Economic Reform and Productivity growth in Indian Manufacturing Industries: An interaction of technical change and scale economies

This paper studies the effects of the key economic reforms of 1991 on the Indian manufacturing industries using a panel of manufacturing industries. A Translog cost function is used to analyze the production structure in terms of biased technical change and economies of scale. A panel consisting of 121 Indian manufacturing industries from 1982 to 1998 was used in our estimation. The results of our paper support the evidence that there are economies of scale (only moderate) in the Indian manufacturing industries and it has been exploited after the key economic reforms in 1991. Most of the industries in our study revealed bias technology change and majority of the industries have experienced capital-using technical change. This suggests that the key economic reforms of liberalizing the capacity licensing regime that allows greater investment in capital goods will have a positive impact on productive performance of the industries if the price of capital does not substantially increase after the economic reforms. We observe TFP improvements for most of the industries after the 1991 reform initiatives, which support the evidence of improvements in economic efficiency after the key reform initiatives of the 1991.Total Factor Productivity, Bias Technical Change, Economies of Scale, Economic Reforms

A Spatial and Temporal Risk Assessment of the Impacts of El Niño on the Tropical Forest Carbon Cycle: Theoretical Framework, Scenarios, and Implications

Strong El Niño events alter tropical climates and may lead to a negative carbon balance in tropical forests and consequently a disruption to the global carbon cycle. The complexity of tropical forests and the lack of data from these regions hamper the assessment of the spatial distribution of El Niño impacts on these ecosystems. Typically, maps of climate anomaly are used to detect areas of greater risk, ignoring baseline climate conditions and forest cover. Here, we integrated climate anomalies from the 1982–1983, 1997–1998, and 2015–2016 El Niño events with baseline climate and forest edge extent, using a risk assessment approach to hypothetically assess the spatial and temporal distributions of El Niño risk over tropical forests under several risk scenarios. The drivers of risk varied temporally and spatially. Overall, the relative risk of El Niño has been increasing driven mainly by intensified forest fragmentation that has led to a greater chance of fire ignition and increased mean annual air temperatures. We identified areas of repeated high risk, where conservation efforts and fire control measures should be focused to avoid future forest degradation and negative impacts on the carbon cycle

Designing AfriCultuReS services to support food security in Africa

ABSTRACT: Earth observation (EO) data are increasingly being used to monitor vegetation and detect plant growth anomalies due to water stress, drought, or pests, as well as to monitor water availability, weather conditions, disaster risks, land use/land cover changes and to evaluate soil degradation. Satellite data are provided regularly by worldwide organizations, covering a wide variety of spatial, temporal and spectral characteristics. In addition, weather, climate and crop growth models provide early estimates of the expected weather and climatic patterns and yield, which can be improved by fusion with EO data. The AfriCultuReS project is capitalizing on the above to contribute towards an integrated agricultural monitoring and early warning system for Africa, supporting decision making in the field of food security. The aim of this article is to present the design of EO services within the project, and how they will support food security in Africa. The services designed cover the users' requirements related to climate, drought, land, livestock, crops, water, and weather. For each category of services, results from one case study are presented. The services will be distributed to the stakeholders and are expected to provide a continuous monitoring framework for early and accurate assessment of factors affecting food security in Africa.This paper is part of the AfriCultuReS project "Enhancing Food Security in African Agricultural Systems with the Support of Remote Sensing", which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 77465

Sport and Society

Despite its economic and cultural centrality, sport is a relatively neglected and undertheorized area of sociological research. In this review, we examine sports\u27 articulation with stratification issues, especially race, class, and gender. In addition, we look at how the media and processes of globalization have affected sports.We suggest that sports and cultural sociologists need to attend more closely to how leisure products and practices are produced and distributed and how they intersect with educational, political, and cultural institutions. We propose the work of Bourdieu andthe new institutionalism to undergird future research

