase in the share of international remittances in a country's GDP will lead to a 1.6 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Conditions and Volatility,Health Economics&Finance,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Poverty Assessment,Economic Conditions and Volatility,Achieving Shared Growth

The effects of carbohydrate and protein hydrolysate co-ingestion upon exercise metabolism and cycling performance

The ergogenic effects of acute carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation during prolonged exercise are well established. Recently, a number of studies have examined the potential for the inclusion of protein to further augment these efficacious effects. However, observations at present remain equivocal. Furthermore, there is currently a dearth of knowledge regarding the potential physiologic influences of specific protein sources. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine the efficacy of adding whey protein (CHO-PRO) and hydrolysed marine peptides (CHO-PRO-PEP) to a CHO solution when compared to an equally energetic CHO only beverage. Following an initial familiarisation, 12 recreationally active male volunteers performed three randomised, double blind trials. The trials consisted of a 90-minute steady-state cycle preload corresponding to 50% of predetermined maximal power output, followed by a 5 km time-trial. From the onset of exercise and at 15-minute intervals during the initial preload, participants ingested 180 ml of either: CHO (67 g.hr¯¹ of maltodextrin); CHO-PRO (53.1 g.hr¯¹ of maltodextrin, 13.6 g.hr¯¹ of whey protein concentrate) or CHO-PRO-PEP (53.1 g.hr¯¹ of maltodextrin, 11.0 g.hr¯¹ of whey protein concentrate and 2.4 g.hr¯¹ of protein hydrolysate extracted from salmon). Physiological measures including heart rate, blood glucose and blood lactate were also acquired at 15-minute intervals concomitant to expired gas analysis. No significant differences were observed in time-to-complete the 5 km time-trial regardless of the solution ingested (455.49 ± 16.10; 455.57 ± 18.09 and 454.83 ± 20.75 seconds for CHO, CHO-PRO and CHO-PRO-PEP respectively, p = 0.97). Average and peak power output also demonstrated no statistical significance between treatments (p = 0.71 and p = 0.44, respectively). Conversely, significant interaction effects (condition × time) were apparent for both blood lactate (p = 0.02) and the respiratory exchange ratio (p = 0.007). Heart rate also demonstrated a significant main effect for condition (p = 0.047). No other physiological parameters were significantly different between conditions. This data therefore suggests that CHO-PRO and CHO-PRO-PEP supplementation provide no additional performance enhancing effects in comparison to a typical CHO only solution. However, the inclusion of protein from marine sources within a CHO solution may influence substrate utilisation during prolonged steady-state exercise

Remittances, consumption and investment in Ghana

This paper uses a new, nationally-representative household survey from Ghana to analyze within a rigorous econometric framework how the receipt of internal remittances (from within Ghana) and international remittances (from African or other countries) affects the marginal spending behavior of households on a broad range of consumption and investment goods, including food, education and housing. Contrary to other studies, which find that remittances are spent disproportionately on consumption (food and consumer goods/durables) or investment goods (education and housing), the findings show that households receiving remittances in Ghana do not spend more at the margin on food, education and housing than households with similar income levels and characteristics that do not receive remittances. When the analysis controls for endogeneity and selection bias, the findings show that any differences in the marginal spending behavior between remittance-receiving and non-receiving households are explained completely by the observed and unobserved characteristics of households. Households in Ghana treat remittances just like any other source of income, and there are no changes in marginal spending patterns for households with the receipt of remittance income.Population Policies,Access to Finance,Debt Markets,Remittances,

The impact of remittances on poverty and inequality in Ghana

This paper uses a new, 2005/06 nationally-representative household survey to analyze the impact of internal remittances (from Ghana) and international remittances (from African and other countries) on poverty and inequality in Ghana. To control for selection and endogeneity, it uses a two-stage multinomial logit model with instrumental variables focusing on variations in migration networks and remittances among various ethno-religious groups in Ghana. The paper finds that both internal and international remittances reduce the level, depth, and severity of poverty in Ghana. However, the size of the poverty reduction depends on the type of remittances received. In general, poverty in Ghana is reduced more by international than internal remittances. For households receiving international remittances, the level of poverty falls by 88.1 percent with the inclusion of remittances; for households receiving internal remittances, poverty falls by 69.4 percent with the inclusion of remittances. The paper also finds that both types of remittances increase income inequality in Ghana. For households with internal remittances, the inclusion of remittances causes the Gini coefficient to rise by 4 percent, and for households with international remittances, the inclusion of remittances causes the Gini to increase by 17.4 percent.Population Policies,Access to Finance,Remittances,Debt Markets,Rural Poverty Reduction

Application of ground penetrating radar to sub-alpine hydrogeology, Snowy Range, Wyoming

2011 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.A ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey was conducted at the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiment Site, in the Snowy Range of Wyoming with the objective of determining the potential groundwater storage in the sediment overburden and determining the bedrock fracture density. The survey was completed along 12 transects with 100 MHz antennas using a Sensors and Software® PulseEKKO® 100 system. The step size between shots was 0.25 meters and the separation between the antennas was 1 meter. Two common midpoint (CMP) surveys were conducted and the subsurface GPR velocity was determined to be 0.06 m/ns. The survey results indicate that sediment overburden thickness ranges from 0 m at bedrock outcrops to > 9 m near East Glacier Lake. The volume of sediment at the study site estimated at 83,800 ± 8,380 m3. Based on a grainsize analysis of representative soil pedons the average specific yield at the study site is estimated to be approximately 10%. Given these values for soil volume and specific yield, the potential groundwater storage is 8,380 ± 838 m3 for the study site, which extrapolates to 61,300 ± 6,130 m3 in groundwater storage in the East Glacier Lake watershed. The two dimensional bedrock fracture density was determined to be 1 fracture per 4,810 m2. The bedrock groundwater storage is undetermined