Essays on microenterprise growth and financial inclusion

This thesis consists of three essays on microenterprise growth and financial inclusion. I focus on two key channels to achieve financial inclusion: (i) encouraging digital technology adoption and (ii) easing frictions in financial markets. Chapter 1 investigates the extent to which learning barriers limit the adoption of productive digital technologies by firms. I leverage a novel digital technology that overcomes financial management issues that arise due to informality and randomly vary the extent to which learning costs are subsidized. Amongst a sample of microenterprises in India I find that temporarily subsidizing learning costs leads to significant increases in adoption. Firms significantly improve business management (through better financial and marketing practices), and in the process learn about the true profitability of their firm, which dampens adoption. Using a dynamic structural model I highlight the need for a multi-dimensional approach to sustain adoption. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on easing financial frictions to increase firm productivity. In Chapter 2 my co-authors and I study whether other financial market frictions — in particular, lack of access to a safe place to save — might limit the benefits of credit. Working with Kenyan farmers, we cross-randomize access to a simple savings product with a harvest-time loan. We find increased farm investment and household consumption amongst those who were offered a savings product in addition to a loan offer. In Chapter 3 my co-authors and I study whether a big push microequity contract can generate firm-level and household-level gains while also recovering the initial investment amount for future investments. Working with women-led microenterprises in India we randomize access to performance contingent microequity contracts and document high demand for this novel financial product and sustained improvements in business performance

An Expeditious Synthesis of N-Substituted Pyrroles via Microwave-Induced Iodine-Catalyzed Reactions Under Solventless Conditions

An expeditious synthesis of N-substituted pyrroles has been developed by reacting 2,5-dimethoxy tetrahydrofuran and several amines using a microwave-induced molecular iodine-catalyzed reaction under solventless conditions

Study of heterogeneity of sino-nasal lesions in urban population of north Kolkata and its fringes- a 5-year retrospective analysis: experience of a tertiary care centre

Background: Lesions of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses form a single functional unit as both of these are affected by common pathological processes. Accurate diagnosis and early treatment can significantly reduce the morbidities associated with these lesions. This study aims at portraying the morphological diversions of sinonasal lesions that is commonly encountered in populations of north Kolkata and its fringes. The multitude of histopathological variations of the sinonasal masses intrigues us histopathologists not only from academic point of view but also guides clinicians regarding treatment and prognosis.Methods: A retrospective study conducted in the Department of Pathology from May 2012 to April 2017.Results: Total 429 cases were assessed during this period out of which maximum cases were found in the age group of 31- 40years. Most cases were diagnosed with nasal polyps. The rare histopathological types were ameloblastoma, paraganglioma, Schwanoma, neurofibroma, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, sinonasal hemangiopericytoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, low grade mucoepidermoid tumor, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.Conclusions: Both neoplastic and non-neoplastic sino nasal lesions may present with indistinguishable features, leading to a delay in proper diagnosis and treatment. So, any tissue after surgical removal should be send for histopathological diagnosis without unnecessary delay to prevent further complications

Ultrasound-assisted aza-Michael reaction in water: a green procedure

The conjugate addition of amines to conjugated alkenes (commonly known as aza-Michael reaction) constitutes a key step for the synthesis of various complex natural products, antibiotics, α-amino alcohols and chiral auxiliaries. Ultrasound-induced addition of several amines to α, β-unsaturated ketones, esters and nitriles has been carried out very efficiently in water as well as under solvent-free conditions. No catalysts or solid supports have been used in this method. Remarkable enhancement of reaction rate has been observed in water under ultrasound-induced method. This environmentally benign procedure has provided clean formation of the products with better selectivity

An Effective Microwave-Induced Iodine-Catalyzed Method for the Synthesis of Quinoxalines via Condensation of 12-Diamines With 12-Dicarbonyl Compounds

A microwave-induced iodine-catalyzed simple, rapid and convenient synthesis of different types of quinoxalines via condensation of 1,2-diamines with 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds has been accomplished with an excellent yield

Factors influencing early electric vehicle adoption in Ireland

The 5th French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Annual Conference (FAERE 2018), Aix-en-Provence, France, 30-31 August 2018The objective of this work is to analyse the key determinants of electric vehicle uptake amongst early adopters. Transport accounts for about a quarter of Europe’s total greenhouse gas emissions and has not achieved similar reductions in emissions as other sectors. However, there is an opportunity to achieve lower emissions through the widespread use of electric vehicles. Due to the rising awareness of the link between emissions and global warming, the European Union has set serious targets for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions that member states must achieve by 2020 and 2030. Although considerable progress has been made in reaching targets, efforts in the transport sector have been lagging in many countries, with a significant boost required in electric vehicle roll-out if transport-specific targets are to be met. One reason for this lack of progress is possibly an incomplete understanding of the motivations behind consumer uptake, which in turn, hampers policy design to encourage adoption. Here, for the first time, the case study of Ireland is used to analyse socio-demographic and neighbourhood characteristics such as charging infrastructure, dealers and other EV adopters, to identify the key determinants of electric vehicle adoption in the early phase of technology diffusion. From our exploratory data analysis, social class which represents whether the population consists of skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled workers, appears to be the principal factor affecting EV uptake in Ireland. This variable may proxy for income effects, implying that the average wealth of a neighbourhood matters for EV ownership. There also appears to be clustering in EV adopters, possibly due to unobserved peer effects. The OLS model performs poorly for our dataset. Our future work will help determine the significant predictors of adoption based on a spatial econometric approach that explicitly models relationships between agents in the model such that the restrictive assumptions of OLS models can be relaxed to allow for interdependence between individual actors

Assessment of genetic diversity among 16 promising cultivars of ginger using cytological and molecular markers

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is an economically important plant, valued all over the world. The existing variation among 16 promising cultivars as observed through differential rhizome yield (181.9 to 477.3 g) was proved to have a genetic basis using different genetic markers such as karyotype, 4C nuclear DNA content and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The karyotypic analysis revealed a differential distribution of A, B, C, D and E type of chromosomes among different cultivars as represented by different karyotype formulas. A significant variation of 4C DNA content was recorded in ginger at an intraspecific level with values ranging from 17.1 to 24.3 pg. RAPD analysis revealed a differential polymorphism of DNA showing a number of polymorphic bands ranging from 26 to 70 among 16 cultivars. The RAPD primers OPC02, OPA02, OPD20 and OPN06 showing strong resolving power were able to distinguish all 16 cultivars. The extent of genetic diversity among these cultivars was computed through parameters of gene diversity, sum of allele numbers per locus and Shannon's information indices. Cluster analysis, Nei's genetic similarity and genetic distances, distribution of cultivars into special distance classes and principal coordinate analysis and the analysis of molecular variance suggested a conspicuous genetic diversity among different cultivars studied. The genetic variation thus detected among promising cultivars of ginger has significance for ginger improvement programs. Key words: Ginger, Karyotype, RAPD Introduction Zingiber officinale is rich in secondary metabolites such as oleoresin. It possesses an unique combination of properties like anti-inflammatory, aphrodisiac, antioxidant and antibacterial activity S. Nayak et al. · Genetic Diversity among Ginger Cultivars In the past decade, DNA polymorphism has become the marker of choice for the identification and characterization of plants. It is a relatively reliable, generally applicable method to obtain large samples of markers from any species of plant. However, each marker system samples a different fraction of the genomes and therefore has a different resolving power, range of applicability and probability of homology. The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique has been widely used in cultivar identification programs The objectives of this study were to (1) fingerprint ginger cultivars for identification and (2) detect the genetic diversity and relatedness of 16 cultivars sampled from different geographical regions using karyotypic analysis, 4C DNA content and RAPD analysis. In this study, many analytical procedures such as a n-j method, bootstrapping, spatial genetic structure analysis (SGS), and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) have been widely used to derive genetic distances among cultivars and to assess the structure of genetic data in a reduced dimensional space. Materials and Methods Plant materials Sixteen promising cultivars of ginger (Zingiber officinale) were included in the present study which were collected from the turmeric germplasm collection of the Orissa University of Agriculture and Techology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. These cultivars were initially collected from different parts of India Karyotype analysis Young and healthy root-tips of different cultivars of ginger were pre-treated in a (0.02 m) hydroxyquinoline mixture (1:1) for 3.5 h at 14 ∞C followed by overnight fixation in propionic ethanol. Chromosome staining was made in 2% lacto propionic orcin after cold hydrolysis in 5 n HCl for 7 min. Root-tips were squashed in 45% propionic acid. Ten well scattered metaphase plates were selected for karyotype analysis of each species. The chromosome morphology was determined following the method of 4C DNA content For Feulgen cytophotometric estimation of 4C DNA, ten fixed root-tips from each cultivar (2n = 22 chromosomes) were hydrolysed in 1 n HCl for 12 min at 60 ∞C, washed in distilled water and stained in Schiff's reagent for 2 h at 14 ∞C; each root-tip squash was prepared in 75% acetic acid. Ten scorings were made from each slide and the 4C DNA content was estimated from metaphase chromosomes using a NIKON Optiphot microscope with a microspectrophotometer following the method of Sharma and Sharma (1980) with monochromatic light at 550 nm. In situ DNA values were obtained on the basis of optical density measurements which were converted to picograms (pg) using Vant Hoff's 4C nuclear DNA value (67.1 pg) for Allium cepa as standard Isolation of DNA Total plant DNA was isolated from fresh and young leaves. The leaves were harvested freshly and washed thoroughly with cold autoclaved distilled water and then blotted to dry. About 2 g leaf was excised from the upper tip portion of the buds. DNA extraction was done on the day of collection. The genomic DNA was isolated following the protocol of Doyle and Doyle (1990) with a little modification. Insoluble poly(vinylpyrrolidone) was added to the leaf tissue prior to grinding. The crude DNA was purified with RNase A (@ 60 µg ml Ð1 of DNA solution) followed by washing with S. Nayak et al. · Genetic Diversity among Ginger Cultivars 487 purified chloroform/isoamylalcohol (24:1). To test the quality and quantity of the purified DNA, the samples were electrophoresed in a 0.8% agarose gel along with a known amount of uncut lambda DNA (Bangalore Genei Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore, India) as standard. The sample DNA was diluted as 25 ng µl Ð1 for RAPD-PCR analysis. RAPD amplification Twenty random decamer primers (Operon Tech., USA) from A, C, D and N series (OPA02, 03, 04, 08, 16; OPAF14; OPC02, 05; OPD03, 07, 08, 18, 20; and OPN02, 03, 04, 06, 07, 10, 12) were used for RAPD analysis. RAPD assays were performed in a final volume of 25 µl containing 10 mm Tris-HCl [tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane], pH 9.0, 1.5 mm MgCl 2 , 50 mm KCl and 0.01% gelatin, 200 µm of each dNTPs, 0.4 µm primer, 25 ng template DNA and 0.5 unit of Taq DNA polymerase (Bangalore Genei, Bangalore, India). The RAPD analysis was performed as per the methodology described by The amplification products were electrophoresed in 1.5% agarose gel containing ethidium bromide (@ 0.5 µg ml Ð1 ) in TAE buffer (40 mm Tris base, 20 mm sodium acetate, 20 mm EDTA, glacial acetic acid to pH 7.2) for 3 h at 60 V. A total of 2.5 µl loading buffer (1.0 X TAE, 50% glycerol, 0.25% bromophenol blue and 0.25% xylene cyanol) was added to each reaction before electrophoresis. After electrophoresis, the gels were observed under an UV-transilluminator, documented in Gel-Doc 2000 (Bio-Rad) and photographed. Resolving power According to Prevost and Wilkinson (1999) the resolving power (Rp) of a primer is: Rp = Σ IB, where IB (band informativeness) takes the value of: 1-[2 ¥ (0.5 Ð p)], p being the proportion of the 16 genotypes (ginger cultivars analyzed) containing the band. Data collection and analysi

