Foi calculado o impacto econômico da brucelose bovina, a partir de um banco de dados socioeconômico, efetuado no período de 2001 a 2002 pelo Centro de Estudos Avançados em Economia Aplicada da Escola Superior de Agricultura \"Luiz de Queiroz\" da Universidade de São Paulo (CEPEA/ESALQ/USP). Foram reunidas informações de 27, 43, 36 e 17 propriedades leiteiras representantes, respectivamente, dos estados de Goiás (GO), Minas Gerais (MG), Santa Catarina (SC) e Rio Grande do Sul (RS). No Rio Grande do Sul, as propriedades amostradas situavam-se na região Noroeste, em Santa Catarina, na região Oeste, em Goiás, na região Sul e, em Minas Gerais, nas regiões Central, do Triângulo Mineiro e metropolitana de Belo Horizonte. Os parâmetros utilizados para a simulação dos prejuízos causados pela brucelose foram: prevalência de 0,06% e 3,0% respectivamente para os estados de MG/GO (Região I) e SC/RS (Região II); fertilidade 80%; descarte por esterilidade 20%; abortamento 25%; mortalidade perinatal 30%; reposição de matrizes nos rebanhos infectados 30% superior aos rebanhos não infectados; custos dos serviços veterinários 20% do salário mínimo vigente e custo da quilometragem 30% do valor da gasolina por quilômetro rodado. As propriedades foram divididas em três estratos: pequenas, com população média de 94 e 38,83 animais, respectivamente para as regiões I e II; intermediárias, populações médias de 143 e 57,83 animais, respectivamente para as regiões I e II e grandes, populações médias de 242 e 115,82 animais, respectivamente para as regiões I e II. Estes agrupamentos foram estabelecidos a partir do número de animais por rebanho e do número vacas em lactação, obtendo-se dados com uma distribuição normal. Os prejuízos totais atribuídos ao impacto causado pela brucelose bovina nas propriedades leiterias amostradas foram de R$ 18.532,80 e de R$ 4.279,94 respectivamente para as regiões I e II, quando expressos em reais ou de 39.131,60 e 10.204,83 se referidos em litros perdidos por ano. As proporções anuais de perdas na região I foram da ordem de 14% e para a região II de 5% / The economic impact of bovine brucellosis was calculated from a socioeconomic data bank corresponding to 2001-2002 period, by the staff of the Centro de Estudos Avançados em Economia Aplicada - CEPEA - Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Data concerning to the prevalence of brucellosis, dairy production and economic information from 27, 43, 36, and 17 dairy farms pertaining respectively to the states of Goiás (GO), Minas Gerais (MG), Santa Catarina (SC) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS) were analyzed in this study. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the dairy farms sampled were located at the Northwestern region; in Santa Catarina state herds were sampled from the Western region; in the Goiás state the farms were sampled from the Southern region; and in the state of Minas Gerais, samplings included herds from the Central, Triângulo Mineiro, and metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. The parameters used for the simulation of losses caused by brucellosis were: prevalence rate of 0.06% and 3.0%, respectively for the states of MG/GO (Region I), and SC/RS (Region II); fertility rate of 80.0%; culling of cows due to sterility of 20.0%; abortion rate of 25.0%; perinatal mortality rate of 30.0%, replacement of dams from infected herds 30.0% higher than to that of non-infected herds; cost of veterinary technical assistance service corresponding to 20.0% of the minimum wage in force; and transportation cost corresponding to 30.0% of the price of gasoline/Km. The dairy farms were divided into three strata: small farms with average population of 94 and 38.83 animals , respectively for the regions I and II; intermediate ones with mean population of 143 and 57.83 animals, respectively for the regions I and II; and large properties with mean population of 242 and 115.82 animals, respectively for regions I and II. These clusters were established starting from the number of animals existing in corresponding herds and the existing number of cows in lactation, and the data were found to be under normal distribution. Total losses attributed to the impact caused by bovine brucellosis in those dairy farms sampled reached a monetary value of R$ 18,532.80 and R$ 4,279.94, and expressed in volume of production, losses corresponded to 39,131.60 and 10,204.83 litters/year, respectively for the regions I and II. In terms of percentage, annual losses of the region I reached 14.0%, and 5.0% for the region II

Disruptions to the freight transportation system are costly due to freight's critical relationship to economic productivity. This research will analyze the current methods of estimating the economic impacts of disruptions to the freight transportation system. A review of existing literature will be conducted with the intent of finding methods that address different types of disruptions and impacts. Due to varying economic scopes and disruptions studied, the results will likely indicate a broad range of methodologies and trends. The results will be used to better understand the different approaches taken when quantifying the economic impacts of disruptions and therefore enable more informed policy, regulation and investment.

