Effects of Financial Incentives on Saving Outcomes and Material Well‐Being: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial in Uganda

The use of savings products to promote financial inclusion has increasingly become a policy priority across sub‐Saharan Africa, yet little is known about how families respond to varying levels of savings incentives and whether the promotion of incentivized savings in low‐resource settings may encourage households to restrict expenditures on basic needs. Using data from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda, we examine: (1) whether low‐income households enrolled in an economic‐empowerment intervention consisting of matched savings, workshops, and mentorship reduced spending on basic needs and (2) how varied levels of matching contributions affected household savings and consumption behavior. We compared primary school‐attending AIDS‐affected children (N = 1,383) randomized to a control condition with two intervention arms with differing savings‐match incentives: 1:1 (Bridges) and 1:2 (Bridges PLUS). We found that: (1) 24 months post‐intervention initiation, children in Bridges and Bridges PLUS were more likely to have accumulated savings than children in the control condition; (2) higher match incentives (Bridges PLUS) led to higher deposit frequency but not higher savings in the bank; (3) intervention participation did not result in material hardship; and (4) in both intervention arms, participating families were more likely to start a family business and diversify their assets.     

Accrual Accounting and the Government's Intertemporal Budget Constraint

In its standard form, the intertemporal budget constraint requires the present value of a government's future primary cash surpluses to be at least equal to the value of its outstanding debt. In an effort to help link accrual accounting to fiscal analysis, this paper shows how the constraint can also be expressed in terms of the surpluses and balance sheets of the accrual-based accounts and fiscal statistics that are increasingly supplementing and sometimes replacing traditional cash-only accounting.     

Performance measures as forms of evidence for science and technology policy decisions

Amidst current widespread calls for evidence based decision making on public investments in science and technological innovation, frequently interpreted to imply the employment of some bundle of output, outcome, productivity, or rate-of-return measures, the promises and limitations of performance measures, singly or collectively, varies greatly across contexts. The promises reflect belief in, scholarly research supportive of, and opportunistic provision of performance measures that respond or cater to executive and legislative branch expectations or hopes that such measures will facilitate evidence-based decision-making. The limitations reflect research on the dynamics of scientific discovery, technological innovation and the links between the two that even when well done and used by adepts, performance measures at best provide limited guidance for future expenditure decisions and at worst are rife with potential for incorrect, faddish, chimerical, and counterproductive decisions. As a decision-making enhancement, performance measurement techniques have problematic value when applied to the Big 3 questions of U.S. science policy: (1) what is the optimal size of the Federal government’s investments in science and technology programs; (2) the allocation of these investments among missions/agencies/and programs (and thus fields of science); and (3) the selection of performers, funding mechanisms, and the criteria used to select projects and performers.     

Santam and Nando's: An advertising narrative of local humour,local conflict,local co-branding

ABSTRACT

In 2011 South African short term insurer Santam (Santam Ltd.) put in place an advertising initiative that illustrates the power of a humorous brand narrative effected in conjunction with another brand. In this case, it is the South African arm of Nando's (Nando's Chickenland Ltd.), a fast food restaurant chain specialising in Portuguese-themed chicken dishes that rely heavily on peri-peri spices. The two well-known brands aired a series of five commercials on television and the Internet, trading good-humoured jibes centred around the value proposition of each company's offering. The resultant rise in social media viewership and consumer engagement was notable and illustrates the efficacy of a cobranded narrative run over numerous media platforms; in this case radio, television, social media, print and the Internet.     

Democratic theory,the courts and the press

Powerful social forces block the transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Economic, political and social stability has not yet been achieved. The corporatist political and social structures have not been transformed to allow the vast majority to enjoy the basic necessities that ensure a life of dignity. Institutional structures of government, such as an independent judiciary, must be developed and stabilized. The rule of law and the guarantees of due process have to be consolidated and become an accepted, basic requirement of social interaction. Creating a specific kind of deliberative democracy based on the epistemic value of democratic decision making and discussion is the only way forward. This justificatory theory is more likely to allow for equal participation and rational discourse among all segments of the population. Objective information on important societal issues is a necessary prerequisite for such participation. This requires an independent press that adequately performs its democratic functions. Moreover, an independent judiciary has an indispensable role to play in this process, particularly in protecting the free flow of information to the people so that they can make informed choices on issues crucial to a democracy.     

Complete mitochondrial genome sequences for 265 African American and U.S. “Hispanic” individuals

Entire mitochondrial genome (mtGenome) sequences of 265 unrelated African American and U.S. “Hispanic” individuals were generated.     

The commercialization of academic patents: black boxes,pipelines, and Rubik’s cubes

Drawing on histories of technological innovation originating from research by faculty at The Pennsylvania State University and Johns Hopkins University, this paper presents evidence for a “technology” as well as an “intellectual property rights” research approach to the commercialization of academic patents. By describing how inventor and firm activities and strategies affect the technical development and commercial positioning of university patents, a technology focus adds depth to the general proposition that university patents are embryonic technologies. It likewise serves as an analytical probe to reconsider other mainstream propositions about university technology transfer.