Foreign aid, conditionality, and ghost of the financing gap - a forgotten aspect of the aid debate

Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why (The World Bank, 1998) generated a new wave of controversy about foreign aid and policy conditionality that had seen several decades of intense debate. Much of the recent debate has focused on the aid-growth relationship and the role of"good"policies. While a great deal has been said about qualitative aspects of aid effectiveness (that is, fungibility, among other things), little attention has been paid so far to some important quantitative aspects. The author draws attention to this neglected aspect of the aid debate to show that the level of aid requirements of a country is an equally important and integral part of aid and aid effectiveness. The author compares the World Bank/IMF approaches to estimation of external assistance requirements of a country in quantitative terms with an alternative model, the"balance of payments constrained growth model"(based on the Harrod trade multiplier). He finds that the latter model is not a real alternative as it is an incomplete model. More important, he shows that international financial institutions use these quantitative frameworks in a very flexible and pragmatic way to carry on a meaningful policy dialogue with both donors and recipient countries, which has an important bearing on aid effectiveness.Decentralization,Economic Theory&Research,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation,Development Economics&Aid Effectiveness,Achieving Shared Growth

Market disequilibria and inflation in Uzbekistan, 1994-2000

The author develops, and applies a macroeconomic framework to ascertain the influence of domestic disequilibria, and external shocks on inflation dynamics in Uzbekistan. Using quarterly data for the period 1994:01 to 2000:03, he estimates several"long-run"relationships for the goods, money, and foreign exchange markets of Uzbekistan, which are characterized by multiple exchange rates, import restrictions, and other domestic administrative controls. The empirical estimates, which use error correction mechanisms for different markets, show that domestic monetary, and output developments, and changes in the official exchange rate, compared with the parallel market rate, have had a significant influence on the short-run behavior of the foreign exchange market in Uzbekistan. Furthermore, disequilibria in the product, and money markets are the major forces driving short-run inflation dynamics in Uzbekistan. It should be noted that the study has been constrained by both the quantity, and the quality of quarterly data available for the Uzbekistan economy.Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Economic Stabilization,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access

Alternative paths to structural adjustment in Uzbekistan in a three-gap framework

The author presents an internally consistent macroeconomic framework that could be used as a first step toward a more comprehensive, quantitative and qualitative assessment of the adjustment alternatives facing Uzbekistan. The three-gap framework focuses on the major imbalances of the economy for evaluating policy choices facing Uzbekistan. It emphasizes the domestic, and external factors that determine economic outcomes, and welfare. The author attempts to quantify two policy scenarios-gradual as against an accelerated policy implementation strategy. He finds that an aggressive adjustment policy would indeed improve most performance, and welfare indicators. Two major ingredients of such an aggressive adjustment strategy are the unification of the exchange rate, and implementation of current account convertibility in the balance of payments. The author also draws attention to the relative importance of external financing, and the sustainability of the balance of payments under alternative structural adjustment paths facing Uzbekistan.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Economic Stabilization,Economic Theory&Research

Talk up or criticize? Customer responses to WOM about competitors during social interactions

Popular metrics such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) highlights many benefits of word of mouth (WOM) to firms. Is WOM all it is claimed to be? Building on social identity theory, this research develops a conceptual model of WOM exchange in social settings and tests the model with customer surveys of three service sectors. The findings show that the effects of (1) positive and negative WOM (P/NWOM) received about competitors and (2) perceived presence of critical incidents (PPCIs) on P/NWOM given about own service provider are far from intuitive. Responses to PWOM received counter the suggestions in the NPS literature. The findings also indicate that the best firms can hope for when receiving NWOM about competitors is that their customers remain silent. It is recommended that firms communicate a message that is consistent with the nuanced views expressed by friends in social circles, rather than a uniformly superior positioning

History and Philosophy of Science and Technology: The Driving force of Developing Innovative Creativity

How philosophers and some scholars who had learned about philosophy in the past became scientists is an important question that arises in the study of the development of innovative creativity. Generally, philosophy is the fundamental basis on which the results of the empirical sciences are based to formulate theories and theories in subjects that are common to any field. Therefore, philosophy and the world can be interconnected with any science. Western scholars who clearly identified this connection were anxious to analyze and study from different angles how this connection could occur

Modeling the Flow and Creep Compliance Properties of Ice-Cream Mixes

This work documented the influence of the protein source (MPC80 and WPC80), protein content (4-12%), and temperature (5-35ºC) on the rheological behavior (flow curve, frequency sweep, and creep-recovery) of ice-cream mixes (ICM). For each protein source, the viscosity of the ICM was satisfactorily modeled (2\u3e0.98, 2 \u3e0.98, and E0.99), while the recovery phase was represented by an empirical model. The percentage of recovery (%R) of the ICM significantly decreased with the protein content

Kriging and Non Parametric Regrssion

Kriging and nonparametric regression are described and prediction intervals using GCV smoothing splines are developed for models of the form Y = m(x) + e

High Performance Supercapacitor Device Based on Polymer Derived Carbon Nanofiber with Enhanced Capacity at Elevated Temperatures

Recently, supercapacitors are attracting considerable interest as a promising energy storage device. In this study, we report the high performing supercapacitor based on cobalt oxide embedded carbon nanofibers (CNF@CO) fabricated by electrospinning of cobalt acetate and polyacrylonitrile mixture in to carbon nanofibers (CNF) and subsequent pyrolyzed at 800 oC under nitrogen atmosphere. Morphology and electrochemical properties of the fabricated CNF@CO was studied in detailed. Embedding of cobalt oxide in to CNF showed a remarkable improvement in the charge storage capacitance, specific capacitance of 360 F/g and 1100 F/g were observed for CNF and CNF@CO, respectively. We studied the effect of electrolyte ion size on charge storage process by performing electrochemical measurements in 3M LiOH, NaOH and KOH electrolytes. It was found that capacitive performance increase with the decreasing hydrogenated ionic radius of the electrolyte. CNF@CO retained ~ 100% of charge storage capacity over 5,000 charge-discharge cycles. In addition, symmetric supercapacitor based on two CNF@CO electrodes showed 200% improvement in charge storage capacity with the temperature increase from 10 to 70 oC. This kind of cobalt oxide embedded carbon nanofibers represents promising candidate for efficient electrode material for energy storage devices