Migration-Development Nexus in the Malawian Health Sector: European Union Blue Card – circular migration for development?

The European Union has agreed on implementing the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) principle in all policy sectors that are likely to have a direct impact on developing countries. This is in order to take account of and support the EU development cooperation objectives and the achievement of the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals. The common EU migration policy and the newly introduced EU Blue Card directive present an example of the implementation of the principle in practice: the directive is not only designed to respond to the occurring EU labour demand by attracting highly skilled third-country professionals, but is also intended to contribute to the development objectives of the migrant-sending developing countries, primarily through the tool of circular migration and the consequent skills transfers. My objective in this study is to assess such twofold role of the EU Blue Card and to explore the idea that migration could be harnessed for the benefit of development in conformity with the notion that the two form a positive nexus. Seeing that the EU Blue Card fails to differentiate the most vulnerable countries and sectors from those that are in a better position to take advantage of the global migration flows, the developmental consequences of the directive must be accounted for even in the most severe settings. Accordingly, my intention is to question whether circular migration, as claimed, could address the problem of brain drain in the Malawian health sector, which has witnessed an excessive outflow of its professionals to the UK during the past decade. In order to assess the applicability, likelihood and relevance of circular migration and consequent skills transfers for development in the Malawian context, a field study of a total of 23 interviews with local health professionals was carried out in autumn 2010. The selected approach not only allows me to introduce a developing country perspective to the on-going discussion at the EU level, but also enables me to assess the development dimension of the EU Blue Card and the intended PCD principle through a local lens. Thus these interviews and local viewpoints are at the very heart of this study. Based on my findings from the field, the propensity of the EU Blue Card to result in circular migration and to address the persisting South-North migratory flows as well as the relevance of skills transfers can be called to question. This is as due to the bias in its twofold role the directive overlooks the importance of the sending country circumstances, which are known to determine any developmental outcomes of migration, and assumes that circular migration alone could bring about immediate benefits. Without initial emphasis on local conditions, however, positive outcomes for vulnerable countries such as Malawi are ever more distant. Indeed it seems as if the EU internal interests in migration policy forbid the fulfilment of the PCD principle and diminish the attempt to harness migration for development to bare rhetoric.

Local polynomial convexity of the union of two totally-real surfaces at their intersection

We consider the following question: Let S (1) and S (2) be two smooth, totally-real surfaces in C-2 that contain the origin. If the union of their tangent planes is locally polynomially convex at the origin, then is S-1 boolean OR S-2 locally polynomially convex at the origin? If T (0) S (1) a (c) T (0) S (2) = {0}, then it is a folk result that the answer is yes. We discuss an obstruction to the presumed proof, and provide a different approach. When dim(R)(T0S1 boolean AND T0S2) = 1, we present a geometric condition under which no consistent answer to the above question exists. We then discuss conditions under which we can expect local polynomial convexity.

Computing Reeb Graphs as a Union of Contour Trees

The Reeb graph of a scalar function tracks the evolution of the topology of its level sets. This paper describes a fast algorithm to compute the Reeb graph of a piecewise-linear (PL) function defined over manifolds and non-manifolds. The key idea in the proposed approach is to maximally leverage the efficient contour tree algorithm to compute the Reeb graph. The algorithm proceeds by dividing the input into a set of subvolumes that have loop-free Reeb graphs using the join tree of the scalar function and computes the Reeb graph by combining the contour trees of all the subvolumes. Since the key ingredient of this method is a series of union-find operations, the algorithm is fast in practice. Experimental results demonstrate that it outperforms current generic algorithms by a factor of up to two orders of magnitude, and has a performance on par with algorithms that are catered to restricted classes of input. The algorithm also extends to handle large data that do not fit in memory.

Fiscal imbalances, inflation and sovereign default dynamics

Resumen: La cuestión central que este artículo busca responder es como la política monetaria puede afectar el comportamiento de equilibrio de primas por riesgo soberano y cesación de pagos. El artículo se basa en el modelo de “una-tasa-interés”. La deuda pública se hace riesgosa a causa de una política fiscal activa, como en Uribe (2006), reflejando la habilidad limitada de la autoridad fiscal para controlar el superávit primario. El problema de insolvencia es debido a una oleada de mala suerte (shocks negativos que afectan el superávit primario). Pero en contraste a los resultados de Uribe, a medida que aumenta el costo de la deuda soberana (que resulta de un excedente primario débil), la cesación de pagos se anticipa y es reflejada por una creciente prima de riesgo en el país y una probabilidad de cesación de pagos. La cesación de pagos se define como un incumplimiento de un acuerdo contractual y por ende la decisión es tomada por la autoridad fiscal. Mientras tanto, objetivos conflictivos entre la autoridad monetaria y fiscal juegan un rol importante en llevar a la autoridad fiscal a la cesación de pagos sobre sus pasivos. La característica de la política del gobierno necesaria para restaurar el equilibrio después de la cesación de pagos también es analizada.

Primeiro quadrimestre de 2009, cumprimento de meta fiscal ...

Conteúdo: Cumprimento da meta fiscal no primeiro quadrimestre -- Evolução dos resultados no setor público -- Evolução da dívida pública federal em mercado no quadrimestre -- Receitas e despesas até abril -- Política fiscal : despesas com investimentos -- Segunda avaliação orçamentária -- Cenário macroeconômico e parâmetros fiscais -- Metas quadrimestrais em 2009 -- Arrecadação das receitas administradas no primeiro quadrimestre de 2009 -- Arrecadação das receitas não administradas no primeiro quadrimestre de 2009 -- Receita prevista para o exercício de 2009.

Fundo Soberano do Brasil : fundo fiscal de investimento e estabilização (PL 3.674/08)

Consultoria de Orçamento e Fiscalização Financeira - Núcleo de Assuntos Econômico-Fiscais.

Reprogramação orçamentária de 2012 esforço fiscal contingenciamento de despesas do executivo (Versão Preliminar)

Para atender à necessidade de um exame rápido do primeiro contingenciamento em 2012, seguem-se observações preliminares baseadas nas hipóteses oficiais de comportamento das variáveis macroeconômicas, nos limites de movimentação e empenho das dotações do Executivo dos orçamentos fiscal e da seguridade social anunciados em 15 de fevereiro, nas previsões constantes da proposta e da lei aprovada, e em dados da execução de 2010 e 2011.

O governo do Distrito Federal e a Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal (LRF)

Consultoria Legislativa - Área IV - Finanças Públicas.

A questão da transparência fiscal dos códigos de conduta parlamentar : estudo comparado da África do Sul, Estados Unidos, Portugal, Reino Unido

Consultoria Legislativa - Área XIX - Ciência Política, Relações Internacionais.

Os crimes fiscais e o Refis : modos para diminuir a evasão fiscal

Consultoria Legislativa - Área III - Tributação, Direito Tributário.