Money and housing: evidence for the euro area and the US

This paper examines the relation between money and housing variables in the euro area and in the US. Our empirical model is based on a standard money demand relation which is augmented by housing market variables. In doing so, co-integrated money demand relationships can be established for both the euro area and the US. Furthermore, we find evidence for asset inflation channels, that is, liquidity fuels housing market developments. --money demand,asset inflation,housing,wealth

Money demand and macroeconomic uncertainty

In this study we construct a measure of macroeconomic uncertainty from several observable economic indicators for the euro area. Indicator variables are based on financial market data, such as medium-term returns, loss and volatility measures but also come from surveys that capture business and consumer sentiment. From these we estimate the path of underlying macroeconomic uncertainty using an unobserved components model. Employing cointegration analysis it is demonstrated that the extracted measures of uncertainty help to explain the increase in euro area M3 over the period 2001 to 2004. Similar evidence can be found for US monetary aggregates. --Money demand,Macroeconomic Uncertainty,Excess Liquidity

The determinants of recent developments in bank loans in France and Germany (in french).

Over the recent period, developments in bank loans to the private sector in the euro area have diverged significantly across countries. While France, like most euro area countries, has seen rapid growth in bank loans since 2004 mainly due to the sharp increase in housing loans, Germany has been characterized over the past four years by a persistent stagnation of bank lending as regards both credit to non-financial corporations and loans to households. The paper presents an empirical description of the main macroeconomic factors that may explain developments in loans and determine whether the trends currently observed in France and Germany are exceptional or not in the light of past experience in both countries. To this end, the analysis relies on the modelling of loan developments in real terms, with the main explanatory variables being real GDP growth, the investment-to-GDP ratio, the nominal interest rate and yield spreads between corporate and government bonds. The analysis of causality relationships – in the sense of Granger causality – between these explanatory variables and loan-related variables supports the assumption that in the French case, the growth rate of bank loans is an endogenous variable, which does not appear to structurally affect real activity. In other words, credit developments appear to hinge much more on real economic activity than vice versa. Conversely, in the German case, results suggest that causality could run in both directions, as credit growth seems to be simultaneously cause and consequence of real economic variables. Moreover, the study of impulse response functions following shocks simulated on loans shows that the assumption of a possible one-off influence of credit supply on real activity cannot be ruled out, neither in France nor in Germany.

Access to and use of marine genetic resources : understanding the legal framework

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the PharmaSea project funded by the EU Seventh Framework Programme, and reects only the authors' views. Contract number 312184. www.pharma-sea.eu.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Payments for Ecosystem Services: Legal and Institutional Frameworks

Analysis and engagement with partners working on ecosystem services transactions, policies and laws over the past 10 years have demonstrated a clear need to better understand the legal and institutional frameworks that have the potential to promote or hinder the development of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes, as well as the complex legal considerations that affect ecosystem services projects. In response, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre and The Katoomba Group have worked on a joint initiative to analyze the legal and institutional frameworks of water-related PES schemes and projects in four Andean countries: South America (Northeastern)-Brazil; Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. It has resulted in this report. Country-based analysts with experience in ecosystem services transactions have developed country and project assessments to define existing and recommend future regulatory and institutional frameworks that enable equitable and long-lasting ecosystem services transactions. Partners from North America (Central America)-Costa Rica; North America-Mexico; Ecuador and the North America-United States provided feedback on the assessments. The country assessments yielded lessons which were used to develop a set of recommendations on legal frameworks, property rights, enabling institutions, PES contracts, and governance issues supporting the future development of PES schemes

Conservation with Justice: A Rights-Based Approach

This article suggests a rights-based approach (RBA) to conservation of environmental resources. The article points out benefits of an RBA model, such as identifying the causes of environmental impacts on citizens’ human rights and bettering the regulation of environmental resources. However, the RBA also poses challenges, such as resistance from non-State actors, comparing the importance of different rights, and a commitment of many resources. The article next identifies substantive and procedural rights provided by international law. An RBA implicates, among others, the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to work, the rights to religion and culture, the right to property, the right to privacy and home life and the rights to information and participation. The article concludes by providing detailed guidance about how to implement an RBA, and the main steps include analyzing the situation, disseminating information, guaranteeing participation, making a decision about the activity, monitoring and evaluating the RBA, and ensuring the rights by enforcement of the commitments undertaken by various actors

El software de programación “Scratch”, para desarrollar el pensamiento creativo en estudiantes del 5to grado de secundaria de la I.E. “Melchorita Saravia” - Grocio Prado - 2017

