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Although species are central units for biological research, recent findings in genomics are raising awareness that what we call species can be ill-founded entities due to solely morphology-based, regional species descriptions. This particularly applies to groups characterized by intricate evolutionary processes such as hybridization, polyploidy, or asexuality. Here, challenges of current integrative taxonomy (genetics/genomics + morphology + ecology, etc.) become apparent: different favored species concepts, lack of universal characters/markers, missing appropriate analytical tools for intricate evolutionary processes, and highly subjective ranking and fusion of datasets. Now, integrative taxonomy combined with artificial intelligence under a unified species concept can enable automated feature learning and data integration, and thus reduce subjectivity in species delimitation. This approach will likely accelerate revising and unraveling eukaryotic biodiversity.

Better, swifter and more responsive international coordination is needed within our global financial system for the containment of the pandemic and its effects. This requires better international tax coordination with a higher global minimum corporate tax, comprehensive coverage of sectors and firms, inclusion of all current tax havens and more generous redistribution of excess profits to developing nations based on user location. There also needs to be a more substantial and easier-to-access mechanism for debt relief and restructuring, one that generously suspends debt payments in periods of crises and provides financial support without strict and painful conditionalities.

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Polyploids recurrently emerge in angiosperms, but most polyploids are likely to go extinct before establishment due to minority cytotype exclusion, which may be specifically a constraint for dioecious plants. Here we test the hypothesis that a stable sex-determination system and spatial/ecological isolation facilitate the establishment of dioecious polyploids. We determined the ploidy levels of 351 individuals from 28 populations of the dioecious species Salix polyclona, and resequenced 190 individuals of S. polyclona and related taxa for genomic diversity analyses. The ploidy survey revealed a frequency 52% of tetraploids in S. polyclona, and genomic k-mer spectra analyses suggested an autopolyploid origin for them. Comparisons of diploid male and female genomes identified a female heterogametic sex-determining factor on chromosome 15, which probably also acts in the dioecious tetraploids. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two diploid clades and a separate clade/grade of tetraploids with a distinct geographic distribution confined to western and central China, where complex mountain systems create higher levels of environmental heterogeneity. Fossil-calibrated phylogenies showed that the polyploids emerged during 7.6–2.3 million years ago, and population demographic histories largely matched the geological and climatic history of the region. Our results suggest that inheritance of the sex-determining system from the diploid progenitor as intrinsic factor and spatial isolation as extrinsic factor may have facilitated the preservation and establishment of polyploid dioecious populations.

We use the synthetic control method to isolate the impact of the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease epidemic on the Liberian economy. We find a slight initial decline in the unemployment rate, followed by an increase of roughly 1% (p-value ≤5%). The effect on inflation is more substantial (close to a 7% and 18% increase 4 and 5years after the outbreak) but statistically insignificant in the preceding period (2014–2016). We do not identify any other significant income and welfare effects. Synthetic control evidence for Guinea and Sierra Leone suggest even more limited long-term impacts.

This paper provides evidence on the lasting effects of the 1999 economic crisis in Ecuador on human capital formation. We show for children born during the crisis that the negative repercussions are still observable more than 10 years after macroeconomic recovery. Taking advantage of micro-level data collected in 2012 and 2014, we assess long-term impacts on health and education. After controlling for age-in-months and survey effects as well as a linear birth year-cohort trend that varies by region, we find that after 12–16 years, the cohorts born during the recession report height-for-age Z-scores that are 0.003 standard deviations (SDs) lower for each month of exposure and have 0.002 fewer years of schooling per month exposed compared to the cohorts born outside the recession years. Children exposed to the entire crisis are 0.063 SDs smaller and have 0.042 years less of schooling. Girls have lower health outcomes than boys. Concomitantly, we show that selective childbearing or excess infant mortality are unlikely to drive our results. The persistence of the negative effects points to the existence of a poverty trap suggesting that policy interventions in response to (economic) crizes should be extended beyond macroeconomic recovery to counteract long-term, micro-level consequences.

Energy prices increased several folds due to the 2010 Iranian Energy Subsidy Reform. This study assesses the impact of the reform on the performance of the manufacturing sector using a detailed micro-panel dataset at the 4-digit ISIC level for the period 2009 to 2013. Since the reform universally affected all firms, the analysis relies on a quasi-experimental framework implementing first an explorative before-after design with structural fixed-effects and second a difference-in-difference analysis exploiting the energy-sensitivity of the studied firm-groups. The subsidy reform reduced output and value-added by 3 and 7%, respectively. Profits decreased by nearly 9%. Heterogeneity analyses show that the manufacturing sector has been affected through three channels: increasing costs of direct energy inputs, pass-through costs for inputs from upstream firms and an energy-price-induced demand contraction. We conclude that for successfully implementing an energy subsidy reform while maintaining growth in the manufacturing sector, direct and indirect costs have to be considered. Importantly, the results can inform expected energy reforms to mitigate climate change.

PR, IFPRI3, Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Policy

Under what circumstances does firm formalization yield net benefits for previously informal firms? We systematically assessed 22 primary studies in a meta-analysis of African, Asian and Latin American firms. The studies are published between 2011 and 2021 and provide 1,372 performance and business practice estimates: 40 percent of the estimates show significantly positive and 54 percent insignificant effects. The FAT-PET analysis suggests a small positive effect of formalization on firm performance. We also employ a multivariate analysis: The overall genuine effect is modest. There is a positive role for information and time for effects to materialize. Notably, more rigorous designs and recent studies tend to identify smaller and more dispersed effects. The modest effects cast doubt about the capacity of formalization policies to improve business performances suggesting that policies might better focus on prioritizing business productivity and managerial capability over formalization. Yet, we need further experimenting and fine-tuning of policy approaches to precisely identify what could make the candle of formalization worth the effort. The current evidence supports theories arguing that the rational cost-benefit argument is an overly simplistic representation of the decision to formalize and that formalization is an uncertain decision affected by multiple and interrelated aspects.