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Theoretical Reasons (theoretical + reason)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences37%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting25%

Selected Abstracts

Agricultural Productivity Growth and Poverty Alleviation

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 4 2001
Xavier Irz
How important is agricultural growth to poverty reduction? This article first sets out the theoretical reasons for expecting agricultural growth to reduce poverty. Several plausible and strong arguments apply - including the creation of jobs on the land, linkages from farming to the rest of the rural economy, and a decline in the real cost of food for the whole economy - but the degree of impact is in all cases qualified by particular circumstances. Hence, the article deploys a cross-country estimation of the links between agricultural yield per unit area and measures of poverty. This produces strong confirmation of the hypothesised linkages. It is unlikely that there are many other development interventions capable of reducing the numbers in poverty so effectively. [source]

Does multinational activity displace trade?

ECONOMIC INQUIRY, Issue 2 2000
KA Clausing
Using two-panel data sets on the operations of U.S. multinational firms abroad and the operations of foreign multinational firms in the United States, this article examines the empirical relationship between international trade and multinational activity. The evidence supports the conclusion that multinational activity and trade are complementary activities, particularly multinational activity and intrafirm trade. This empirical result is consistent with the theoretical reasons one might expect a complementary relationship between the two activities and is also robust to different approaches and specifications. [source]

Oral status indicators DMFT and FS-T: reflections on index selection

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2001
Annemarie A. Schuller
Oral status in a population has traditionally been described by the DMFT index (decayed, filled, and missing teeth). There seems to be contradicting and confusing evidence in the literature with regard to the usefulness of different indices. Limitations of the DMFT are recognised, and attempts have been made to develop other indices. Two indices, DMFT and FS-T (filled and sound teeth) have been selected for analysis in the present paper. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between DMFT and FS-T in different populations, and to show consequences of choice of index exemplified in analytical analysis. Data stem from the Trøndelag-83 and -94 studies that were follow-up studies of the Norwegian portion of the 1973 International Collaborative Study. Sunflower scatter plots and regression analyses were used to describe the variation in DMFT and FS-T in different populations. DMFT was more suitable for describing variation in populations with low levels of disease than FS-T, while FS-T was more suitable for describing variation in populations with high levels of disease. It may be concluded that both DMFT and FS-T should be presented when describing oral status in a population. However, choice of index depends first of all on the purpose of the investigation. If there are theoretical reasons to prefer one index instead of the other, the superiority of the alternative index in terms of variation must be disregarded. [source]

Reliable computation of mixture critical points

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2001
Benito A. Stradi
The determination of critical points of mixtures is important for both practical and theoretical reasons in modeling phase behavior, especially at high pressure. This article presents the first completely reliable method for locating all the critical points of a given mixture. The method also verifies the nonexistence of a critical point if a mixture of a given composition does not have one. The methodology used is based on interval analysis, in particular an interval Newton/generalized bisection algorithm providing a mathematical and computational guarantee that all mixture critical points are located. The procedure is initialization-independent and thus requires no a priori knowledge of the number of mixture critical points or their approximate locations. The technique is illustrated using several example problems involving cubic equation-of-state models; however, the technique is for general purpose and can be applied in connection with other thermodynamic models. [source]

Corporatism and Democratic Transition: State and Labor During the Salinas and Zedillo Administrations

LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 4 2002
James G. Samstad
ABSTRACT A long process of free-market reforms and gradual democratization seems to be dismantling Mexico's corporatist system of labor representation. A thorough analysis of the country's corporatist institutions yields theoretical reasons to believe that Mexico's practice of labor relations is indeed changing. An empirical examination of the nation's labor congress and ruling party during the two previous presidential administrations (1988,2000) demonstrates that corporatism is being transformed at a practical level, although the process of reform has been complex and uneven at best. The continuing strength of an officialist labor sector will complicate the task of establishing a new system of labor representation, a problem that may have important implications for future democratic consolidation. [source]

THE MYTH OF CARTESIAN QUALIA

PACIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2007
RAFFAELLA DE ROSA
Accordingly, Descartes' view would be that in perceiving the color red, for example, we are merely experiencing the subjective feel of redness rather than seeming to perceive a property of bodies. In this paper, I establish that the argument and textual evidence offered in support of SV fail to prove that Descartes held this view. Indeed, I will argue that there are textual and theoretical reasons for believing that Descartes held the negation of SV. Qualia aren't Descartes' legacy. [source]

Nachhaltige Finanz- und Investitionspolitik der Bundesländer,

PERSPEKTIVEN DER WIRTSCHAFTSPOLITIK, Issue S1 2007
Wolfgang Kitterer
Their portion of the public debt amounts to nearly 40 percent. Econometric tests show that the fiscal policy of the federal states taken collectively is not sustainable. The requirement for fiscal sustainability is fulfilled only by two western Laender, Hesse and North-Rhine Westphalia, and one eastern Land (Saxony). Furthermore, it is shown that the constitutional "golden rule" stipulating that borrowing should not exceed investment expenditures does not ensure the solvency of the states. This holds for theoretical reasons but also because there is a lack of clarity and enforceability. Finally, it is argued that the commitment of subnational governments to sustainable public finances could be strengthened by invigorating state-level tax and expenditure autonomy. [source]

Why repetitive DNA is essential to genome function

BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 2 2005
James A. Shapiro
ABSTRACT There are clear theoretical reasons and many well-documented examples which show that repetitive DNA is essential for genome function. Generic repeated signals in the DNA are necessary to format expression of unique coding sequence files and to organise additional functions essential for genome replication and accurate transmission to progeny cells. Repetitive DNA sequence elements are also fundamental to the cooperative molecular interactions forming nucleoprotein complexes. Here, we review the surprising abundance of repetitive DNA in many genomes, describe its structural diversity, and discuss dozens of cases where the functional importance of repetitive elements has been studied in molecular detail. In particular, the fact that repeat elements serve either as initiators or boundaries for heterochromatin domains and provide a significant fraction of scaffolding/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs) suggests that the repetitive component of the genome plays a major architectonic role in higher order physical structuring. Employing an information science model, the ,functionalist' perspective on repetitive DNA leads to new ways of thinking about the systemic organisation of cellular genomes and provides several novel possibilities involving repeat elements in evolutionarily significant genome reorganisation. These ideas may facilitate the interpretation of comparisons between sequenced genomes, where the repetitive DNA component is often greater than the coding sequence component. [source]