The economic antecedents of human well being: a pooled mean group estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panel

This study seeks to investigate the economic antecedents of happiness by employing the Mean Group (MG), Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and the Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) estimators to analyse a set of macro panel data on selected OECD countries for 40 years from 1973 to 2012. The results show evidence that income and unemployment have a favourable impact on happiness, while happiness is hindered by inflation and income inequality. Surprisingly, the study revealed that institutional quality is not a significant antecedent of happiness. It is worth noting the importance of the reference group theory or relative theory of happiness and the set-point theory of happiness in explaining the role played by income, unemployment, inflation, income inequality and institutional quality in explaining human well-being

Firm size, technological capability, exports and economic performance: the case of electronics industry in Malaysia

This paper examines the joint effects of technology and exports on the economic performances of electronics firms in Malaysia. The empirical results based on the Partial Least Square (PLS) estimate procedure show that technological capability plays a multiple role in that it influences both the exports and performance of a firm simultaneously. More importantly, we find evidence that exports act as a mediating variable between technological capability and firm performance. Size is found to influence all three: product capabilities, exports and firm performance but not process capabilities. This paper concludes that researchers, in future studies, need to examine the dynamism between size, technology, exports and performance

Malaysian Manufacturing Systems of Innovation and Internationalization of R&D

The study of innovation and technological upgrading experienced a significant interest in the academic literature, especially within the developing countries (Lall, 1998, 2001; Kim and Nelson, 2000; Ariffin and Figueiredo, 2004). The lack of involvement by developing countries in radical innovative capabilities (Rasiah, 1994; Hobday, 2005) and the interest of scholars in learning technological capability building and technological catch up processes has directed researchers to analyze various mechanisms or drivers that contribute to technological upgrading, especially in developing countries, more so in the manufacturing sector. This study aims to investigate the R&D activities and the internationalization of these activities undertaken by foreign firms within the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The study aims to provide answers to the following questions: 1. What is the status of the systems of innovation within the Malaysian manufacturing sector? 2. What is the role played by the agents of innovation, in particular TNCs or MNCs, in relation to R&D activities and its internationalization? and, 3. How is the Malaysian manufacturing (local and foreign) technological and R&D progress to date? This study confirms that the Malaysian manufacturing systems of innovation is weakly positioned but shows limited evidence of process innovation and not product innovation. However, evidence of innovation differs among states and sectors owing to differences in the systems of innovation. Although, Malaysia has not been chosen as a site for offshoring or outsorcing of R&D activities to a significant degree, it is found that one very important driver of innovation is the central role that multinational enterprises play in the Malaysian manufacturing systems of innovation. Process innovation is conducted by foreign subsidiaries and is on the rise in key the electronics industry. It is also found that technological learning by local firms is mainly through linkages, sub-contracting and technological transfer

Does economic development and democracy translate to happiness? a global perspective

This paper explores the relatively intriguing area of research on the “economics of happiness”. The present study was designed to determine the effects of economic development and democratic freedom on happiness. A cross-sectional econometric analysis is employed to examine the impact of the economic variables of income and democracy on happiness across thirty eight countries in 2011. Democracy and economic development were found to contribute positively to happiness. The findings also indicate a bi-directional relationship between happiness and its dual determinants of income and democratic freedom. It was found that countries reporting higher levels of well-being tend to enjoy higher incomes and seem to choose democracy over other political overtures. Institutions of democracy were found to enhance economic development and this relationship is bi-directional. The study concludes with an examination of policy implications of the findings

Defoliation and Soil Compaction Jointly Drive Large-Herbivore Grazing Effects on Plants and Soil Arthropods on Clay Soil

In addition to the well-studied impacts of defecation and defoliation, large herbivores also affect plant and arthropod communities through trampling, and the associated soil compaction. Soil compaction can be expected to be particularly important on wet, fine-textured soils. Therefore, we established a full factorial experiment of defoliation (monthly mowing) and soil compaction (using a rammer, annually) on a clay-rich salt marsh at the Dutch coast, aiming to disentangle the importance of these two factors. Additionally, we compared the effects on soil physical properties, plants, and arthropods to those at a nearby cattle-grazed marsh under dry and under waterlogged conditions. Soil physical conditions of the compacted plots were similar to the conditions at cattle-grazed plots, showing decreased soil aeration and increased waterlogging. Soil salinity was doubled by defoliation and quadrupled by combined defoliation and compaction. Cover of the dominant tall grass Elytrigia atherica was decreased by 80% in the defoliated plots, but cover of halophytes only increased under combined defoliation and compaction. Effects on soil micro-arthropods were most severe under waterlogging, showing a fourfold decrease in abundance and a smaller mean body size under compaction. Although the combined treatment of defoliation and trampling indeed proved most similar to the grazed marsh, large discrepancies remained for both plant and soil fauna communities, presumably because of colonization time lags. We conclude that soil compaction and defoliation differently affect plant and arthropod communities in grazed ecosystems, and that the magnitude of their effects depends on herbivore density, productivity, and soil physical properties

Species Used for Drug Testing Reveal Different Inhibition Susceptibility for 17beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1

Steroid-related cancers can be treated by inhibitors of steroid metabolism. In searching for new inhibitors of human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17β-HSD 1) for the treatment of breast cancer or endometriosis, novel substances based on 15-substituted estrone were validated. We checked the specificity for different 17β-HSD types and species. Compounds were tested for specificity in vitro not only towards recombinant human 17β-HSD types 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 but also against 17β-HSD 1 of several other species including marmoset, pig, mouse, and rat. The latter are used in the processes of pharmacophore screening. We present the quantification of inhibitor preferences between human and animal models. Profound differences in the susceptibility to inhibition of steroid conversion among all 17β-HSDs analyzed were observed. Especially, the rodent 17β-HSDs 1 were significantly less sensitive to inhibition compared to the human ortholog, while the most similar inhibition pattern to the human 17β-HSD 1 was obtained with the marmoset enzyme. Molecular docking experiments predicted estrone as the most potent inhibitor. The best performing compound in enzymatic assays was also highly ranked by docking scoring for the human enzyme. However, species-specific prediction of inhibitor performance by molecular docking was not possible. We show that experiments with good candidate compounds would out-select them in the rodent model during preclinical optimization steps. Potentially active human-relevant drugs, therefore, would no longer be further developed. Activity and efficacy screens in heterologous species systems must be evaluated with caution