Imports and growth in Africa

Broad comparisons show that growth is linked to imports, but country coomparisons over short periods show the link to be more flexible than fixed. In these stringent times, the big question for African countries is whether they can reduce their historically high import dependence? Or put differently, can they resume growth without substantially increasing imports? What emerges from this analysis is that some policy changes and structural adjsutments in Africa can change traditional import intensities. But if African countries are to achieve faster sustained growth, imports will need to increase substantially from the recently depressed levels. Also, the countries will need to use those imports far more efficiently than in the past.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Achieving Shared Growth,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Inequality

Supplemental Security Income: Calculating the Impact of Earnings on Benefits

The purpose of this guide is to educate New Yorkers with disabilities about the impact of earnings on Supplemental Security Income benefits

Medicaid & Work: Keeping your Medicaid While You Work

The purpose of this guide is to educate New Yorkers with disabilities who receive SSI about how they can go to work and keep their Medicaid

Updating prior geologic uncertainty with GPR traveltime tomographic data

ENIGMA IT

Ticket to Work: Choosing the Right Employment Network

The purpose of this guide is to educate New Yorkers with disabilities who have a Ticket to Work from the Social Security Administration on how to secure the services and supports to go to work by choosing an Employment Network

Addressing the education puzzle : the distribution of education and economic reform

No country has achieved sustained economic development without substantially investing in human capital. Previous studies have shown the handsome returns to various forms of basic education, research, training, learning-by-doing, and capacity-building. But education by itself does not guarantee successful development, as history has shown in the former Soviet bloc, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Indian states of Kerala and West Bengal. The question is, when and how does education bring high payoffs? Although theory has suggested a strong causal link between education and growth, the empirical evidence has not been unanimous and conclusive. The authors examine two explanatory factors. First, who gets educated matters a good deal, but the distribution of education is complex and not much has been written about it. They construct an asset allocation model that elucidates the importance of the distribution of education to economic development. Second, how education affects growth is greatly affected by the economic policy environment. Policies determine what people can do with their education. Reform of trade, investment, and labor policies can increase the returns from education. Using panel data from 12 Asian and Latin American countries for 1970-94, they investigate the relationship between education, policy reform, and economic growth. Their empirical results are promising. First, the distribution of education matters. Unequal distribution of education tends to have a negative impact on per capita income in most countries. Moreover, controlling for human capital distribution and the use of appropriate functional form specifications consistent with the asset allocation model makes a difference for the effect of average schooling on per capita income. Controlling for education distribution leads to positive and significant effects of average schooling on per capita income, while failure to do so leads to insignificant, even negative effects, of average education. Second, the policy environment matters a great deal. Our results indicate that economic policies that suppress market forces tend to dramatically reduce the impact of human capital on economic growth. Investment in human capital can have little impact on growth unless people can use education in competitive and open markets. The larger and more competitive these markets are, the greater are the prospects for using education and skills.Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Decentralization,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Gender and Education

THE IMPACT OF ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF FLORIDA SUGARCANE COOPERATIVES

Payment arrangements among members of a cooperative play a critical role in the performance of the cooperative. The impact of three payment systems is assessed for Florida sugarcane cooperatives through a bi-level programming model which incorporates both individual and collective behavior.Agricultural Finance,

Supporting Career Development and Employment: A Skill Development Practicum

This practicum workbook was designed to aid benefits planners and advocates in supporting the employment decision making process for individuals with disabilities. The first portion of the workbook discusses approaches for understanding interests, preferences, abilities and support needs; impact of choices on financial well-being and independence; supporting the service provider selection process; developing comprehensive work plans; and, quality assurance strategies to evaluate services and supports provided. The workbook concludes with a case application

The “New” Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program: Enhancing Economic Self-Sufficiency of Beneficiaries through Work Opportunities and Public/Private Partnership

Discusses the history of the Social Security Administration’s Vocational Rehabilitation and describes the intents and functioning of the Ticket to Work and work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. This publication is based on federal Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) laws, regulations and policy. Following Sections I and II pertaining to historical context and evolution of SSA and the Ticket, information presented regarding the operations and structure of the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is based exclusively on the new 2008 regulations

Dominance in a dating relationship and violence approval as partial mediating factors between violent socialization and perpetrating dating partner violence

This study investigated the possible mediating relationships between experiencing corporal punishment and partner violence perpetration and witnessing parental violence and partner violence perpetration. The sample used was 14,252 university students in 32 nations who participated in the International Dating Violence Study. For both men and women, self-dominance partly mediated the relationships between corporal punishment and perpetrating minor assault and corporal punishment and perpetrating severe assault. For men and women self-dominance mediated the relationships between witnessing parental violence and perpetrating minor assault and witnessing parental violence and perpetrating both types of assault for males and females. Violence approval did not partly mediate the relationship between witnessing parental violence and minor assault for males or females. And violence approval partly mediated the relationship from witnessing parental violence to severe assault for males, but not females. In all of the relationships, regardless of sex, self-dominance was the stronger mediating factor