Local savings and credit organizations : towards an innovative approach for rural Zimbabwe

Résumé : L'épargne et le crédit sont reconnus comme deux éléments clés du développement économique. Or, jusqu'à ce que les membres défavorisés d'une communauté aient accès aux ressources et services financiers, ils seront toujours privés de la participation au processus du développement et des bénéfices qui pourraient s'en suivre. La recherche indique que les services des prêts offerts par les institutions officielles ne parviennent que rarement aux plus pauvres de la société, qui sont obligés par conséquent de dépendre des intermédiaires informels comme les groupes d'épargne et les usuriers. Diverses organisations sur place comme les coopératives ont essayé de répondre aux besoins du développement des communautés défavorisées. Dans ce contexte, nous ferons d'abord le bilan historique et international des coopératives d'épargne et de crédit (i.e. les caisses populaires). Ensuite, nous analyserons quatre autres tentatives récentes qui eurent pour but de créer de nouvelles formes d'institutions financières, de les développer de telle sorte qu'elles offrent un degré d'accès raisonnable, sinon privilégié, aux ménages de revenu inférieur. L'analyse de ces cas-ci (venant du Zimbabwe, de l'Inde, du Ghana, et du Bangladesh) permettra d'identifier leurs caractéristiques communes et divergentes. À partir des résultats de cette analyse, un projet pilote au Zimbabwe fut initié pour élaborer une stratégie appropriée qui faciliterait le développement d'un réseau de caisses rurales. L'analyse théorique, la mise en pratique du projet, ainsi que les conclusions subséquentes soulignent l'importance de la participation directe des communautés à l'élaboration des organisations populaires. Il est évident que ces méthodes sont de loin plus efficaces que celles basées sur des politiques et des structures uniformes et compréhensives.||Abstract : Savings and credit are recognized as key elements of economic development, but until such time as disadvantaged members of the community have access to financial resources and services, they are obstructed from participating fully in the development process. Experience has shown that formal institutional credit bas rarely reached the poorer sectors of society, who have had to rely on informal intermediaries such as savings groups and money-lenders. Local organizations such as co-operatives have attempted to respond to the development needs of disadvantaged communities, and the historical and international record of savings and credit co-operatives (i.e. credit unions) is examined in this context. Four recent initiatives to design and develop new forms of financial institutions that give fair if not favoured access to low-income housebolds are also identified. These cases (from Zimbabwe, India, Bangladesh, and Ghana) are examined in an effort to identify common and divergent characteristics. Following from this analysis, a pilot project in Zimbabwe was initiated in an effort to elaborate an appropriate strategy for development of a network of rural savings and credit organization. The theoretical analysis, field exercise and subsequent reflections highlight the need for participatory methods of organizational design and development, rather than any all-encompassing structural or policy guidelines.

Inequalities in mortality of men by oral and pharyngeal cancer in Barcelona, Spain and Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1995-2003

Background: Large inequalities of mortality by most cancers in general, by mouth and pharynx cancer in particular, have been associated to behaviour and geopolitical factors. The assessment of socioeconomic covariates of cancer mortality may be relevant to a full comprehension of distal determinants of the disease, and to appraise opportune interventions. The objective of this study was to compare socioeconomic inequalities in male mortality by oral and pharyngeal cancer in two major cities of Europe and South America. Methods: The official system of information on mortality provided data on deaths in each city; general censuses informed population data. Age-adjusted death rates by oral and pharyngeal cancer for men were independently assessed for neighbourhoods of Barcelona, Spain, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 1995 to 2003. Uniform methodological criteria instructed the comparative assessment of magnitude, trends and spatial distribution of mortality. General linear models assessed ecologic correlations between death rates and socioeconomic indices (unemployment, schooling levels and the human development index) at the inner-city area level. Results obtained for each city were subsequently compared. Results: Mortality of men by oral and pharyngeal cancer ranked higher in Barcelona (9.45 yearly deaths per 100,000 male inhabitants) than in Spain and Europe as a whole; rates were on decrease. Sao Paulo presented a poorer profile, with higher magnitude (11.86) and stationary trend. The appraisal of ecologic correlations indicated an unequal and inequitably distributed burden of disease in both cities, with poorer areas tending to present higher mortality. Barcelona had a larger gradient of mortality than Sao Paulo, indicating a higher inequality of cancer deaths across its neighbourhoods. Conclusion: The quantitative monitoring of inequalities in health may contribute to the formulation of redistributive policies aimed at the concurrent promotion of wellbeing and social justice. The assessment of groups experiencing a higher burden of disease can instruct health services to provide additional resources for expanding preventive actions and facilities aimed at early diagnosis, standardized treatments and rehabilitation.

HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS 1 (HTLV-1) AND HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS 2 (HTLV-2): GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH TRENDS AND COLLABORATION NETWORKS (1989-2012)

Publications are often used as a measure of research work success. Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type 1 and 2 are human retroviruses, which were discovered in the early 1980s, and it is estimated that 15-20 million people are infected worldwide. This article describes a bibliometric review and a coauthorship network analysis of literature on HTLV indexed in PubMed in a 24-year period. A total of 7,564 documents were retrieved, showing a decrease in the number of documents from 1996 to 2007. HTLV manuscripts were published in 1,074 journals. Japan and USA were the countries with the highest contribution in this field (61%) followed by France (8%). Production ranking changed when the number of publications was normalized by population (Dominican Republic and Japan), by gross domestic product (Guinea-Bissau and Gambia), and by gross national income per capita (Brazil and Japan). The present study has shed light on some of the defining features of scientific collaboration performed by HTLV research community, such as the existence of core researchers responsible for articulating the development of research in the area, facilitating wider collaborative relationships and the integration of new authors in the research groups.

Capital requirements and loan market conditions insight into the Portuguese banking system (2004-2011)

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Leishmaniose tegumentar na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte: aspectos clínicos, laboratoriais, terapêuticos e evolutivos (1989-1995)

Foram investigados aspectos clínicos, laboratoriais, terapêuticos e evolutivos da leishmaniose tegumentar americana em Belo Horizonte. O estudo incluiu 358 pacientes com leishmaniose cutânea (LC) e 25 com leishmaniose mucosa (LM). Comparados aos pacientes com LC, aqueles com LM apresentaram maior tempo de doença e relato de outras doenças concomitantes, sugerindo que a debilitação pela leishmaniose e/ou outras doenças podem contribuir para a ativação e/ou disseminação mucosa do parasito. As sensibilidades das reações intradérmica, de imunofluorescência indireta e da pesquisa direta do parasito foram de 78,4, 79,3 e 68,3%, respectivamente. O tratamento com antimoniato de meglumina foi 100% eficaz, com 59% de efeitos colaterais ao longo do tratamento. A recidiva após tratamento ocorreu em 32 (10,1%) dos 318 casos seguidos por até dois anos. A maioria das recidivas (31 dos 32 casos) ocorreu em pacientes com LC tratados com 15mg Sb5+/kg/dia. Na investigação de critérios de cura, a reação intradérmica negativa foi o único fator associado a um risco três vezes maior de recidiva. Um aumento da dose ou do tempo de tratamento talvez melhore o prognóstico nestes pacientes.

Capital requirements and loan market conditions insight into Portuguese Banking system (2004-2011)

Capital Requirements have been gaining importance in the current macroeconomic and financial environment and Portugal is no exception. Nonetheless, despite the several media articles on this subject, the associations with Loan Market Conditions, namely availability and pricing are still unstudied. Thus, this project adds to the existing literature a characterization of Portuguese four biggest banks on capital reporting and requirements fulfillment. It is concluded that banks under analysis need to increase capital and that there is an association between the variables under study: Share Capital is negatively correlated with Credit Volume, and it is positively correlated with Net Commercial Income.

Genuine savings and future well-being in Germany, 1850-2000

Genuine Savings (GS), also known as ‘net adjusted savings’, is a composite indicator of the sustainability of economic development. Genuine Savings reflects year-on-year changes in the total wealth or capital of a country, including net investment in produced capita, investment in human capital, depletion of natural resources, and damage caused by pollution. A negative Genuine Savings rate suggests that the stock of national wealth is declining and that future utility must be less than current utility, indicating that economic development is non-sustainable (Hamilton and Clemens, 1999). We make use of data over a 150 year period to examine the relationship between Genuine Savings and a number of indicators of well-being over time, and compare the relative changes in human, produced, and components of natural capital over the period. Overall, we find that the magnitude of genuine savings is positively related to changes in future consumption, with some evidence of a cointegrating relationship. However, the relationships between genuine savings and infant mortality or average heights are less clear.

Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) - Second Annual Progress, Savings and Productivity Reports for the Department and its Agencies

Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) – Second Annual Progress, Savings and Productivity Reports for the Department and its Agencies Integrated Annual Progress Report for the Department and its Agencies PDF 327kb Annual Savings Report for the Department’s Agencies PDF 205kb Productivity Report for the Department and its Agencies PDF 205kb

The deployment of an e-book consultation and loan service : the experience of the Open University of Catalonia Library

La Biblioteca de la UOC (UOC Library) ha ofert durant tres mesos (octubre-desembre 09), en fase de prova pilot, un servei de consulta i préstec de lectors de llibres electrònics (e-readers). Aquest nou desplegament s'ha desenvolupat en consonància amb l'aposta general de la Universitat en innovació en tecnologies aplicades a l'educació, i la voluntat de potenciar les col·leccions de llibres electrònics i l'ús dels dispositius de lectura de llibres electrònics com una extensió més de la tecnologia del Campus 5.0, en el suport a l'aprenentatge dels seus estudiants durant la seva formació a la Universitat. Aquest treball presenta en detall les especificacions de la prova pilot, a més de contenir una anàlisi i avaluació dels resultats obtinguts: punts forts i punts febles, relació dels aspectes a millorar i modificar, de cara a la consolidació final del servei.

Professori Kauko Pirisen julkaisutoiminta 1989-1995

Mikko Ketola & Hannu Mustakallio

University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science newsletter. 1995-1996, no. 37.

Newsletter from the University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science.

Metric Short Course for the Office of Bridges and Structures, HR-378, 1995

This metric short course was developed in response to a request from the Office of Bridges and Structures to assist in the training of engineers in the use of metric units of measure which will be required in all highway designs and construction after September 30, 1996 (CFR Presidential Executive Order No. 12770). The course notes which are contained in this report, were developed for a half-day course. The course contains a brief review of metrication in the U.S., metric units, prefixes, symbols, basic conversions, etc. The unique part of the course is that it presents several typical bridge calculations (such as capacity of reinforced concrete compression members, strength of pile caps, etc.) worked two ways: inch-pound units throughout with end conversion to metric and initial hard conversion to metric with metric units throughout. Comparisons of partial results and final results (obtained by working the problems the two ways) are made for each of the example problems.

A DYNAMIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE RELATIONS BETWEEN FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES, SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS

The Meese-Rogoff forecasting puzzle states that foreign exchange (FX) rates are unpredictable. Since one country’s macroeconomic conditions could affect the price of its national currency, we study the dynamic relations between the FX rates and some macroeconomic accounts. Our research tests whether the predictability of the FX rates could be improved through the advanced econometrics. Improving the predictability of the FX rates has important implications for various groups including investors, business entities and the government. The present thesis examines the dynamic relations between the FX rates, savings and investments for a sample of 25 countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We apply quarterly data of FX rates, macroeconomic indices and accounts including the savings and the investments over three decades. Through preliminary Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root tests and Johansen cointegration tests, we found that the savings rate and the investment rate are cointegrated with the vector (1,-1). This result is consistent with many previous studies on the savings-investment relations and therefore confirms the validity of the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle. Because of the special cointegrating relation between the savings rate and investment rate, we introduce the savings-investment rate differential (SID). Investigating each country through a vector autoregression (VAR) model, we observe extremely insignificant coefficient estimates of the historical SIDs upon the present FX rates. We also report similar findings through the panel VAR approach. We thus conclude that the historical SIDs are useless in forecasting the FX rate. Nonetheless, the coefficients of the past FX rates upon the current SIDs for both the country-specific and the panel VAR models are statistically significant. Therefore, we conclude that the historical FX rates can conversely predict the SID to some degree. Specifically, depreciation in the domestic currency would cause the increase in the SID.

Análisis del papel de la ONUSAL en el proceso de paz de el Salvador 1989-1995

Este trabajo de investigación, pretende examinar el papel desempeñado por la ONUSAL en el proceso de paz de El Salvador durante el periodo 1989-1995, en lo concerniente a las estrategias que fueron utilizadas por dicha Misión. Lo anterior, como evidencia de la activa participación de la ONU en la etapa de resolución de conflictos armados internos -derivados de la Guerra Fría- en territorio centroamericano.

Seasons, savings and GDP

The industrial revolution and the subsequent industrialization of the economies occurred Orst in temperate regions. We argue that this and the associated positive correlation between absolute latitude and GDP per capita is due to the fact that countries located far from the equator suffered more profound seasonal auctuations in climate, namely stronger and longer winters. We propose a growth model of biased innovations that accounts for these facts and show that countries located in temperate regions were more likely to create or adopt capital intensive modes of production. The intuition behind this result is that savings are used to smooth consumption; therefore, in places where output auctuations are more profound, savings are bigger. Because the incentives to innovate depend on the relative supply factors, economies where savings are bigger are more likely to create or adopt capital intensive technologies.