Enhancing Foreign Direct Investment via Transparency? Evaluating the Effects of the EITI on FDI

The so called resource curse, the fact that countries rich in natural resources often show lower rates of economic growth compared to resource-poor countries, is commonly attributed to the low quality of governance in resource-rich countries. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was founded in 2003 to address this problem through increasing the quality of the public financial management of resource flows. By joining this initiative, governments show their willingness to reform and to improve their governance. As the quality of governance is an important factor for investors in deciding where to invest, this signal has the potential to improve a country’s appeal for foreign direct investment (FDI). This study shows in a panel of 81 countries that joining the EITI increases the ratio of FDI inflows to GDP on average by around two percentage points. This is a remarkable increase given that the average ratio of FDI inflows to GDP in the sample is five percent. The results are robust when controlling for selection bias due to the voluntary decision to join the initiative and possible endogeneity of the candidate variable

Methane dynamics in the sediment and water column of Kiel Harbour (Baltic Sea)

The dynamics of methane production and oxidation in the sediments of Kiel Harbour (Baltic Sea) were studied over a period of 2 yr. Experimentally determined rates of methanogenesis varied between 13 and 82 mu mol CH4 m(-2) h(-1) integrated over the top 30 cm of sediment. The zone of maximum production was between 20 and 30 cm depth. High potential rates could be induced in sulfate-containing surface layers by the addition of molybdate, acetate or methanol, indicating competition with sulfate-reducing bacteria. The methane content in the sediment pore water increased from the surface to a seasonally varying depth of between 5 and 20 cm, where sulfate concentrations approached zero and methane concentrations of 3 to 4 mM were recorded. Aerobic methane oxidation rates in the surface sediment layer were in most cases higher than the methane flux expected to reach the sediment surface. Oxygen-depleted or anoxic conditions in the deep water, which frequently occurred during stratification periods in summer, resulted in methane gradients with increasing concentrations from the chemocline to the sediment. After recirculation of the water column in autumn in both years, unexpectedly high methane concentrations were also measured in the oxic water column of Kiel Harbour. This coincided with very reduced conditions in the surface sediment that allowed measurable methane production in the 0 to 10 cm layer

The relative importance and biological significance of non-stop and intermittent flight strategies in bird migrants crossing the Sahara

IX Summary The aim of this thesis was to investigate the flight and resting strategies of birds crossing the Sahara on migration. In order to overcome the severe limitations of ground observations, we chose radar to obtain continuous data of the temporal and spatial distribution of bird migration and to answer the core question whether migrants cross the largest desert by a long non-stop flight or rather by intermittent flying and resting. Study site and methods The Swiss Ornithological Institute carried out extensive radar and field studies at three different study sites in Mauritania, covering three migration seasons in 2003 and 2004. One station (20°56’ N; 11°35’ W), close to the oasis Ouadâne and about 500 km east of the Atlantic coast, was run permanently for about two moths in spring and autumn 2003 and in spring 2004. It provided continuous data on the course of bird migration across this part of the Sahara. The two other radar sites were operated about 300 km further to the East in the plain sand desert close to the border of Mali. At Mohammed Lemna (18°35’ N; 08°38’ W) radar data was collected for eleven days in September 2003. At Bîr Amrâne (22°47’ N; 08°43’ W), located about 450 km further to the North of Mohammed Lemna, the observations covered about three weeks in April 2004 (chapter I). Quantification of bird migration by means of radar is still a difficult task, in spite of almost sixty years of growing experience in radar ornithology. We present for the first time a method how radar data can be analysed to achieve reliable estimates of the number of migrating birds in a given air space. To reach this goal three basic steps of quantification must be considered: (1) echo detection, (2) echo identification and (3) quantification. First, the radar must be calibrated to allow the calculation of standardized echo sizes that are independent of distance. Then a distance-dependent threshold to reduce the detection of small targets at close range has to be applied. After this basic step, the remaining echoes must be assigned to bird or insect targets, eventually eliminating the insects. In our case, we were also able to determine the birds’ body axis relative to the radar (aspect) and to differentiate detection probabilities according to echo sizes. For the final quantification, we estimated the surveyed air space with respect to the specific detection range per echo size class. Using this method we calculated the temporal and spatial distribution of bird migration crossing the western Sahara (chapter II). Composition of daytime migration Billions of songbirds breeding in the western Palaearctic cross the Sahara desert twice a year. While crossing temperate latitudes most of them use an intermittent flight strategy, i.e. fly at night and rest or feed during the day. As resting and feeding in the Sahara is much less rewarding than in Europe, we investigated whether in the Sahara migration during daytime comprises the normal diurnal migrant species or the nocturnal ones prolonging their flight into the day. At the radar station Ouadâne, spring passage of passerine migrants showed high variation from night to night, but in general passerine densities decreased towards sunrise. However, under favourable wind conditions passerine migration continued far into the day, mostly at high altitudes (around 2000 m above ground level). These relatively high densities of passerines flying during the day were in contrast to very low proportions of real diurnal migrants detected on daily transect counts in the study area. For nocturnal migrants, however, the transect counts showed high correlation IX-

Surrender your market! Do the G5 countries use World Bank Trade Conditionality to promote Trade?

