Improving Financial Inclusion through the Delivery of Cash Transfer Programmes: The Case of Mexico’s Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera Programme

This paper follows a quasi-experimental research design to assess the impact of the electronic payment system of Mexico’s Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera (POP) programme. The switch from cash payments to electronic payments delivered via savings accounts is found to have medium-term effects on savings decisions, transaction costs, and coping strategies. Overall, the study finds that, following the intervention, a substitution effect emerged between saving portfolio choices, with the poor favouring bank accounts over informal saving arrangements. It also found that the Oportunidades savings account led to an increase in remittance reception, which in turn had important implications for household consumption smoothing and risk management decisions. The study also reveals impact heterogeneity depending on household composition and the rural-urban divide, with important implications for replicability of similar policy innovations in other countrie

Preferred growth direction by PbS nanoplatelets preserves perovskite infrared light harvesting for stable, reproducible, and efficient solar cells

Formamidinium-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) present the maximum theoretical efficiency of the lead perovskite family. However, formamidinium perovskite exhibits significant degradation in air. The surface chemistry of PbS has been used to improve the formamidinium black phase stability. Here, the use of PbS nanoplatelets with (100) preferential crystal orientation is reported, to potentiate the repercussion on the crystal growth of perovskite grains and to improve the stability of the material and consequently of the solar cells. As a result, a vertical growth of perovskite grains, a stable current density of 23 mA cm(-2), and a stable incident photon to current efficiency in the infrared region of the spectrum for 4 months is obtained, one of the best stability achievements for planar PSCs. Moreover, a better reproducibility than the control device, by optimizing the PbS concentration in the perovskite matrix, is achieved. These outcomes validate the synergistic use of PbS nanoplatelets to improve formamidinium long-term stability and performance reproducibility, and pave the way for using metastable perovskite active phases preserving their light harvesting capability

Reasons Why Erupted Third Molars Are Extracted in a Public University in Mexico

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the reasons for which erupted third molars (3M) are extracted in a sample of Mexican patients. Subjects and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 83 patients attending exodontia (minor oral surgery) clinics of a public university in Mexico (Autonomous University of Hidalgo State). The outcome variable was the reason for extractions using Kay and Blinkhorn's classification. The independent variables were age, gender, arch and tooth number according to the World Health Organization (WHO). For statistical analysis, we used the Chi-squared test in Stata 9.0. Results: Eighty-three patients underwent 150 3M extractions. Mean age was 38.67 ± 13.96 years, and 71.1% were female. The four reasons for 3M extraction were prosthetic (44.0%), followed by orthodontic (24.7%), dental caries (20.0%) and periodontal disease (11.3%). Differences were observed in the reasons for 3M extractions across age groups (p 0.05), or the WHO tooth number (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Women and patients 18 to 34 years of age had erupted 3M extracted more frequently, primarily for prosthetic reasons. The age profile indicated a trend in demand for services that differ from those of overall tooth extractions, but not for the trend across gender

Financial Access and Exclusion in Kenya and Uganda

Policy emphasis has recently shifted to 'Finance for All' given evidence that financial sector development contributes to growth but effects on poverty do not arise from pro-poor provision. We argue that, given this policy goal, analyses of barriers to access must be country specific and go beyond the emphasis on transactions costs to incorporate the effects of social institutions since these contribute to discrimination. This paper uses data from Financial Access Surveys carried out in 2006 in Kenya and Uganda to investigate the socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors influencing access to and exclusion from formal, semi-formal and informal financial services.