| 1. |
- Eriksson Baaz, Maria, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Feeding the Horse : Unofficial Economic Activities within the Police Force in the DR Congo
- 2011
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Ingår i: African Security. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1939-2206 .- 1939-2214. ; December 2011:Issue 4, s. 223-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on original interview material, this article addresses the organization of unofficial economic activities within the Congolese (Democratic Republic of the Congo) police force. In contrast to dominant assumptions in security sector reform discourses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which property violations tend to be portrayed as disorganized, ad-hoc activities, following from irregular and insufficient salaries, the article shows how property violations are highly organized with large portions flowing upward in the chain of command. However, the article also argues for the need to go beyond one-dimensional notions of “unrestrained predation” and simplistic dichotomies between civilians (victims) and police/military (predators). Furthermore, it argues for a more contextual analysis in which the core security sector institutions are situated more firmly in the political and economic context in which they operate.
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| 2. |
- Eriksson Baaz, Maria, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Navigating 'taxation' on the Congo River: the interplay of legitimation and 'officialisation'
- 2018
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Ingår i: Review of African Political Economy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0305-6244 .- 1740-1720. ; 45:156, s. 250-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on comprehensive research among boat operators and navy personnel working on the Congo River (DRC), this article explores how assessments of 'taxation' are shaped by the interplay of legitimation and 'officialisation'. As such, it draws upon and contributes to scholarly debates on taxpayers' attitudes towards taxation. While boat operators resent having to pay a plethora of authorities, including the navy, along the Congo River, the article demonstrates how they locate these 'taxes' on a spectrum from more to less legitimate. These assessments are shaped by various factors: authorities' legitimacy as 'measured' by their official mandate and importance; public and non-official service provision; and the deployment of symbols of 'stateness'. In interaction, these factors legitimise and 'officialise' 'taxes' by the navy that are prohibited in legislation. These findings caution against the a priori use of the labels official' and 'non-official', emphasising the need to better grasp these notions' emic understandings.
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| 3. |
- Olsson, Ola, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Fiscal capacity in "post"-conflict states : Evidence from trade on Congo river
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Development Economics. - : Elsevier. - 0304-3878 .- 1872-6089. ; 146
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many post-conflict states with a weak fiscal capacity, illicit domestic levies on trade remain a serious obstacle to economic development. In this paper, we explore the interplay between traders and authorities on Congo River - a key transport corridor in one of the world’s poorest and most conflict-ridden countries; DR Congo. We outline a general theoretical framework featuring transport operators who need to pass multiple taxing stations and negotiate over taxes with several authorities on their way to a central market place. We then examine empirically the organization, extent, and factors explaining the level of taxes charged by various authorities across stations, by collecting primary data from boat operators. Most of the de facto taxes charged on Congo River have no explicit support in laws or government regulations and have been characterized as a “fend for yourself”-system of funding. Our study shows that traders have to pass more than 10 stations downstream where about 20 different authorities charge taxes. In line with hold-up theory, we find that the average level of taxation tends to increase downstream closer to Kinshasa, but authorities that were explicitly prohibited from taxing in a recent decree instead extract more payments upstream. Our results illustrate a highly dysfunctional taxing regime that nonetheless is strikingly similar to anecdotal evidence of the situation on the Rhine before 1800. In the long run, a removal of domestic river taxation on Congo River should have the potential to raise trade substantially.
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| 4. |
- Sundin, Per-Ola, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Measured glomerular filtration rate does not improve prediction of mortality by cystatin C and creatinine
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation. - : Oxford University Press. - 0931-0509 .- 1460-2385. ; 32:4, s. 663-670
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cystatin C may add explanatory power for associations with mortality in combination with other filtration markers, possibly indicating pathways other than glomerular filtration rate (GFR). However, this has not been firmly established since interpretation of associations independent of measured GFR (mGFR) is limited by potential multicollinearity between markers of GFR. The primary aim of this study was to assess associations between cystatin C and mortality, independent of mGFR. A secondary aim was to evaluate the utility of combining cystatin C and creatinine to predict mortality risk.Methods: Cox regression was used to assess the associations of cystatin C and creatinine with mortality in 1157 individuals referred for assessment of plasma clearance of iohexol.Results: Since cystatin C and creatinine are inversely related to mGFR, cystatin C - 1 and creatinine - 1 were used. After adjustment for mGFR, lower cystatin C - 1 (higher cystatin C concentration) and higher creatinine - 1 (lower creatinine concentration) were independently associated with increased mortality. When nested models were compared, avoiding the potential influence of multicollinearity, the independence of the associations was supported. Among models combining the markers of GFR, adjusted for demographic factors and comorbidity, cystatin C - 1 and creatinine - 1 combined explained the largest proportion of variance in associations with mortality risk ( R 2 = 0.61). Addition of mGFR did not improve the model.Conclusions: Our results suggest that both creatinine and cystatin C have independent associations with mortality not explained entirely by mGFR and that mGFR does not offer a more precise mortality risk assessment than these endogenous filtration markers combined.
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| 5. |
- Ahlerup, Pelle, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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The Roots of Ethnic Diversity
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Economic Growth. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1381-4338 .- 1573-7020. ; 17:2, s. 71-102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The level of ethnic diversity is believed to have significant consequences for economic and political development within countries. In this article, we provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of the determinants of ethnolinguistic diversity in the world. We introduce a model of cultural and genetic drift where new groups endogenously emerge among peripheral populations in response to an insufficient supply of collective goods. In line with our model, we find that the duration of human settlements since prehistoric times has a strong positive association with current levels of ethnolinguistic diversity. Diversity is further negatively correlated with the length of modern state experience and with distance from the equator. Our results are thus consistent with both “evolutionary” and “constructivist” hypotheses of ethnolinguistic fractionalization.
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| 6. |
- Ambrosi, Aurelie, et al.
(författare)
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Development of heart block in children of SSA/SSB-autoantibody-positive women is associated with maternal age and displays a season-of-birth pattern
- 2012
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - London : BMJ Publishing Group. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 71:3, s. 334-340
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective Congenital heart block may develop in the fetuses of Ro/SSA-positive and La/SSB-positive mothers. Recurrence rates of only 10-20% despite persisting maternal antibodies indicate that additional factors are critical for the establishment of heart block. The authors investigated the influence of other maternal and fetal factors on heart block development in a Swedish population-based cohort. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods The influence of fetal gender, maternal age, parity and time of birth on heart block development was analysed in 145 families, including Ro/La-positive (n=190) and Ro/La-negative (n=165) pregnancies. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults There was a recurrence rate of 12.1% in Ro/La-positive women, and no recurrence in Ro/La-negative women. Fetal gender and parity did not influence the development of heart block in either group. Maternal age in Ro/La-positive pregnancies with a child affected by heart block was, however, significantly higher than in pregnancies resulting in babies without heart block (pandlt;0.05). Seasonal timing of pregnancy influenced the outcome. Gestational susceptibility weeks 18-24 occurring during January-March correlated with a higher proportion of children with heart block and lower vitamin D levels during the same period in a representative sample of Swedish women and a corresponding higher proportion of children with heart block born in the summer (pandlt;0.02). Maternal age or seasonal timing of pregnancy did not affect the outcome in Ro/La-negative pregnancies. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion This study identifies maternal age and seasonal timing of pregnancy as novel risk factors for heart block development in children of Ro/La-positive women. These observations may be useful for counselling when pregnancy is considered.
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| 7. |
- Borcan, O., et al.
(författare)
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State history and economic development: evidence from six millennia
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Economic Growth. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1381-4338 .- 1573-7020. ; 23:1, s. 1-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presence of a state is one of the most reliable historical predictors of social and economic development. In this article, we complete the coding of an extant indicator of state presence from 3500 BCE forward for almost all but the smallest countries of the world today. We outline a theoretical framework where accumulated state experience increases aggregate productivity in individual countries but where newer or relatively inexperienced states can reach a higher productivity maximum by learning from the experience of older states. The predicted pattern of comparative development is tested in an empirical analysis where we introduce our extended state history variable. Our key finding is that the current level of economic development across countries has a hump-shaped relationship with accumulated state history.
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| 8. |
- Borcan, Oana, et al.
(författare)
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Transition to agriculture and first state presence: A global analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Explorations in Economic History. - : Elsevier BV. - 0014-4983 .- 1090-2457. ; 82
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has often been observed that the emergence of states in a region is typically preceded by an earlier transition to agricultural production. Using new data on the date of first state emergence within contemporary countries, we present a global scale analysis of the chronological relationship between the transition to agriculture and the subsequent emergence of states. We find statistically significant relationships between early reliance on agriculture and state age in all sub-samples and also when we use alternative sources of data at different levels of geographical aggregation. A one millennium earlier transition to agriculture among non-pristine states predicts a 317-430 year earlier state emergence. We uncover differences in cases where states were imposed from outside or when they emerged through internal origination. The agriculture-state lag is on average 3.1 millennia in internally originated (including pristine) states, and 2.7 millennia in externally originated states. We also explore some of the mechanisms through which agriculture is believed to have influenced the emergence of states. Our results indicate that the rise of social classes was often an intermediate step towards the presence of early states.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Dalgaard, C. J., et al.
(författare)
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Roman roads to prosperity: Persistence and non-persistence of public infrastructure
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Comparative Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0147-5967. ; 50:4, s. 896-916
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we explore the link between public transport infrastructure investments made during antiquity and the presence of infrastructure today; as well as the link between early infrastructure and economic activity, both in the past and in the present. We examine the territory under dominion of the Roman Empire at the zenith of its geographical extension (117 CE), and find a remarkable pattern of persistence showing that greater Roman road density goes along with (a) greater modern road density, (b) greater settlement formation in 500 CE, and (c) greater economic activity in 2010–2020. Exploiting a natural experiment, we find that persistence in road density and the strong link between early road density and contemporary economic development weaken to the point of insignificance in areas where the use of wheeled vehicles was abandoned and caravan trade routes replaced road-based trade from the first millennium CE until the late modern period. Studying channels of persistence, we identify the emergence of market towns during the early medieval period and the modern era as a robust mechanism sustaining the persistent effects of the Roman roads network. Our results contribute to a deeper understanding of the channels through which persistence in comparative development comes about.
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