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Using meta-analytical techniques, we focus on 11 studies that explicitly measure the effect of a net migration variable in neoclassical convergence models and derive 57 comparable effect sizes. The data suggest that an increase in the net migration rate of one percentage point increases on average the GDP per capita growth rate by 0.13 percent, thus suggesting a net migration impact that is more consistent with endogenous self-reinforcing growth rather than neoclassical convergence. However, studies that use panel models or IV estimation yield smaller coefficients of net migration while the opposite is the case for regressions controlling for high-skilled migration.

Since the 1950's economists applied game theoretical concepts to a wide variety of economic problems. The Nash equilibrium concept has proven to be a powerful instrument in analyzing the outcome of economic processes. Since the late 1980's economists also show a growing interest in the application of evolutionary game theory. This paper discusses the main concepts of evolutionarygame theory and their applicability to economic issues. Whereas traditional game theory focusses on the static Nash equilibria as the possible outcomes of the game, evolutionary game theory teaches us to model explictly the behavior of individuals outside equilibrium. This may provide us with a better understanding of the dynamic forces within a society of interacting individuals.

Recent research based on Dutch marriage records shows a steady decrease offemale labour force participation from the 1840s until the 1930s. However, this researchrelies on combined data from several municipalities. Analysing the sources in this wayaggregates the development to such an extent that local variation is completely overlooked.This article contributes to our understanding of regional variation in unmarried women’slabour from 1812 to 1932. The purpose of this research is to isolate the developments inindustry from those in agriculture and the service sector. I use marriage records from fourregions that list the occupation of the bride to determine the amount of working unmarriedwomen throughout the research period. My data show a different development from thepreviously mentioned research. Unlike earlier results, I found that unmarried women’s labourforce participation in the industrial centres did not decrease gradually throughout thenineteenth and early-twentieth century. Moreover, labour force participation was remarkablyhigh compared to the other sectors, especially during the first decades of the twentiethcentury. I argue that industry developed in a specific way because it required a cheap labourforce which was mostly found among young women. This statement is supported by showingthe percentages of brides with a recorded occupation in two industrial centres. Furthermore, Ishow that in these centres, the younger a woman was, the higher the chance that she stated anoccupation in her marriage record. This was not the case in the agricultural and serviceorientedregions I have investigated. I therefore argue that research on the history of femalelabour should be approached from a comparative perspective for a proper understanding of itsdevelopments.

Given the assumption that the components of a vector time series are stationary about nonlinear deterministic time trends, nonlinear co-trending is the phenomenon that one or more linear combinations of the time series are stationary about a linear trend, hence the series have common nonlinear deterministic time trends.In this paper we shall develop nonparametric tests for nonlinear co-trending.The tests are based on generalized eigenvalues, where the two matrices involved are constructed nonparametrically on the basis of partial sums.We apply this approach to the federal funds rate and the CPI inflation rate in the U.S., using monthly data.It appears that these series are nonlinearly co-trended, where the nonlinear trend in the inflation rate is positively related to the nonlinear trend in the interest rate.This positive relation between interest and inflation is known in the literature as the price puzzle. Thus, our result suggests that the price puzzle is due to a common nonlinear time trend in the series involved.

