The effects of inequality on growth: a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature

Basically, the extensive theoretical and empirical literature on the interactions between growth/development and distribution can be divided into two main approaches. The first one examines the impact of economic development on income distribution in a long run perspective. The second one focuses on the inverse causality between inequality and growth. This paper aims at reviewing this second view about the effects of initial inequality of income and wealth on future growth rate. The theoretical literature suggests several channels through which inequality might be harmful for growth, namely three economic explanations (the channel of the capital market imperfections, the approach of endogenous fertility, the argument relating to the domestic market size) and two politico-economic arguments (the approach of endogenous fiscal policy and the political instability channel). The following conclusions can be drawn from our survey of the empirical studies regarding the relationship between inequality and growth: first, only the endogenous fertility approach and the explanation based on political instability receive convincing support from the data. Second, initial inequality of assets has a negative and significant effect on subsequent growth. As a result, wealth redistribution is likely to enhance future growth.Inequality; Growth

Croissance, redistribution et lutte contre la pauvreté : l’évolution non linéaire de l’approche de la Banque mondiale

Cet article passe en revue 60 années d’activités de la Banque mondiale, en mettant l’accent sur les variations dans le temps de son attitude face au combat contre la pauvreté. Durant les années cinquante et soixante, la Banque mondiale considérait que le meilleur moyen de lutter contre la pauvreté consistait à créer les conditions d’une croissance la plus forte possible en procédant à des investissements lourds dans les infrastructures physiques. Toutefois, devant la persistance de la pauvreté de masse et de fortes inégalités dans bon nombre de pays en développement malgré des performances assez satisfaisantes en termes de croissance, la Banque mondiale plaça, dès la fin des années soixante, et pour la première fois, « la guerre contre la pauvreté » au centre de son agenda puis elle s’efforça d’élaborer, pendant les années soixante-dix, de nouvelles stratégies de croissance qui soient plus favorables pour les pauvres. Sous l’ère de l’ajustement structurel, la vision de la Banque mondiale a connu également de nombreuses modifications. Durant la première moitié des années quatre-vingt, dans un contexte de crise de la dette, la Banque mondiale a été conduite à reléguer l’objectif de réduction de la pauvreté au second plan, au profit de la restauration des équilibres macroéconomiques et du potentiel de croissance des pays en difficulté. Cependant, en réponse à la critique des coûts sociaux de ses programmes d’ajustement, l’institution financière internationale a réaffirmé son engagement à lutter contre la pauvreté en accordant, dès la fin des années quatre-vingt, une plus grande importance aux conséquences sociales de l’ajustement à court terme et surtout en proposant par la suite de nouvelles stratégies de lutte contre la pauvreté à long terme.This article reviews sixty years of the activity of the World Bank, by stressing the variations over time of its attitude with regard to the fight against poverty. Indeed, during the 1950s and 1960s, the World Bank considered that the best means of fighting poverty consisted in creating the conditions of the fastest possible growth by carrying out heavy investments in physical infrastructures. However, faced with the persistence of mass poverty and high inequalities in a great number of developing countries despite rather satisfactory performances in terms of growth, at the end of the 1960s the World Bank put for the first time the “war against poverty” at the centre of its agenda. Then during the 1970s it endeavoured to work out new growth strategies which are more favourable for the poor. Under the era of structural adjustment, the vision of the World Bank changed in many respects. During the first half of the 1980s, in a context of the debt crisis, the World Bank was led to put aside the objective of poverty reduction to favour the recovery of macroeconomic balances and the potential of growth of countries in difficulty. However, in response to criticism concerning the social costs of its adjustment programs, the international financial institution, at the end of the 1980s, reaffirmed its commitment to reduce poverty by giving greater importance to the social effects of short-term adjustment and proposing afterwards new strategies towards long-term poverty reduction

Aldo Keto Reductase 1B7 and Prostaglandin F2α Are Regulators of Adrenal Endocrine Functions

Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), represses ovarian steroidogenesis and initiates parturition in mammals but its impact on adrenal gland is unknown. Prostaglandins biosynthesis depends on the sequential action of upstream cyclooxygenases (COX) and terminal synthases but no PGF2α synthases (PGFS) were functionally identified in mammalian cells. In vitro, the most efficient mammalian PGFS belong to aldo-keto reductase 1B (AKR1B) family. The adrenal gland is a major site of AKR1B expression in both human (AKR1B1) and mouse (AKR1B3, AKR1B7). Thus, we examined the PGF2α biosynthetic pathway and its functional impact on both cortical and medullary zones. Both compartments produced PGF2α but expressed different biosynthetic isozymes. In chromaffin cells, PGF2α secretion appeared constitutive and correlated to continuous expression of COX1 and AKR1B3. In steroidogenic cells, PGF2α secretion was stimulated by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and correlated to ACTH-responsiveness of both COX2 and AKR1B7/B1. The pivotal role of AKR1B7 in ACTH-induced PGF2α release and functional coupling with COX2 was demonstrated using over- and down-expression in cell lines. PGF2α receptor was only detected in chromaffin cells, making medulla the primary target of PGF2α action. By comparing PGF2α-responsiveness of isolated cells and whole adrenal cultures, we demonstrated that PGF2α repressed glucocorticoid secretion by an indirect mechanism involving a decrease in catecholamine release which in turn decreased adrenal steroidogenesis. PGF2α may be regarded as a negative autocrine/paracrine regulator within a novel intra-adrenal feedback loop. The coordinated cell-specific regulation of COX2 and AKR1B7 ensures the generation of this stress-induced corticostatic signal

Croissance, redistribution et lutte contre la pauvreté : l’évolution non linéaire de l’approche de la Banque mondiale*

This article reviews sixty years of the activity of the World Bank, by stressing the variations over time of its attitude with regard to the fight against poverty. Indeed, during the 1950s and 1960s, the World Bank considered that the best means of fighting poverty consisted in creating the conditions of the fastest possible growth by carrying out heavy investments in physical infrastructures. However, faced with the persistence of mass poverty and high inequalities in a great number of developing countries despite rather satisfactory performances in terms of growth, at the end of the 1960s the World Bank put for the first time the “war against poverty” at the centre of its agenda. Then during the 1970s it endeavoured to work out new growth strategies which are more favourable for the poor. Under the era of structural adjustment, the vision of the World Bank changed in many respects. During the first half of the 1980s, in a context of the debt crisis, the World Bank was led to put aside the objective of poverty reduction to favour the recovery of macroeconomic balances and the potential of growth of countries in difficulty. However, in response to criticism concerning the social costs of its adjustment programs, the international financial institution, at the end of the 1980s, reaffirmed its commitment to reduce poverty by giving greater importance to the social effects of short-term adjustment and proposing afterwards new strategies towards long-term poverty reduction. Cet article passe en revue 60 années d’activités de la Banque mondiale, en mettant l’accent sur les variations dans le temps de son attitude face au combat contre la pauvreté. Durant les années cinquante et soixante, la Banque mondiale considérait que le meilleur moyen de lutter contre la pauvreté consistait à créer les conditions d’une croissance la plus forte possible en procédant à des investissements lourds dans les infrastructures physiques. Toutefois, devant la persistance de la pauvreté de masse et de fortes inégalités dans bon nombre de pays en développement malgré des performances assez satisfaisantes en termes de croissance, la Banque mondiale plaça, dès la fin des années soixante, et pour la première fois, « la guerre contre la pauvreté » au centre de son agenda puis elle s’efforça d’élaborer, pendant les années soixante-dix, de nouvelles stratégies de croissance qui soient plus favorables pour les pauvres. Sous l’ère de l’ajustement structurel, la vision de la Banque mondiale a connu également de nombreuses modifications. Durant la première moitié des années quatre-vingt, dans un contexte de crise de la dette, la Banque mondiale a été conduite à reléguer l’objectif de réduction de la pauvreté au second plan, au profit de la restauration des équilibres macroéconomiques et du potentiel de croissance des pays en difficulté. Cependant, en réponse à la critique des coûts sociaux de ses programmes d’ajustement, l’institution financière internationale a réaffirmé son engagement à lutter contre la pauvreté en accordant, dès la fin des années quatre-vingt, une plus grande importance aux conséquences sociales de l’ajustement à court terme et surtout en proposant par la suite de nouvelles stratégies de lutte contre la pauvreté à long terme.

