Suchergebnisse

This paper describes agricultural policy choices and tests some predictions of political economy theories. It begins with three broad stylized facts: governments tend to tax agriculture in poorer countries, and subsidize it in richer ones, tax both imports and exports more than nontradables and tax more and subsidize less where there is more land per capita. We test a variety of political economy explanations, finding results consistent with hypothesized effects of rural and urban constituents' rational ignorance about small per person effects, governance institutions' control of rent seeking by political leaders, governments' revenue motive for taxation, and the role of time consistency in policy making. We also find that larger groups obtain more favorable policies, suggesting that positive group size effects outweigh any negative influence from free ridership, and that demographically driven entry of new farmers is associated with less favorable farm policies, suggesting the arrival of new farmers erodes policy rents and discourages political activity by incumbents. Another new result is that governments achieve very little price stabilization relative to our benchmark estimates of undistorted prices, and governments in the poorest countries actually destabilize domestic prices.

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of pupils' self-motivation on academic achievement in science across countries. By using the OECD´s Programme for International Student Assessment 2006 (PISA 2006) test, we find that self-motivation has a positive effect on students' performance. Instrumental Variables Quantile Regression is used to analyze the existence of different estimated coefficients over the scores distribution, allowing us to deal with the potential endogeneity of self-motivation. We find that the impact of intrinsic motivation on academic performance depends on the pupil's score. Our findings support the importance of designing focalized programs for different populations that foster their motivation towards learning.

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of pupils' self-motivation on academic achievement in science across countries. By using the OECD´s Programme for International Student Assessment 2006 (PISA 2006) test, we find that self-motivation has a positive effect on students' performance. Instrumental Variables Quantile Regression is used to analyze the existence of different estimated coefficients over the scores distribution, allowing us to deal with the potential endogeneity of self-motivation. We find that the impact of intrinsic motivation on academic performance depends on the pupil's score. Our findings support the importance of designing focalized programs for different populations that foster their motivation towards learning. ; Este documento presenta nueva evidencia sobre el efecto de la motivación de los estudiantes en el rendimiento académico. Utilizando la información del examen realizado por el Programa para la Evaluación Internacional de Alumnos de la OCDE en 2006 (PISA 2006), se encuentra que la motivación tiene un efecto positivo sobre el rendimiento de los estudiantes. Para esto, se recurre a la metodología de regresión cuantílica con variables instrumentales, la cual permite estimar diferentes coeficientes para las variables explicativas a lo largo de la distribución de puntajes en el examen y corregir por la posible endogeneidad de la motivación. Dado que el efecto de la motivación depende del puntaje de los estudiantes, nuestros resultados resaltan la importancia de diseñar políticas que promuevan la motivación focalizadas en función del rendimiento académico. ; Cet article présente des nouveaux résultats concernant l'effet de la motivation des élèves dans leur réussite scolaire, à partir des données disponibles dans l'examen effectué par le Programme for International Student Assessment de l'OCDE en 2006 (PISA 2006). Les résultats montrent que la motivation a un effet positif sur la réussite scolaire. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons la méthode des variables instrumentales de régression quantile, ce qui nous a permis d'estimer les différents coefficients pour les variables explicatives, tout au long de la distribution des scores dans l'examen, et corriger ainsi l'endogénéité possible de la variable motivation. Etant donne le fait que la motivation dépend des scores dans un examen, nos résultats soulignent l'importance de concevoir des politiques qui favorisent la motivation axée sur la réussite scolaire.

AbstractInduced by worsening environmental conditions, pursuing purpose, not solely profit, now constitutes an ethical obligation for leaders of business organisations, towards future generations. Consequently, increasing numbers of businesses seek to become purpose-led (PLBs), but challenges exist. Despite the significant growth in PLB research since the turn of the millennium, attention has mainly focussed on multinational companies, although small- and medium-sized businesses (MSBs) hugely impact any economy. This research sets out to better understand the challenges faced by leaders of companies undergoing purpose-led MSB transitioning. Thematic analysis of the interview data from founders and leaders of B-Corp certified purpose-led MSBs revealed six specific challenges consistent with literature findings, but also provided uniquely useful insights from the leaders' perspectives. Integrated business strategies or solutions, which meet multiple challenges simultaneously, revolve around a strong corporate reputation and organisational identity driven by corporate communication. Corporate communication engages stakeholders, builds trust, reinforces reputation, and serves as a strategic intervention for differentiating purpose-led MSBs in the marketplace, shaping organisational identity. Overall, the work provides leaders of MSBs with a practical guide for navigating their challenges and developing leadership practices to enable purpose-led transformations.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) residing in the bone marrow (BM) accumulate during aging but are functionally impaired. However, the role of HSC-intrinsic and -extrinsic aging mechanisms remains debated. Megakaryocytes promote quiescence of neighboring HSCs. Nonetheless, whether megakaryocyte-HSC interactions change during pathological/natural aging is unclear. Premature aging in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome recapitulates physiological aging features, but whether these arise from altered stem or niche cells is unknown. Here, we show that the BM microenvironment promotes myelopoiesis in premature/physiological aging. During physiological aging, HSC-supporting niches decrease near bone but expand further from bone. Increased BM noradrenergic innervation promotes β2-adrenergic-receptor(AR)-interleukin-6-dependent megakaryopoiesis. Reduced β3-AR-Nos1 activity correlates with decreased endosteal niches and megakaryocyte apposition to sinusoids. However, chronic treatment of progeroid mice with β3-AR agonist decreases premature myeloid and HSC expansion and restores the proximal association of HSCs to megakaryocytes. Therefore, normal/premature aging of BM niches promotes myeloid expansion and can be improved by targeting the microenvironment. ; Y.-H.O. received fellowships from Alborada Scholar-ship (University of Cambridge), Trinity-Henry Barlow Scholarship (Universityof Cambridge), and R.O.C. Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (GSSA). A.G.G. received fellowships from the Ramon Areces Foundationand the LaCaixa Foundation. C.K. was supported by Marie Curie Career Inte-gration (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015-70841). S.M.-F. was supported by Red TerCel (ISCIII-Spanish Cell Therapy Network). V.A. is supported by grants from theSpanish Ministerio de Economıa,Industria y Competitividad (MEIC) with co-funding from the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, ''Una manerade hacer Europa'') (SAF2016-79490-R), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (AC16/00091 and AC17/00067), the Fundacio Marato TV3 (122/C/2015), and the Progeria Research Foundation (Established Investigator Award 2014–52). TheCNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (MCIU), and the Pro CNIC Foundation,and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505). This work wassupported by core support grants from the Wellcome Trust and the MRC to theCambridge Stem Cell Institute, MEIC (SAF-2011-30308), Ramon y Cajal Program Grant (RYC-2009-04703), ConSEPOC-Comunidad de Madrid (S2010/BMD-2542), National Health Service Blood and Transplant (United Kingdom), European Union's Horizon 2020 research (ERC-2014-CoG-64765 and MarieCurie Career Integration grant FP7-PEOPLE-2011-RG-294096), and a Programme Foundation Award from Cancer Research UK to S.M.-F., who wasalso supported in part by an International Early Career Scientist grant fromthe Howard Hughes Medical Institute. ; Sí