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The main aim of the paper is to show and examine how culture shapes human progress; in particular—how values determine economic development. The author describes culture as an axiological sphere including values, rules, customs, beliefs attitudes and worldviews that are prevalent in a given society. According to the humanistic perspective (called cultural turn), adequate values and other axiological determinants have a very positive impact on economic development of each society. The author analyses Mariano Grondona's twenty cultural factors: religion, trust in the individual, the moral imperative, two concepts of wealth, different views of competition, two notions of Justice, the value of work, the role of Heresy, education, the importance of utility, the lesser virtues, time focus, rationality, authority, worldview, life view, salvation from or in the world, two Utopians, nature of optimism, two visions of democracy. The main thesis of the Grondona's work is that economic development and well-being of civilization depends on choosing a progressive value system by a society. The author emphasizes that a further study must be conducted to understand and apply scientifically this model. ; Publication of English-language versions of the volumes of the "Annales. Ethics in Economic Life" financed through contract no. 501/1/P-DUN/2017 from the funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education devoted to the promotion of scholarship.

Hans-Werner Sinn antwortet auf Einwände zu seinem Artikel »Ökonomische Effekte der Migration«.

Hans-Werner Sinn stellt weitere Überlegungen zu den Kosten-Nutzen-Rechnungen der Migration zur Diskussion.

In Ergänzung zu den Beiträgen im ifo Schnelldienst 3/2015 plädiert Achim Dercks, Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag, dafür, den eingeschlagenen Weg mit erleichterten zuwanderungsrechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen weiter zu gehen und geeignete Willkommensstrukturen zu etablieren, um die Zuwanderung nach Deutschland langfristig positiv zu gestalten.

We present evidence that the recent African growth renaissance has reached Africa's poor. Using survey data on African income distributions and national accounts GDP, we estimate income distributions, poverty rates, and inequality indices for African countries for the period 1990-2011. Our findings are as follows. First, African poverty is falling rapidly. Second, the African countries for which good inequality data exist are set to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) poverty reduction target on time. The entire continent except for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will reach the MDG in 2014, one year in advance of the deadline, and adding the DRC will delay the MDG until 2018. Third, the growth spurt that began in 1995, if anything, decreased African income inequality instead of increasing it . And fourth, African poverty reduction is remarkably general: It cannot be explained by a large country or even by a single set of countries possessing some beneficial geographical or historical characteristic. All classes of countries, including those with disadvantageous geography and history, experienced reductions in poverty. In particular, poverty fell for both landlocked as well as coastal countries; for mineral-rich as well as mineral-poor countries; for countries with favorable or unfavorable agriculture; for countries regardless of colonial origin; and for countries with below- or above-median slave exports per capita during the African slave trade.

This paper examines whether an expansion in the supply of public preschool crowds out private enrollment, using rich data for municipalities in Brazil from 2000-2006, where federal transfers to local governments change discontinuously with given population thresholds. Results from a regression-discontinuity design reveal that larger federal transfers lead to a significant expansion of local public preschool services, but show no effects on the quantity or quality of private provision. These findings are consistent with a theory in which households differ in willingness to pay for preschool services, and private suppliers optimally adjust prices in response to an expansion of lower-quality, free-of-charge public supply.

This paper is the first attempt to analyse the effect of the Brexit Referendum results on subjective well-being of immigrants living in the UK. Using the national representative UK Household Longitudinal Study (Understanding Society) data and adopting a difference-in-differences estimates, we define natives as control group, and different sub-groups of immigrants as treatment groups. The current analysis suggests that following the EU Referendum Results Non-EU migrants experienced an improvement in both mental health and life satisfaction relative to the UK natives. The results are robust to several robustness checks. Among others, we account for unobserved individual fixed effects and for unbalanced panel data. The results are consistent with the idea that the end of free movement for EU immigrants has alleviated the sense of discrimination and frustration felt by Non-EU immigrants results mainly of the toughened visa restrictions enforced since 2010 by the UK Government.

Hans-Werner Sinn zeigt die ökonomischen Effekte der Migration und diskutiert die Frage, ob man die Migration so steuern sollte, dass sie zur Stabilisierung und zum Nutzen der bereits ansässigen Bevölkerung beiträgt.

This paper explores the linkages between gender, local knowledge systems and agrobiodiversity for food security by using the case study of LinKS, a regional FAO project in Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Tanzania over a period of eight years and now concluded. The project aimed to raise awareness on how rural men and women use and manage agrobiodiversity, and to promote the importance of local knowledge for food security and sustainable agrobiodiversity at local, institutional and policy levels by working with a diverse range of stakeholders to strengthen their ability to recognize and value farmers' knowledge and to use gender-sensitive and participatory approaches in their work. This was done through three key activities: capacity building, research and communication. The results of the LinKS study show clearly that men and women farmers hold very specific local knowledge about the plants and animals they manage. Local knowledge, gender and agrobiodiversity are closely interrelated. If one of these elements is threatened, the risk of losing agrobiodiversity increases, having negative effects on food security. Increased productivity, economic growth and agricultural productivity are important elements in poverty reduction. The diverse and complex agroecological environment of Sub-Saharan Africa requires that future efforts be based on more localized solutions while maintaining a global outlook. Food security will have to build much more on local knowledge and agrobiodiversity with a clear understanding of gender implications while keeping in mind the continuously changing global socioeconomic and political conditions. – gender ; biodiversity ; agrobiodiversity ; indigenous knowledge ; conservation ; sustainable management ; genetic resources ; participation ; livelihoods

