The formation and evolution of childhood skill acquisition: Evidence from India

Building on recent advances in the literature and using a rich data set for two cohorts of children aged between one and twelve for Andhra Pradesh, India, we investigate the determinants of children's cognitive as well as non-cognitive skills. We find evidence of self-productivity for cognitive skills and cross-productivity effects from cognitive on non-cognitive skills. Moreover, we demonstrate that parental investment has contemporaneously positive effects on skill levels for all age groups. Investigating other determinants of these skills, we find child health at age one to influence cognitive abilities at age five, whilst child health at age one is influenced by parental care already during pregnancy and earliest childhood. Understanding the determinants which account explicitly for the effect of a large number of child, caregiver and household characteristics provides insights with regard to possible policy interventions to improve the chances of children in poor environments of developing cognitive and non-cognitive skills crucial for success in many spheres of life.     

The Use and Abuse of Export Subsidies: Evidence from Colombia

(12033) Christian Helmers and Natalia Trofimenko We evaluate the impact of firm‐specific export subsidies on exports in Colombia. Using a two‐step selection model, we predict firm‐specific subsidy amounts that can be explained by the characteristics that determine firms’ eligibility for government support and its amount. Drawing on the accounts of the discretionary allocation of subsidies in developing countries, we interpret the discrepancy between the predicted and the observed subsidy amounts as a proxy for a firm's ties to government officials. Controlling for observable and unobservable firm characteristics as well as persistence in exporting, we find that although, in general, subsidies exhibit a positive impact on export volumes, this impact is diminishing in subsidy size and in the degree of a firm's connectedness.     

Innovation and the Survival of New Firms in the UK

This paper analyzes the survival over the subsequent 5-year period of the complete cohort of nearly 162,000 limited companies that incorporated in Britain in 2001. The paper focuses on the relationship between innovation and survival at the firm-level. The data available allow us to look at the intellectual property (IP) activity of all British firms, including that of the cohort of new firms in 2001. The results indicate that IP activity, measured as patenting and trade-marking, is associated with a considerably lower probability of exit. We also find substantial differences in survival probabilities across sectors. In some sectors patenting is associated with a lower probability of exit; however, trade-marking is associated with lower probability in almost all sectors.     

Time-driven activity-based cost analysis for outpatient anticoagulation therapy: direct costs in a primary care setting with optimal performance

Objectives: To determine how overall cost of anticoagulation therapy for warfarin compares with that of Novel Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). Also, to demonstrate a scientific, comprehensive, and an analytical approach to estimate direct costs involved in monitoring and management of anticoagulation therapy for outpatients in an academic primary care clinic setting, post-initiation of therapy.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in conjunction with observations of patient care processes between August 2014 and January 2015. The study was conducted in an academic primary care outpatient setting at Mayo Clinic’s warfarin anticoagulation clinic, Rochester, MN. The anticoagulation clinic serves patients 18?years of age or older in Warfarin therapy management, for any indication, after referral from the patient’s primary care provider. The study included anticoagulation clinic enrollment data on a population of 5,526 patients. Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) technique was applied. Detailed process flow maps which showed process steps for all the anticoagulation program components and care continuum phases were created. Staff roles associated with each of the process steps were identified and displayed on the maps. Process times and costs were captured and analyzed. The main outcome was direct cost of monitoring and management of anticoagulation therapy, post-initiation of therapy.

Results: The cost of warfarin management for patients who display unstable International Normalized Ratio (INR) is more than three times those who display stable INR over time. (Comparator to distinguish stability: Frequency of point-of-care visits needed by patients.) For complex anticoagulation patients, total cost of medication and monitoring for warfarin anticoagulation therapy is similar to that for NOACs.

Conclusion: Despite warfarin being significantly less expensive to purchase than NOACs, overall warfarin management incurs higher costs due to laboratory monitoring and provider time than NOACs. NOAC treatment, therefore, may not be more expensive than warfarin therapy management for complex anticoagulation patients.     

On a crossroad of resampling plans: bootstrapping elementary symmetric polynomials

We investigate the validity of the bootstrap method for the elementary symmetric polynomials S ^{( k )} _n =( ⁿ _k )⁻¹Σ_{1≤ i 1}< ... < i _k ≤ n X _{i 1} ... X _{i k} of i.i.d. random variables X ₁, ..., X _n . For both fixed and increasing order k , as n→∞ the cases where μ=E X ₁[moe2]0, the nondegenerate case, and where μ=E X ₁=0, the degenerate case, are considered.     

