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Economic Determinants (economic + determinant)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	50%

Selected Abstracts

Economic determinants of biodiversity change over a 400-year period in the Scottish uplands

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2008
Nick Hanley
Summary 1Economic forces are recognized as an important driving factor behind current biodiversity losses. This study investigates whether such factors have been important in determining one measure of biodiversity change over the ,long run', in our case, 400 years , for upland sites in Scotland. 2A combination of palaeoecological, historical and economic methods is used to construct and then analyse a database of factors contributing to changes in plant diversity over time for 11 upland sites. 3Using an instrumental variables panel model, we find livestock prices, our proxy for grazing pressure, to be a statistically significant determinant of diversity change, with higher grazing pressures resulting in lower diversity values on average, although site abandonment is also found to result in a fall in plant diversity. Technological change, such as the introduction of new animal breeds, was not found to be a statistically significant determinant. 4Using later period data (post 1860) on livestock numbers at the parish (local) level, we were able to confirm the main result noted above (3) in terms of the effects of higher grazing pressures on plant diversity. 5Synthesis and applications. This study shows how data from very different disciplines can be combined to address questions relevant to contemporary conservation and understanding. This novel, interdisciplinary approach provides new insights into the role of economic factors as a driver of biodiversity loss in the uplands. Biodiversity levels have varied considerably over 400 years, partly as a function of land management, suggesting that establishing baselines or ,natural' target levels for biodiversity is likely to be problematic. Changes in livestock grazing pressures brought about by changes in prices had statistically significant effects on estimated plant diversity, as did land abandonment. This suggests that long-term management of upland areas for the conservation of diversity should focus on grazing pressures as a key policy attribute. Another policy implication is that drastic cuts in grazing pressures , such as might occur under current reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy , can have adverse biodiversity consequences. [source]

Economic determinants of default risks and their impacts on credit derivative pricing,

THE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 11 2010
Szu-Lang Liao
This study constructs a credit derivative pricing model using economic fundamentals to evaluate CDX indices and quantify the relationship between credit conditions and the economic environment. Instead of selecting specific economic variables, numerous economic and financial variables have been condensed into a few explanatory factors to summarize the noisy economic system. The impacts on default intensity processes are then examined based on no-arbitrage pricing constraints. The approximated results show that economic factors indicated credit problems even before the recent subprime mortgage crisis, and economic fundamentals strongly influenced credit conditions. Testing of out-of-sample data shows that credit evolution can be identified by dynamic explanatory factors. Consequently, the factor-based pricing model can either facilitate the evaluation of default probabilities or manage default risks more effectively by quantifying the relationship between economic environment and credit conditions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark [source]

Economic development, institutional change, and the political economy of agricultural protection An econometric study of Belgium since the 19th century

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2001
Johan F.M. Swinnen
Abstract This empirical study uses 100 years of annual data on 11 agricultural commodities from Belgium to measure the impact of structural changes coinciding with economic development and changes in political institutions on agricultural protection. The analysis shows that changes in agricultural protection are caused by a combination of factors. Governments have increased protection and support to farmers when world market prices for their commodities fell, and vice versa, offsetting market effects on producer incomes. Other economic determinants were the share of the commodities in total consumer expenditures (negative effect) and in total output of the economy (positive effect). With Belgium a small economy, there was no impact of the trade position. Changes in political institutions have affected agricultural protection. Democratic reforms which induced a significant shift in the political balance towards agricultural interests, such as the introduction of the one-man-one-vote system, led to an increase in agricultural protection. The integration of Belgian agricultural policies in the Common Agricultural Policy in 1968 coincided with an increase in protection, ceteris paribus. Both institutional factors, related to changes in access to and information about the decision-making at the EU level, and structural changes in the agricultural and food economy may explain this effect. [source]

Rates of caesarean section: analysis of global, regional and national estimates

PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
Ana P. Betrán
Summary Rates of caesarean section are of concern in both developed and developing countries. We set out to estimate the proportion of births by caesarean section (CS) at national, regional and global levels, describe regional and subregional patterns and correlate rates with other reproductive health indicators. We analysed nationally representative data available from surveys or vital registration systems on the proportion of births by CS. We used local non-parametric regression techniques to correlate CS with maternal mortality ratio, infant and neonatal mortality rates, and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. Although very unevenly distributed, 15% of births worldwide occur by CS. Latin America and the Caribbean show the highest rate (29.2%), and Africa shows the lowest (3.5%). In developed countries, the proportion of caesarean births is 21.1% whereas in least developed countries only 2% of deliveries are by CS. The analysis suggests a strong inverse association between CS rates and maternal, infant and neonatal mortality in countries with high mortality levels. There is some suggestion of a direct positive association at lower levels of mortality. CS levels may respond primarily to economic determinants. [source]

Structural Power and Public Policy: A Signaling Model of Business Lobbying in Democratic Capitalism

POLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2005
Patrick Bernhagen
This paper develops a signaling model of corporate lobbying in democratic capitalist societies to analyze the conditions that lead to a powerful political position of business. Proceeding from the traditional dichotomy of structural economic determinants versus business' political action, our model predicts the conditions under which elected political decisionmakers modify their policy pledges to accommodate business' political preferences, or override business' lobbying messages and honor their pledges. Our results show that the structural power of business over public policy is contingent on two variables: the size of reputation costs of business in relation to its material costs of lobbying; and the ratio of the policymaker's reputation constraints from policy commitments and campaign pledges to the electoral costs arising from adverse effects of policy. We evaluate our model using case studies of business lobbying on environmental and financial services regulation in Britain and Germany. [source]

FORECASTING QUARTERLY AGGREGATE CRIME SERIES,

THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 6 2005
MICHAEL P. CLEMENTS
In this paper we assess the forecasting performance of quarterly economic models of aggregate property and personal crime. We show that models that include long-run relationships between crime and its economic determinants tend to generate inaccurate forecasts, and attribute this to structural change. The forecast performance of the economic models is compared with that of time-series models, and forecast encompassing tests are reported. [source]