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Aims: This study aimed to analyze the diagnostic values of the Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) test for detecting Tuberculosis (TB) ascites in Vietnam. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 43 patients with ascites. ADA, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear microscopy and culture as well as histological tests were performed. Diagnostic values including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were estimated. Results : The area under the curve (AUC) of ascitic fluid ADA in diagnosis of TB ascites was 0.937 with p

Background Detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is a promising approach for evaluating the progression of occult metastases as well as the efficacy of treatment therapies among patients with breast cancer. A real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique has been proposed for detecting CTCs due to its high sensitivity. In this study, we aimed to validate the RT-PCR technique for human mammaglobin (hMAM) mRNA detection among Vietnamese women with breast cancer. Patients and methods Peripheral blood samples and breast cancer tissues from 43 patients suffering from breast cancer and 21 patients with fibroids were obtained. Real-time RT-PCR and gene sequencing techniques were employed to detect hMAM gene in CTCs of breast cancer cell lines and cancer tissues. Results hMAM mRNA transcription was detected in 36 out of 43 (83.7%) breast cancer tissues and in blood of 23 out of 43 (53.5%) breast cancer patients, while it was detected in only 9.5% out of tissues and 0% of the blood of fibrosis patients. hMAM mRNA in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients increased with tumor size, stage of cancer and distant metastasis (P 0.05). Conclusion The study highlighted the expression of hMAM mRNA in breast cancer cells and tissues. This reveals the overall picture of the replication of hMAM mRNA in breast cancer, suggesting the role of hMAM mRNA in breast cancer molecular pathology.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically test a more comprehensive model of economic growth using a sample of 28 lower middle-income developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThe authors modify the conventional neoclassical growth model to account for the impact of the increase in the number of people working relative to the total population and that of the increase in the value added per worker over time. The authors then extend this model by incorporating the role of trade, government consumption, and human capital in output growth.FindingsRegression results show that over three quarters of cross-lower middle-income country variations in per capita GDP growth rate can be explained by per capita growth in the share of public expenditures on education in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of government consumption in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of imports in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of manufactured exports in the GDP (not of that of total exports in the GDP), and the growth of the working population relative to the total population.Practical implicationsStatistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in these countries identify policy fundamentals that are essential for economic growth.Originality/valueTo address the simultaneity bias, the authors develop a simultaneous equations model and are able to show that such model is more robust and helps explains cross-country variations in per capita GDP growth over the 2000-2014 period.

This paper empirically assesses the effect of the determinants of Internet use, using several samples of both developed and developing countries. Based on a sample of 23 low-income economies in 2015, we find that Internet use depends upon computer access. Using a sample of 38 lower middle-income countries we find that Internet use depends upon Internet quality and Internet affordability. Using a sample of 41 upper middle-income countries, we find that computer access and Internet affordability influence Internet use. From a sample of 45 high-income countries, we are able to show that computer access, Internet quality, and affordability do affect Internet use. Using a sample of thirty oecd countries, we find that Internet use depends upon computer access and Internet quality. When a sample of 150 developing and developed countries is used, results show that Internet use is influenced by computer access, Internet quality, Internet affordability, and Internet application.

