A Study of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises with particular reference to Bank of Baroda in state of Kerala

While the quantum of advances from the public sector banks (PSBs) to the MSEs has increased over the years in absolute terms, from Rs.46, 045 crore in March 2000 to Rs.1, 85,208 crore in March 2009, the share of the 7credit to the MSE sector in the Net Bank Credit (NBC) has declined from 12.5 per cent to 10.9 per cent. Similarly, there has been a decline in the share of micro sector as a percentage of Net Bank Credit (NBC) from 7.8 per cent in March 2000 to 4.9% in March 2009. (TKA.Nair, 2010)9.The major reasons for low availability of bank finance to this sector are high risk perception of the banks in lending to MSEs and high transaction costs in processing of loan applications of MSEs. The problem is more serious for micro enterprises requiring small loans and the first generation entrepreneursThe thesis studies the divergence in guidelines by, CGTMSE, RBI & Bank of Baroda on collateral free lending and analyses the awareness of MSE about CGTMSE lending. The researcher tries to assess the problems faced by borrowers in availing advance under CGTMSE from Bank of Baroda, Kerala.

Processing, procurement and marketing of pepper with particular reference to co-operative sector

The present Study is designed to gather, record and analyse data on history of pepper, pepper production, procurement and marketing with particular reference to Kerala. The main emphasis is given to study the'role of cooperative sector with regard to procurement and export efforts and also the services rendered by cooperative sector agencies under MARKETFED and NAFED to pepper trade. The scope of the Study covers the botany, methods of cultivation, fertilizer application, pest control management and other related aspects of pepper. Taking into consideration Kerala's supremacy in pepper cultivation and production, detailed study of its production, procurement, internal and export marketing with reference to Kerala has been given importance. As Kerala accounts for 96 per cent1 of the pepper cultivation and 94 per cent of the pepper production, the present study is entirely confined to Kerala

Economics of Hybrid Photovoltaic Power Plants

The global power supply stability is faced to several severe and fundamental threats, in particular steadily increasing power demand, diminishing and degrading fossil and nuclear energy resources, very harmful greenhouse gas emissions, significant energy injustice and a structurally misbalanced ecological footprint. Photovoltaic (PV) power systems are analysed in various aspects focusing on economic and technical considerations of supplemental and substitutional power supply to the constraint conventional power system. To infer the most relevant system approach for PV power plants several solar resources available for PV systems are compared. By combining the different solar resources and respective economics, two major PV systems are identified to be very competitive in almost all regions in the world. The experience curve concept is used as a key technique for the development of scenario assumptions on economic projections for the decade of the 2010s. Main drivers for cost reductions in PV systems are learning and production growth rate, thus several relevant aspects are discussed such as research and development investments, technical PV market potential, different PV technologies and the energetic sustainability of PV. Three major market segments for PV systems are identified: off-grid PV solutions, decentralised small scale on-grid PV systems (several kWp) and large scale PV power plants (tens of MWp). Mainly by application of ‘grid-parity’ and ‘fuel-parity’ concepts per country, local market and conventional power plant basis, the global economic market potential for all major PV system segments is derived. PV power plant hybridization potential of all relevant power technologies and the global power plant structure are analyzed regarding technical, economical and geographical feasibility. Key success criteria for hybrid PV power plants are discussed and comprehensively analysed for all adequate power plant technologies, i.e. oil, gas and coal fired power plants, wind power, solar thermal power (STEG) and hydro power plants. For the 2010s, detailed global demand curves are derived for hybrid PV-Fossil power plants on a per power plant, per country and per fuel type basis. The fundamental technical and economic potentials for hybrid PV-STEG, hybrid PV-Wind and hybrid PV-Hydro power plants are considered. The global resource availability for PV and wind power plants is excellent, thus knowing the competitive or complementary characteristic of hybrid PV-Wind power plants on a local basis is identified as being of utmost relevance. The complementarity of hybrid PV-Wind power plants is confirmed. As a result of that almost no reduction of the global economic PV market potential need to be expected and more complex power system designs on basis of hybrid PV-Wind power plants are feasible. The final target of implementing renewable power technologies into the global power system is a nearly 100% renewable power supply. Besides balancing facilities, storage options are needed, in particular for seasonal power storage. Renewable power methane (RPM) offers respective options. A comprehensive global and local analysis is performed for analysing a hybrid PV-Wind-RPM combined cycle gas turbine power system. Such a power system design might be competitive and could offer solutions for nearly all current energy system constraints including the heating and transportation sector and even the chemical industry. Summing up, hybrid PV power plants become very attractive and PV power systems will very likely evolve together with wind power to the major and final source of energy for mankind.

