Domestic Support Policies for Agriculture in Ecuador and the U.S.-Andean Countries Free Trade Agreement: An Applied General Equilibrium Assessment

For the past two years the United States and Colombia, Peru and Ecuador have being negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). One of the main concerns of Ecuador's farmers is the asymmetry that exists between U.S. and Ecuador agricultural sectors. U.S. agriculture is highly subsidized in products such as rice, corn, and soybeans, products that represent an important export and subsistence products for Ecuadorian farmers. To reduce any negative effect that the FTA may have, Ecuador's government is studying land-based payments for rice, corn, soybeans and livestock producers. This program would offer direct initial support to farmers' income after the FTA enters in full effect. The objectives of this paper were twofold. First, estimate the effects on the Ecuadorian economy, and especially on Ecuador's agriculture of the FTA. And second, study the viability of the domestic support program for agriculture proposed by the Ecuadorian government, as well as some alternative domestic support policies. We use a modified version of the GTAP global general equilibrium model specific for agriculture support, called GTAP-AGR. The results show that trade liberalization will negatively affect all agricultural sectors in Ecuador, except for the exporting sectors (bananas, coffee, cocoa, and flowers). Government subsidies are estimated to disproportionally help rice and soybeans producers, but they will not be enough for corn and livestock producers. We conclude that government subsidies should be extended to other sector such as sugar cane and cotton.International Relations/Trade,

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Ecuador

Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18,

Poverty impacts of increased openness and fiscal policies in a dollarized economy: a CGE-micro approach for Ecuador

We quantify the effects on poverty and income distribution in Ecuador of bilateral tradeliberalization with the US and a budget-neutral value added tax increase which seeks to compensatetariff revenue losses. We stress the study of fiscal policies that the government couldtap in order to compensate for tariff revenue loss. This is a very important issue for Ecuadorbecause this country adopted the US dollar as its currency in 2000, forgiving the use of importantpolicy instruments. To study these issues we combine a reduced-form micro householdincome and occupational choice model (using 2005/6 data from the Ecuadorian LSMS) with astandard single-country computable general equilibrium model (employing a 2004 SAM). Wefollow a sequential approach that simulates the full distributional impact of trade and tax policies.We find that the impact of these policy changes on extreme poverty and income distributionis small but positive.

Fiscal Policies and Increased Trade Openness: Poverty Impacts in Ecuador

This research quantifies the effects on poverty in Ecuador of bilateral trade liberalization with the U.S. and fiscal changes (value added tax and direct taxes) which seek to compensate tariff revenue losses, so that the government deficit remains constant. This is a very important issue for Ecuador because it adopted the U.S. dollar as its currency in 2000, forgoting the use of monetary and exchange rate policy instruments. This paper highlights labor market effects and fiscal policies as the main mechanisms through which trade impacts poverty. The paper combines a reduced-form micro household income and occupational choice model (using the 2005/6 Ecuadorian household survey) with a standard single-country computable general equilibrium model (employing a 2004 Social Accounting Matrix). A sequential approach that simulates the full income and distributional impact of trade and tax policies is followed. The impact of these policy changes on the economy is small. Indigence and income distribution effects are small but positive. There are mixed results on poverty. The best poverty reduction outcomes are attained when only direct taxes are used for making up tariff revenue losses and the worst when a flat VAT rate is employed, including the elimination of current VAT exemptions (mostly for agricultural goods). A key contribution of this research is to illustrate the significance for poverty of policy choices available to the government.Poverty, free trade agreement, fiscal policy, CGE, micro simulation

The Role and Influence of Food on Migratory Patterns and Othering Behaviours

Using food as the common link, the relationship between migration and attitudes towards “the Other” is examined across space and time. Often, everyday practices are key to understanding the human condition. This paper illuminates how deeply embedded Western exceptionalism is in multicultural exchanges. From Europe to the Middle East to North America, food is integral to shaping worldviews