DNA sequence variation and haplotype structure of the ICAM1 and TNF genes in 12 ethnic groups of India reveal patterns of importance in designing association studies

We have examined the patterns of DNA sequence variation in and around the genes coding for ICAM1 and TNF, which play functional and correlated roles in inflammatory processes and immune cell responses, in 12 diverse ethnic groups of India. We aimed to (a) quantify the nature and extent of the variation, and (b) analyse the observed patterns of variation in relation to population history and ethnic background. At the ICAM1 and TNF loci, respectively, the total numbers of SNPs that were detected were 28 and 12. Many of these SNPs are not shared across ethnic groups and are unreported in the dbSNP or TSC databases, including two fairly common non-synonymous SNPs at positions 13487 and 13542 in the ICAM1 gene. Conversely, the TNF-376A SNP that is reported to be associated with susceptibility to malaria was not found in our study populations, even though some of the populations inhabit malaria endemic areas. Wide between-population variation in the frequencies of shared SNPs and coefficients of linkage disequilibrium have been observed. These findings have profound implications in case-control association studies

Boosting Renewable Energy Technology Uptake in Ireland: A Machine Learning Approach

This study explores the impact of socio-demographic, behavioural, and built-environment characteristics on residential renewable energy technology adoption. It provides new insights on factors influencing uptake using nearest neighbour and random forest machine learning models at a granular spatial scale. Being computationally inexpensive and having good classification performance, these models serve as useful baseline prediction tools. Data is sourced from an Irish survey of consumer perceptions of three key technologies – electric vehicles, solar photovoltaic panels, and heat pumps – and general attitudes towards sustainability, innovation, risk, and time. We demonstrate that utility bills, residence period, attitudes to sustainability, satisfaction with household heating, and perceptions of hassle have the biggest influence on current uptake. Urban areas, typically having better access to information and resources, are likely to see the biggest uptake first. Additionally, compatibility of household infrastructure, technical interest, and social approval are the most important predictors of potential uptake. These results may inform policy in other early adopter markets as well. Overall, policy makers must be cognisant of the stage of adoption their country is currently at. Accordingly, a holistic approach to tackling low adoption must include measures that not only enhance adoption capabilities via rebates and financial measures, but also support the opportunity and intent to purchase such technologies.Irish Research CouncilESB NetworksUCD Energy Institut

A Framework to Measure Regional Disparities in Battery Electric Vehicle Diffusion in Ireland

This work studies the role of socio-economic and geospatial factors in shaping battery electric vehicle adoption for the case study of Ireland. It provides new insights on the level and timing of likely adoption at scale using a Bass diffusion model combined with a spatial model. The Bass model demonstrates that a country like Ireland may experience peak sales between 2025 and 2030 given current trends, reaching overall uptake levels that are not commensurate with current policy goals, whilst also potentially creating gulfs in regional take-up. The key conclusion from the spatial analysis is that location matters for uptake, through various channels that help or hinder adoption such as resources, information, and policy. Additional investment in public charging infrastructure facilities may also be needed as gaps in coverage exist, especially in rural areas to the West and South-West of the country. Although Ireland enjoys good network coverage overall, this study suggests that more charge points may be needed in some counties and Dublin city and suburbia where the number of charge points is currently disproportionate to a minimum network coverage comparable with the land area, population size, number of private vehicle owners, and travel behaviour. As the urgency for climate action intensifies in the coming decade, our spatio-temporal approach to studying uptake will not only help meet Ireland’s socio-ecological vision for the future, but also provide insights and strategies for comparable countries that are similarly placed in terms of electric vehicle adoption.Environmental Protection AgencyIrish Research Counci