This thesis focuses on the problems of the Chinese University Admission (CUA) system. Within the field of education, the system of university admissions involves all of Chinese society and causes much concern amongst all social classes. University admissions have been researched since the middle of last century as an issue which has economic impact. However, little attention has been paid to the CUA system from the perspective of economics. This thesis explores a number of interesting aspects of the system. As a special case of the priority-based matching mechanism, the CUA system shares most properties of the Boston Mechanism, which is another example of a priority-based matching mechanism. But it also has some unique and interesting characteristics. The first chapter will introduce the main principles of the CUA system in detail and discuss stability, efficiency, strategy-proofness, and other properties under different informational assumptions. There is a heated debate about whether the CUA system should be abandoned or not. Educational corruption is one of the issues that have been raised. Corruption is a major issue of the CUA system as well as university admission systems in other areas in the world, e.g. India, Russia, etc. We contrast the performance of markets and exams under the assumption that there exists corruption in the admission process. The problem will be analyzed under perfect capital markets and also under borrowing constraints. We use auction theory to obtain equilibria of the market system and the exam system and analyse the effects of corruption on the efficiency of the two systems. We conclude that the exam system is superior to the market system if we only consider the issue of corruption. In the third chapter, we construct a model to reveal the forces that positively sort students into different quality universities in a free choice system under assumptions of supermodular utility and production functions. Given a distribution of student ability and resources, we analyse the planner's decisions on the number of universities and the design of the "task level" for each university, as well as the allocation of resources between universities. Students gain from completing requirements (tasks) in universities, while having to incur costs of exerting effort. In contrast to previous literature, our model includes qualifications as well as cost in the student's utility function, and educational outputs depend on qualification, ability and resources per capita. Our main focus is on the design of task levels. Our result differs from the literature as regards the optimal number of colleges. A zero fixed cost of establishing new colleges does not necessarily result in perfect tailoring of tasks to students. Furthermore, if the fixed cost is not zero, then the planner has to take fixed costs into account when deciding the number of universities.

Background: The proportion of nosocomial Staphylococcus infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has increased from 22% in 1995 to 63% in 2004. Blood stream infections, more commonly referred to as bacteremias, represented the majority (75.5%) of hospital-onset MRSA cases. The economic impact of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia merits investigation. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis within Cerner HealthFacts data warehouse. Eligible patients were those who had Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and were discharged between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2006. Inclusion criteria include age > 18 years old and onset of infection > 48 hours post admission. The crude association was measured by subtracting the total mean hospital charge for MSSA bacteremia from the MRSA charge. A generalized linear model using a gamma distribution and log link were used to determine the adjusted hospital charge and post-infection length of stay for the MRSA and MSSA groups. Path analysis was used to describe the relationships between infection susceptibility status, LOS and total hospital charge. Results: During the study period, 930 patients meet all the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The overall total hospital charge was $111,636 (MRSA = $121,713, MSSA = $97,307.) The crude difference in mean charge was $24,406. The multivariable model included predicted a MRSA patient would have an increased total charge of $22,889. MRSA had a higher total charge but when patients were more severely ill, MRSA charges decreased while MSSA charges increased. The second multivariable model predicted a MRSA patient would have an increased post-infection LOS of 1.3 days. However, the magnitude of increased post-infection LOS based on pre-infection LOS was different for MRSA and MSSA patients. The path analysis model indicated the direct and indirect effects of susceptibility status on both post-infection LOS and total charge were relatively small. Conclusion: This investigation was the first large multi-center investigation to examine the economic impact of MRSA and MSSA bacteremia. MRSA was associated with a higher total charge and longer post-infection LOS than MSSA patients. The path analysis model analyzed suggests the actually role of infection susceptibility status on post-infection LOS and total charge was minor.

This research compared the expenditure patterns, profiles, and trip characteristics of volunteer and leisure tourists in New Orleans. Survey research methods were used to obtain a sample of voluntourists that was compared to a leisure tourist sample obtained from secondary data. Visitors’ expenditures across six types of spending, demographics, and travel information were collected. Data analysis included eight t-tests that revealed that voluntourists’ spending was lower in five out of six categories, total daily expenditures, and total trip spending. Voluntourists spent more on local transportation but preferred cheaper accommodations and dining, seldom gambled, shopped little at the destination, and rarely visited tourist attractions. Frequency analysis used to profile tourists discovered that voluntourists traveled greater distances to the destination than leisure tourists and came from northern states. While most leisure tourists were aged between 35-64 years, married, and neither students nor retired, most voluntourists were younger, single, and still in college.

This thesis examines the impacts of adult HIV/AIDS related mortality on elderly women and their households in Agincourt, a rural area in the north-eastern part of South Africa. It focuses specifically on demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural impacts of adult AIDS and non-AIDS illness/death on near-old women aged 50-59 and older women aged 60 and above. The study uses the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System (AHDSS) 2004 census data which contains some history about individuals and their households (e.g. household mortality experience between 1992 and 2004). The AHDSS dataset is used to examine elderly female household headship and its relationship with, firstly, pension status and secondly, adult AIDS/non-AIDS mortality, through statistical analyses. Also, the AHDSS census data is utilised as a sampling frame to select a random sample of 60 households in which 30 women aged 50-59 and 30 women aged 60-75 lived, for the qualitative part of this study. The sample was made up of 20 women who lived in households that had experienced an HIV/AIDS death between 2001 and 2003, 20 women that lived in households where another type of adult death had occurred, and 30 women in households with no adult death during the period. The findings from the quantitative analyses of the AHDSS dataset reveal that there is no significant relationship between adult AIDS/non-AIDS death and elderly female household headship. Further findings, however, show that elderly female household headship is strongly associated with pension status, thereby suggesting that pension grant is a determining factor in the household headship status of elderly women. One implication of this is that elderly female household heads who are pensioners may be able to cope better with HIV/AIDS impacts as findings from the qualitative data demonstrate that pensioners (older women) are more likely, than non-pensioners (near-old women), to have access to coping strategies, which enable them to deal with the financial crises of adult illness/death in their households. There is, therefore, the need for programmes to target near-old women, who experience the financial impact of adult morbidity/mortality like their older peers. iii Further findings from the qualitative data explicate secondary stigma as a socio-cultural impact of adult HIV/AIDS on elderly women who are caregivers to infected children. Findings also highlight different types of secondary stigma such as physical stigma in the form of separation from family members and social stigma in the form of social isolation. The study suggests that there is need for intervention programmes that address the issue of secondary stigma as it makes caregiving responsibilities more burdensome for elderly women.