Status and Potential of Smallholder Livestock Production Systems in Xishuangbanna, southern P.R. China

With Chinas rapid economic development during the last decades, the national demand for livestock products has quadrupled within the last 20 years. Most of that increase in demand has been answered by subsidized industrialized production systems, while million of smallholders, which still provide the larger share of livestock products in the country, have been neglected. Fostering those systems would help China to lower its strong urban migration streams, enhance the livelihood of poorer rural population and provide environmentally save livestock products which have a good chance to satisfy customers demand for ecological food. Despite their importance, China’s smallholder livestock keepers have not yet gained appropriate attention from governmental authorities and researchers. However, profound analysis of those systems is required so that adequate support can lead to a better resource utilization and productivity in the sector. To this aim, this pilot study analyzes smallholder livestock production systems in Xishuangbanna, located in southern China. The area is bordered by Lao and Myanmar and geographically counts as tropical region. Its climate is characterized by dry and temperate winters and hot summers with monsoon rains from May to October. While the regionis plain, at about 500 m asl above sea level in the south, outliers of the Himalaya mountains reach out into the north of Xishuangbanna, where the highest peak reaches 2400 m asl. Except of one larger city, Jinghong, Xishuangbanna mainly is covered by tropical rainforest, areas under agricultural cultivation and villages. The major income is generated through inner-Chinese tourism and agricultural production. Intensive rubber plantations are distinctive for the lowland plains while small-scaled traditional farms are scattered in the mountane regions. In order to determine the current state and possible future chances of smallholder livestock production in that region, this study analyzed the current status of the smallholder livestock sector in the Naban River National Nature Reserve (NRNNR), an area which is largely representative for the whole prefecture. It covers an area of about 50square kilometer and reaches from 470 up to 2400 m asl. About 5500 habitants of different ethnic origin are situated in 24 villages. All data have been collected between October 2007 and May 2010. Three major objectives have been addressed in the study: 1. Classifying existing pig production systems and exploring respective pathways for development 2. Quantifying the performance of pig breeding systemsto identify bottlenecks for production 3. Analyzing past and current buffalo utilization to determine the chances and opportunities of buffalo keeping in the future In order to classify the different pig production s ystems, a baseline survey (n=204, stratified cluster sampling) was carried out to gain data about livestock species, numbers, management practices, cultivated plant species and field sizes as well associo-economic characteristics. Sampling included two clusters at village level (altitude, ethnic affiliation), resulting in 13 clusters of which 13-17 farms were interviewed respectively. Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CatPCA) and a two-step clustering algorithm have been applied to identify determining farm characteristics and assort recorded households into classes of livestock production types. The variables keep_sow_yes/no, TLU_pig, TLU_buffalo, size_of_corn_fields, altitude_class, size_of_tea_plantationand size_of_rubber_fieldhave been found to be major determinants for the characterization of the recorded farms. All farms have extensive or semi-intensive livestock production, pigs and buffaloes are predominant livestock species while chicken and aquaculture are available but play subordinate roles for livelihoods. All pig raisers rely on a single local breed, which is known as Small Ear Pig (SMEP) in the region. Three major production systemshave been identified: Livestock-corn based LB; 41%), rubber based (RB; 39%) and pig based (PB;20%) systems. RB farms earn high income from rubber and fatten 1.9 ±1.80 pigs per household (HH), often using purchased pig feed at markets. PB farms own similar sized rubber plantations and raise 4.7 ±2.77 pigs per HH, with fodder mainly being cultivated and collected in theforest. LB farms grow corn, rice and tea and keep 4.6 ±3.32 pigs per HH, also fed with collected and cultivated fodder. Only 29% of all pigs were marketed (LB: 20%; RB: 42%; PB: 25%), average annual mortality was 4.0 ±4.52 pigs per farm (LB: 4.6 ±3.68; RB: 1.9 ±2.14; PB: 7.1 ±10.82). Pig feed mainly consists of banana pseudo stem, corn and rice hives and is prepared in batches about two to three times per week. Such fodder might be sufficient in energy content but lacks appropriate content of protein. Pigs therefore suffer from malnutrition, which becomes most critical in the time before harvest season around October. Farmers reported high occurrences of gastrointestinal parasites in carcasses and often pig stables were wet and filled with manure. Deficits in nutritional and hygienic management are major limits for development and should be the first issues addressed to improve productivity. SME pork was found to be known and referred by local customers in town and by richer lowland farmers. However, high prices and lacking availability of SME pork at local wet-markets were the reasons which limited purchase. If major management constraints are overcome, pig breeders (PB and LB farms) could increase the share of marketed pigs for town markets and provide fatteners to richer RB farmers. RB farmers are interested in fattening pigs for home consumption but do not show any motivation for commercial pig