Human Rights: The Effect of Neighbouring Countries

We examine the geo-political and international spatial aspects of human rights (HR), using a purpose designed data-set. Applying tools from the spatial economics literature, we analyse the impact on a country’s HR performance of geographical proximity to its neighbours. Unlike previous studies, our approach treats this as partly endogenous: one country’s HR performance will affect its neighbours through a variety of potential geographical spillover mechanisms. We start with simple descriptive accounts, using scatter plots, of the geographic history of HR performance. Using a relatively simple spatial weighting model approach we compare each country’s HR performance with what would be predicted by regression on a weighted average of its neighbours’ performance (i.e. weightings depending positively on country population , and negatively upon distance), using a cross sectional and panel dataset of one hundred and sixty countries. We regress measures of population size, distance between countries, the prevalence of war or ethnic conflict, as well as per capita incomes and distribution, to test the general hypothesis that there may be positive spillovers between neighbours’ human rights performance. This is then extended to derive measures of HR performance relative to both economic, social and spatial factors.Human rights, spatial econometrics

Industrial clusters and economic performance in Brazil

Industrial clusters, which are commonly targeted to receive financial support allocated to locally based development projects, are seen as an effective industrial policy tool for improving productivity and generating employment. Nevertheless, identifying clusters and assessing their economic performance is a challenge for policymakers. This paper aims to address this challenge by identifying the location of clusters based on neighbor relationships and specialization in Brazil and providing some insights on their effects on employment generation. The paper uses both Location Quotient and Local Indicator of Spatial Association to identify potential clusters in 27 industrial sectors in 5564 Brazilian municipalities. In addition, it uses annual municipal panel data for 2006-2009 to assess whether the presence of potential clusters is correlated with employment generation. The results show that clusters located in municipalities whose neighbors have similar industrial structures perform better than those that present industry specialization only

A comparative analysis of IDB approaches supporting SMEs: assessing results in the Brazilian manufacturing sector

We conducted an impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the main types of programs through which IDB has supported small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It does not evaluate Bank projects directly or compare executing agencies, models of interventions, or financial instruments, but rather examines the effectiveness of Bank-supported approaches implemented by Brazilian institutions. Focusing only on the manufacturing sector, the evaluation examines (i) how various SME interventions and various combinations of these interventions affect variables of interest such as employment, real wages, exports, and patent and trademark registration in Brazil; and (ii) to what extent the duration and sequencing of SME interventions influence their impact on these variables of interest. The overarching objective of this exercise is to provide insight for future strategic decisions about the targeting of Bank support to SMEs

The association between general practitioner participation in joint teleconsultations and rates of referral: a discrete choice experiment.

Background: Joint consultations - such as teleconsultations - provide opportunities for continuing education of general practitioners (GPs). It has been reported this form of interactive case-based learning may lead to fewer GP referrals, yet these studies have relied on expert opinion and simple frequencies, without accounting for other factors known to influence referrals. We use a survey-based discrete choice experiment of GPs' referral preferences to estimate how referral rates are associated with participation in joint teleconsultations, explicitly controlling for a number of potentially confounding variables. Methods: We distributed questionnaires at two meetings of the Portuguese Association of General Practice. GPs were presented with descriptions of patients with dermatological lesions and asked whether they would refer based on the waiting time, the distance to appointment, and pressure from patients for a referral. We analysed GPs' responses to multiple combinations of these factors, coupled with information on GP and practice characteristics, using a binary logit model. We estimated the probabilities of referral of different lesions using marginal effects. Results: Questionnaires were returned by 44 GPs, giving a total of 721 referral choices. The average referral rate for the 11 GPs (25%) who had participated in teleconsultations was 68.1% (range 53-88%), compared to 74.4% (range 47-100%) for the remaining physicians. Participation in teleconsultations was associated with reductions in the probabilities of referral of 17.6% for patients presenting with keratosis (p = 0.02), 42.3% for psoriasis (p <0.001), 8.4% for melanoma (p = 0.14), and 5.4% for naevus (p = 0.19). Conclusions: The results indicate that GP participation in teleconsultations is associated with overall reductions in referral rates and in variation across GPs, and that these effects are robust to the inclusion of other factors known to influence referrals. The reduction in range, coupled with different effects for different clinical presentations, may suggest an educational effect. However, more research is needed to establish whether there are causal relationships between participation in teleconsultations, continuing education, and referral rates. © 2015 Cravo Oliveira et al.; licensee BioMed Central

Lime requirements and downward movement of Ca and Mg.

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Phosphorus fertilizer placement and profitability.

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Lime and gypsum applications.

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Micronutrient fertilization on a typic acrorthox at Manaus, Brazil.

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Nutrient dynamics.

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