The major challenge of the 21st century is to achieve food security under, roughly, a doubling in food demand by 2050 compared to present, and producing the additional food under marked shifts in climatic risks and with environmentally sound farming practices. Sustainable intensification of agricultural production is required that meets the dual goal of improved environmental sustainability and economic efficiency. Ex ante evaluation of technological innovations to support agricultural production and food security taking into account the various future risks can substantially contribute to achieve this. Here we perceive technological innovations as new or improved agro-technologies and –management practices, such as new breeds, integrated soil fertility practices or labour-saving technologies meeting the goals of sustainable intensification.In this report we present results from three systematic reviews: one on the use of biophysical modelling, the second and third on the use of bio-economic modelling at farm scale and agro-economic modelling at higher aggregation levels, for ex ante evaluation of the effects of (agro-) Technological Innovations (ag-TIs) on sustainable agriculture and food security indicators. To this end, we searched the SCOPUS database for journal articles published between 1996 and 2015. We considered modelling studies at different spatial scales with particular attention to local to national scale studies for the twelve PARI focal countries in Africa1. But we also included studies for all other African countries as well as a few studies at supra-national/continental scale. Both, “quick wins” as well as long term benefits from ag-TIs were of interest. The various ag-TIs were furthermore grouped into four classes: (1) water/soil moisture (2) soil nutrients/conservation (3) crop/cropping system, (4) other ag-TIs or (5) combinations of 1 to 4. For each paper, we tried to identify the primary ag-TI analysed, and if there was equal emphasis to more than one, we classified them as combinations. It should be borne in mind that there is some subjectivity in classifying the papers in this way.Results. After various steps of refining “search strings”, screening on relevance and supplementing databases from additional sources, we found 140 relevant biophysical modelling studies, whereby coverage of sub-regions and ag-TIs varied markedly. Most studies were found for East and West Africa, followed by Southern Africa; hardly anything was found for Northern and Middle Africa2. A similar pattern appeared for the integrated agro-economic modelling studies at farm scale, for which we found 40 relevant ones. Agro-economic modelling studies at higher aggregation levels showed a somewhat different pattern – and more generally contained little detail on technological innovations. Regarding the share of different primary agro-technologies explored in the biophysical studies we1The 12 countries are, in alphabetic order: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia – see, maps,e.g. Fig 10.2 See United Nations geoscheme for composition of geographical sub-regions (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm) .ivfound 45 on crop management, 35 on combined agro-technologies, 31 on soil nutrient management and conservation, 23 on water/soil moisture management, and 6 on other technologies. We found similar shares among the various agro-technology groups for the integrated agro-economic modelling studies at farm scale.Looking at the outcomes from ex ante evaluations we found that many studies are (mostly) positive on effects of single and “conventional” ag-Tis. The majority of biophysical studies is performed at “field scale” and focuses on the effects on productivity (sometimes yield stability); many of these studies were performed in climate variability and change /adaptation research context. Most agro-economic modelling studies that look specifically at ex ante evaluations of ag-TIs are performed at farm or regional (sub-national) scales. While the number of biophysically oriented studies has grown exponentially over the considered period 1996-2015, this is not the case for the agro-economic modelling studies.Looking in more detail at the twelve focal countries of PARI (=Programme of Accompanying Research on Agricultural Innovations)3 we also find an unbalanced distribution, with most studies found in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali and Ghana (biophysical modelling studies), and respectively in Kenya and Uganda (agro-economic modelling studies), whereas nothing or little was found for both types of studies in Togo, Zambia and Nigeria.Very few of the biophysically-oriented studies include other information than effects on crop yields, and there are few studies for both biophysical and agro-economic modelling that comprise multi-scale or higher scale analyses; if multi-scale, there are more studies that scale up from field/farm to regional/sub-national level than from field/farm to nation scale or beyond. There is definitely a need to overcome the lack of meaningful integrated multi-scale modelling along the lines proposed in chapters 5-6 of this report. Moreover, less than half of all integrated /agro-economic modelling studies at farm scale explicitly address risk – another clear shortcoming, which requires attention by the research community.A more general conclusion is that there is no application yet of true transdisciplinary research approaches in practice. Hence, there is need for participatory, collaborative (cross-sectoral) and combined modelling approaches with adequate stakeholder involvement throughout the research process. In this respect, some lessons might be learned from pioneering work conducted in Asia and Europe.

This paper investigates whether ECB corporate sector purchases impact the funding structure of non-financial corporates. Regression models are estimated using a unique microdata panel, combining data on all Eurosystem corporate sector purchases and individual balance sheets of 672 non-financial corporations headquartered in the euro area with access to capital markets. The findings indicate that ECB purchases of corporate bonds reduce the dependence on bank financing of corporates whose debt is purchased. The effects vary according to corporates interest paid, financial expenses and price-to-book ratio. In addition, this paper shows that the relationship between central bank purchases and corporates dependence on bank financing is non-linear. The downward effect on bank dependence is largest for those corporates of which most debt is purchased under the CSPP, relative to their total stock of debt.