DOES STUDENT WORK REALLY AFFECT EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES? A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

We review the theories put forward, methodological approaches used and empirical conclusions found in the multidisciplinary literature on the relationship between student employment and educational outcomes. A systematic comparison of the empirical work yields new insights that go beyond the overall reported negative effect of more intensive working schemes and that are of high academic and policy relevance. One such insight uncovered by our review is that student employment seems to have a more adverse effect on educational decisions (continuing studies and enrolment in tertiary education) than on educational performance (test and exam scores).     

Mapping natural resource-based poverty,with an application to rural Syria

This study presents advances in resource-based poverty mapping. It illustrates how agricultural income distribution maps can be generated at small pixel-level, providing an application of the approach in rural Syria. Census data on agriculture and population are disaggregated based on pixel-level agricultural productivity coefficients derived in a GIS environment. The approach, triangulated with survey results and compared with sub-national poverty maps, shows that the better-income areas of Syria are located in the irrigated and higher-rainfall areas, though lower-income pockets exist due to the presence of ecological and topographic factors or due to high population density. The method can be used for developing high-resolution, low cost maps for rapid detection of resource-driven poverty in low income countries where agriculture is a major source of rural income, and where poverty mapping is rarely undertaken due to the high costs involved.     

Western Financial Agents and Islamic Ethics

This paper investigates Western professional bankers’ perceptions of Islamic finance. Exploiting data from an original survey, we carry out a principal component analysis (PCA) to characterize the main dimensions on which financial agents diverge. The PCA extracts five dimensions—accounting for 61 % of the variance in the agents’ answers—that we interpret with the help of a pilot field survey. In addition to confirm the increased association of Islamic financial values with ethical practices in the West, our results allow us to understand how the observed growth of the industry has been conceptualized by conventional agents. The five dimensions identified shed light on the multitude of constructs that have informed the diffusion of Islamic financial ideas to international markets. This supports the fact that Islamic finance cannot be seen as a single movement but is characterized by opposing and concurrent logics in global markets.     

Firm Heterogeneity,Endogenous Quality,and Traded Goods Prices

A model with endogenous quality and firm heterogeneity is developed. Firms can invest in quality, and quality investment is relatively skill intensive. The model is used to account for two findings in the empirical literature on traded goods prices, lacking a formal explanation in the theoretical literature thus far. First, the model provides a theoretical explanation for Schott's (Quarterly Journal of Economics 2004, 119, 647) empirical finding that relatively skill‐abundant countries export higher priced goods. Firms in these countries invest more in quality and therefore sell higher quality, higher priced goods. Second, the opposite effects of importer market size on traded goods prices at the firm level (positive) and at the aggregate level (negative) identified in the empirical literature can be explained with the model. In a larger market, the incentive to invest in quality is larger for each firm, leading to higher firm‐level prices. Due to a selection effect, also less productive firms selling goods of lower quality can export to larger markets, implying lower aggregate prices.     

Long-term debt maturity and financing constraints of SMEs during the Global Financial Crisis

We use the recent financial crisis to investigate financing constraints of private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belgium. We hypothesize that SMEs with a large proportion of long-term debt maturing at the start of the crisis had difficulties to renew their loans due to the negative credit supply shock, and hence could invest less. We find a substantial variation in the maturity structure of long-term debt. Firms which at the start of the crisis had a larger part of their long-term debt maturing within the next year experienced a significantly larger drop in investments in 2009. This effect is driven by firms which are ex ante more likely to be financially constrained. Consistent with a causal effect of a credit supply shock to corporate investments, we find no effect in “placebo” periods without a negative credit supply shock.     

Early Bayesian modeling of a potassium lab-on-a-chip for monitoring of heart failure patients at increased risk of hyperkalaemia

ObjectivesInnovative point-of-care (POC) diagnostics are likely to have a strong impact on health care. The aim of this study is to conduct an early assessment of a point-of-care chip for the detection of a pathological deviation of the potassium levels in patients at increased risk, specifically in patients with heart failure (HF) requiring diuretics and ACE inhibitors that can both interfere with potassium levels, which may lead to serious clinical complications. This study also identifies the key factors that determine the success of the application under study.MethodsA Markov health state transition model was developed representing the disease process. Model parameters were obtained from various literature sources and estimated using interviews and related data. Simulation was carried out for 60 cycles of 1 month each. A discount rate of 3.5% was used, both for costs and utilities. In order to assess uncertainty a probabilistic sensitivity analysis was carried out from which a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve was derived.ResultsFor an anticipated number of 121 measurements per year with a cost of €16.60 per chip, an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 34,856 €/QALY was found. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the threshold for the costs per chip was €19.30 in order to maintain a positive net monetary benefit. Also, model results are very sensitive to the utility of hyperkalaemia and to the probability to develop severe hyperkalaemia.ConclusionsThe question whether or not a POC chip to measure potassium concentrations in order to avoid a severe potassium imbalance is likely to be cost-effective cannot be definitively answered with the information at our disposal. Further research should focus on heart failure patients at particularly high risk of severe life-threatening hyperkalaemia, for instance in the presence of significant renal dysfunction. It may be expected that the use of the chip in such patient populations may render this point-of-care application very cost-effective.     

FIRM SIZE AND DIVIDEND ANNOUNCEMENTS

This study documents an association between firm size and abnormal returns from the announcement of large dividend increases. Dividend announcements are examined only where there are no contemporaneous earnings announcements. The methodology controls for both the payout ratio of firms and the size of the dividend increase. Using means tests and analysis of variance, the findings indicate that the abnormal stock price reaction to a dividend increase is greater for small firms.