This paper examines the impact of public policies and institutions on economic growth in developing countries. The current study is superior to that by Dao [16] in that we specify a neoclassical growth model which incorporates public policies and institutions and subsequently formulate an empirical model to be estimated. This approach not only provides a more solid theoretical framework but also yields better empirical results that are not biased due to model misspecification. Based on data from the World Bank for the 2000-2015 period and a sample of thirty-nine low-income and lower middle-income economies we find that the growth rate of GDP is dependent on a country's economic management of its debt policy, its structural policies regarding the financial sector and the business regulatory environment, and its policies for social inclusion and equity dealing with gender equality, with building human resources, and with social protection and labor, along with the growth rates of inputs such as land, physical capital, general government consumption, and net exports. We observe that the coefficient estimates of two explanatory variables, namely, the structural policies regarding the financial sector and the policies for social inclusion and equity dealing with gender equality, do not have their expected sign, possibly to the collinearity between the structural policies regarding the financial sector and the debt policy variable, the business regulatory environment variable, the building human resources variable, and the social protection and labor variable and that between the gender equality variable and the business regulatory environment variable, the building human resources variable, and the social protection and labor variable. We also note that the business regulatory variable is not significant using the t-test, but its exclusion from the model results in a decrease in its explanatory power as measured by the adjusted coefficient of determination. We suspect that this is also due to the collinearity between this variable and three policies for social inclusion and equity variables. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries focus on appropriate policies dealing with the economic management of debt policy, those of a structural nature regarding the financial sector and the business regulatory environment, and those for social inclusion and equity such as improving gender equality, building human resources and providing social protection and labor in order to foster economic growth. Public sector management and institutions, on the other hand, do not seem to influence a developing country's rate of economic growth.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the effect of the factors contributing to the recovery from this crisis in terms of national GDP growth among the G7, Asian7, and Latin American7 countries. Design/methodology/approach The author uses a multivariate regression analysis of the determinants of the global financial crisis recovery. Findings Based on data from 21 developed and developing emerging market economies the author found that good macroeconomic fundamentals together with more open financial policy, financial liberalization, financial depth, domestic performance, and favored global conditions do linearly influence national GDP growth. Over 85 percent of cross-country variations in GDP growth during the recovery phase of the global financial crisis can be explained by its linear dependency on pre-crisis national GDP growth, financial liberalization, financial depth, domestic performance, as well as interaction terms between various explanatory variables. Cross-country differences in national GDP growth also linearly depend on macroprudence and on favorable global conditions. Originality/value Results of such empirical examination may enable governments in developing countries devise resilience strategies that may serve as powerful tools for dealing with future global financial crises.

Ahead of Print article withdrawn by publisher.

With the advent of next-generation sequencing and the ever-growing interest in quantitative metagenomics, we are facing unprecedented computational bottlenecks to process the massive metagenomics datasets. Traditional metagenomics pipelines are composed of multiple stages, often coded separately in different languages and standards. The lack of integrated modularity makes their maintenance, evolution and scalability a challenge. Consequently, we designed QMSpy, a novel all-in-one platform that is both modular and scalable. Raw reads are transformed in distributed objects, which are processed, mapped against catalogs and smart-counted. Well-known tools such as Trimmomatic, Bowtie2, etc. are integrated in the platform using ad-hoc APIs to process the modular objects. QMSpy supports creating customizable workflows. It is implemented with the PySpark framework, extending the MapReduce model. It is deployable on most popular high-performance computing cluster such as Google Cloud, Amazon EC2, etc. Such scalability allows us, to propose several novel algorithms that improves gene, taxonomic and functional quantifications of microbial ecosystems. Finally, we benchmarked QMSpy with real and simulated data to establish the best hyperparameters. We believe that this resource will be of great value to the scientific community. Its modularity, scalability and the fact that it is open source will allow users to easily contribute and grow it further for a broader acceptance. Contact: e.prifti[at]ican-institute.org

This paper examines the impact of risk management at the macroeconomy level on economic development in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank, we use a sample of sixty-three developing economies and find that selected indicators related to risk management at the macroeconomy level do have a statistically significant effect on economic development in these countries. We observe that high inflation rates do not seem to statistically affect economic development even though the coefficient estimate of this variable does have the anticipated negative sign. Regression results show that almost sixty percent of cross-developing country variations in purchasing power parity per capita gross national income can be explained by its linear dependency on the share of international reserves in the GDP and the Worldwide Governance Indicators average. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries identify risk management strategies at the macroeconomy level that may be used as powerful instruments for economic development.

This paper examines the impact of the drivers of economic growth in developing countries. We modify the conventional neoclassical growth model to account for the impact of the increase in the numbe...

Esfahani ( 1991 ) shows that the statistically significant correlation between export promotion and economic growth in semi-industrialized countries (SICs) has been mainly attributable to the role of exports in reducing import ‘shortages’, which have impeded output growth in these countries. As a result, export-promotion policies as a superior development strategy in SICs play an important role in those that cannot secure sufficient foreign aid or investment. Esfahani ( 1991 ) also develops a simultaneous equations model to address the simultaneity bias between GDP and export growth rates. In this article we extend the model developed by Esfahani ( 1991 ) by incorporating the contribution of government consumption to output growth and test it using a sample of 27 upper-middle income economies.

This paper examines the impact of risk management on economic develo pment in developing countries.Based on data from the World Bank, we use a sample of seventy eight developing economies and find that selected risk indicators do have an effect on economic development in these countries.We observe that the coefficient estimates of two explanatory variables do not have their anticipated sign due possibly to the severe degree of collinearity between them. Regression results show that over three -quarters of cross-developing country variations in purchasing power parity per capita gross national income can be explained by its linear dependency on the number of years over which the country was in a large rece ssion both for the 1991 -2000 and the 2001-2010 periods, the adult male mortality rate, the homicide rate, the risk preparation index, and the $2.50 a day poverty headcount ratio.The study's findings were objective in the sense that raw data was not "fitte d" in a bias way to support a certain view and stemmed directly from the data used in the World Bank report. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries identify risk management strategies that may be u

This paper examines the determinants of poverty in agrarian developing economies. Based on data from the World Bank and a sample of thirty agrarian developing economies we find that the fraction of the population below the national poverty line is linearly dependent on urbanization as measured by the fraction of the total population living in urban areas, the maternal mortality ratio, the level of development as measured by purchasing power parity per capita gross national income, and the fraction of births attended by skilled health staff. We observe that the coefficient estimate of one explanatory variable, namely, the fraction of births attended by skilled health staff does not have its expected sign, possibly to the collinearity between this variable and the maternal mortality ratio as well as with the level of purchasing power parity per capita GNI. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in agrarian developing countries focus on appropriate policies in order to reduce poverty.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to extend a theoretical model due to Ljungqvist and data from a sample of 19 developing economies to empirically test it.Design/methodology/approachData for all variables are from the 2005 Human Development Report and the 2006 World Development Report. The author applies the least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression.FindingsBased on data from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, the paper uses a sample of 19 developing economies and finds that cross‐country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index.Practical implicationsAssuming a population consisting of skilled laborers, unskilled laborers, educators/health care personnel, and farmers, the paper shows that starting from an initial distribution of assets and in the absence of a perfect capital market along with human capital exhibiting increasing returns it is possible to have persistent inequality in the distribution of income or consumption. Regression results also are consistent with the theoretical implication of the model as the extent of inequality in land distribution and in access to education as well as inequalities in child health do linearly influence income or consumption inequality as measured by the ratio of the share of income or consumption accounted for by the richest quintile to that of the poorest quintile. As a result, if governments in developing countries aim to reduce inequality, they need to implement programs designed to reduce inequalities in child health by allowing children from the poorest of the poor to get fully immunized, which in turn would lead to a reduction in infant and child mortality and in education by providing low‐income families with means so that their children have better access to education. Government land policies, on the other hand, that succeed in reducing inequality in land distribution in developing countries, may be beneficial in terms of lessening income/expenditure inequality. Finally, while the present model does not test for the impact that improving capital markets would have, it stands to reason that improving capital markets could also have an impact on decreasing inequality.Originality/valueIn this paper the author uses a model due to Ljungqvist to show that individuals are relatively wealthy because they either own a fixed input such as land or they are able to invest in human capital, which in turn allow them to earn sufficient rent or labor income to remain wealthy. On the other hand, poor people either do not own land or are not capable of investing in human capital, and, as a result, earn low incomes and remain poor. This joint causation of factor endowment or human capital investment and income helps explain income distribution. Using data from the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank for a sample of 19 developing economies, it is found that cross‐country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index. These results will help governments in developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to reduce income/consumption inequality.

This paper examines the role of policy fundamentals in fostering economic growth in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank for the 2000-2011 period and a sample of sixty-two developing economies we find that the growth rate of per capita GDP is dependent on a country’s investments in human capital as measured by the share of the public sector in total health expenditure and by the relative size of public education in the government’s budget, on an enabling business environment as measured by two Doing Business indicators, namely the cost of starting a business as a percent of per capita income and the number of days required to enforce contracts, and by the share of losses due to theft, robbery, vandalism, and arson in sales as reported in the enterprise surveys, on the depth of the credit information index and the share of domestic credit provided by the banking sector in the GDP, on the initial level of per capita GDP, and on the share of the net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the GDP. We observe that the coefficient estimates of two explanatory variables, namely, the share of the public sector in total health expenditure and by the relative size of public education in the government’s budget, do not have their expected sign, possibly to the collinearity between these variables and the cost of starting a business as a percent of per capita income as well as with the initial level of per capita GDP. In addition, the share of the public sector in total health expenditure is not significant via using the t-test. We suspect that this is also due to the collinearity between this variable and the cost of starting a business as a percent of per capita income as well as with the initial level of per capita GDP. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries and focus on appropriate policy fundamentals in order to foster economic growth.

Purpose This article investigates the impact of the growth of the share of various government expenditure programmes in the GDP on economic growth in developing countries while taking into consideration the major issue of potential simultaneity. Findings Based on data from the World Bank and using two samples of 28 developing economies, we find that per capita GDP growth is dependent upon the growth of per capita public health expenditure in the GDP, growth of per capita public spending on education in the GDP, population growth, growth of the share of total health expenditure in the GDP and the share of gross capital formation in the GDP. Practical implications Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist policy-makers in developing countries prioritize their government expenditure in order to stimulate economic growth. Methodology/approach Data for all variables are from the World Development Indicators (2008 and 2010). We specify and estimate a simultaneous equations model which consists of two government expenditure growth equations and a GDP growth equation. We observe that some coefficient estimates do not have the expected sign due to possible collinearity among some independent variables.

This paper examines the impact of security on economic development in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank, we use a sample of thirty-eight developing economies and find that security does affect development in these countries. We observe that the coefficient estimates of two explanatory variables do not have their anticipated sign due possibly to the slight degree of multicollinearity between them. Regression results show that over three-quarters of cross-developing country variations in purchasing power parity per capita gross national income can be explained by its linear dependency on the number of intentional homicides, the number of refugees hosted by a country, military expenditures as a percentage of GDP, the adult literacy rate, the agricultural value added per worker, the share of manufactures in total merchandise exports, net foreign direct investment, net official development assistance, the share of agricultural land in the total land area, the share of public health expenditures in total health expenditures, and the share of youths 15 to 34 years old in the total population. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries identify security and other issues that need to be effectively dealt with in order to stimulate economic development.

This paper examines the effect of income distribution on growth in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, we use a sample of twenty-eight developing economies and find that income distribution does not affect growth in these countries, unlike the results of previous studies by Alesina and Rodrik (1994). Neither do we find that the level of democracy in a country has a statistically significant impact on growth. We observe that the coefficient estimate of one independent variable does not have the anticipated sign due to the severe degree of multicollinearity among statistically significant explanatory variables. Regression results show that the total fertility rate, the initial level of per capita GDP, and the ratio of female to male literacy rate, taken together, do linearly influence growth in developing economies. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in those countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to stimulate economic development. Data for all variables are from the 1978 World Development Report, the World in 2007, and the 1999, 2000, and 2007/08 Human Development Reports. We apply the least-squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression. We also note that the severe degree of multicollinearity among explanatory variables may have caused their coefficient estimates to have the wrong sign., peer-reviewed

This article examines the impact of factor mobility and migration on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth and the welfare of the poorest quintile in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank and using a sample of 46 developing economies, we found that the per capita GDP growth is linearly dependent upon net migration, infrastructure investment, the level of educational attainment, the percentage of rural and urban population with sanitation and water services, the possible effect of improved health and investment. The regression results also show that the share of the poorest quintile in national consumption or income is a linear function of the level of urbanisation, the level of educational attainment, infrastructure investment and investment. These results could assist policy makers in developing countries identify areas in which budgets need to be reallocated to stimulate economic growth.

This paper examines the impact of divisions between nation-states and of international integration on per capita GDP in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank and using a sample of fifty-nine developing economies, we find that per capita GDP is linearly dependent upon various measures of economic divisions and integration such as the number of countries for which the nationals of a country need a visa, the percentage of foreigners born in a country other than that in which they live (including refugees), the index of shipping difficulties, average tariffs as a percentage of import value, country size, the proportion of the total population living in less than 25kms from a coastline, and trade with neighbouring countries as a proportion of the total trade of the country. The inclusion of interaction variables yields superior results as it takes into account the problem of multicollinearity among some explanatory variables. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist policy makers in those countries identify areas the budgets for which need to be reallocated in order to stimulate economic development.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate the determinants of rural and national poverty, of income distribution, and of agricultural growth in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachData for all variables are from the 2008 World Development Report. The author applies the least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression.FindingsIt is found, from different size samples, that: the percentage of the rural population living below the national rural poverty line in a developing country is dependent upon the logarithm of per capita purchasing power parity gross national income and the region in which it is located; it linearly depends on its per capita agriculture value added and its geographic location; agriculture value added growth linearly depends on the share of women in the agricultural labor force, whether the developing country is agriculture‐based, and whether it is located in Europe or Central Asia; and agricultural productivity linearly depends on the amount of arable and permanent cropland per agricultural person, the share of women in the agricultural labor force, and the share of agricultural employment in total employment.Originality/valueStatistical results in this paper will assist governments in developing countries assess the magnitude of agricultural policy variables in an effort to use agriculture as an engine for economic development.

This paper examines the determinants of infrastructure indicators in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank and using four samples of developing economies, the study applies the least-squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression and finds that infrastructure indicators are linearly dependent upon the share of public expenditures on pensions in Gross Domestic Product, public spending for education as a percentage of government expenditures, the share of public spending for health in GDP, public saving as a percentage of GDP, and civil service wages as a fraction of government spending. The study also finds that only private spending for telecommunications as a percentage of GDP is statistically significant in explaining cross-country variations in the number of fixed and mobile telephone lines. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist policy makers in those countries to identify areas of the budgets that need to be reallocated in order to improve infrastructure sectors and thus stimulate economic development.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of the components of human capital on the extent of poverty and income distribution in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachData for all variables are from the World Development Report, 2006 and 2007. The least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression is applied. It is noted that the introduction of interaction terms between income and the components of human capital yields better statistical results, as pointed out in the economic development literature.FindingsBased on data from the World Bank and using a sample of 40 developing economies, it is found that the fraction of the population below the poverty line is linearly dependent upon gender parity ratio in primary and secondary schools, the prevalence of child malnutrition, per capita purchasing power parity gross national income, the maternal mortality rate, and the percentage of births attended by skilled health staff. Using another sample of 35 developing countries, it is found that income inequality linearly depends on the same explanatory variables plus the infant mortality rate and the primary school completion rate.Practical implicationsStatistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in those countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to alleviate poverty and improve the distribution of income.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful information on the impact of the components of human capital on the extent of poverty and income distribution in developing countries.

This paper examines the impact of investment climate indicators on gross capital formation in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank Investment Climate Surveys for a sample of thirty-six developing countries, we find that corruption constraint as measured by the share of senior managers that ranked "corruption" as a major or very severe constraint, courts constraint as measured by the share of senior managers that ranked "courts and dispute resolution systems" as a major or very severe constraint, tax administration constraint, loss as a share of sales for those firms reporting a crime such as theft, vandalism or arson in the previous year, management time dealing with officials with regard to requirements imposed by government regulations (e.g. taxes, customs, labor regulations, licensing and registration etc.) as a percent of management time in a given week, and the share of firms with less than 20 employees that have a loan from a formal financial intermediary, linearly affect the share of gross capital formation in the GDP of a developing country. We also note that the coefficient estimate for corruption, loss as a share of sales, and the share of small firms has the unexpected sign and attribute this finding to the severe multicollinearity that exists among these variables and between them and the other variables.

This paper empirically analyzes the determinants of rural poverty in developing countries. Using data from a sample of 32 developing countries we are able to show that income redistribution in favor of the poorest 10 percent of the population, improving the productivity of agricultural workers, raising the economic and social status of women, especially of rural women, government policies aimed at reducing systemic discrimination against ethnic minorities, encouraging tourism where possible, and programs designed to assist the irrigation of croplands are called for in the quest for alleviating poverty in rural areas. As the extent of rural poverty is reduced, an added benefit is the deceleration of the rural‐urban migration process, which results in less pressure on government to provide additional spending on services such as sanitation, health, and education in urban areas as well as having to deal with a host of problems associated with overgrown cities such as a higher incidence of crime and of shanty towns on the outskirts of these cities.

This paper offers a survey of the economic literature on the growth of public expenditure in developed and developing countries. After a brief discussion of the median voter model the main competing theories of the growth of government as well as their explanatory powers are examined. The model is then modified to take account of important aspects of the actual political process including the interests of the bureaucracy. Alternative versions of the class interest theory and tests of some of the leading hypotheses in the context of developing economies are discussed. From this survey it appears that there is a great variety of hypotheses about public expenditure growth and of models to which they are related. This variety shows that experts in the field of public finance have yet to come to an agreement as to the causal influences at work.

This paper examines the impact of gender gaps in human capital on economic growth in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank for the 1990-2010 period and a sample of seventy-eight developing economies, we find that the growth rate of GDP per capita is dependent on gross capital formation, the changes in both male and female life expectancy, the change in the gap between male and female life expectancy, the change in the proportion of the population having access to improved sanitation services, population growth, and the GDP per capita in 2000. It is observed that the estimated coefficient of one explanatory variable, namely, the change in female life expectancy, does not have the expected positive sign, possibly due to the collinearity between this variable and the change in male life expectancy as well as gross capital formation. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon reduce gender gaps in human capital¡ªspecifically those that address female life expectancy¡ªin order to foster economic growth.

(1996). Brunei: An economy in transition. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 505-511.

Develops a general equilibrium model of the growth of government based on the attempts of various socio‐economic groups to redistribute income in their own favour. In the non‐cooperative equilibrium of our model under free political competition, every group in the economy pays taxes at rates which maximize the net contribution of each to their government′s budget. On the basis of this model, argues that the recent growth of government can be explained by the increased role of human capital as a factor of production; the rise in the population share of the elderly; and the reductions in the relative value of non‐market uses of labour caused by increased specialization and population pressure. Human capital, which has been both an important source of growth in income and the main factor behind the expansion of the middle class, seems to be a relatively easy‐to‐tax asset. This finding may resolve the puzzle of simultaneous growth of government and increase in income equality in developed countries that has challenged recent models of redistributive taxation.

This paper investigates the relationship between money, prices, output, and the exchange rate in Bangladesh during the 1974–92 period. Several interesting conclusions can be derived from the paper. First, the inflationary process in Bangladesh cannot be explained exclusively by the monetarist or the structuralist explanation of inflation. Second, regardless of the monetary aggregate employed, monetary policy exerts a significant unidirectional impact on real output. Third, monetary policy and inflation together account for a significant portion of fluctuations in the exchange rate. Finally, it is noted that monetary shocks have a strong, but relatively short-run, impact on inflation. In light of these findings, it can be concluded that monetary policy in Bangladesh should be carried out with extreme caution. While tight money may put a short-term halt to inflation and help stabilize the foreign trade sector, it may also cause a slowdown in the economy.

In this paper we test a model of per capita spending for government services developed by Dao (1994) using data from a set of 105 countries. We are able to show that the income elasticity of the demand for public services depends on the type of devices and on how developed (economically or politically) a country is. We also find that population density explains variations in certain types of government expenditures among DCs, while the level of urbanization is a better empirical proxy for interdependencies which arise from the process of economic development. Per capita government spending for education and health is shown to vary positively with the relative price of public sector output (suggesting a price-inelastic demand for these two government services) and their provision is subject to scale economies in countries with large populations. Copyright 1995 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

This paper examines the impact of various determinants on gender gaps in human capital in developing countries. We find that female primary completion is dependent on per capita GDP growth, female employment in agriculture, in industry, and in services, and the interactions between per capita GDP growth and female employment in industry and in services. We are also able to show that the ratio of girls to boys’ enrollments in primary and secondary schools is a function of the poverty rate, the fraction of the population with access to an improved water source, and maternal mortality. In addition, we observe that girls’ mortality is dependent upon the fraction of the population having access to improved sanitation and water services, and ethnic fractionalization. Finally, we find that maternal mortality is a function of the fraction of the population with access to improved water services, the fraction of births attended by skilled staff, the fraction of women receiving prenatal care, and ethnic fractionalization. These statistical results can assist developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to reduce gender gaps in human capital—specifically those concerning female mortality and education.

This paper examines the impact of idiosyncratic risk management on economic development in developing countries. Based on data from the World Bank, we use a sample of twenty-seven developing economies and find that selected indicators related to risk management at the household level do have a statistically significant effect on economic development in these countries. Regression results show that almost four-fifths of cross-developing country variations in purchasing power parity per capita gross national income can be explained by its linear dependency on the percentage of the population aged over 25 who have completed the tertiary level of education, education quality as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment reading mean score, the under-five mortality rate, and access to social insurance as measured by the percentage of the population aged 60 and over who are beneficiaries of social insurance.

Based on data from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, a sample of 29 developing economies was used. The finding is that cross-country changes in human development may be explained by per capita GDP growth, the length of land boundaries, the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months, the under-5 mortality rate, the ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education, the prevalence of HIV, the national average distance to the capital city, and the income share held by the lowest 10% of population. As observed, the coefficient estimates of three independent variables do not have the anticipated sign due to the severe degree of multicollinearity among statistically significant explanatory variables. Data for all variables are from the 2010 World Development Indicators and the 2009 Human Development Report. The least-squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression was applied. As noted, the severe degree of multicollinearity among explanatory variables may have caused their coefficient estimates to have the wrong sign.