In-kind credit provision through contract farming and formal credit markets

Access to credit is a key prerequisite for the development of smallholder agriculture. However, rural credit markets are typically characterized by market failures and smallholder credit access is limited. Resource-providing contracts are an institutional tool to overcome credit market failures through the provision of production inputs in the form of in-kind credit. Previous research has shown that interlinkage of contract and credit helps farmers overcome financial constraints, foster production investments, and hence increase productivities and income. However, if and how such contract schemes affect farmers' overall demand for and access to formal credit from other sources is not yet well understood. In this article, we therefore investigate the associations of the provision of in-kind credit and farming households' formal credit demand and ability to receive formal credit. We use data of 463 oil palm producers in Ghana and show that participation in contract farming is associated with an increase in credit demand. Concerning credit approval, we find that the outstanding debt of the in-kind credit scheme is associated with a substantially lower likelihood of credit acceptance. However, the results also suggest that farmers can fully compensate this negative effect by informing the bank about the contract, and thus the source of the debt. This indicates that debt acquired from resource-providing contract schemes does not necessarily pose an additional credit constraint to farmers

How and why animal welfare concerns evolve in developing countries

Implications In developing countries, animal welfare concerns do not receive the same recognition as they do in higher-income countries, from policy and law, through to consumer awareness and purchasing options. While traditional farmers often have close bonds with their animals, knowledge and action gaps often limit more animal-friendly production. In some developing countries, livestock production has already largely commercialized and intensified. In these countries, citizens are becoming increasingly aware and sensitive to animal welfare issues, but animal welfare does not yet affect purchasing decisions. Future scenarios with higher animal welfare are possible, but will require joint efforts by various stakeholders in the livestock sector. Overall, much more research on animal welfare perceptions in developing countries is needed

Palmyre : stucs trouvés près de la source Efqa (site de l’hôtel Méridien)

Parmi les nombreux fragments de stuc trouvés à Palmyre en 1975 lors de la construction de l’ancien hôtel Méridien, seuls des éléments figurés avaient jusque-là retenu l’attention. L’étude du lot complet a permis la restitution d’un imposant décor, attribuable au début du iiie s. apr. J.-C. Deux corniches, de même conception mais de module différent, révèlent une grande maîtrise technique et une remarquable diversité décorative. Un rinceau modelé est enrichi d’une profusion de reliefs en applique : grosses consoles en forme de vases, masques de théâtre, têtes de Satyres et de Ménades et autres figures. Modillons, fleurons, oiseaux et divers objets garnissent en outre le soffite. Un édicule appartenant au même programme décoratif porte sur un pilastre un buste d’Aglibol. Quelques pièces en ronde bosse très fragmentaires reproduisent des types inspirés de la sculpture hellénistique, certaines pourraient avoir appartenu à des scènes figurées. L’édifice d’où proviennent ces stucs est mal connu. Mais son plan et sa situation à proximité de la source Efqa rendent probable une fonction cultuelle.During the construction of the former Méridien Hotel in 1975, many stucco fragments were unearthed, but then, only figurative pieces have been taken into account. A systematic study of the whole lot led to the reconstruction of an impressive stucco decoration, that can be dated to the early 3rd cent. ad. Two cornices, of the same design but different scale, show a high technical level as well as an outstanding ornamental diversity. A modelled scroll supports many applied ornaments: large drinking vessel shaped consoles, theatrical masks, Satyrs and Maenads heads, etc. Elements such as modillions, rosettes, birds and other items have been added on the soffit. An aedicula belonging to the same decorative program includes a pilaster with an Aglibol bust. Hellenistic sculptural types inspire a few fragments, almost three-dimensional; they may be the remnants of some figurative scenes. The building these stuccoes come from is poorly documented, but its plan as well as its proximity to Efqa spring point towards some religious function.خلاصة – من بين أجزاء الجص العديدة التي وجدت في تدمر سنة 1975 خلال أعمال بناء فندق الميريديان القديم، فقط العناصر التصويرية حاذت على إهتمام الباحثين. دراسة اللقى الكاملة سمحت بإعادة تكوين زخرفة مهيبة، يمكن تأريخها من بداية القرن الثالث ميلادي. إفريزان من نفس المفهوم ولكن بقياسات مختلفة، يبرزان براعة تقنية وتنوّع إستثنائي في الزخرفة. زخرف نباتي ملتف غني ومسرف بالنقوش المطبوعة، مساند ناتئة ضخمة بشكل آنية، أقنعة مسرحية، رؤوس ساتير وميناد، حاملات تماثيل، زخارف زهرية الشكل، طيور وأشياء متعددة تزيّن أيضاً السقف. بناء صغير ينتمي الى نفس البرنامج الزخرفي يحمل على إحدى العضادات تمثال نصفي ل «أغليبول». بعض المنحوتات الثلاثية الأبعاد، التي إكتشفت في شكل أجزاء صغيرة، تبيّن أشكال مستوحات من فن النحت الهيلينيستي، بعضها يمكن كان يخص مشاهد مصورة. البناء مصدر البقايا الجصية غير معروف. ولكن مخططه وموقعه قرب نبع ماء «إفقا» تجعلنا نخمّن أن له وظيفة دينية

