Job growth and finance : are some financial institutions better suited to early stages of development than others?

This paper combines firm-level data from 89 countries with updated country-level data on financial structure, and uses two estimation approaches. It finds that in low-income countries, labor growth is swifter in countries with a higher level of private credit/gross domestic product; the positive effect of bank credit is especially pronounced in industries that depend heavily on external finance; and banking development is positively associated with more physical and human capital investment. These findings are consistent with predictions from new structural economics. In high-income countries, labor growth rates are increasing in the level of stock market capitalization, which is also consistent with predictions from new structural economics, although the analysis is unable to provide evidence that the association is causal. It finds no evidence that small-scale firms in low-income countries benefit most from private credit market development. Rather, the labor growth rates of larger, capital-intensive firms increase more with the level of private credit market development, a finding consistent with the history-based political economy view that banking systems in low-income countries serve the interests of the elite, rather than providing broad-based access to financial services.Debt Markets,Banks&Banking Reform,Access to Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets

Information, incentives, and commitment : an empirical analysis of contracts between government and state enterprises

The authors analyze experience with written performance contracts between developing country governments and the managers of their state-owned enterprises. Such contracts have been a vogue since the mid-1980s, and substantial resources have been sunk into their design and enforcement, yet the few assessments to date show mixed results. Using a simple agency model, they identify how problems of weak incentives sthemming from information asymmetry, lack of government commitment, and lack of managerial commitment can lead to shirking. They apply the model to a sample of 12 contracts with monopoly enterprises in six developing countries (Ghana, India, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, and Senegal). All suffer from serious contracting problems. They find no pattern of improved performance that can be attributed to the contracts. Only three of the 12 case-study companies showed a turnaround in total factor productivity after contracts were introduced, six continued past trends, and three performed substantially worse under contracts than they had before. Labor productivity improved at a faster pace in four cases, and deteriorated in none, but the improvement predated the contract. Performance contracting assumes that government's objectives can be maximized, and performance improved, by setting targets that take into account the constraints placed on managers. For this to occur, the principals must be willing to explicitly state their objectives, assign to them priorities and weights, translate them into performance improvement targets, provide incentives to meet those targets (or monitor the agents without incurring significant costs), and credibly signal their commitment to the contract. These conditions failed to materialize. Why would governments adopt contracts to which they were notcommitted or that were politically unrealistic? Sometimes because it enabled themto get foreign assistance. How explain the managers'lack of commitment? Not surprisingly, managers with information advantages and bargaining power, and with no strong incentives or commitment from the government, used their advantages to manipulate the targets so as to ensure that their performance would be judged satisfactory. The authors outline the conditions under which performance contracts might succeed in improving performance.Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Health Economics&Finance,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Banks&Banking Reform,Knowledge Economy,Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Education for the Knowledge Economy

Reforming the urban water system in Santiago, Chile

In the late 1980s, Chile planned to privatize Santiago's sanitary works enterprise (EMOS) but instead reformed it under public ownership. It did so through a regulatory framework that mimicked the design of a concession with a private utility, setting tariffs that ensured at least a seven percent return on assets, creating a neutral regulator independent of ministry intervention, and giving EMOS the right to appeal the regulator's tariff decisions. This reform of Santiago's water system is often cited as a case of successful reform under public management. Comparing a comprehensive measure of welfare with a counterfactual example, the authors show surprisingly large gains from Santiago's reform, given the relatively good initial conditions. (The gains accrued largely to government and employees, but consumers benefited from improved service and coverage). Why did reform in Santiago improve water system performance, when similar reform attempts under public management in other countries failed? 1) Chile has a long tradition of private water rights, shaped by early recognition that water is a scarce and tradable private good. 2) The reformed regulatory framework was designed to attract private investors to the water system and to motivate them to operate efficiently and expand the system. 3) Chile's unique electoral institutions sustained this framework under state operation after democracy was restored. 4) Chile's strong bureaucratic norms and institutions (permitting little corruption), combined with Santiago's relatively low-cost water system, permitted prices that effectively increased quasi-rents for investing in the system while minimizing the risk of inefficiency or monopoly rents. The authors also address the question of why EMOS was reformed but not privatized, and what the costs of not privatizing were. The system was privatized in 1999, but the changes from privatization are likely to be less significant than those introduced in 1989-90.Decentralization,Water Conservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Water Supply and Systems,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Town Water Supply and Sanitation