This study attempts to determine the extent to which human potential may be unlocked by government or other formal sector actions that induce voluntary contributions by individuals to the activities of Indonesia's posyandus or village health posts. Posyandus have been an important feature of Indonesia's public health system and have contributed substantially to the country's success in lowering infant and child mortality rates at low cost. Our analysis of links between formal activity and voluntary contributions to posyandus is conducted at two levels: individuals and posyandus, and with two different indicators at each level. Our empirical results take advantage of data from all three waves of the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), i.e., IFLS1, IFLS2 and IFLS3. At each level of analysis there is evidence that voluntary contributions and effective service provision can be positively affected by formal sector intervention. Both community level characteristics, such as income per capita, income inequality, ethnic and religious diversity, and household and individual characteristics have different effects on the different outcome variables at both levels of analysis. The results demonstrate that appropriately designed formal sector interventions can induce voluntary inputs and, through the public goods produced, they can unlock the human potential. – voluntarism ; Indonesia ; health service provision ; government intervention

Contemporary civil wars are rooted in a partial or complete breakdown of the social contract, often involving disputes over public spending, resource revenues, and taxation. A feasible social contract gives potential rebels something akin to a transfer. When this is improbable, and the potential spoils are rich then warfare is more likely. Grievances, not just pure greed, motivate war. But peace deals can also break down when commitments are not credible. Successful reconstruction after war must rebuild the social contract. The chances of success increase if the economy can achieve broadbased growth. If grievances can be satisfied by absolute improvements in living standards the present donor focus on absolute poverty reduction will be conducive to reviving the social contract. But if grievances are expressed in relative terms, governments and donors must also address inequality and regional gaps. – conflict ; contract ; civil war ; reconstruction

Immigration detention is formally not a punishment, but governments do use it to deter illegal residence. This study examines whether and how immigration detention affects detainees' decision-making processes regarding departure, thereby possibly resulting in de facto "specific deterrence." Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted in the Netherlands with 81 immigration detainees, and their case files were examined. Evidence is found for a limited, selective deterrence effect at the level of detainee's attitudes: most respondents considered immigration detention a painful and distressing experience, but only a minority—mostly labor migrants without family ties in the Netherlands—developed a preference to return to their country of citizenship in hopes of ending their exposure, including repeated exposure, to the detention. In line with defiance theory, we find that eventual deterrent effects mostly occurred among detainees who also attributed some measure of legitimacy to their detention. Among some detainees, the detention experience resulted in a preference to migrate to a neighboring European country.

The paper examines the distributional consequences of financial crises based on the lessons of the past crises experiences of Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, and Turkey. It identifies the possible channels through which crises may affect functional and personal distribution of income. It concludes that the crises of the last two decades have both pro-capital and pro-finance distributional outcomes. JEL classification: D31, E25, O15, G01

La migración de colombianos a España ha crecido considerablemente en los últimos años, y con ella el flujo de remesas enviadas a Colombia. Este artículo analiza el perfil socioeconómico de los emigrantes de Medellín a España, identificando las principales características que los definen. Adicionalmente, se estudia el uso, que tanto los emigrantes como sus familiares en Colombia, desearían brindar a los recursos enviados, puesto que el mayor porcentaje de estas remesas continúa enfocado hacia el consumo. Estos resultados se obtienen a partir de la aplicación de una encuesta a un grupo de emigrantes antioqueños en España. Palabras claves: Remesas, migración, perfil socioeconomic. Clasificación JEL: F22, O15 Abstract: The migration of Colombians to Spain has grown considerably in recent years, and so has the flow of remittances. This article examines the socio-economic profile of migrants from Medellín to Spain, identifying the main characteristics that define them. Additionally, we studied the use that both migrants and their families in Colombia would like to provide to the sent resources, as the largest percent of these remittances continues to be focused towards consumption to a great extent. These results are obtained from a survey conducted on a group of migrants in Spain. Keywords: Remittances, migration, socio-economic profile. JEL Classification: F22, O15 Résumé: La migration des colombiens vers l'Espagne s'est considérablement accrue pendant les dernières années, et donc le flux de remises envoyées en Colombie. Cet article analyse, plus précisément, le profil socio-économique des émigrants de la ville de Medellín vers l'Espagne, tout en identifiant leurs principales caractéristiques. Nous analysons en plus l.affectation finale des ressources envoyées en tenant compte des souhaits à la fois des émigrants et de leurs familles au pays. Ainsi, nous montrons que la plus grande partie des remises est affectée à la consommation. Ces résultats sont obtenus à partir d'un sondage effectué sur un groupe d'émigrants du Département d.Antioquia résidents en Espagne. Mots Clef: Remises, migration, profil socio-économique. Classification JEL: F22, O15