Mechanisms that Regulate the Termination of Myosin V Mediated Transport

A major question in cell biology is, how are materials, such as organelles, transported within a cell? The mis-localization of organelles underlies diseases in the skin, gut, and brain. Thus, the delivery of organelles to their proper destination is important for cellular function. Molecular motor proteins are one way by which cargoes are transported to their destination within the cell. Yet, little is known about how cargo transport is regulated. Specifically, it is largely unknown how motors release cargo at the correct destination. In this thesis, I explore mechanisms that regulate how a myosin V motor transports organelles in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These studies focus on the vacuole, an organelle similar to mammalian lysosomes, which is transported into the daughter bud by myosin V during budding/cell division. Myosin V-based transport requires that cargo-specific adaptor proteins physically link the motor to the cargo. Early in the cell cycle, the vacuole-specific adaptor, Vac17, bridges a myosin V motor, Myo2, to the vacuole. Both the attachment and the detachment of the vacuole to/from Myo2 is highly controlled. Release of Myo2 from the vacuole is mediated through Vac17. Vac17 is regulated by post-translational modifications. Dma1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, ubiquitylates Vac17, which targets it for degradation. Interestingly, the bud cortex is a spatial landmark that signals the successful delivery of the vacuole to the bud. Upon arrival at the bud cortex, Vac17 is phosphorylated by a p21-activated kinase (PAK), Cla4. Cla4-dependent phosphorylation is required for the ubiquitylation and subsequent degradation of Vac17. These studies reveal a critical step in the spatial regulation of myosin V–dependent organelle transport. In addition to ubiquitylation, a second pathway is required to release the vacuole from Myo2. A vacuole-localized Casein Kinase I, Yck3, along with the homotypic fusion and protein-sorting (HOPS) subunit, Vps41, regulate the phosphorylation of Vac17 in its Myo2 binding region. Yck3 and Vps41-dependent phosphorylation results in the dissociation of ubiquitylated Vac17 from the motor-adaptor complex. Moreover, ubiquitylation of Vac17 can occur independent of Yck3 and Vps41. Conversely, Yck3 and Vps41 -dependent phosphorylation can occur without ubiquitylation. However, both signals must be present for the vacuole to be released from Myo2 and for Vac17 to be degraded. Thus, the termination of cargo transport is tightly regulated and likely critical to cellular health and function. Overall, these studies reveal some of the mechanisms required to release cargo from their motors at the right place and time. Many of the players are conserved in mammalian cells. Thus, it is tempting to speculate that these mechanisms are conserved for other yeast myosin V cargoes, as well as conserved in mammalian cells. Further work based on these findings has the promise to provide greater insight into motor-based cargo transport, how protein complexes are dissociated, and how proteins are regulated and degraded in coordination with cellular events.PHDCellular & Molecular BiologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162901/1/sawo_1.pd

The development of a management competency model and a development centre

In 1999, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has developed a Hong Kong focused Management Competency Model and a Development Centre which aimed to improve the organisation’s capability to develop managers for general management roles. The project began with the development of the Management Competency Model which formed the foundation of the Development Centre. The research process included surveys and focus group meetings. The Management Competency Model comprised 31 competencies grouped under 8 clusters. The assessment tools adequately measuring the competencies identified in the Model included personality questionnaire, 360 degree assessment exercise, group discussion on business case, role play, presentation, and interview

Weaving art and resistance in Myanmar

On show in the Atrium Gallery at LSE, ‘Not Another Protest Exhibition: Myanmar in Revolt & Feminist Art Practice’ features the work of Chuu Wai, a multidisciplinary artist from Shan State, Myanmar, now living in Paris. In this post, curator and LSE PhD Research Scholar Sara Wong discusses the historical and socio-political context of contemporary Myanmar through artwork that responds creatively to the historic role that women have played in resisting military rule. (See also ‘“Htamain” at the Front: Breaking Tradition, Resisting the Coup in Myanmar‘, published today.

Altered white matter structure in auditory tracts following early monocular enucleation

Purpose: Similar to early blindness, monocular enucleation (the removal of one eye) early in life results in crossmodal behavioral and morphological adaptations. Previously it has been shown that partial visual deprivation from early monocular enucleation results in structural white matter changes throughout the visual system (Wong et al., 2018). The current study investigated structural white matter of the auditory system in adults who have undergone early monocular enucleation compared to binocular control participants. Methods: We reconstructed four auditory and audiovisual tracts of interest using probabilistic tractography and compared microstructural properties of these tracts to binocularly intact controls using standard diffusion indices. Results: Although both groups demonstrated asymmetries in indices in intrahemispheric tracts, monocular enucleation participants showed asymmetries opposite to control participants in the auditory and A1-V1 tracts. Monocularenucleation participants also demonstrated significantly lower fractional anisotropy in the audiovisual projections contralateral to the enucleated eye relative to control participants. Conclusions: Partial vision loss from early monocular enucleation results in altered structuralYork University Librarie