Re-examining the 'More People Less Erosion' Hypothesis:\ud Special Case of Wider Trend?

Recent research into natural resource rehabilitation based on in-depth case studies has highlighted situations where population growth and agricultural intensification have been accompanied by improved rather than deteriorating soil and water resources(e.g. Tiffen et al., 1994). Drawing on new case studies in six countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda), this paper examines how widespread are the prospects for positive outcomes of the ‘more people, less erosion’ type

Repayment capacity, debt service ratios and mortgage default: An exploration in crisis and non-crisis periods. ESRI Working Paper No. 652 February 2020

In this paper, we explore the impact of current household repayment capacity on mortgage default using household-level panel data over the period 2004-2017 for Ireland. We measure repayment capacity as changes in the level of the current debtservice to income ratio to capture a direct channel for affordability shocks. We model the relationship between repayment capacity and default using a discrete time logit survival model of default flows. We test for a non-linear relationship to explore whether negative and positive shocks have asymmetric effects and whether shocks depend on household absorptive capacity. We also test the differing impacts of repayment shocks in crisis and non-crisis times and whether any differences are explained by negative equity or liquidity constraints. A number of endings emerge. We find that deteriorations in current debt service capacity have a positive and increasing effect on default which is dependent on the level of indebtedness or absorptive capacity. We find that the relationship between deteriorations in the repayment capacity and default are worsened in crisis times and we show that this is due to the presence of negative equity and liquidity constraints in these periods

The Financial Crisis and the Changing Profile of Mortgage Arrears in Ireland. ESRI Research Notes 2014/4/2

Understanding which households go into mortgage arrears during both boom and bust periods in Ireland is of critical importance to ensure suitable policies are deployed to safeguard future financial stability. Many of the difficulties in Ireland arose from the loosening of underwriting standards by financial institutions. This led to excessive household leverage ratios and provided households with limited buffers with which to absorb shocks (McCarthy and McQuinn, 2017; Lydon and McCann, 2017). The joint effects of labour market difficulties and large falls in house prices led to a situation where nearly one-in-five mortgage loans was in arrears at the height of the crisis (McCarthy, 2014)

Estimating an SME investment gap and the contribution of financing frictions. ESRI WP589, March 2018

In this paper, we use firm-level survey data to explore the determinants of SME investment activity and the extent to which observed investment is in line with that suggested by economic fundamentals. In contrast to previous literature which has focused on whether investment gaps exist at a more aggregate level, we find evidence that for SMEs actual investment is below what would be expected given how companies are currently performing. The estimated magnitude of this investment gap is economically meaningful at just over 30 per cent in 2016. We explore the extent to which the gap is explained by financial market challenges such as access to finance, interest rates, and the availability of collateral. Financing frictions are found to account for a moderate share of the overall investment gap (between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the gap)

Determination of species

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

\u3cem\u3eFerns\u3c/em\u3e by Kaneko Mitsuharu

Translated from Japanese by Doug Slaymake

Pregnant Violence in Post-3.11 Fiction

This essay explores the violence and the threat of violence associated with pregnancy in Japanese fiction after the triple disasters—the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown—of March 11, 2011. There is hardly a female character in this fiction that is not confronted with questions about pregnancy and childbirth. The queries are surely motivated by genuine concern about the humans involved, but they are just as often about control, about a woman’s body as a public item, about responsibility to the child, and then to society at large. Childbearing in a disaster zone is profoundly anxiety-producing; but it is also worth examining how quickly childbirth, and then women’s bodies, become at times metaphor and at times synecdoche, for the trauma and fears of the entire society, in these works. In this article I consider Sono Shion’s Kibō no kuni, Kanehara Hitomi’s Motazaru mono, Taguchi Randi’s Zōn ni te, Kimura Yūsuke’s Seichi Cs, and Furukawa Hideo’s Uma tachi yo, sore demo muku de

A county-level perspective on housing affordability in Ireland. ESRI Research Notes 2019/4/2

The issue of housing affordability in Ireland has come to the fore in recent years as house prices have increased significantly following the recovery. In a recent survey, Corrigan et al. (2019a) find that 86.5 per cent of renters expressed a preference for homeownership. However, rising house prices have led to serious concerns about the ability of first time buyers (FTB) to enter the housing market. This group has been cited as one particular pressure point in recent assessments of market affordability (Housing Agency, 2017). Analysis published in the ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary (McQuinn et al., 2018) finds that house price growth has been uneven across the distribution, with cheaper properties growing at faster rates than more expensive properties. This is likely to further exacerbate the affordability concerns of first time buyers, who typically enter the housing market at lower house price levels than second and subsequent borrowers

Criteria to distinguish between periglacial, proglacial and paraglacial environments

Clarification of the differences between the terms periglacial, proglacial and paraglacial is based on consideration of their conventional definitions, and noting that the term “periglacial” is a function of process, “proglacial” is a function of location and “paraglacial” is a function of degree and mode of recovery from the disturbance of continental glaciation . Periglacial and proglacial environments are commonly viewed as being adjusted to contemporary process, though important questions have been raised about relict periglacial landscapes in this regard. Paraglacial environments are explicitly out of adjustment with contemporary process and retain in their configuration a glacial signature. All three concepts are seen to be essential to comprehensive understanding of glaciated environments. It is a nested set of concepts which overlap in the field but none of the terms is redundant. Criteria for differentiation of these cold environment descriptors are proposed

THE MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR FRESH FISH IN SOUTH WEST ENGLAND: MODELLING THE EFFECTS OF SUPPLY VARIATION

The distribution system in the fishing industry has attracted little attention from academics in comparison to the catching sector. This realisation came in the early 1980's with questions being raised about system efficiency and the identification of problems. A lack of understanding of the distribution system led to various calls for an investigation. This research builds on existing understanding by identifying the distribution system in Devon and Cornwall and develops a modelling framework with forecasting properties within which distribution system problems can be analysed. A review of the marketing and distribution literature reveals that system efficiency and the impacts of changes in external conditions are important areas for study. The literature also reveals that few attempts have been made to develop analytical and conceptual modelling frameworks that enable the study of these phenomena in existing distribution systems. Attempts that have been made suffer from conceptual and data problems. The research identities the major features of the fresh fish distribution system, especially the structural determinants including lack of standardisation and variability of supply. Studies of the system in the United Kingdom and overseas are found to be descriptive, concentrating upon trends and past problems. Few modelling approaches have been used or developed. The system in Devon and Cornwall is identified through interview techniques and presented in quantitative terms. From an identification of the system, it is determined that a model should focus on the port merchant sector and have the ability to explain and forecast the effects of supply variation. Econometric methods are used to develop a model with exogenous supply and seasonality characteristics which when combined with sample data on costs and pricing provides a method of analysis and forecasting. The research discusses the wide range of applications possible with the model developed.University of Exete