raising. To determine the productivity of input factors in pig production, eproductive performance, feed quality and quantity as well as weight development of pigs under current management were recorded. The data collection included a progeny history survey covering 184 sows and 437 farrows, bi-weekly weighing of 114 pigs during a 16-months time-span on 21 farms (10 LB and 11 PB) as well as the daily recording of feed quality and quantity given to a defined number of pigs on the same 21 farms. Feed samples of all recorded ingredients were analyzed for their respective nutrient content. Since no literature values on thedigestibility of banana pseudo stem – which is a major ingredient of traditional pig feed in NRNNR – were found, a cross-sectional digestibility trial with 2x4 pigs has been conducted on a station in the research area. With the aid of PRY Herd Life Model, all data have been utilized to determine thesystems’ current (Status Quo = SQ) output and the productivity of the input factor “feed” in terms of saleable life weight per kg DM feed intake and monetary value of output per kg DM feed intake.Two improvement scenarios were simulated, assuming 1) that farmers adopt a culling managementthat generates the highest output per unit input (Scenario 1; SC I) and 2) that through improved feeding, selected parameters of reproduction are improved by 30% (SC II). Daily weight gain averaged 55 ± 56 g per day between day 200 and 600. The average feed energy content of traditional feed mix was 14.92 MJ ME. Age at first farrowing averaged 14.5 ± 4.34 months, subsequent inter-farrowing interval was 11.4 ± 2.73 months. Littersize was 5.8 piglets and weaning age was 4.3 ± 0.99 months. 18% of piglets died before weaning. Simulating pig production at actualstatus, it has been show that monetary returns on inputs (ROI) is negative (1:0.67), but improved (1:1.2) when culling management was optimized so that highest output is gained per unit feed input. If in addition better feeding, controlled mating and better resale prices at fixed dates were simulated, ROI further increased to 1:2.45, 1:2.69, 1:2.7 and 1:3.15 for four respective grower groups. Those findings show the potential of pork production, if basic measures of improvement are applied. Futureexploration of the environment, including climate, market-season and culture is required before implementing the recommended measures to ensure a sustainable development of a more effective and resource conserving pork production in the future. The two studies have shown that the production of local SME pigs plays an important role in traditional farms in NRNNR but basic constraints are limiting their productivity. However, relatively easy approaches are sufficient for reaching a notable improvement. Also there is a demand for more SME pork on local markets and, if basic constraints have been overcome, pig farmers could turn into more commercial producers and provide pork to local markets. By that, environmentally safe meat can be offered to sensitive consumers while farmers increase their income and lower the risk of external shocks through a more diverse income generating strategy. Buffaloes have been found to be the second important livestock species on NRNNR farms. While they have been a core resource of mixed smallholderfarms in the past, the expansion of rubber tree plantations and agricultural mechanization are reasons for decreased swamp buffalo numbers today. The third study seeks to predict future utilization of buffaloes on different farm types in NRNNR by analyzing the dynamics of its buffalo population and land use changes over time and calculating labor which is required for keeping buffaloes in view of the traction power which can be utilized for field preparation. The use of buffaloes for field work and the recent development of the egional buffalo population were analyzed through interviews with 184 farmers in 2007/2008 and discussions with 62 buffalo keepers in 2009. While pig based farms (PB; n=37) have abandoned buffalo keeping, 11% of the rubber based farms (RB; n=71) and 100% of the livestock-corn based farms (LB; n=76) kept buffaloes in 2008. Herd size was 2.5 ±1.80 (n=84) buffaloes in early 2008 and 2.2 ±1.69 (n=62) in 2009. Field work on own land was the main reason forkeeping buffaloes (87.3%), but lending work buffaloes to neighbors (79.0%) was also important. Other purposes were transport of goods (16.1%), buffalo trade (11.3%) and meat consumption(6.4%). Buffalo care required 6.2 ±3.00 working hours daily, while annual working time of abuffalo was 294 ±216.6 hours. The area ploughed with buffaloes remained constant during the past 10 years despite an expansion of land cropped per farm. Further rapid replacement of buffaloes by tractors is expected in the near future. While the work economy is drastically improved by the use of tractors, buffaloes still can provide cheap work force and serve as buffer for economic shocks on poorer farms. Especially poor farms, which lack alternative assets that could quickly be liquidizedin times of urgent need for cash, should not abandon buffalo keeping. Livestock has been found to be a major part of small mixed farms in NRNNR. The general productivity was low in both analyzed species, buffaloes and pigs. Productivity of pigs can be improved through basic adjustments in feeding, reproductive and hygienic management, and with external support pig production could further be commercialized to provide pork and weaners to local markets and fattening farms. Buffalo production is relatively time intensive, and only will be of importance in the future to very poor farms and such farms that cultivate very small terraces on steep slopes. These should be encouraged to further keep buffaloes. With such measures, livestock production in NRNNR has good chances to stay competitive in the future.