Investigation into background levels of small organic samples at the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory

Recent progress in preparation/combustion of submilligram organic samples at our laboratories is presented. Routine methods had to be modified/refined to achieve acceptable and consistent procedural blanks for organic samples smaller than 1000 g C. A description of the process leading to a modified combustion method for smaller organic samples is given in detail. In addition to analyzing different background materials, the influence of different chemical reagents on the overall radiocarbon background level was investigated, such as carbon contamination arising from copper oxide of different purities and from different suppliers. Using the modified combustion method, small amounts of background materials and known-age standard IAEA-C5 were individually combusted to CO2. Below 1000 g C, organic background levels follow an inverse mass dependency when combusted with the modified method, increasing from 0.13 0.05 pMC up to 1.20 0.04 pMC for 80 g C. Results for a given carbon mass were lower for combustion of etched Iceland spar calcite mineral, indicating that part of the observed background of bituminous coal was probably introduced by handling the material in atmosphere prior to combustion. Using the modified combustion method, the background-corrected activity of IAEA-C5 agreed to within 2 s of the consensus value of 23.05 pMC down to a sample mass of 55 g C

Progress in AMS target production in sub-milligram samples at the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory

. Recent progress in graphite target production for sub-milligram environmental samples in our facility is presented. We describe an optimized hydrolysis procedure now routinely used for the preparation of CO2 from inorganic samples, a new high-vacuum line dedicated to small sample processing (combining sample distillation and graphitization units), as well as a modified graphitization procedure. Although measurements of graphite targets as small as 35 µg C have been achieved, system background and measurement uncertainties increase significantly below 150 µg C. As target lifetime can become critically short for targets <150 µg C, the facility currently only processes inorganic samples down to 150 µg C. All radiocarbon measurements are made at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility. Sample processing and analysis are labor-intensive, taking approximately 3 times longer than samples ≥500 µg C. The technical details of the new system, graphitization yield, fractionation introduced during the process, and the system blank are discussed in detail

Firm Resources, Strategies, and Survival and Growth During COVID-19: Evidence From Two-Wave Global Surveys

This study examines how firms have made strategic choices and performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the organizational resources and strategic change literature, it uses World Bank Enterprise Surveys and the COVID-19 Follow-up Enterprise Surveys to examine how different endowments in organizational resources affected firm performance as measured by their survival status and sales growth, and how these resources interact with and affect strategic responses in the supply of inputs, response to changing demand, liquidity management, and innovation. The results indicate that larger firms, firms with foreign or state ownership, and subsidiary companies performed better during the pandemic by more effectively stabilizing supply, managing liquidity, and fostering new product development. Chief executive officers with longer tenure improved survival rates. Firms in richer countries have coped with the pandemic better and stringent government COVID-19 control policies have tended to hurt firms\u27 performance

Anaemia and depression before and after birth: A cohort study based on linked population data

Background: To investigate the rates of hospitalisation for anaemia and depression in women in the six-year period (3 years before and after birth). To compare hospital admissions for depression in women with and without anaemia. Methods: This is a population-based cohort study. Women's birth records (New South Wales (NSW) Perinatal Data Collection) were linked with NSW Admitted Patients Data Collection records between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2010, so that hospital admissions for mothers could be traced back for 3 years before birth and followed up 3 years after birth. Setting: NSW Australia. Subjects: all women who gave birth to their first child in NSW between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008. Results: Hospital admissions for both anaemia and depression were increased significantly in the year just before and after birth compared with the years before and after. Women with anaemia were more likely to be admitted to hospital for depression than those without (for principal diagnosis of depression, adjusted OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.25-2.11; for all diagnosis of depression, adjusted OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.70-2.38). Conclusions: Depression was associated with anaemia in women before and after birth. This finding highlight the important role of primary care providers in assessing for both anaemia and depressive symptomatology together, given the relationship between the two. Treating or preventing anaemia may help to prevent postnatal depression

Biphasic bisperoxovanadium administration and Schwann cell transplantation for repair after cervical contusive spinal cord injury

Schwann cells (SCs) hold promise for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair; however, there are limitations for its use as a lone treatment. We showed that acute inhibition of the phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) by bisperoxovanadium (bpV) was neuroprotective and enhanced function following cervical hemicontusion SCI. We hypothesized that combining acute bpV therapy and delayed SC engraftment would further improve neuroprotection and recovery after cervical SCI. Adult female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly sorted into 5 groups: sham, vehicle, bpV, SC transplantation, and bpV+SC transplantation. SCs were isolated from adult green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing SD rats (GFP-SCs). 200 μg/kg bpV(pic) was administered intraperitoneally (IP) twice daily for 7 days post-SCI in bpV-treated groups. GFP-SCs (1×10(6) in 5 μl medium) were transplanted into the lesion epicenter at the 8th day post-SCI. Forelimb function was tested for 10 weeks and histology was assessed. bpV alone significantly reduced lesion (by 40%, p<0.05) and cavitation (by 65%, p<0.05) and improved functional recovery (p<0.05) compared to injury alone. The combination promoted similar neuroprotection (p<0.01 vs. injury); however, GFP-SCs alone did not. Both SC-transplanted groups exhibited remarkable long-term SC survival, SMI-31(+) axon ingrowth and RECA-1(+) vasculature presence in the SC graft; however, bpV+SCs promoted an 89% greater axon-to-lesion ratio than SCs only. We concluded that bpV likely contributed largely to the neuroprotective and functional benefits while SCs facilitated considerable host-tissue interaction and modification. The combination of the two shows promise as an attractive strategy to enhance recovery after SCI

Hydrothermal Activity and Seismicity at Teahitia Seamount: Reactivation of the Society Islands Hotspot?

Along mid-ocean ridges, submarine venting has been found at all spreading rates and in every ocean basin. By contrast, intraplate hydrothermal activity has only been reported from five locations, worldwide. Here we extend the time series at one of those sites, Teahitia Seamount, which was first shown to be hydrothermally active in 1983 but had not been revisited since 1999. Previously, submersible investigations had led to the discovery of low-temperature (≤30°C) venting associated with the summit of Teahitia Seamount at ≤1500 m. In December 2013 we returned to the same site at the culmination of the US GEOTRACES Eastern South Tropical Pacific (GP16) transect and found evidence for ongoing venting in the form of a non-buoyant hydrothermal plume at a depth of 1400 m. Multi-beam mapping revealed the same composite volcano morphology described previously for Teahitia including four prominent cones. The plume overlying the summit showed distinct in situ optical backscatter and redox anomalies, coupled with high concentrations of total dissolvable Fe (≤186 nmol/L) and Mn (≤33 nmol/L) that are all diagnostic of venting at the underlying seafloor. Continuous seismic records from 1986-present reveal a ∼15 year period of quiescence at Teahitia, following the seismic crisis that first stimulated its submersible-led investigation. Since 2007, however, the frequency of seismicity at Teahitia, coupled with the low magnitude of those events, are suggestive of magmatic reactivation. Separately, distinct seismicity at the adjacent Rocard seamount has also been attributed to submarine extrusive volcanism in 2011 and in 2013. Theoretical modeling of the hydrothermal plume signals detected suggest a minimum heat flux of 10 MW at the summit of Teahitia. Those model simulations can only be sourced from an area of low-temperature venting such as that originally reported from Teahitia if the temperature of the fluids exiting the seabed has increased significantly, from ≤30°C to ∼70°C. These model seafloor temperatures and our direct plume observations are both consistent with reports from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii, ∼10 year following an episode of seafloor volcanism. We hypothesize that the Society Islands hotspot may be undergoing a similar episode of both magmatic and hydrothermal reactivation