An assessment of reform options for the public service pension fund in Uganda

This paper analyzes the future liabilities that the Ugandan Public Service Pensions Fund might accumulate under the provisions of the Pensions Act (CAP 286) unless it is reformed. It then discusses alternative reform options that can be used in designing an educated homegrown reform of the fund. The paper supports a hybrid (two-pillar) reform option composed of a small defined benefit scheme and a complementary defined contribution scheme, instead of a pure defined contribution (monopillar) reform option discussed by policymakers in the country. The main reason for this is related to the fact that hybrid and pure defined contribution reforms will have the same impact on reducing pension expenditure (for the same grandfathering rules and surplus in the first pillar). In addition, everything else being equal, the hybrid reform is likely to produce higher average replacement rates due to the redistributive and pooling properties of the small defined benefit pillar.Pensions&Retirement Systems,Enterprise Development&Reform,Population Policies,State Owned Enterprise Reform,Labor Markets

Desde Copenhague.

Sin resume

Pachakutik: Tracing the Development of the Ecuadorian Indigenous Movement as a National Actor

This text attempts to understand the formation of the indigenous movement in Ecuador. It asks the questions; Who makes part of it? How is it expressed? Why did it become this way? The indigenous movement in Ecuador has been described by many academics as Latin America’s strongest. Although that depends on what metric one is using, the paper explores how the movement has had interactions with a wide variety of society, and what tools has come about it that the indigenous movement has used later on. The CONAIE, the unquestionably biggest organization among indigenous organizations, has overthrown several presidents and has forced more than a few to temporarily transfer the capital. To delve into the question, however, one has to delve deep into 20th century politics in the country and perhaps from it understand how different collectives are capable of gaining power and mobilizational strength

Genetic architecture of craniofacial shape in the house mouse: a genetic and morphological perspective

Morphological diversity in nature is astounding. A remarkable example of such diversity is the vertebrate cranium. This structure is developmentally, anatomically, and functionally integrated with the many other tissues and sensory systems of the head. Because of this, it is under strong constrains to achieve an adult form (size and shape) compatible with the functional requirements of the individual. The genetic basis of craniofacial diversity has been traditionally studied from a macro-evolutionary perspective (i.e. at the between-species level), with special focus on adaptive radiation and domestication. The work presented in this thesis is an attempt to understand the genetic basis of craniofacial shape variation in the house mouse. By using between-subspecies and within population variation, I address the question from a micro-evolutionary perspective. In this thesis I also explore the genetic architecture of the traits (i.e. number, effect size, and genomic distribution of the causal loci), and the extent to which phenotypic variation can be explained by genetic variation – i.e. heritability of the traits. The first two chapters of this thesis are the first genome-wide approximation to the genetic architecture of craniofacial shape and size in mice. I combine highly recombinant mouse populations –wild hybrid mice and outbred lab mice- with dense marker coverage of the genome to map the loci underlying phenotypic variation. I identify genes previously known to be involved in craniofacial formation, and provide a list of genomic regions that contain new candidate genes for craniofacial development. Regarding the genetic architecture, I show that craniofacial traits are highly polygenic and highly heritable, with many loci of very small effect distributed uniformly along the genome. The last chapter of the thesis is an assessment of the morphological transition associated with the degree of admixture between two subspecies of the house mouse, Mus musculus musculus and Mus musculus domesticus. I show that craniofacial shape changes, but not size changes, are correlated with the level of admixture. The transition from M. m. musculus to M. m. domesticus is continuous, such mode would be expected from a trait with polygenic architecture, and therefore these results are in line with the genetic results obtained in previous chapters. Overall the work presented in this thesis is the first genome-wide analyses of the genetic basis and genetic architecture of craniofacial shape variation in the house mouse. It is also the first time shape variation is explored in a close-to-natural context; previous work used crosses between inbred 10 mouse strains. Therefore, the results reported here are directly relevant to the understanding of complex traits evolution

Border cities: economic competitors or complements?

Maquiladora