Fiscal sustainability in Central and Latin American countries : evidence from a panel cointegration approach

International audienceThis empirical study aims at assessing sustainability of fiscal policies in twenty Central and Latin American countriesover the period 1990-2012. We employ the second generation panel unit root test proposed by Pesaran (2007) to takeinto account for cross-section dependence and it is found that the fiscal variables are integrated of order one. Using the panel cointegration tests suggested by Westerlund (2007), econometric results show that there is a long-runrelationship between government revenue and spending. The estimate of the panel cointegrating regression in an error correction model indicates that the budget deficit turns out to be weakly sustainable

The sustainability of fiscal policy: evidence from a panel of six South-Mediterranean countries

This article aims at assessing the sustainability of fiscal policies in a panel of six South-Mediterranean countries, namely Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. First, using panel data unit-root tests proposed by Im et al. (2003), Maddala and Wu (1999), and Choi (2001), econometric findings reveal that the variables of public expenditure, revenue and domestic debt in level are not stationary. However, employing panel cointegration tests designed by Pedroni (1999), it is found that government spending and revenue are cointegrated. This implies that fiscal policies in these countries are sustainable in the long run, i.e. they are consistent with inter-temporal budget balance in accordance with the present-value approach.

The sustainability of the external debt: evidence from a panel of seven South-Mediterranean countries

International audienc

El neoestructuralismo como renovación del paradígma estructuralista de la economía del desarrollo

El objeto de este artículo es presentar el paradigma neoestructuralista del desarrollo como fuente de ideas innovadoras en relación con el estructuralismo, del cual se inspira y constituye. Esta corriente neoestructuralista de los años ochenta y noventa surgió directamente de los análisis novedosos de la corriente estructuralista de los años cincuenta y sesenta y de sus críticas, formuladas a la luz de los fracasos y éxitos de las políticas de desarrollo instrumentadas en América Latina durante esos decenios. De esta manera, el nuevo estructuralismo podría ser considerado como renovación del pensamiento estructuralista original, con el propósito de diseñar estrategias de desarrollo alternativas a la opción neoliberal que, a pesar de su fracaso general en la práctica, permanece como enfoque dominante en la economía del desarrollo

Estabilización, ajuste externo y estrategia de desarrollo: el neoestructuralismo como alternativa al neoliberalismo

Se exponen los aportes analíticos de la teoría neoestructuralista, sobre la inserción internacional y los equilibrios macroeconómicos de los países subdesarrollados. Se destaca la posición que los neoestructuralistas mantienen frente a la estrategia neoliberal del “Consenso de Washington” y las consecuencias de la liberalización comercial y financiera. Se señala su particularidad con respecto a la corriente estructuralista, ambas corrientes sostienen la idea de la necesidad de la industrialización y del papel del Estado para activarla, pero desde la perspectiva neoestructuralista la industrialización debe centrarse en la competitividad internacional y en la apertura comercial a los mercados exteriore

Drug Release by Direct Jump from Poly(ethylene-glycol-b-ε-caprolactone) Nano-Vector to Cell Membrane

Drug delivery by nanovectors involves numerous processes, one of the most important being its release from the carrier. This point still remains unclear. The current work focuses on this point using poly(ethyleneglycol-b-ε-caprolactone) micelles containing either pheophorbide-a (Pheo-a) as a fluorescent probe and a phototoxic agent or fluorescent copolymers. This study showed that the cellular uptake and the phototoxicity of loaded Pheo-a are ten times higher than those of the free drug and revealed a very low cellular penetration of the fluorescence-labeled micelles. Neither loaded nor free Pheo-a displayed the same cellular localization as the labeled micelles. These results imply that the drug entered the cells without its carrier and probably without a disruption, as suggested by their stability in cell culture medium. These data allowed us to propose that Pheo-a directly migrates from the micelle to the cell without disruption of the vector. This mechanism will be discussed