Self-Serving Dictators and Economic Growth

A new line of theoretical and empirical literature emphasizes the pivotal role of fair institutions for growth.We present a model, a laboratory experiment, and a simple cross-country regression supporting this view.We model an economy with an unequal distribution of property rights, in which individuals can free-ride or cooperate.Experimentally we observe a dramatic drop in cooperation (and growth), when inequality is increased by a selfserving dictator.No such effect is observed when the inequality is increased by a fair procedure.Our regression analysis provides basic macroeconomic support for the adverse growth effect of the interaction between the degree and the genesis of inequality.We conclude that economies giving equal opportunities to all are not likely to suffer retarded growth due to inequality in the way economies with self-serving dictators will.economic growth;inequality;corruption;public goods

Inequality, redistribution and growth:Theory and evidence

From a macro-perspective, the thesis provides a political economic model that analyses the joint determination of inequality, corruption, taxation, education and economic growth in a dynamic environment. It demonstrates how redistributive taxation is affected by the distribution of wealth and limited by various kinds of incentive costs of taxation and the lobbying activity of high-income groups. This result confirms the proposition that in countries where the economy is governed by a high degree of corruption and inequality a lower tax/GDP ratio, lower development of human capital and thus, lower economic growth is observed.

Trauma Informed Practices for Oakland Unite Service Providers

Oakland, California - a home to almost 400,000 residents - is the top five most violent cities of the nation. There are lots of factors that greatly contribute to violence including: Poverty, housing/homelessness, unemployment, food insecurity, educational attainment, substance abuse. These factors feed to greater healthy disparities and increased trauma in low-income communities – specifically in east and west Oakland. Measure Y, now called Oakland Unite, is the current violence prevention effort that is set for reauthorization in November 2014. In order for these efforts to continue, Oakland Unite has started looking at comprehensive violence prevention initiatives that includes mental health and trauma informed practices as the primary focus. Recommendations for Oakland Unite include: technical assistances, training, staff support and leveraged funding for agencies to become a trauma informed organizations and continue this work for many years to come

Integrated effect of seeding rate, herbicide dosage and application timing on durum wheat (Triticum turgidum l. var durum) yield, yield components and wild oat (avena fatua l.) control in south eastern Ethiopia

Knowledge of optimal combinations of crop densities, herbicide dose and time of application could improve the effectiveness and net benefit of commonly used herbicides. A study was conducted at two locations in SARC on-station and farmer’s field, South Eastern Ethiopia for two years from 2007 to 2008. The experimental design was randomized complete block (RCB) design with split-plot arrangement. Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) seeding rates (recommended, 25% and 50% plus recommended rate) were arranged in the main plot. Four wild oat (Avena fatua) herbicide, Topik, doses (0, 25, 50 and 100 % of the recommended dose) and three timing of applications (14 DA, 32 DAE and 50 DAE) were used as sub-plot treatments. The treatments were compared to determine their effect on durum wheat yield, yield components wild oat densities and control efficacies. Durum wheat seeding rates significantly influenced grain and biomass yield, spike per unit area and kernel weight. Seeding rate of 225 kg ha-1 produced highest grain yield (3810.4 kg ha-1) while 150 kg ha-1 recorded the lowest. Mean wild oat density count before herbicide application timings varied over the two locations averaging 37 and 87 seedlings m-2. Increasing seed rate by 25 and 50% increased wild oat control efficacy by 16.9 and 21.5% respectively. Spraying the herbicide at later growth stages caused greater wild oat seedling density and reduced wheat yield at both locations. The highest efficacy (94.04%) was obtained in the second time of application (30 DAE) of 1 l lit ha-1. The highest reduction in population density was occurred in 100% herbicide rate. There was a general decline in wild oat density in the early application and as the herbicide dose increased, but the effect of seeding rate varied very slightly. In contrast to the wild oat control efficacy the highest grain yield ha-1 was obtained in the first application date (14 DAE). Durum wheat yield losses in the absence of herbicide application were increased by about 16%. Maximum yield (3870.73 kg ha-1) was obtained at 100% of the herbicide dose very closely followed by 50 and 25% of the recommended rate reducing durum wheat yield only by about 1.6 and 2% respectively. Durum wheat seeding rate, herbicide dosage and application timing had statistically no significant interaction effect. Key words: Durum wheat, Wild oat, Herbicide dose, Seeding rate, Application timing

Transport and Helfand moments in the Lennard-Jones fluid. I. Shear viscosity

We propose a new method, the Helfand-moment method, to compute the shear viscosity by equilibrium molecular dynamics in periodic systems. In this method, the shear viscosity is written as an Einstein-like relation in terms of the variance of the so-called Helfand moment. This quantity, is modified in order to satisfy systems with periodic boundary conditions usually considered in molecular dynamics. We calculate the shear viscosity in the Lennard-Jones fluid near the triple point thanks to this new technique. We show that the results of the Helfand-moment method are in excellent agreement with the results of the standard Green-Kubo method.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physic

Inequality, Redistribution and Growth

inequality;redistribution;economic growth;taxation;political economy;lobbying

Self-Serving Dictators and Economic Growth

A new line of theoretical and empirical literature emphasizes the pivotal role of fair institutions for growth.We present a model, a laboratory experiment, and a simple cross-country regression supporting this view.We model an economy with an unequal distribution of property rights, in which individuals can free-ride or cooperate.Experimentally we observe a dramatic drop in cooperation (and growth), when inequality is increased by a selfserving dictator.No such effect is observed when the inequality is increased by a fair procedure.Our regression analysis provides basic macroeconomic support for the adverse growth effect of the interaction between the degree and the genesis of inequality.We conclude that economies giving equal opportunities to all are not likely to suffer retarded growth due to inequality in the way economies with self-serving dictators will

Profile blunting and flow blockage in a yield stress fluid: A molecular dynamics study

The flow of a simple glass forming system (a 80:20 binary Lennard-Jones mixture) through a planar channel is studied via molecular dynamics simulations. The flow is driven by an external body force similar to gravity. Previous studies show that the model exhibits both a static [Varnik et al. J. Chem. Phys. 120, 2788 (2004)] and a dynamic [F. Varnik and O. Henrich Phys. Rev. B 73, 174209 (2006)] yield stress in the glassy phase. \blue{These observations are corroborated by the present work, where we investigate how the presence of a yield stress may affect the system behavior in a Poiseuille-type flow geometry.} In particular, we observe a blunted velocity profile across the channel: A relatively wide region in the channel center flows with a constant velocity (zero shear rate) followed by a non linear change of the shear rate as the walls are approached. The observed velocity gradients are compared to those obtained from the knowledge of the shear stress across the channel and the flow-curves (stress versus shear rate), the latter being determined in our previous simulations of homogeneous shear flow. Furthermore, using the value of the (dynamic) yield stress known from previous simulations, we estimate the threshold body force for a complete arrest of the flow. Indeed, a blockage is observed as the imposed force falls below this threshold value. Small but finite shear rates are observed at stresses above the dynamic but below the static yield stress. We discuss the possible role of the \blue{stick-slip like motion} for this observation.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure