A generic tool to generate a lexicon for NLP from Lexicon-Grammar tables

Lexicon-Grammar tables constitute a large-coverage syntactic lexicon but they cannot be directly used in Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications because they sometimes rely on implicit information. In this paper, we introduce LGExtract, a generic tool for generating a syntactic lexicon for NLP from the Lexicon-Grammar tables. It is based on a global table that contains undefined information and on a unique extraction script including all operations to be performed for all tables. We also present an experiment that has been conducted to generate a new lexicon of French verbs and predicative nouns

Businesswomen in Germany and Their Performance by Ethnicity: It Pays to Be Self-Employed

In this paper I assert that the entrepreneurial spirit can also exist in salaried jobs. I study the determinants of wages and the labor market success of two kinds of entrepreneurial women in Germany - self-employed and salaried businesswomen - and investigate whether ethnicity is important in these challenging jobs. Employing data from the German Socioeconomic Panel I estimate selection adjusted wage regressions for both types of businesswomen by country of origin. I find that self-employment offers businesswomen a lucrative avenue with higher monetary rewards, albeit for a shorter spell. If salaried businesswomen went into self-employment, they would receive considerably higher wages and for at least 30 years. However, if self-employed businesswomen went into salaried jobs, their wages would decline, suggesting that it is the self-employment sector that offers better opportunities and monetary success. Self-employed women in Germany fare well and most importantly, success does not depend on their ethnicity.Businesswomen, Entrepreneurship, Self-employment, Economics of Minorities, Immigrants wage differentials

CLIMATE CHANGE AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN SAHEL: CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT CONTRIBUTION TO POVERTY REDUCTION

Nowadays climate change event and poor population vulnerability become more severe and natural resources scarcity intensity increased. In order to mitigate climate change negative effects adaptive policies such as poverty reduction Strategy and National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) as effective’s responsive strategies. There are also farmers traditional adaptation methods which are consider as local mainstreaming climate change adaptation framework. This paper has explore subjective qualitative evaluation of climate change risk management framework strategic and link its with poverty reduction strategy in the Sahel .Sahel is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world with lower HDI(0.2%) and have the highest poverty rate (over 45% of the people live below the poverty line). The study was focused on 9 Sahel countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina-Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Soudan and Eritrea) and their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) by assessing criteria such as: a) the consideration of climate change scenarios and the vulnerabilities of the country; b) the analysis of poverty-climate links; and c) the climate change institutional framework of the country. However Soudan and Eritrea don’t have PRSP and Nigeria don’t have NAPA. The results show that most Sahel countries does not included Climate change 2 effect in their PRSP (except Burkina-Faso) but have a better performance with NAPA framework elaboration. Burkina-Faso is Climate risk management model country in the region but policies have failed because of farmer’s difficult conditions to get access to credit and lack of good technical supports. NAPA and PRSP objectives did not achieved because majority of poor were excluded, inefficiency in domestic accounting systems and inefficient monitoring. Furthermore, donors funding problems, natural disasters such as floods or droughts; biophysical modeling and simulation insufficient data, lack of skilled labor are others reason. To conclude, it is illustrates that mainstreaming natural hazards into PRSP and the development of NAPA are a step forward into establishment of institutional process to incorporate climate change into national policies. The World Bank and the UNFCCC should coordinate efforts to support developing countries in their efforts to incorporate adaptation to climate change in PRSP. Country need to strength the coordination, networks and information flows between ministries, at different levels of government and civil society to have more efficient integration of climate change variables into poverty reduction and development strategies. Country's should also have sustainable funding and should not rely only on donor. Policies should target more vulnerable peoples, need good policies implementation and good monitoring.Sahel, Climate Change, Poverty Reduction, Adaptation Strategy., Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Sizing It Up: Labor Migration Lessons of the EU Enlargement to 27

While economists were pointing out the advantages of the EU enlargement, politicians and policymakers were raising grave concerns about the significant political and economic differences between the newcomer states (EU12) and the "old Europe" of EU15. The major point of apprehension was related to the labor markets. Visceral fear rendered more than one in two Europeans to believe that the EU enlargement contributed to job losses in their own country. Some EU15 member states opted for transitional arrangements and did not allow labor mobility from the EU12. This chapter reviews the achievements of the first five years of the EU27 and assesses and evaluates the effectiveness of the enforced policies while it identifies winner and losers. Overall, the EU enlargement did not produce any negative effects or disruptions in the labor markets of the Member States. All three agents, the migrants, the receiving countries, and the sending countries gained from labor mobility. The EU15 countries with closed door policy lost in high-skilled labor and their labor markets experienced a delayed adjustment that overlapped with the global crisis and exacerbated negativity. As self-employed labor was not under the same mobility Act, the self-employed were able to move to the country they were needed and open successful businesses. The global crisis tainted the rosy results of the enlargement and left the EU27 vulnerable to shocks.labor mobility, labor policy, EU enlargement, wages, international migration, remittances

Empirical Analysis of Agricultural Productivity: Growth in Benin and Mainly Factors which Influence Growth

This study examined changes in agricultural productivity at Benin in the context of diverse institutional arrangements using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).A time series data which consists of information on agricultural production and means of production were obtained from World Research Institute database, INSAE and rainfall data from AMMA database. The information was for a 43-year period (1961-2003); DEA method was used to measure Malquist index of total factor productivity to evaluate technical change efficiency and technological efficiency change across the country’s 12 provinces. A decomposition of TFP measures revealed whether the performance of factors productivity is due to technological change or technical efficiency change over the reference period. The study further examined the effect of land quality, agriculture labor, and selected governance indicators such as government effectiveness and openness on productivity growth. All the variables included in the model are significant effect on the TPF and the country agriculture growth. They equally performed well in terms of expected relationship with TFP except land quality index which unexpectedly had an inverse relationship with TFP.Data Envelopment Analysis, Efficiency, Productivity, Benin, Agribusiness, N57, C01, C23,

Businesswomen in Germany and Their Performance by Ethnicity: It Pays to Be Self-Employed

In this paper I assert that the entrepreneurial spirit can also exist in salaried jobs. I study the determinants of wages and the labor market success of two kinds of entrepreneurial women in Germany – self-employed and salaried businesswomen – and investigate whether ethnicity is important in these challenging jobs. Employing data from the German Socioeconomic Panel I estimate selection adjusted wage regressions for both types of businesswomen by country of origin. I find that self-employment offers businesswomen a lucrative avenue with higher monetary rewards, albeit for a shorter spell. If salaried businesswomen went into self-employment, they would receive considerably higher wages and for at least 30 years. However, if self-employed businesswomen went into salaried jobs, their wages would decline, suggesting that it is the self-employment sector that offers better opportunities and monetary success. Self-employed women in Germany fare well and most importantly, success does not depend on their ethnicity.businesswomen, entrepreneurship, self-employment, economics of minorities, immigrants wage differentials

The Gender Gap Reloaded: Are School Characteristics Linked to Labor Market Performance?

This study examines the wage gender gap of young adults in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000 in the US. Using quantile regression we estimate the gender gap across the entire wage distribution. We also study the importance of high school characteristics in predicting future labor market performance. We conduct analyses for three major racial/ethnic groups in the US: Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, employing data from two rich longitudinal studies: NLS and NELS. Our results indicate that while some school characteristics are positive and significant predictors of future wages for Whites, they are less so for the two minority groups. We find significant wage gender disparities favoring men across all three surveys in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000. The wage gender gap is more pronounced in higher paid jobs (90th quantile) for all groups, indicating the presence of a persistent and alarming "glass ceiling."Wages, gender differences, school effects, quantile regression

The comparison of incomes of self-employed and salaried workers among German Nationals and immigrants

This paper attempts to compare the economic success of immigrants and natives in Germany. Employing data from German Socioeconomic Panel, the paper investigates the factors affecting self-employment as well as compares the income of self-employed and employed workers among four groups – West Germans, East Germans, guest workers and ethnic immigrants. Increasing age, higher education and self-employed parents increases probability of an individual’s self-employment, with the last two applying only to West Germans. The self-employed earn more than their salaried counterparts, except for East Germans. Despite self-employed immigrants having the highest earnings of all groups, self-employment rates remain low among immigrants.Entrepreneurship,self-employment,Occupational Choice,immigrants,Wage Differentials

Where Do the Brainy Italians Go?

This paper studies the major determinants that affect the country choice of the talented Italian scientists and researchers who have at least a bachelor's from Italy and live abroad. There are three alternative country choices: the US/Canada, the UK, and other EU countries. On average, the brainy Italians exhibit a higher predicted probability to go to the US. Ceteris paribus, both push and pull factors are important. While having a Ph.D. from outside Italy predicts the UK choice, having extra working experience from outside Italy predicts migration to other EU countries. Those who stay abroad temporarily for two to four years are definitely more likely to go to the UK. Specialization in the fields of humanities, social sciences, and health are strong determinants of migration to the UK. For the move to the US, while the humanities area is a significant deterrent, health is a positive deciding factor. Lack of funds in Italy constitutes a significant push to the US.Brain drain, skilled migration, Italy, push-pull factors