Cambios en el régimen de pensiones en Colombia y su efecto en el margen intensivo de la oferta laboral

En Colombia, como en muchos países de América Latina, en los años 80 y 90 se hicieron cambios importantes en los regímenes de pensiones. Este trabajo hace un análisis de uno de esos cambios en Colombia. El cambio consistió en aumentar el tiempo de cotización necesario para reclamar los beneficios pensionales y la inclusión del salario dentro de la fórmula del monto de pensiones. Para este propósito se estudia el impacto sobre la oferta laboral de un cambio exógeno en estas condiciones usando un diseño de regresión discontinua. Se encuentra un efecto positivo sobre las horas promedio trabajadas en la semana.

Conflict-induced poverty: Evidence from Colombia

En Colombia, la pobreza y el conflicto están estrechamente relacionados. Este estudio usa medidas de disuasión del gobierno como instrumentos de varias variables específicas de conflicto para estimar el impacto del conflicto sobre la pobreza en Colombia. Usando datos del censo a nivel municipal para el año 2005, evalúo el efecto sobre la incidencia urbana y rural del recientemente-desarrollado Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional. Los resultados sugieren que el conflicto aumenta significativamente la pobreza rural. Esto es consistente con el hecho que la mayor parte del conflicto en Colombia ocurre en las áreas rurales. También evalúo el efecto rezagado del conflicto en la pobreza para concluir que éste dura por al menos tres años pero que decae en el tiempo. Finalmente, pruebo que mis resultados son robustos a una batería de especificaciones adicionales, incluyendo una versión modificada de mi variable dependiente y el uso de una base alternativa de conflicto.

Factores de riesgo relacionados con accidentalidad laboral en una empresa del sector de hidrocarburos, Colombia julio 2010- junio 2013