Co-opetition models for governing professional football

In recent years, models for co-creating value in a business-to-business context have often been examined with the aim of studying the strategies implemented by and among organisations for competitive and co-operative purposes. The traditional concepts of competition and co-operation between businesses have now evolved, both in terms of the sector in which the businesses operate and in terms of the type of goods they produce. Many researchers have, in recent times, investigated the determinants that can influence the way in which the model of co-opetition can be applied to the football world. Research interest lies in the particular features of what makes a good football. In this paper, the aim is to conduct an analysis of the rules governing the “football system”, while also looking at the determinants of the demand function within football entertainment. This entails applying to football match management the co-opetition model, a recognised model that combines competition and co-operation with the view of creating and distributing value. It can, therefore, be said that, for a spectator, watching sport is an experience of high suspense, and this suspense, in turn, depends upon the degree of uncertainty in the outcome. It follows that the rules ensuring that both these elements can be satisfied are a fertile ground for co-operation between clubs, as it is in the interest of all stakeholders to offer increasingly more attractive football, in comparison with other competing products. Our end purpose is to understand how co-opetition can be achieved within professional football

M.S. Venit, Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria, The Theater of the Dead, 2002

Parlasca Klaus. M.S. Venit, Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria, The Theater of the Dead, 2002. In: Topoi, volume 12-13/2, 2005. pp. 763-771

Information theory and banking

This thesis uses information theory to study policy questions in banking, finance, and industrial organization. It consists of four independent papers. The first paper, “Time Inconsistency in Stress Test Design”, shows that central banks face a time inconsistency problem when publishing bank stress test results. Before a stress test, they want to appear tough as the threat of letting banks fail the stress test incentivizes prudent behaviour. After the stress test, they want to act soft by releasing only partial information in order to reassure financial markets about bank health. The paper characterises an institutional design solution to this commitment problem: a social planner sets the framework within which the central bank communicates. We find that a hurdle rate framework, where all banks are judged to pass or fail relative to a common threshold, is optimal in many settings as it generates intermediate levels of both incentives and reassurance. We show that, in such a hurdle rate framework, stress tests become an informational contagion channel. The second paper proposes a model of imperfect competition in markets with selection and investigates whether imperfect competition mitigates the inefficiency which, in these markets, arises under perfect competition. Focusing on markets with advantageous selection, such as consumer credit markets, we find that no degree of competition can restore the first best efficient allocation. We discuss policy alternatives. The third paper shows that, in markets with adverse selection, tying contracts can prevent unravelling and thus have a substantial positive effect on welfare. We illustrate this effect for two insurance markets. When one characteristic (such as life-expectancy) is hidden information and causes agents to have high expected cost for one product (life insurance) but low expected cost for another (pension annuity), then for tying contracts cost differences partially cancel out. This can prevent unravelling. In the fourth paper, which is joined work, we build on a field experiment, find that some agents increase effort when it becomes more costly, and rationalize this in a signalling model. In the field setting, agents also choose whether to truthfully disclose their effort. The data on this form of strategic communication adds further support to the interpretation that effort choices are driven by signalling motives.</p

Maurice H. Chehab. Mosaïques du Liban.

Parlasca Klaus. Maurice H. Chehab. Mosaïques du Liban.. In: Syria. Tome 38 fascicule 3-4, 1961. pp. 324-327

Dwa brązowe naczynia doby Ptolemeuszów

W latach 2001-2203 w Muzeum okręgowym w Kassel (Kasseler Landesmuseum) była eksponowana amfora brązowa z prywatnego zbioru, a niniejszy artykuł jest pierwszą publikacją dotyczącą tego ważnego zabytku. Amfora mierzy 20 cm wysokości. Umieszczona na niej dekoracja plastyczna jest pochodzenie irańskiego, jednak wykonanie wskazuje na warsztat pracujący w hellenistycznej Aleksandrii. Forma naczynia powtórzona została w przypadku aleksandryjskich naczyń ceramicznych. Omawiając ten typ zabytków, autor wykazuje, że naczyń brązowych z okresu wczesnoptolemejskiego znamy wyjątkowo mało, i właśnie chociażby tylko z tego względu zabytek będący przedmiotem rozważań tego artykułu jest niezwykle ważny i zasługuje na uwagę badaczy.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę