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Resin tapping is an activity designed to extract resin from trees, especially species of the genus Pinus. Current systems of tapping and collecting resin are well known, but further study is needed to make these systems more efficient and profitable for producers. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the effect of five resin tapping systems during five different collection periods on the production and growth of resin trees for a population of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii planted in Itapetininga, SP. Resining affects tree growth, especially in diameter. Results showed that system 4, with eight panels on each plant and four on each side, presented the highest average production of resin per tree, while system 1, with 2 panels on each plant and 1 on each side, presented the lowest average resin production per tree. It was concluded that resin production is dependent on the system employed, time of collection, and their interactions.

No final da década de 90, o Instituto de Botânica (IBt) desenvolveu estudos em 98 áreas reflorestadas com mais de 10 anos, entre elas áreas de mata ciliar pertencentes a International Paper (IPaper). Estes estudos revelaram que as áreas se encontravam em declínio ou totalmente degradadas, estando os insucessos relacionados à baixa diversidade de espécies utilizadas; à falta de manutenção nos primeiros anos de plantio; à falta de correção da fertilidade do solo; ao uso de espécies inadequadas, entre outros fatores, evidenciando a necessidade de estabelecimento de normas/procedimentos orientativos para a restauração florestal, no estado de São Paulo, principal objetivo deste trabalho. Hoje, as primeiras áreas reflorestadas com espécies arbóreas nativas pela IPaper estão com mais de 20 anos de idade, tendo sido plantadas aproximadamente 35 espécies de diferentes classes sucessionais. Estas áreas fizeram parte do estudo realizado pelo IBt e foi observada a necessidade de enriquecimento destes reflorestamentos com outras espécies arbóreas nativas, aumentando a diversidade florística. Como consequência, a recomposição da mata ciliar do rio Mogi-Guaçu, revegetada por meio de três formas de enriquecimento, deu início à parceria IBt-IPaper. Em 2002, foram reflorestados 439 ha que, somados aos remanescentes florestais, totalizaram 536 ha de áreas em processo de restauração, onde foram desenvolvidos trabalhos de avaliação e monitoramento de áreas em processo de restauração induzida, para indicar o potencial de comunidades implantadas de alcançar a sustentabilidade e o restabelecimento das relações ecológicas existentes nas florestas. Como resultado, foram publicados 31 artigos científicos, sendo 51,65% vegetação, 12,89% de fauna, 6,44% solos, 12,89% indicadores, 6,44% de técnicas de restauração e 9,69% outros. Este artigo revela a RPPN Parque Florestal São Marcelo em Mogi-Guaçu SP, como a Unidade de Conservação manejada com técnicas de restauração ecológica, mais documentada do Brasil no Bioma da Mata Atlântica.

We aimed to determine any differences in hydraulic conductivity between pioneer species/early secondary and non-pioneers. To make this determination, we measured maximum vessel length (Mvl), specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks), percentage of embolized vessels (Pev), leaf hydraulic conductivity (Kl) and wood density at equilibrium moisture content-12% (Wd12). The pioneer/early secondary species we examined were Guazuma ulmifolia, Inga marginata and Maclura tinctoria. The non-pioneers we examined were Paubrasilia echinata, Cariniana legalis and Myroxylon peruiferum. The results were submitted to statistical analyses, including multiple comparison tests and t test, to verify differences between successional groups and regression analysis to verify the relationship between Ks and the other variables. Pioneer species had higher Ks than non-pioneers. Non-pioneers had a higher percentage of embolized vessels and wood density. Successional groups did not differ in Mvl, which is positively related to hydraulic conductivity in both successional groups since the percentage of embolized vessels was related negatively. Wood density is positively related to Ks in non-pioneer species, while a negative correlation was observed between Ks and Kl in the pioneer species.

In tropical forests, different physiological characteristics of leaves in tree species are evidenced by variations in different incident light conditions. We aim to evaluate gas exchange and organization of leaf vascular system in Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. seedlings under different light conditions. Seedlings were obtained from seeds germinated under greenhouse conditions with controlled environment. Ninety days after germination, seedlings in 8kg pots were transferred to the experimental site to allow acclimatization under sun and shade conditions. The experimental design was completely randomized, with two treatments: full sunlight and artificial shading, limiting the luminosity to about 5% of irradiance. Seedlings were maintained under these conditions for 120 days before measuring gas exchange parameters. We measured photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, sub-stomatic CO2 concentration, transpiration, and chlorophyll content. Anatomical analysis measured distance between veins, distance from veins to abaxial epidermis, distance from veins to adaxial epidermis, distance from veins to stomata, total leaf thickness, abaxial epidermis thickness, adaxial epidermis thickness, palisade parenchyma thickness, and spongy parenchyma thickness of foliar gas exchange of G. ulmifolia which presented significant differences between light environments. Photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were reduced by 78% and 39%, respectively, in shade, while stomatal conductance increased by 31% in full sunlight. Transpiration showed no significant difference between the two treatments, but chlorophyll content was 30% lower in full sunlight. Distance between veins and distance from veins to stomata showed no difference between treatments, but the other parameters increased in full sunlight. Thus, the results showed that the pioneer species G. ulmifolia presented leaf gas exchange acclimated to environments with high luminosity.

The development of CO2 electroreduction (CO2RR) catalysts based on covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is an emerging strategy to produce synthetic fuels. However, our understanding on catalytic mechanisms and structure-activity relationships for COFs is still limited but essential to the rational design of these catalysts. Herein, we report a newly devised CO2 reduction catalyst by loading single-atom centers, {fac-Mn(CO)(3)S}, (S = Br, CH3CN, H2O), within a bipyridylbased COF (COFbpyMn). COFbpyMn shows a low CO2RR onset potential (eta = 190 mV) and high current densities (>12 mA.cm(-2), at 550 mV overpotential) in water. TOFCO and TONCO values are as high as 1100 h-1 and 5800 (after 16 h), respectively, which are more than 10-fold higher than those obtained for the equivalent manganese-based molecular catalyst. Furthermore, we accessed key catalytic intermediates within a COF matrix by combining experimental and computational (DFT) techniques. The COF imposes mechanical constraints on the {fac-Mn(CO)(3)S} centers, offering a strategy to avoid forming the detrimental dimeric Mn-0-Mn-0, which is a resting state typically observed for the homologous molecular complex. The absence of dimeric species correlates to the catalytic enhancement. These findings can guide the rational development of isolated single-atom sites and the improvement of the catalytic performance of reticular materials.

Over the past decades, research effort in high income countries has substantially increased. Meanwhile, the growth rates of per capita output have been rather stable. The contribution of this paper is twofold. The first is to provide a theoretical explanation for such trends by developing an R&D-based growth model which accounts for dilution, difficulty and duplication effects. The second is to show empirically that the occurrence of different phases in the economic growth dynamics traces back to the interplay between complexity and specialization in production. To do this we estimate a Hidden Markov Model in which countries can switch across different growth regimes. We identify four distinct growth regimes.

Metal oxides and oxyhydroxides exhibit state-of-the-art activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER); however, their reaction mechanism, particularly the relationship between charging of the oxide and OER kinetics, remains elusive. Here, we investigate a series of Mn-, Co-, Fe-, and Zn-doped nickel oxides using operando UV-vis spectroscopy coupled with time-resolved stepped potential spectroelectrochemistry. The Ni2+/Ni3+redox peak potential is found to shift anodically from Mn- < Co- < Fe- < Zn-doped samples, suggesting a decrease in oxygen binding energetics from Mn- to Zn-doped samples. At OER-relevant potentials, using optical absorption spectroscopy, we quantitatively detect the subsequent oxidation of these redox centers. The OER kinetics was found to have a second-order dependence on the density of these oxidized species, suggesting a chemical rate-determining step involving coupling of two oxo species. The intrinsic turnover frequency per oxidized species exhibits a volcano trend with the binding energy of oxygen on the Ni site, having a maximum activity of ∼0.05 s-1at 300 mV overpotential for the Fe-doped sample. Consequently, we propose that for Ni centers that bind oxygen too strongly (Mn- and Co-doped oxides), OER kinetics is limited by O-O coupling and oxygen desorption, while for Ni centers that bind oxygen too weakly (Zn-doped oxides), OER kinetics is limited by the formation of oxo groups. This study not only experimentally demonstrates the relation between electroadsorption free energy and intrinsic kinetics for OER on this class of materials but also highlights the critical role of oxidized species in facilitating OER kinetics.

The complex α-[Fe(mcp)(OTf)2] (mcp = N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine and OTf = trifluoromethanesulfonate anion) was reported in 2011 by some of us as an active water oxidation (WO) catalyst in the presence of sacrificial oxidants. However, because chemical oxidants are likely to take part in the reaction mechanism, mechanistic electrochemical studies are critical in establishing to what extent previous studies with sacrificial reagents have actually been meaningful. In this study, the complex α-[Fe(mcp)(OTf)2] and its analogues were investigated electrochemically under both acidic and neutral conditions. All the systems under investigation proved to be electrochemically active toward the WO reaction, with no major differences in activity despite the structural changes. Our findings show that WO-catalyzed by mcp–iron complexes proceeds via homogeneous species, whereas the analogous manganese complex forms a heterogeneous deposit on the electrode surface. Mechanistic studies show that the reaction proceeds with a different rate-determining step (rds) than what was previously proposed in the presence of chemical oxidants. Moreover, the different kinetic isotope effect (KIE) values obtained electrochemically at pH 7 (KIE ∼ 10) and at pH 1 (KIE = 1) show that the reaction conditions have a remarkable effect on the rds and on the mechanism. We suggest a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) as the rds under neutral conditions, whereas at pH 1 the rds is most likely an electron transfer (ET) NWO Echo grant 717.014.008. PGC2018-101737-B-I00 and 2017 SGR 00264 grants

We develop a model of monopolistic competition with a differentiated intermediate good and variable elasticity of technological substitution. The model allows to study the nature and origins of external increasing returns. We single out two sources of scale economies: specialization and competition. The former depends only on how total factor productivity (TFP) varies with input diversity, while the latter is fully captured by the behavior of the elasticity of substitution across inputs. This distinction gives rise to a full characterization of the rich array of competition regimes in our model. The necessary and sufficient conditions for each regime to occur are expressed in terms of the relationships between TFP and the elasticity of substitution as functions of the input diversity. Moreover, we demonstrate that, despite the folk wisdom resting on constant elasticity of substitution models, specialization economies are in general neither necessary nor sufficient for external increasing returns to emerge. This highlights the profound and nontrivial role of market competition in generating agglomeration economies and other phenomena driven by scale economies.

Using a one-sector, discrete-time Ramsey model, we analyze and compare the implications for welfare, capital accumulation, and speed of convergence to the steady state of two classes of utility functions that represent Gorman preferences, namely homothetic and Stone–Geary preferences. For identical economies, we show that the preference structure does not affect only the capital dynamics and social welfare but also the speed of convergence to the steady-state equilibrium.

Postmodification of reticular materials with well‐defined catalysts is an appealing approach to produce new catalytic functional materials with improved stability and recyclability, but also to study catalysis in confined spaces. A promising strategy to this end is the postfunctionalization of crystalline and robust metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to exploit the potential of crystal‐to‐crystal transformations for further characterization of the catalysts. In this regard, two new photocatalytic materials, MOF‐520‐PC1 and MOF‐520‐PC2, are straightforwardly obtained by the postfunctionalization of MOF‐520 with perylene‐3‐carboxylic acid (PC1) and perylene‐3‐butyric acid (PC2). The single crystal‐to‐crystal transformation yielded the X‐ray diffraction structure of catalytic MOF‐520‐PC2. The well‐defined disposition of the perylenes inside the MOF served as suitable model systems to gain insights into the photophysical properties and mechanism by combining steady‐state, time‐resolved, and transient absorption spectroscopy. The resulting materials are active organophotoredox catalysts in the reductive dimerization of aromatic aldehydes, benzophenones, and imines under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, MOF‐520‐PC2 can be applied for synthesizing gram‐scale quantities of products in continuous‐flow conditions under steady‐state light irradiation. This work provides an alternative approach for the construction of well‐defined, metal‐free, MOF‐based catalysts., We thank the ICIQ Foundation, the European Research Foundation for project ERC‐2014‐CoG 648304 (J.L.‐F.), MINECO (CTQ2016‐80038‐R; J.L.‐F.), and AGAUR 2017‐SGR‐1647 (J.L.‐F.) for funding. S.S.M. and N.K. are grateful to Marie‐Curie COFUND and JyC for postdoctoral scholarships, respectively.

To reconcile the predictions of research and development (R&D)-based growth theory regarding the impact of population growth on productivity growth with the available empirical evidence, we propose a tractable, continuous-time, multisector, R&D-based growth model with endogenous education and endogenous fertility. As long as the human capital dilution effect is sufficiently weak, faster population growth may lead to faster aggregate human capital accumulation, to faster technological progress, and, thus, to a higher growth rate of productivity. By contrast, when the human capital dilution effect becomes sufficiently strong, faster population growth slows down aggregate human capital accumulation, dampens the rate of technical change, and, thus, reduces productivity growth. Therefore, the model can account for the possibly negative correlation between population growth and productivity growth in R&D-based growth models depending on the strength of the human capital dilution effect.

We provide aggregate macroeconomic evidence on how, in the long run, a diverse degree of complexity in production may affect not only the rate of economic growth, but also the correlation between the latter, population growth and the monopolistic (intermediate) markups. For a sample of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, we find that the impact of population change on economic growth is slightly positive. According to our theoretical model, this implies that the losses due to more complexity in production are lower than the corresponding specialization gains. Using a finite mixture model, we also classify the countries in the sample and verify for each cluster the impact that the population growth rate and the intermediate sector’s markups exert on the 5-year average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.

This paper studies the empirical relationship between population’s health and real GDP dynamics in low- and middle-income countries. We employ a semi-parametric technique, which combines mixed pane...

Carbon sequestration involves the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, aiming to reduce the greenhouse effect. Wood basic density is a direct part of this process. We selected five trees in each of the following species to determine wood basic density and quantify carbon, both sequestered and fixed, for 10 years: Alchornea sidifolia, Ceiba speciosa, Gallesia integrifolia, Guazuma ulmifolia, Inga marginata, Maclura tinctoria, and Prunus cerasoides. The study was conducted in the Commemorative Arboretum of 500 Years of Brazil in Alberto Löfgren State Park, São Paulo. Using maximum moisture content capture of CO, we studied variations of wood density and CO2, both fixed and sequestered, by an individual tree in the same species and between species. Values of fixed and sequestered CO2 showed variations among species with a high dependence on wood density such that trees with higher amounts of CO2, both fixed and abducted, were also trees that showed the highest increment both in height and diameter (DBH). Based on these metrics, G. ulmifolia, I. marginata, M. tinctoria, and P. cerasoides showed the most potential to sequester carbon. Our calculations showed that planting these four species would result in the sequestration of around 30 tons of carbon per hectare.

We develop an epidemiological approach to analyze how financial contagion may affect and be affected by economic activity. We show that, according to specific parameter values, the economy may converge either to a non-speculative or to a speculative equilibrium: in the former situation the level of per capita income is maximal, while in the latter it is reduced by financial contagion. The presence of economic and financial feedback effects may also give rise to macroeconomic fluctuations during the transitional path, clearly showing that such economic and financial links are an important driver of the short run macroeconomic performance. By extending the analysis to a spatial dimension, we also show that financial contagion in some specific region may propagate quickly also in regions far away from those in which the contagion initially occurs, highlighting the role of regional policy coordination to avoid interregional contagion.

We analyze the effects of children’s health on human capital accumulation and on long-run economic growth. For this purpose, we design an R&D-based growth model in which the stock of human capital of the next generation is determined by parental education and health investments. We show that (i) there is a complementarity between education and health: if parents want to have better educated children, they also raise health investments and vice versa; (ii) parental health investments exert an unambiguously positive effect on long-run economic growth, (iii) faster population growth reduces long-run economic growth. These results are consistent with the empirical evidence for modern economies in the twentieth century.

European Patent Application Number EP20382294, a patent application by A. B. and J. L.-F. was previously filed for the intellectual property described in this article The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a fundamental process to develop a technology that can drive energy transition towards renewable and sustainable fuels. Nevertheless, efficient and straightforward methodologies to obtain superior and stable electrodes need to be implemented to approach this technology to real applications. Recently, self-supported catalysis emerged as a promising solution. However, catalyst design is still limited by the low chemical tunability and elevated preparation times and costs. Herein, a solution combustion (SC) methodology is described to produce designed self-supported electrocatalysts that excel in the OER and mitigate previous limitations. M-doped NiO-based electrocatalysts (with M = Fe, Co, Mn, and Zn) were self-supported by the SC method on nickel foam, and overperformed analogous benchmarked catalysts prepared by other methods. Notably, in Fe-doped NiO, the overpotential required to drive the OER at 10 mA cm−2 was found to be 190 mV, the lowest reported so far for metal oxide electrocatalysts at pH 13. By the combination of spectroelectrochemical (SEC) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), we studied the role of the metal dopant cation, showing that dopant metals assist the formation of the active species responsible for the high (electro)catalytic activity. We envision that the presented simple, cost-time efficient methodology would stimulate the preparation and study of effective self-supported metal-oxide catalysts for a broad range of applications.

The complex α-[Fe(mcp)(OTf)2] (mcp = N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine and OTf = trifluoromethanesulfonate anion) was reported in 2011 by some of us as an active water oxidation (WO) catalyst in the presence of sacrificial oxidants. However, because chemical oxidants are likely to take part in the reaction mechanism, mechanistic electrochemical studies are critical in establishing to what extent previous studies with sacrificial reagents have actually been meaningful. In this study, the complex α-[Fe(mcp)(OTf)2] and its analogues were investigated electrochemically under both acidic and neutral conditions. All the systems under investigation proved to be electrochemically active toward the WO reaction, with no major differences in activity despite the structural changes. Our findings show that WO-catalyzed by mcp–iron complexes proceeds via homogeneous species, whereas the analogous manganese complex forms a heterogeneous deposit on the electrode surface. Mechanistic studies show that the reaction proceeds with a different rate-determining step (rds) than what was previously proposed in the presence of chemical oxidants. Moreover, the different kinetic isotope effect (KIE) values obtained electrochemically at pH 7 (KIE ∼ 10) and at pH 1 (KIE = 1) show that the reaction conditions have a remarkable effect on the rds and on the mechanism. We suggest a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) as the rds under neutral conditions, whereas at pH 1 the rds is most likely an electron transfer (ET).

We analyze the simplest possible model of endogenous growth to account for the role of financial development. In our setting, financial development affects productivity and determines the amount of resources subtracted to capital investment. We show that under very general assumptions, the relation between economic growth and financial depth is nonmonotonic, and eventually bell-shaped. We empirically assess our results in a framework that allows to distinguish between long-run and short-run effects. We establish a cointegrating relation and derive the long-run elasticities of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) with respect to employment, the physical capital stock, and financial depth–relying on linear as well as nonlinear models for the finance-growth nexus. We employ the results of the first step estimation to specify an error–correction model and find that there is strong evidence for a nonlinear relationship between financial depth and per capita GDP, consistently with what was predicted by our theoretical model.

Using a growth model with physical capital accumulation, human capital investment and horizontal R&D activity, this paper proposes an alternative channel through which an increase in the population growth rate may yield a non-uniform (i.e., a positive, negative, or neutral) impact on the long-run growth rate of per-capita GDP, as available empirical evidence seems mostly to suggest. The proposed mechanism relies on the nature of the process of economic growth (whether it is fully or semi-endogenous), and the peculiar engine(s) driving economic growth (human capital investment, R&D activity, or both). The model also explains why in the long term the association between population growth and productivity growth may ultimately be negative when R&D is an engine of economic growth.

A family of three imidazolate-based Co-MOFs, IFP-5, -8 and -10 (Imidazolate Framework Potsdam), with different peripheral group –R (-Me, -OMe and –OEt, respectively) have been synthesized by a solvothermal method and tested toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Remarkably, IFP-8 presents low overpotentials (319 mV at 10 mA/cm2, and 490 mV at 500 mA/cm2) and extraordinary stability during 120 h, even when used as a catalyst toward overall water splitting reaction. An integrated ex-situ spectroscopic study, based on PXRD, EXAFS, and ATR, allows the identification of the active species and the factors that rule the catalytic activity. Indeed, it was found that the performances are highly affected by the nature of the -R group, because this small change strongly influences the conversion of the initial MOF to the active species. As a consequence, the remarkable activity of IFP-8 can be ascribed to the formation of Co(O)OH phase of few nanometers particle size (3-10 nm) during the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution.

Iron is an exceptional chemical element due to its low cost, abundance and biocompatibility, but also in terms of the accessible redox states. As a natural evolution to the rich oxidative chemistry that can mediate water oxidation catalysts, during the last decade, iron coordination complexes have emerged as a promising platform for investigation. In this chapter the main progress on the design of well-defined water oxidation (WO) catalysts based on iron is covered, as well as evidence for the WO proposed mechanisms. Ligand design is critical for the rationalization of the catalytic activity and therefore the different architectures are used as the crucial pillar structure of the chapter. Over the different sections, we present detailed characterization of reaction intermediates and provide insights into our understanding of the O–O bond formation event. In this regard, the most illustrative studies are those based on chemical oxidants. Electrocatalysis and electrode functionalization studies, although still very preliminary, indicate that possibilities toward applications could materialize. The few studies of the challenging light-driven water oxidation are also covered. Finally, multinuclear iron complexes are of particular interest, since they provide a clear route for the development of electrocatalysts. In addition, a discussion of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and polyoxometalates (POMs) is also included in this chapter.

We analyze the impact of financial development on economic growth. Differently from previous studies that focus mainly on balanced growth path outcomes, we also analyze the transitional dynamics of our model economy by using a finance‐extended Uzawa–Lucas framework where financial intermediation affects both human and physical capital accumulation. We show that, under certain rather general conditions, economic growth may turn out to be non‐monotonically related to financial development (as suggested by the most recent empirical evidence) and that too much finance may be detrimental to growth. We also show that the degree of financial development may affect the speed of convergence, which suggests that finance may play a crucial role in determining the length of the recovery process associated with exogenous shocks. Moreover, in a special case of the model, we observe that, under a realistic set of parameters, social welfare decreases with financial development, meaning that even when finance positively affects economic growth the short‐term costs associated with financial activities more than compensate their long‐run benefits.

In this chapter we examine whether the Solow growth model is consistent with the international variation in the standard of living once investments in education and health are explicitly and simultaneously taken into account. Using the sample of OECD countries, we provide evidence that the level of per capita income is positively affected by the population’s health level, here proxied by the life expectancy at birth. Public expenditure on health affects indirectly the level of per capita income through its positive effect on life expectancy. Using a Finite Mixture approach, we also show that richer countries are those in which the impact of unobserved factors on the level of per capita income is stronger.

In this paper we examine whether the Solow growth model is consistent with across-countries variations in standard of living once investments in education and health are explicitly and simultaneously taken into account. Using a sample of low- and middle-income economies, we provide evidence that per capita GDP is positively affected by population's health, here proxied by the life expectancy at birth. Public expenditure on health affects indirectly the level of per capita income through its positive effect on life expectancy. Using a Finite Mixture approach, we also show that richer economies are those where the impact of unobserved factors on the level of per capita income is stronger.

We present a model of economic growth driven by horizontal innovation in which, unlike the existing literature, the final output sector employs a non-specified, non-CES, additive production function. Our motivation in conducting such analysis is based on the recognition that the use of a CES aggregate production function in the final output sector leads to the unrealistic conclusion that the gross markup of price over marginal costs set in the monopolistically-competitive intermediate sector is constant. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for an equilibrium with perfect competition in the final output market to exist even in the presence of a non-CES technology. These conditions generalize the usual properties of the CES case. We also analyze the long-run relation between economic growth and variable markups.

The generation of solar fuels by means of a photosynthetic apparatus strongly relies on the development of an efficient water oxidation catalyst (WOC). Cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) is the most commonly used sacrificial oxidant to explore the potentiality of WOCs. It is usually assumed that CAN has the unique role to oxidatively energize WOCs, making them capable to offer a low-energy reaction pathway to transform H2O to O2. Herein, we show that CAN might have a much more relevant and direct role in WO, mainly related to the capture and liberation of O–O-containing molecular moieties.

This paper answers the following two questions: (1) In the data, do we find a dilution effect of population growth also on per-capita human capital investment? If yes, (2) How can we use this observation to explain theoretically the existence of a differential impact of population change on economic growth across countries? In the first part of the article we document empirically considerable cross-country heterogeneity of a dilution effect of population growth with regards to the process of per-capita human capital formation. And we observe that, depending on the dilution effect observed in a given country, population growth may be relevant — either positively or negatively — for economic growth. In the second part of the paper we use these results to build a multi-sector growth model which, by allowing for a country specific dilution effect of population growth on per-capita human capital formation, is capable of accounting for the non-monotonous correlation between demographic and economic growth rates in the long-run.