The expected increase in aid to Africa will put a big challenge for public service delivery. Using a simultaneous equation model, this paper provides an analysis of the effects of the volume and volatility of aid on education, health, water and sanitation outcomes, taking also into account the institutions related to public service delivery, including freedom of press, corruption and decentrali...

We assume ε(t) | {X(s), y(s− 1), s ≤ t} ∼ N(0,Σ). This is the assumption that X(t) is predetermined in this system. In this notation, each equation (column of the system) has the same X(t) variable on the right-hand side and a distinct coefficient vector (column of B). However, we can consider versions of the system with 0 constraints on elements of B, which create different lists of variables ...

This study analyzes the relationship between the direction of corporate diversification, technological resources and performance, proposing a dynamic framework between the three. To do this, the Resource-Based View of the Firm (RBV) is taken as a basis. The model proposed analyzes a series of points in a combined way, so differentiating itself from other work in this field in which a partial an...

This paper estimates the returns to experience and job tenure using a simultaneous equation model that accounts for the potential endogeneity of seniority in the wage determination process. It uses panel data for Italian workers’ histories based on social security records, for the years 1985-1999. This dataset has not been used for this research purpose to this date. The hypothesis of exogeneit...

In many species, certain life-history stages are difficult or impossible to observe directly, hampering management. Often more easily observed stages are monitored instead, but the extent to which various forms of uncertainty cloud our ability to discern trends in one critical life-history stage by observing another is poorly studied. We develop a stochastic simulation model for threatened Cali...

This paper focuses on the implementation of a novel semantic-based Conversational Agent (CA) framework. Traditional CAs interpret scripts consisting of structural patterns of sentences. User input is matched against such patterns and an associated response is sent as output. This traditional CA approach, which solely takes into account the structural form of a sentence, requires the scripter to...

This paper reports the results of two sewage treatment tests in a community of 15,000 inhabitants. The sewage treatment plant is subject to strong fluctuations in load (BOD5, COD, TKN), and in particular in the BOD5/TKN ratio. These fluctuations adversely affect the biological denitrification, as demonstrated by many pilot and real-scale plants. The plants we tested were subjected to two treatm...

have a solution in positive integers (x, y, z) other than that given by x = 5, y = 7 and z = 4. A negative answer to this question follows from a classical result of Ljunggren [8], as recently refined by Cohn [4]: Theorem 1.1. Let the fundamental solution of the equation v2−Du2 = 1 be a + b √ D (i.e. (v, u) = (a, b) is the smallest positive solution). Then the only possible solutions of the equ...

This paper investigates whether codependence restrictions can be uniquely imposed on VAR and VEC models via the so-called pseudo-structural form used in the literature. Codependence of order q is given if a linear combination of autocorrelated variables eliminates the serial correlation after q lags. Importantly, maximum likelihood estimation and likelihood ratio testing are only possible if th...

We investigate the role of banks in the ownership structure of non-…nancial …rms. Distinguishing between banks and other institutional investors as shareholders, we examine the relationship between …nancial institution ownership and the performance of the …rms in which they hold equity. We control explicitly for the capital structure decision of the …rms and the ownership decision of …nancial i...