Why are corrupt countries less successful in consolidating their budgets?

Following the financial crisis, many countries introduced fiscal stimulus packages making budget consolidations in the future rather challenging. Using a data set for 28 OECD countries spanning the period 1978-2007, we contribute to the literature on success probabilities of consolidation attempts by exploring the impact of corruption, and in particular the interplay of corruption and the choice of the policy instrument. We find that corruption significantly reduces the success rate. When controlling for the change in government expenditures, however, the impact of corruption is insignificant or at least becomes less pronounced. We therefore relate the choice of the fiscal instrument to corruption and find that corrupt countries rely significantly less on expenditure cuts during periods of consolidation attempts. We conclude that international organizations should be careful in observing what corrupt countries do when trying to consolidate their budgets. © 2011 Elsevier B.V

Origin authentication of distillers' dried grains and solubles (DDGS)--application and comparison of different analytical strategies.

6 Tablas.-- 1 FiguraIn the context of products from certain regions or countries being banned because of an identified or non-identified hazard, proof of geographical origin is essential with regard to feed and food safety issues. Usually, the product labeling of an affected feed lot shows origin, and the paper documentation shows traceability. Incorrect product labeling is common in embargo situations, however, and alternative analytical strategies for controlling feed authenticity are therefore needed. In this study, distillers' dried grains and solubles (DDGS) were chosen as the product on which to base a comparison of analytical strategies aimed at identifying the most appropriate one. Various analytical techniques were investigated for their ability to authenticate DDGS, including spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques combined with multivariate data analysis, as well as proven techniques for authenticating food, such as DNA analysis and stable isotope ratio analysis. An external validation procedure (called the system challenge) was used to analyze sample sets blind and to compare analytical techniques. All the techniques were adapted so as to be applicable to the DDGS matrix. They produced positive results in determining the botanical origin of DDGS (corn vs. wheat), and several of them were able to determine the geographical origin of the DDGS in the sample set. The maintenance and extension of the databanks generated in this study through the analysis of new authentic samples from a single location are essential in order to monitor developments and processing that could affect authentication.The research described in this paper was funded by the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007‐2013) under Grant Agreement 265702, QSAFFE project (www.qsaffe.eu). The information in the paper reflects the authors’ views; the EC is not liable for any use of the information contained herein. The authors wish to thank all those who provided samples, particularly the QSAFFE project partners, PROVIMI, THOMPSON, and CAU, as well as those who collected and dispatched samples within the partner network, particularly Rudi Krska (IFA-Tulln) and all the technicians who conducted the analyses. The authors also wish to thank PROVIMI for providing the DDGS NIR spectral databases and Eric Janssen (CRA-W) for the PCR assessment of the botanical origin of mixed samples

Origin authentication of distillers' dried grains and solubles (DDGS) - Application and comparison of different analytical strategies

In the context of products from certain regions or countries being banned because of an identified or non-identified hazard, proof of geographical origin is essential with regard to feed and food safety issues. Usually, the product labeling of an affected feed lot shows origin, and the paper documentation shows traceability. Incorrect product labeling is common in embargo situations, however, and alternative analytical strategies for controlling feed authenticity are therefore needed. In this study, distillers' dried grains and solubles (DDGS) were chosen as the product on which to base a comparison of analytical strategies aimed at identifying the most appropriate one. Various analytical techniques were investigated for their ability to authenticate DDGS, including spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques combined with multivariate data analysis, as well as proven techniques for authenticating food, such as DNA analysis and stable isotope ratio analysis. An external validation procedure (called the system challenge) was used to analyze sample sets blind and to compare analytical techniques. All the techniques were adapted so as to be applicable to the DDGS matrix. They produced positive results in determining the botanical origin of DDGS (corn vs. wheat), and several of them were able to determine the geographical origin of the DDGS in the sample set. The maintenance and extension of the databanks generated in this study through the analysis of new authentic samples from a single location are essential in order to monitor developments and processing that could affect authentication

Nonlinearities in Capital–Skill Complementarity

This paper uses a novel dataset to test the capital–skill complementarity hypothesis in a cross-section of countries. It is shown that for the full sample there exists evidence in favor of the hypothesis. When we arbitrarily split the full sample into OECD and non-OECD countries, we find no evidence in favor of the hypothesis for the OECD subsample, but strong evidence for the non-OECD subsample. When we use Hansen’s [Econometrica 68 (2000) P. 576] endogenous threshold methodology we find that initial literacy rates and initial per capita output are threshold variables that can cluster countries into three distinct regimes that obey different statistical models. In particular, the regime with moderate initial per capita income but low initial education exhibits substantially higher capital–skill complementarity than the regime with low income and low education and the regime with high education. This cross-country nonlinearity in capital–skill complementarity is consistent with the time-series nonlinearity found by Goldin and Katz [Quarterly Journal of Economics 113 (1998) 693] using U.S. manufacturing data, and promotes the view that the phenomenon maybe a transitory one. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2005capital–skill complementarity, nonlinearities, parameter heterogeneity, regimes,