Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in China and India

Resource misallocation can lower aggregate total factor productivity (TFP).We use microdata on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India versus the United States. We measure sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly defined industries in China and India compared with the United States. When capital and labor are hypothetically reallocated to equalize marginal products to the extent observed in the United States, we calculate manufacturing TFP gains of 30%–50% in China and 40%–60% in India.India,China, Economy

Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India

Resource misallocation can lower aggregate total factor productivity (TFP). We use micro data on manufacturing establishments to quantify the potential extent of misallocation in China and India compared to the U.S. Compared to the U.S., we measure sizable gaps in marginal products of labor and capital across plants within narrowly-defined industries in China and India. When capital and labor are hypothetically reallocated to equalize marginal products to the extent observed in the U.S., we calculate manufacturing TFP gains of 30-50% in China and 40-60% in India.

Psychological Processes Mediate the Impact of Familial Risk, Social Circumstances and Life Events on Mental Health

<p>Results of a structural equation model testing the mediating effects of the psychological processes of response style and self-blame on the contribution of familial mental health history, relationship status, income and education, social inclusion and life events on mental health problems and well-being, with S-B χ² (3,199, N = 27,397) = 126,654·8, p<·001; RCFI = ·97; RMSEA = ·04 (·038–·039). The path diagram shows completely standardised robust parameter estimates which represent the relative contribution of each latent factor to the model. All coefficients are statistically significant, p<·001. Latent factors are represented by ovals. The double headed arrow between mental health problems and well-being represents the correlations between these latent constructs.</p

Relative Prices and Relative Prosperity

The positive correlation between PPP investment rates and PPP income levels across countries is one of the most robust findings of the empirical growth literature. We show that this relationship is almost entirely driven by differences in the price of investment relative to output across countries. When measured at domestic prices rather than at international prices, investment rates are little correlated with PPP incomes. We find that the high relative price of investment in poor countries is solely due to the low price of consumption goods in poor countries. Investment prices are no higher in poor countries than in rich countries. These facts suggest that the low PPP investment rates in poor countries are not due to low savings rates or to high tax or tariff rates on investment. Poor countries instead appear to be plagued by low efficiency in producing investment goods and in producing exportables to trade for machinery and equipment.

The Stable Equivalence and Cancellation Problems

Let $K$ be an arbitrary field of characteristic 0, and \Aff^n the $n$-dimensional affine space over $K$. A well-known cancellation problem asks, given two algebraic varieties V_1, V_2 \subseteq \Aff^n with isomorphic cylinders V_1 \times \Aff^1 and V_2 \times \Aff^1, whether $V_1$ and $V_2$ themselves are isomorphic. In this paper, we focus on a related problem: given two varieties with equivalent (under an automorphism of \Aff^{n+1}) cylinders V_1 \times \Aff^1 and V_2 \times \Aff^1, are $V_1$ and $V_2$ equivalent under an automorphism of \Aff^n? We call this stable equivalence problem. We show that the answer is positive for any two curves V_1, V_2 \subseteq \Aff^2. For an arbitrary $n \ge 2$, we consider a special, arguably the most important, case of both problems, where one of the varieties is a hyperplane. We show that a positive solution of the stable equivalence problem in this case implies a positive solution of the cancellation problem.Comment: 9 page

The regulation of the transferrin receptor by inducers of cellular differentiation and by antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides

Modulation of surface transferrin receptor (TfR) activity has been associated with leukemia cell differentiation and proliferation. To examine the mechanisms involved in regulating this event, surface receptor protein and mRNA levels were measured in HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells induced to differentiate along the myelocytic and monocytic pathways. Surface TfR down-regulation which occurs during granulocytic differentiation by dimethylsulfoxide, retinoic acid, or aclacinomycin A appears to be kinetically compatible with reduced biosynthesis resulting from reductions in the level of steady-state mRNA. In contrast, biosynthetic modulation does not appear to mediate the intial surface receptor down-regulation seen during 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced macrophagic differentiation. However, a reduction in levels of receptor message appears to contribute to the maintenance of diminished surface TfR activity in these 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-treated cells. The down-regulation of surface TfR, in contrast, is not an early event during monocytic differentiation by 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. A common feature of myelocytic and monocytic differentiating cells is the complete inhibition of cellular proliferation observed within 10 to 16 hours following a four-fold reduction in surface TfR. We conclude that the early decline in surface TfR levels precludes its regulation as a consequence of the decrease in proliferation, but rather implicates its role in the programmed cessation of growth which is requisite for the terminal differentiation of these cells.A series of phosphodiester and phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides were synthesized against the human TfR. The phosphorothioate analogues exhibited marked biological efficacy in culture, as assessed by inhibition of surface TfR content and HL-60 growth, whereas their unmodified phosphodiester counterparts were ineffective. Phosphorothioate oligonucleotides were more resistant to hydrolysis by serum and cellular nucleases, and were more readily taken up by cells than the phosphodiesters. A length effect was observed, with antisense 30-mers exhibiting greater TfR inhibitory activity than 17-mers. The degree of surface receptor inhibition observed, however, was not strictly sequence dependent. This suggested that the photphorothioate oligonucleotides may be biologically active in eukaryotic cells by processes other than classical antisense complementary binding to mRNA. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.

Implementing an approximation scheme for all terminal network reliability

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 50).by Ray P. Tai.M.Eng