Differential mortality in Iran

Background: Among the available data provided by health information systems, data on mortality are commonly used not only as health indicators but also as socioeconomic development indices. Recognizing that in Iran accurate data on causes of death were not available, the Deputy of Health in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOH&ME) established a new comprehensive system for death registration which started in one province (Bushehr) as a pilot in 1997, and was subsequently expanded to include all other provinces, except Tehran province. These data can be used to investigate the nature and extent of differences in mortality in Iran. The objective of this paper is to estimate provincial differences in the level of mortality using this death registration system. Methods: Data from the death registration system for 2004 for each province were evaluated for data completeness, and life tables were created for provinces after correction for under-enumeration of death registration. For those provinces where it was not possible to adjust the data on adult deaths by using the Brass Growth Balance method, adult mortality was predicted based on adult literacy using information from provinces with reliable data. Results: Child mortality (risk of a newborn dying before age 5, or q) in 2004 varied between 47 per 1000 live births for both sexes in Sistan and Baluchistan province, and 25 per 1000 live births in Tehran and Gilan provinces. For adults, provincial differences in mortality were much greater for males than females. Adult mortality (risk of dying between ages 15 and 60, or 45q15) for females varied between 0.133 in Kerman province and 0.117 in Tehran province; for males the range was from 0.218 in Kerman to 0.149 in Tehran province. Life expectancy for females was highest in Tehran province (73.8 years) and lowest in Sistan and Baluchistan (70.9 years). For males, life expectancy ranged from 65.7 years in Sistan and Baluchistan province to 70.9 years in Tehran. Conclusion: Substantial differences in survival exist among the provinces of Iran. While the completeness of the death registration system operated by the Iranian MOH&ME appears to be acceptable in the majority of provinces, further efforts are needed to improve the quality of data on mortality in Iran, and to expand death registration to Tehran province

Productivity and learning-by-exporting: a firm-level analysis of Indian manufacturing

type="main" xml:id="twec12136-abs-0001"> <title type="main">Abstract In this paper, we examine whether firms become productive by learning through exporting. To this end, we estimate the production function using microdata of Indian manufacturing firms operating in the period 1991–2001. In contrast to studies on developed countries, our results provide evidence that Indian manufacturing firms are experiencing a rise in productivity through entering export markets and thus experience the learning effect. We also find that there is a productivity rise prior to exporting. Therefore, our results also support the self-selection mechanism for exporting.Sanja S. Pattnayak and Shandre M. Thangavel

Linkages and technology spillovers in the presence of foreign firms: evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical industry

Purpose – This paper aims to examine production linkage and technology spillovers due to the presence of foreign firms in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs the semi‐parametric estimation method suggested by Olley and Pakes to control for unobserved firm heterogeneity that accounts for the endogeneity of input selection with respect to productivity. Findings – The results suggest that R&D activities of foreign firms lead to positive technology spillover to local firms. However, we also found negative linkage from the activities of foreign firms. The negative linkage could be explained by the large reverse engineering activities that occur on existing drugs in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, where the enclave activities of foreign firms might be a preemptive strategy to reduce the flow of technologies to downstream local firms and to protect their firm‐specific (product) technology. Originality/value – The results provide support for strong institutional arrangements such as giving protection for Intellectual Property Rights, which might be important for attracting and creating linkages with activities of foreign firms in the host country.Sanja Samirana Pattnayak, Shandre M. Thangavel

Observations on the mortality of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and associated factors along Ganjam coast, east coast of India

680-687The Odisha coast along the east coast of India is home to three mass nesting sites (Gahirmatha, Devi and Rushikulya) and several sporadic nesting sites for olive ridley sea turtles. The coastline in the Ganjam district of Odisha has more than nine beaches that report olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting, including one mass nesting site i.e the Rushikulya estuary. To develop a better understanding of beach habitat conditions along the Ganjam district's 60-km-long coastline, a survey was conducted and data on the extent of olive ridley mortality, associated threats (both direct and indirect), and factors affecting habitat loss, were collected. The survey was carried out entirely on foot between March and April 2020, visiting nine separate sites three times each. Dead turtle carcasses were seen on only seven out of the nine beaches. The major threats observed were fishing activities and predation; while plastic contamination, topographical changes (shifting in Rushikulya river mouth), vehicular movements, and artificial lighting were the factors associated with habitat degradation. The highest incidences of mortality were caused by fishing activity. In addition, maximum turtle mortality was seen at lower elevations (3 – 6 m above MSL) as compared to beaches with higher elevations. The current survey on olive ridley turtle mortality is the first of its kind along the Ganjam coast and the findings underscore the importance of solidifying conservation efforts on the olive ridleys' habitat