Improving rural livelihoods through the conservation and use of underutilized species: evidence from a community research project in Yemen

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of a set of interventions related to conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) on people's livelihoods. Specifically, a simultaneous three-equation model of households' participation on underutilized crops conservation and income generation activities is applied to evaluate the outcome of a pilot research project implemented by Bioversity International in Yemen between 2002 and 2005. Results generated show a relation between project participation and the perceived yield increase demonstrating the importance for farmers to actively participate in the project's activities and subsequently apply agronomic practices learnt to improve their livelihood. The generated benefits incentivized farmers to continue to apply the interventions beyond the lifetime of the project ensuring thus a sustainable process in which exogenous interventions, once adopted by farmers become integrant part of farmer's agronomic practices.     

The auctioneerless economics of Axel Leijonhufvud: the 'dark forces of time and ignorance' and the coordination of economic activity

Leijonhufvud focuses his analysis on the coordination of economicactivities. In a world tossed and torn by ever new episodesof instability, macroeconomic theory must finally admit andproperly analyse the limits of collective and individual rationality.Starting from the system's coordination, Leijonhufvud underlinesthe crucial role of information, learning and institutions.Coming to individual choice, he unremittingly rejects unboundedrationality. Methodologically, however, his use of general equilibriumas a benchmark seems to have conditioned his analysis. In bringingto light the ‘dark forces of time and ignorance’,Leijonhufvud himself seems to have fallen under the influenceof the siren represented by general equilibrium theory.     

Delegation of Contracting in the Private Provision of Public Services

We use an incomplete-contract approach to compare contracting out by a public sector agency with the delegation of contracting out to a public-private partnership (PPP) that is a joint venture between private and public sector agents. The PPP maximizes a linear combination of profit and social benefit. Such delegation may be desirable to curb innovations that reduce the cost of provision but also reduce social benefit. Delegation may be undesirable for innovations that increase social benefit but also raise costs. Our results are explained in terms of the shadow cost of public funds and the negotiating stance of the PPP.     

Bribery and investment: Firm‐level evidence from Africa and Latin America

Research summary : Using a unique database that measures firm‐level bribery in Africa and Latin America, we corroborate extant results in the literature that paying bribes deters firm investments in fixed assets. Our contribution is to explore four mechanisms. By adopting a reverse causality approach (Gelman and Imbens, 2013), we find evidence consistent with one of them: short‐term oriented firms prefer to bribe rather than invest in fixed assets, while the opposite is true for firms with a long‐term orientation. We rule out that bribe payments drain financial resources for investment, that firms that invest do not bribe because fixed assets make them less flexible and more vulnerable to future bribes, and that less efficient firms bribe rather than invest. Managerial summary : We ask whether, along with ethical issues, bribing affects the behavior and performance of firms in Africa and Latin America. Our statistical analysis shows that bribe payments do not reduce the short‐term performance of firms, but frustrate investments in fixed assets, which is the foundation of firms' long‐term growth. It is like seeking a job via nepotism or education. Nepotism makes it likely to find a job in the short term. However, the solid skills generated by education raise the odds of finding better jobs in the future. We rule out some common explanations for the trade‐off between bribing and investment (e.g., bribes drain resources to invest or that less efficient firms bribe and do not invest). Our analysis suggests that firms with short‐term orientations are more likely to bribe and firms with long‐term orientation are more likely to invest. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Remote Sensing for Agricultural Statistics

Remote sensing can be a valuable tool for agricultural statistics when area frames or multiple frames are used. At the design level, remote sensing typically helps in the definition of sampling units and the stratification, but can also be exploited to optimise the sample allocation and size of sampling units. At the estimator level, classified satellite images are generally used as auxiliary variables in a regression estimator or for estimators based on confusion matrixes. The most often used satellite images are LANDSAT-TM and SPOT-XS. In general, classified or photo-interpreted images should not be directly used to estimate crop areas because the proportion of pixels classified into the specific crop is often strongly biased. Vegetation indexes computed from satellite images can give in some cases a good indication of the potential crop yield.     

Consumers' identification and beyond: Attraction,reverence, and escapism in the evaluation of films

Secondary real‐world data on evaluations by the general public of the 440 movies ever nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award are used to explore the role of female/male consumers' identification with the leading actress/actor in determining judgments of motion picture excellence. Beyond identification, age‐ and gender‐based similarities with other movie components—namely, the leading opposite‐gender star, the director, and the setting—underlie other potential psychological mechanisms relevant to explaining the evaluations of films. Contrary to expectations, the findings indicate that identification with the same‐gender, same‐age leading star plays no signifi‐cant role. Conversely, younger opposite‐gender leading stars, older directors, and unfamiliar temporal settings contribute to favorable evaluations—thereby supporting the hypotheses of romantic attraction as a source of star power; reverence toward more mature directors; and an eagerness to escape from ordinary life, respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Endogenous skill heterogeneity and inflation

This paper examines the implications of ex ante skill heterogeneity for long run inflation. We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model in which there are two types of labor (skilled and unskilled), two types of capital (human and physical), and money is introduced via a cash in advance constraint on consumption purchases. Skill heterogeneity is characterized in terms of (i) a parameter governing the ease with which the two types of labor can be substituted for each other in production; and (ii) the “productivity” of human capital in the production of skill. The model includes the accumulation of human capital which in turn creates skill heterogeneity among workers through an efficiency wage mechanism. Numerical experiments indicate that there is a range of parameter estimates in which the Friedman Rule may not be optimal. Furthermore, our quantitative experiments also indicate that there is a range of parameter values in which a greater degree of skill heterogeneity may be associated with a greater preference for inflation. Empirically, we also find that the inflation and heterogeneity correlation is positive.     

Gente di Roma: an exercise of dérive by Ettore Scola

This article seeks to contribute to the understanding of the city film Gente di Roma by Ettore Scola [Roma Cinematografica (Production), & Scola, E. (Director). (2003). Gente di Roma [Motion picture]. Italy: Istituto Luce] through a combined focus which mingles tourism studies and cultural studies, in particular through theories on psychogeography formulated by the Situationist International, Erving Goffman's idea on front and back regions and Rojek and Urry's process of indexing and dragging. In the movie, the representation of travel aims at depicting the identity of Rome through an exercise in ‘dérive’ and a long journey by bus. This is aimed at exploring the identity of the metropolis, which here is considered in its postmodern version, revealing its fluidity and mutability. The changes that are affecting Rome have to do with the contribution of immigrants, suggesting how the mobility of people is currently provoking mobility in identity too.     

The representation of travel and identity in Bernardo Bertolucci's The sheltering sky

This study aims to analyse the representation of travel in movies by analysing Bernando Bertolucci's movie [Aldrich, W., Thomas, J. (Producers), & Bertolucci, B. (Director). (1990). The sheltering sky [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros]. Filmic travelogues are intended here as illustrations of a process of discovery and transformation of identity from a post-modern perspective. The questioning of the self happens through a journey to a timeless place which managed to preserve a sense of the past. The characters' transformation from tourists to travellers and nomads becomes a kind of pilgrimage in search of authenticity. In this perspective, the desert comes to represent a more general emptiness surrounding and inside the characters. The theories formulated by Bauman, Urry, MacCannell and Wang are central to this analysis, including the subjects of the quest of authenticity, the distinction between travellers and tourists and the files of representation.