Objetivo. Para fortalecer las estrategias preventivas de forma integral, se pretende caracterizar la accidentalidad ocurrida en una empresa del sector de hidrocarburos e identificar los posibles factores de riesgo relacionados con estos eventos. Metodología: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo, utilizando las bases de datos SIGA y AUDICOMP del periodo Julio-2010 a Junio-2013, que almacenan información sobre accidentes laborales en trabajadores vinculados a Petrobras, Colombia. Nuestra variable resultado fue el número de accidentes laborales en función de la experiencia laboral y tiempo de contratación en la empresa, estratificada por características demográficas, propias del cargo ocupado y área anatómica lesionada. A las variables continuas se les calculo las medidas de tendencia central y dispersión y a las categóricas la proporción; se estimó el Odds Ratio (OR) de presentar un accidente en < 1 o entre 1-5 años de contratación. Resultados: se presentaron 457 accidentes, 96% (IC95% 94.2-97.8) fueron hombres, la década entre 25-34 años (36.8; IC95% 32.4-41.2) y el tipo de cargo obrero fueron los más frecuentes (35.3%; IC95% 30.9-39.6). Ser obrero (IC95% 2,11-2,65) y contar con experiencia laboral menor a un año (IC95% 1,78-2,33) fueron los principales factores relacionados con un accidente en < 1 año de contratación; el modelo con mayor AUC fue el de hombres entre 18-24 años de edad, contratados para laborar como obrero y con menos de un año de experiencia laboral (AUC 0,973; IC95% 0,865-0,995). Conclusiones. Los hombres entre 18-24 años de edad, contratados para laborar como obrero y con menos de un año de experiencia laboral, tenían mayor riesgo de presentar un accidente en menos de un año desde la contratación. El modelo propuesto ayudó a identificar a trabajadores con alta probabilidad de presentar un accidente en < 1 año desde la contratación.

Pre-school contributions to future achievements

This paper provides recent evidence about the beneÖts of attending preschool on future performance. A non-parametric matching procedure is used over two outcomes: math and verbal scores at a national mandatory test (Saber11) in Colombia. It is found that students who had the chance of attending preschool obtain higher scores in math (6.7%) and verbal (5.4%) than those who did not. A considerable fraction of these gaps comes from the upper quintiles of studentís performance, suggesting that preschool matters when is done at high quality institutions. When we include the number of years at the preschool, the gap rises up to 12% in verbal and 17% in math.

The crime kuznets curve

We document the existence of a Crime Kuznets Curve in US states since the 1970s. As income levels have risen, crime has followed an inverted U-shaped pattern, first increasing and then dropping. The Crime Kuznets Curve is not explained by income inequality. In fact, we show that during the sample period inequality has risen monotonically with income, ruling out the traditional Kuznets Curve. Our finding is robust to adding a large set of controls that are used in the literature to explain the incidence of crime, as well as to controlling for state and year fixed effects. The Curve is also revealed in nonparametric specifications. The Crime Kuznets Curve exists for property crime and for some categories of violent crime.

Las prácticas de recursos humanos y su incidencia en el bienestar laboral de los empleados

El objetivo del presente trabajo es formular, mediante una profunda revisión documental, bibliográfica y empírica, una fundamentación teórica sobre si existe o no incidencia de las prácticas de recursos humanos sobre el bienestar laboral de los empleados, y el que grado en que esta se presenta sobre aspecto como el engagement y la satisfacción laboral. Se realizó la revisión de múltiples estudios empíricos que aportaran evidencia sobre la relación que se presenta entre las principales prácticas de recursos humanos – provisión de personal, formación y desarrollo, promoción de personal, evaluación de desempeño, compensación y pago, y balance trabajo-familia – y el bienestar laboral, representado en el engagement y satisfacción en el trabajo de los empleados. Los resultados de este trabajo indican la existencia de una relación e incidencia de las prácticas de recursos humanos, el bienestar laboral, el engagement y la satisfacción laboral. De igual forma se encontró que estas relaciones son principalmente de carácter positivo, lo cual indica que las organizaciones que desarrollan este tipo de prácticas en su interior, fomentan tanto el desarrollo y la presencia de bienestar laboral en sus empleados, como su perdurabilidad.

Informality in the City: a Theoretical Analysis

This thesis theoretically studies the relationship between the informal sector (both in the labor and the housing market) and the city structure.

Evaluación de la siniestralidad en pequeñas y medianas empresas en los sectores económicos de la regional centro de una aseguradora de riesgos laborales, Colombia, 2014.