In this paper we investigate whether the design of World Bank conditionality, namely the extent of trade liberalization conditions, is influenced by the commercial motives of the Bank’s five major shareholders. Using a newly available dataset on World Bank conditionality we analyze the conditionality design of more than 870 projects over the 1981 – 2010 period. Our results suggest that countries of commercial interest for Germany have, on average, more trade liberalization conditions attached to their loans, indicating a trade promotion strategy. For the US, on the other hand, our results show that trading partners receive significantly fewer trade conditions. This suggests protection of the own bilateral trading relations from competition that would arise in the case of more open markets

Quantum tunneling of magnetization in dipolar spin-1 condensates under external fields

We study the macroscopic quantum tunneling of magnetization of the F=1 spinor condensate interacting through dipole-dipole interaction with an external magnetic field applied along the longitudinal or transverse direction. We show that the ground state energy and the effective magnetic moment of the system exhibit an interesting macroscopic quantum oscillation phenomenon originating from the oscillating dependence of thermodynamic properties of the system on the vacuum angle. Tunneling between two degenerate minima are analyzed by means of an effective potential method and the periodic instanton method.Comment: 2 figures, accepted PR

Measurement of a Mixed Spin Channel Feshbach Resonance in Rubidium 87

We report on the observation of a mixed spin channel Feshbach resonance at the low magnetic field value of (9.09 +/- 0.01) G for a mixture of |2,-1> and |1,+1> states in 87Rb. This mixture is important for applications of multi-component BECs of 87Rb, e.g. in spin mixture physics and for quantum entanglement. Values for position, height and width of the resonance are reported and compared to a recent theoretical calculation of this resonance.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures minor changes, actualized citation

Walter Campbell:A distinguished life

An efficient and simple synthesis approach to form stable (68) Ga-labeled nanogels is reported and their fundamental properties investigated. Nanogels are obtained by self-assembly of amphiphilic statistical prepolymers derivatised with chelating groups for radiometals. The resulting nanogels exhibit a well-defined spherical shape with a diameter of 290 +/- 50 nm. The radionuclide (68) Ga is chelated in high radiochemical yields in an aqueous medium at room temperature. The phagocytosis assay demonstrates a highly increased internalization of nanogels by activated macrophages. Access to these (68) Ga-nanogels will allow the investigation of general behavior and clearance pathways of nanogels in vivo by nuclear molecular imaging

Deutsches Bildungssystem: zentrale Kontrolle und mehr Wettbewerb

Humankapital - der wichtigste Produktionsfaktor, den Deutschland besitzt - hat einen quantitativ bedeutsamen Einfluss auf das Wirtschaftswachstum. Das Bildungssystem sollte daher effizienter gestaltet werden. Bisher fehlt dem deutschen Bildungssystem eine wirksame Leistungskontrolle vor allem bei den Lehrenden. Um dies zu ändern und die positiven externen Effekte der Bildung stärker zu mobilisieren, ist eine gewisse Zentralisierung von Kompetenzen erforderlich. Eine differenzierte Betrachtung zeigt aber, dass gleichzeitig auch die Dezentralisierung bestimmter Kompetenzen über mehr Wettbewerb zu besseren Ergebnissen führen kann. Dies korrespondiert mit Erkenntnissen darüber, wie die Verteilung anderer - fiskalischer - staatlicher Kompetenzen wirkt. Die Betrachtung erfolgreicher ausländischer Bildungssysteme lässt erkennen, dass eine weitgehende Dezentralisierung mit gleichzeitiger Stärkung der nationalen Ebene durch Einführung von Qualitätsstandards sowie deren Kontrolle eine bessere Bildung sichern kann.

Flexible reaction norms to environmental variables along the migration route and the significance of stopover duration for total speed of migration in a songbird migrant

Background Predicting the consequences of continuing anthropogenic changes in the environment for migratory behaviours such as phenology remains a major challenge. Predictions remain particularly difficult, because our knowledge is based on studies from single-snapshot observations at specific stopover sites along birds’ migration routes. However, a general understanding on how birds react to prevailing environmental conditions, e.g. their ‘phenotypic reaction norm’, throughout the annual cycle and along their entire migration routes is required to fully understand how migratory birds respond to rapid environmental change. Results Here, we provide direct evidence that northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) from a breeding population in Alaska adjusted their probability to resume migration as well as the distance covered per night, i.e. travel speed, to large-scale environmental conditions experienced along their 15,000 km migratory route on both northwards and southwards migrations. These adjustments were found to be flexible in space and time. At the beginning of autumn migration, northern wheatears showed high departure probabilities and high travel speeds at low surface air temperatures, while far away from Alaska both traits decreased with increasing air temperatures. In spring, northern wheatears increasingly exploited flow assistance with season, which is likely a behavioural adjustment to speed up migration by increasing the distance travelled per night. Furthermore, the variation in total stopover duration but not in travel speed had a significant effect on the total speed of migration, indicating the prime importance of total stopover duration in the overall phenology of bird migration. Conclusion Northern wheatears from Alaska provide evidence that the phenotypic reaction norm to a set of environmental conditions cannot be generalized to universal and persistent behavioural reaction pattern across entire migratory pathways. This highlights the importance of full annual-cycle studies on migratory birds to better understand their response to the environment. Understanding the mechanisms behind phenotypic plasticity during migration is particularly important in the assessment of whether birds can keep pace with the potentially increasing phenological mismatches observed on the breeding grounds