O vírus de influenza aviária H5N1 tem se disseminado rapidamente por diversos países e continentes nos últimos anos, gerando grandes perdas econômicas e de vidas humanas. Existe a possibilidade de a doença chegar ao Brasil, o que provocaria elevado impacto sobre a economia, especialmente sobre o setor avícola. A ausência e a necessidade de estimativas de impacto econômico no país, derivadas de surtos de gripe aviária em território brasileiro, motivaram a presente pesquisa. Visando gerar tais estimativas e analisá-las, foram simulados três cenários utilizando-se de um modelo aplicado de equilíbrio geral inter-regional, denominado TERM-BR. O primeiro cenário (Cenário I) contempla um foco da doença no Rio Grande do Norte, região Nordeste do país. O segundo (Cenário II) simula a presença de diversos focos da doença no estado de São Paulo. O terceiro (Cenário III) considera o surgimento de diversos focos presentes nos estados Rio Grande do Norte, Rondônia, São Paulo e Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados sinalizam impactos de maior dimensão na medida em que os focos da doença surgem próximos aos mercados produtores, exportadores e consumidores, como é o caso da região Sul e Sudeste. Na região Sul, em função da dimensão da avicultura na economia local, a crise do setor avícola acaba refletindo negativamente e acentuadamente sobre o conjunto da economia local. Nas regiões Norte e Nordeste, as restrições sobre a aquisição de aves vivas pelas famílias têm grande peso na retração da atividade econômica do setor avícola, já que a atividade de abate é pouco representativa e parcela importante das aves é adquirida diretamente pelas famílias, o que não acontece na mesma dimensão nas demais regiões do país. Observa-se também que o aumento do consumo de carne bovina e suína contribui para reduzir a crise na economia estadual nos estados produtores, e é também a fonte de crescimento para os estados em que a bovinocultura se destaca. O choque de demanda doméstica de produtos avícolas, comparado com os demais choques, revela-se como o principal responsável pelo comportamento na produção em quase todos os estados. Já a redução das exportações tem grande peso sobre o comportamento da produção avícola quando o foco da doença é na região exportadora ou próxima a ela. No estado de Santa Catarina, o choque de exportações prepondera sobre a queda do consumo doméstico quando do fechamento quase total dos mercados externos para carne de aves. Por último, o choque de oferta, via mortalidade das aves e destruição de ovos, pouco influencia a magnitude da queda na produção dos produtos da avicultura. / In the past few years, the bird flue virus H5N1 spread rapidly through various countries and continents, causing great economic and human losses. There is also the possibility of the disease arriving in Brazil, which would have a substantial impact on the country\'s economy, particularly on its poultry sector. The present study addresses the lack of estimates of the potential economic consequences of a bird flu outbreak on commercial poultry production in Brazil. The analysis consists of three simulations using a interregional general equilibrium model called TERM-BR. The first scenario focuses on an outbreak in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in the Northeastern part of the country. The second scenario simulates an outbreak at various places in the State of Sao Paulo, and the third scenario assesses the consequences of a bird flue outbreak in various states simultaneously, Rio Grande do Norte, Rondônia, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. The results indicate greater economic impact when the outbreak occurs close to points of production and consumption, which is the case in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil. In the South, where the poultry sector constitutes a larger share of the local economy, a potential avian flu outbreak will also have a greater negative economic impact. In the Northern and Northeastern region, live birds are generally purchased and slaughtered directly by individual families living in suburban and small town settings rather then by large scale processors and packinghouses. This characteristic explains why potential restrictions on these small purchases of live birds will have a very large negative economic impact on the poultry sector in the affected states. A possible reduction in poultry supply could however be offset by an increase in beef and pork consumption, thereby softening the economic affect of a bird flue outbreak by promoting growth of the beef and pork industry. In most states, this fall of domestic poultry demand is the primary cause for a shift in production. In contrast, the fall in export demand only weighs heavily on the local economy when the outbreak occurs close to exporting regions. In the state of Santa Catarina, for example, the effect of a fall in export demand dominates the effect of a fall in domestic demand, as export markets are almost completely shutdown. Finally, the reduction in poultry supply through death of infected birds and destruction of eggs, has little affect on the decrease of poultry production.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / The focus of the study was on the socio-economic impact of illegal Zimbabwean migration in South Africa and the measures taken by the South African government to deal with illegal migration. The study was qualitative in nature and concentrated on illegal Zimbabwean immigrants and government officials from the departments of Health and Social Development, Home Affairs and the South African Police Service as subjects. The area of study was Polokwane City under the Capricorn District. According to the research findings, the majority of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants chose to migrate illegally because they do not have passports to enable them to apply for visas, those who have visas cannot afford to pay the R2000 needed for a visa and also because South African due to the porous nature of South African borders, it is easier to migrate illegally than legally. Illegal immigrants have a serious impact on housing in terms of illegal squatting and the health sector. A positive impact has also been identified through the research findings in terms of cheap labour and on the formal and informal business sectors through the purchasing of goods and commodities for use and resale back in Zimbabwe.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / The study deals with the socio-economic impact of land restoration on the Masha Community. Members of Masha Community opted to relocate to their ancestral land, Kalkfontein, which they successfully reclaimed in the year 2000. The study interrogates if the restoration of land to the Community has made any positive impact on their social and economic well being. It focuses on the key challenges posed by land restoration to both the Community and the different spheres of government. It also deals with the challenges of leadership among the Masha Community which are threatening the attainment of developmental goals at Kalkfontion. The study concludes by making some concrete proposals and recommendations on how the State, the Community and various developmental agencies could resolve the problems faced by Communities such as the Masha after their land has been restored. / the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and the University of Limpopo.

This thesis involves construction of input-output models measuring the economic impact of a farming innovation organisation (The Birchip Cropping Group) on the Victorian regional economy of Buloke Shire. The input-output modeling undertaken is of two forms; the first being a simple naïve top-down model, and the second a more sophisticated hybrid model. The naïve top-down model is based on input-output coefficients drawn from the Australian national input-output tables, and is regarded as naïve because these input-output coefficients are not adjusted to take account of local economic factors. The hybrid model uses the same national input-output coefficients as a base, and then modifies these coefficients to better reflect industrial conditions in the Shire using a location quotients-adjustment technique, as well as using original survey data collected from entities operating in Buloke Shire. One of the aims of the thesis is to determine whether the simpler naïve top-down approach produces results consistent with the theoretically more accurate hybrid methodology, and thus whether the naïve top-down approach represents a reliable method of conducting regional economic impact analysis. That is, can such studies be undertaken accurately using a naïve top down approach, or is it necessary to adopt the more resource intensive methodology of a hybrid model. The results of the analysis suggest construction of a hybrid model is advisable, as generally the naïve top-down approach produces over-estimates of the economic effects of the Birchip Cropping Group. That is, it appears the economic impact multipliers estimated with the naïve top-down model are too large, suggesting the time and effort involved in constructing the hybrid model was worthwhile. Using the hybrid model, the conclusion is that the Birchip Cropping Group has a significant affect on the regional economy of Buloke Shire, with the economic impact being estimated at close to $600,000 in additional output, $61,000 in additional income, and 3.5 additional jobs per year.