Introducción: Las estadísticas de siniestralidad laboral son el negativo de las condiciones de trabajo de la economía de un país. Las indeseables condiciones de trabajo que predominan en la actualidad probablemente sean consecuencia de las crecientes contrataciones temporales lo cual conduce a que se incrementen los accidentes de trabajo, debido a la pobre inversión en el área de riesgos laborales. Objetivo: Evaluación de la siniestralidad en pequeñas y medianas empresas de los sectores económicos de la regional centro en una aseguradora de riesgos laborales, Colombia, 2014. Materiales y métodos: Estudio tipo observacional descriptivo, retrospectivo, realizado a 14.994 eventos calificados como accidentes de trabajo en una aseguradora de riesgos laborales dela regional centro durante Enero a Diciembre del años 2014. Resultados: La mayor incidencia de accidentalidad fue en el sector económico de establecimientos financieros, seguros, actividades inmobiliarias y servicios a las empresas, con un 36.9%. Se encontró que el riesgo que genero mayor accidentalidad fue caída a nivel con un 17.2%. El grupo diagnostico que predomino fue el de heridas superficiales y heridas abiertas con un 77.4%. El tipo de atención que genero mayores atenciones fue la atención ambulatoria con 93.1%. Conclusión: El sector económico que se vio mayormente afectado en accidentalidad laboral fue el de establecimientos financieros, seguros, actividades inmobiliarias y servicios a las empresas. Al asociar dicho sector económico con el tipo de riesgo se determinó que el riesgo por lesión en accidente deportivo fue de un 61%, predisponiendo este al desarrollo de accidentalidad laboral. Por lo anterior se deben hacerr estrategias de intervención de prevención y promoción en las pequeñas y medianas empresas y como consecuencia disminuir las tasas de siniestralidad e impactar de manera positiva en la salud de los trabajadores, en las tasas de ausentismo laboral y el costo asistencial.

Asistencia a Educación Preescolar y Desempeño Escolar en el Largo Plazo, Evidencia para Colombia

Reconociendo la importancia que tienen las inversiones durante los primeros años del ciclo de vida, en este documento se estima el efecto de la asistencia a preescolar sobre el desempeño escolar de largo plazo, medido a través del puntaje en las áreas de lenguaje y matemáticas de la prueba Saber 11 en Colombia. Para ello, se realiza la aproximación empírica a través de la metodología de variables instrumentales. Los resultados indican que la asistencia a un año adicional de educación preescolar reduce en 0.121 desviaciones estándar el puntaje obtenido en el área de lenguaje. No obstante, se identifica un efecto diferenciado a partir de variables que dan cuenta del estatus socioeconómico de los individuos.

Managing invasive alien species with professional and hobby farmers: insights from ecological-economic modelling

Biosecurity is a great challenge to policy-makers globally. Biosecurity policies aim to either prevent invasions before they occur or to eradicate and/or effectively manage the invasive species and diseases once an invasion has occurred. Such policies have traditionally been directed towards professional producers in natural resource based sectors, including agriculture. Given the wide scope of issues threatened by invasive species and diseases, it is important to account for several types of stakeholders that are involved. We investigate the problem of an invasive insect pest feeding on an agricultural crop with heterogeneous producers: profit-oriented professional farmers and utility-oriented hobby farmers. We start from an ecological-economic model conceptually similar to the one developed by Eiswerth and Johnson [Eiswerth, M.E. and Johnson, W.S., 2002. Managing nonindigenous invasive species: insights from dynamic analysis. Environmental and Resource Economics 23, 319-342.] and extend it in three ways. First, we make explicit the relationship between the invaded state carrying capacity and farmers' planting decisions. Second, we add another producer type into the framework and hence account for the existence of both professional and hobby fanners. Third, we provide a theoretical contribution by discussing two alternative types of equilibria. We also apply the model to an empirical case to extract a number of stylised facts and in particular to assess: a) under which circumstances the invasion is likely to be not controllable; and b) how extending control policies to hobby farmers could affect both types of producers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Technological innovation in the context of PPPs: incentives, opportunities and actions

From a construction perspective, Public-Private Partnership projects (PPPs) are often credited as providing real incentives for the actors involved as well as a business environment that is conducive to innovation and improved practices. The validity of four common rhetorical arguments used to promote the PPP procurement route is explored: collaborative working, design freedom, long-term commitment and risk transfer. Particular interest is given to the extent to which espoused intentions correlate with experienced realities in allowing actors involved in the design and construction phases to be presented with, and able to exploit, opportunities for technological innovation. It is argued that there is reason to be cautious in fully accepting the purported benefits of the PPP framework and that the arguments often presented need to be revised. Alternative interpretations are provided.