SPECIALIZATION AND FLEXIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS IN A POLYPERIOD FIRM INVESTMENT MODEL*

A 20-year polyperiod linear programming model was developed for a representative eastern Nebraska farm maximizing discounted net returns. The objective centered on determining optimal investment behavior under varying livestock prices. A constant-price model employed constant hog and cattle prices while two cyclical-price models were based upon a 10-year cattle and a 5-year hog price cycle. The initial restrictions were 320 acres, $10,000 of capital, and 2080 hours of labor. Programming activities included crops, swine, cattle feeding, long- and short-term capital borrowing, labor hiring, land purchase, and other features. Four specialized cattle facility investments were included varying in their capital and labor requirements and length of asset life. Both conventional and environmentally regulated swine facility investment activities were included. In addition, a flexible livestock facility investment was provided should the optimal operating strategy include year-to-year adjustments between swine and cattle. The results for the constant-price and cyclical-price models followed a trend of early large swine investments followed by increasing land ownership. Solutions to the three models did not include cattle feeding nor the flexible livestock facility investment. A slight response to the hog price cycle was observed in the timing of hog investments when the constant and cyclical-price models were compared. Un modèle de programmation lineaire, comportant plusieurs périodes échelonnées en vingt ans, a été développé pour une ferme représentative dans ?esl du Nebraska. Ce modèle escomplait des revenus nets maximum. ?objectif viséétait de déterminer quelle serait la meilleureforme ?investissement dans un cas où le prix de bétail subirait des variations. Un modèle à prix fixe utilisait des prix stables pour le pore et le bétail, alors que deux modèles a prix cyclique etaient bases sur une echelle de prix de dix ans pour le bétail et cinq ans pour le pore. Les restrictions initiates etaient les suivantes: 320 acres, un capital de $10,000. et 2,080 heures de travail. Les activités de programmation incluaienl les recoltes, le pore, ?empruni de capital à long el à court terme, ?emploi de la main ?oeuvre, ?achat de terrain, el ?autres caractéristiques. Les investissemenls incluaienl quatre installations specialisees pour le bétail, variant selon le capital, la main ?oeuvre requise el la durée de vie. Les activités ?investissement incluaienl des installations pour le pore à la fois conventionnelles et conformes à des règles ?envi-ronnement. De plus, un investissemenl flexible était prévu pour une installation du bétail, venant le cas où la meilleur stratégic dans les opérations incluerait des ajuste-ment annuels enlre le pore el le bétail. Les résultats obtenus G partir des modèles a prix constant et à prix cyclique ont demontré une tendance à des inveslissemenls précoces el abondants dans le pore, suivis ?un accroissement dans la possession de terrain. Les solutions des trois modèles n'incluaienl ni la nutrition du bétail ni ?investissement flexible pour une installation du bétail. Lorsqu'on a comparé les modèles a prix constant et cyclique, on a pu observer une faible réaction au cycle de prix du pore, selon le moment choisipour investir dans le porc     

Adoption potential of nitrate mitigation practices: an ecosystem services approach

Nitrate pollution from agricultural drainage has caused water quality concerns worldwide, but there are several promising technologies to help mitigate this environmental degradation. While these practices primarily aim to improve water quality, they may also provide other ‘additive’ benefits or ecosystem services and the awareness of such benefits may influence their potential to be adopted by farmers. To investigate the impact that perceived ecosystem services has on a practice's adoption potential, we used a mixed methods approach consisting of a literature review, producer surveys, and a group discussion to explore farmer interest in and perceived benefits (on-farm and regional) of seven subsurface drainage nitrate reduction practices (controlled drainage, bioreactors, wetlands, nitrogen management rate, nitrogen management timing, cover crops, and diversified crop rotations). The nitrogen management practices were shown to be accessible and realistic options for water quality improvement as they elicited high interest and had the highest level of compatibility. However, these practices did not provide many other complementary ecosystem services. Conversely, wetlands had a high literature review-derived ecosystem service count, but were considered to have low compatibility, and survey respondents indicated less interest in this practice. The practice of cover cropping showed more moderate, yet consistently positive results for all factors.