Egypt's multiproduct agricultural technology and agricultural policy

Based on the hypothesis that Egyptian farmers maximise economic profits, the multiproduct translog profit function is used to estimate input demand and output supply functions for corn, rice, and cotton crops grown in Egypt's Nile delta. Elasticity estimates indicate a generally high degree of price responsiveness. The estimates are used to evaluate Egyptian agricultural policies concerning labour, mechanisation, and output prices. The results show that Egypt's agricultural policies of taxing output and subsidising certain inputs have hada substantial negative impact on agricultural productivity.     

Export Response to Technical Barriers to Trade: Firm-Level Evidence from Pakistan

This study empirically examines the responses of trade margins to a battery of technical barriers to trade (TBT) and explores the mechanism, drivers and speed of adjustment. It uses a highly-disaggregated transaction-level dataset of mango-exporting firms from Pakistan and exploits a quasi-natural experiment in the identification strategy. It finds that, following the application of TBT measures, exports increased along the intensive margins. The process of adjustment took around four years, and larger quantities as well as higher prices drive this effect. Moreover, firms shrink their client base in destination markets but ship large quantities to a few big retailers.     

ASEAN in a Globalizing World

In the early 1990s, ASEAN emerged from the Cold War as a confident regional organization. With the accession of Cambodia, it seemed to be fulfilling the aspirations of its founding fathers to expand membership to include all ten Southeast Asian countries. Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997, however, ASEAN's self-confidence has been dealt a severe blow and it faces unprecedented challenges to its current status and future prospects. In the following article, former Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, examines the various issues facing ASEAN today, including the impact of the Asian crisis; the ramifications of socioeconomic and political crises in the affected ASEAN countries; the implications of the rapid and fundamental changes in the international and regional economic, political and security environment; and the enlargement of ASEAN membership. Despite questions over ASEAN's future role, Alatas asserts his belief in the continuing relevance of this regional forum to contribute to regional stability.     

Prevalence of probable attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in inmates and its relationship with recidivism

The aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence of probable attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in prisoners and to assess the relationship between ADHD and recidivism. We studied 356 inmates, who were evaluated using the Wender Utah Rating Scale and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale. Type of crime and other crime-related data were compared between inmates with and without ADHD. The group with probable ADHD had a higher average number of convictions compared to the group without ADHD. The probable ADHD group also demonstrated higher incidence of extortion crime, drug trade, disciplinary action at school, and military service than the group without ADHD. Linear regression analysis revealed that the presence of probable ADHD was effective on the number of convictions. The findings of our study support that the presence of probable ADHD carries a potential risk of being prone to certain crimes and demonstrate a correlation between the presence of probable ADHD and early involvement in crime and the number of convictions.