El desarrollo de la presente tesis tiene como propósito conocer la influencia del Software de Programación SCRATCH en el pensamiento creativo de los estudiantes del quinto grado “C” del nivel secundario de la institución educativa “Melchorita Saravia” de Grocio Prado – 2017. La metodología aplicada es de la forma siguiente: El tipo de estudio fue pre-experimental, con diseño de pre prueba y pos prueba con un solo grupo. La muestra universal estuvo constituida por un total de 26 estudiantes del 5° “C”. Para la recopilación de los datos se aplicó el cuestionario constituido por 20 ítems. Los datos organizados y sistematizados fueron sometidos a un análisis. Para conocer la frecuencia y los porcentajes de los datos se recurrió al método tabular, gráfico y a la interpretación de los datos a través de la estadística descriptiva. Para la Prueba de hipótesis se utilizó la T de Student en el programa Excel y el Programa estadístico Informático SPPS Los datos obtenidos han permitido establecer que el valor que alcanza “T” Student experimental (32,175) es superior al valor tabular (1,7081), con un nivel de confianza de 95%, y determina que la aplicación del software de programación SCRATCH mejora el pensamiento creativo de los estudiantes del quinto grado “C” de la Institución Educativa “Melchorita Saravia” afirmando que la hipótesis general ha sido aceptada, existen correlaciones significativas, entre la aplicación del Software de Programación SCRATCH y el desarrollo del pensamiento creativo, queda demostrado estadísticamente la validez de la hipótesis

Conservation with Justice: A Rights-Based Approach

This article suggests a rights-based approach (RBA) to conservation of environmental resources. The article points out benefits of an RBA model, such as identifying the causes of environmental impacts on citizens’ human rights and bettering the regulation of environmental resources. However, the RBA also poses challenges, such as resistance from non-State actors, comparing the importance of different rights, and a commitment of many resources. The article next identifies substantive and procedural rights provided by international law. An RBA implicates, among others, the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to work, the rights to religion and culture, the right to property, the right to privacy and home life and the rights to information and participation. The article concludes by providing detailed guidance about how to implement an RBA, and the main steps include analyzing the situation, disseminating information, guaranteeing participation, making a decision about the activity, monitoring and evaluating the RBA, and ensuring the rights by enforcement of the commitments undertaken by various actors

The AMH genotype (rs10407022 T>G) is associated with circulating AMH levels in boys, but not in girls

Objective: Fetal anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is responsible for normal male sexual differentiation, and circulating AMH is used as a marker of testicular tissue in newborns with disorders of sex development. Little is known about the mechanism of action in postnatal life. A recent genome wide association study (GWAS) reported genetic variation of AMH affecting AMH levels in young men. This study investigated the effect of genetic variation of AMH and AMH type II receptor (AMHR2) (AMHrs10407022 T>G and AMHR2rs11170547 C>T) on circulating reproductive hormone levels and pubertal onset in boys and girls. Design and methods: This study is a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional study in healthy Danish boys and girls from the general population. We included 658 boys aged 5.8–19.8 years and 320 girls aged 5.6–16.5 years. The main outcome measures were genotyping of AMH and AMHR2, pubertal staging and serum levels of reproductive hormones. Results: AMHrs10407022T>G was associated with higher serum levels of AMH in prepubertal boys (TT: 575 pmol/L vs TG: 633 pmol/L vs GG: 837 pmol/L, P = 0.002) and adolescents (TT: 44 pmol/L vs TG: 58 pmol/L vs GG: 79 pmol/L, P < 0.001). Adolescent boys carrying the genetic variation also had lower levels of LH (TT: 3.0 IU/L vs TG: 2.8 IU/L vs GG: 1.8 IU/L, P = 0.012). Hormone levels in girls and pubertal onset in either sex did not seem to be profoundly affected by the genotypes. Conclusion: Our findings support recent GWAS results in young adults and expand our understanding of genetic variation affecting AMH levels even in boys prior to the pubertal decline of circulating AMH

Towards an empirical analysis of justice in ecosystem governance

The 2010 Nagoya Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity and recent changes in the policies of major international conservation organizations highlight current interest in revisiting the moral case for conservation. Concerns with equity and human rights challenge well-established notions of justice centered on human responsibility toward nature, the common good or the rights of future generations. This review introduces an empirical approach to the analysis of justice and shows how conservation scientists can apply it to ecosystem services-based governance (or in short, ecosystem governance). It identifies dominant notions of justice and points out their compatibility with utilitarian theories of justice. It then discusses the limited appropriateness of these notions in many contexts in which conservation takes place in the Global South and explores how technical components of ecosystem governance influence the realization of the notions in practice. The review highlights the need for conservation scientists and managers to analyze the justice of ecosystem governance in addition to their effectiveness and efficiency. Justice offers a more encompassing perspective than equity for the empirical analysis of conservation governance