Does the World Bank have a micro-macro paradox or do the data deceive?

In 1986, Mosely first drew attention to an apparent paradox in the performance of international aid. Microeconomic data from evaluations of aid financed projects showed a majority of projects were successful, whereas macroeconomic data from regressions of aid on growth were discouraging. The paradox, if real, implied that the aggregate impact of aid was less the sum of its parts. Mosely asked whether the paradox was real of whether the “data deceived.” This question, which has come to be equated with the issue of whether aid works, has been the subject of numerous cross-country regressions to test whether aid has an impact on growth (or related variables). But the regression results have been inconclusive, and the methodology has come under attack. Evidence from case studies offers an alternative test. One prominent case study approach is that of Picciotto (2009), which claims to find strong evidence for the existence of the paradox, namely the fact that one third of World Bank country assistance program evaluations show success at the project (micro) level but not at the country (macro) level. This paper re-evaluates Piciotto’s claimed findings.aid, aid effectiveness, world bank

Travelogue pour un Marco Polo [My Travels with Claude?] : A journey through the composer’s life and work in 10 days

In his article, Stephen Rogers puts forward an interpretation of the work of Claude Vivier and its particular relationship(s) with travel. It is a reflective work which aims less at analysis than description. Those familiar with the techniques and gestures which Vivier used to create his music will recognize some of the same techniques applied in Rogers’ paper to the written rather than the sonic world.Dans son article, Stephen Rogers propose une interprétation du travail de Claude Vivier et de son rapport particulier au thème du voyage. C’est un travail de réflexion qui s’attache davantage à la description, plutôt qu’à l’analyse. Les lecteurs pour qui les techniques utilisées par Vivier pour créer sa musique sont familières retrouveront certaines d’entre elles à l’oeuvre dans l’article de Rogers, mais appliquées à l’écrit, plutôt qu’au sonore

The New Zealand Insurance and Savings Ombudsman Scheme

In January 1995, the New Zealand insurance industry embarked on a programme of self-regulation. At the centre of this programme is the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman Scheme ('ISO Scheme'), which is intended to provide an independent dispute resolution service for non-commercial insureds. This article discusses the ISO Scheme's development process, how the ISO Scheme measures up, and whether ISO Scheme's complaints handling be rated. The author concludes that, while the ISO Scheme appears to be a step in the right direction, there are questions to be resolved about accessibility, the adequacy of public information, and the degree of actual independence achieved by the Scheme. The real benefit to the insurance and savings industry must come from encouraging use of the ISO Scheme by complainants, and for this to happen the Scheme will have to establish a reputation for independence, flexibility and effectiveness

Glycosylation of immunoglobulin G in cerebrospinal fluid and multiple sclerosis.

The glycosylation features of CSF oligoclonal IgG, and possible changes in N-glycans of CSF IgG in multiple sclerosis (MS) were studied. After isoelectric focusing (IEF) of CSF, bands were detected using biotinylated lectins and avidin-horseradish peroxidase. Concanavalin A (Con A) binding showed that mannose exists throughout the pH range of oligoclonal IgG. Sambucus nigra antigen (SNA) bound acidic and neutral oligoclonal IgG only, suggesting that alkaline oligoclonal IgG is deficient in sialic acid. Deglycosylation of CSF IgG using peptide-N-glycosidase F suggested that the range of isoelectric points of oligoclonal IgG bands is not due to carbohydrate differences alone. Lectin immunoassays, whereby protein A purified IgG was captured by anti-IgG coated tubes and probed using a range of biotinylated lectins, were used to compare 13 CSF samples from MS patients with 14 control samples. With Con A binding, a significantly higher mean and larger variance was found for the MS group (t-test: P<0.05). Con A binding correlated with CSF [IgG]/[total protein]% (r=0.390; P=0.0443). Using HPLC to separate oligosaccharides released from IgG by hydrazinolysis and labelled with 2-aminobenzamide, glycans were determined in 7 CSF samples with oligoclonal IgG, and 6 CSF samples without. The ratio of the peak for biantennary fucosylated agalactosyl glycans to total monogalactosylated glycan peaks was lower for the oligoclonal IgG samples (t-test: P=0.0141). The overall results suggested that glycosylation changes occur in CSF IgG in MS, and that oligoclonal IgG contains less sialic acid but more galactose than polyclonal IgG

Aid quality and donor rankings

This paper offers new measures of aid quality covering 38 bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as new insights about the robustness and usefulness of such measures. The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the follow-up 2008 Accra Agenda for Action have focused attention on common donor practices that reduce the development impact of aid. Using 18 underlying indicators that capture these practices -- derived from the OECD-DAC's Survey for Monitoring the Paris Declaration, the new AidData database, and the DAC aid tables -- the authors construct an overall aid quality index and four coherently defined sub-indexes on aid selectivity, alignment, harmonization, and specialization. Compared with earlier indicators used in donor rankings, this indicator set is more comprehensive and representative of the range of donor practices addressed in the Paris Declaration, improving the validity, reliability, and robustness of rankings. One of the innovations is to increase the validity of the aid quality indicators by adjusting for recipient characteristics, donor aid volumes, and other factors. Despite these improvements in data and methodology, the authors caution against overinterpretation on overall indexes such as these. Alternative plausible assumptions regarding weights or the inclusion of additional indicators can still produce marked shifts in the ranking of some donors, so that small differences in overall rankings are not meaningful. Moreover, because the performance of some donors varies considerably across the four sub-indexes, these sub-indexes may be more useful than the overall index in identifying donors’ relative strengths and weaknesses.Gender and Health,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Economic Adjustment and Lending,Disability,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis