This article tries to identify the determinants of housing price volatility and to examine the dynamic effects of these determinants on volatility using quarterly data for Canada. The Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (GARCH) and the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models have been employed to analyse possible time variation of the housing price volatility and the interactions between the volatility and the key macroeconomic variables. We find the evidence of time varying housing price volatility for Canada. Our VAR, Granger causality and variance decomposition (VDC) analyses demonstrate that housing price volatility is affected significantly by gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, housing price appreciation rate and inflation. On the other hand, volatility affects GDP growth rate, housing price appreciation and volatility itself. The impulse response analysis reveals the asymmetric of the positive and negative shocks. The findings of this article have important implications, particularly for those seeking to develop derivatives for housing market prices.

This study attempts to examine the role of women empowerment in the utilization of antenatal care in Bangladesh. Four dimensions are considered to measure the women empowerment: the highest level of education, freedom of choice/movement, power in the household decision making process and involvement in economic activities. Factor analysis technique is employed to construct the last three dimensions. The probit and the zero-inflated negative binomial regression models are specified and estimated using the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data. Results show that all four dimensions of women empowerment contribute positively and significantly to the decision and intensity of utilization of antenatal care in Bangladesh. Findings of the study have a number of policy implications on this issue for a developing country like Bangladesh.

Capital structure plays an important role in organizational performance. Sources of funds for micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and their performance and financial sustainability become an important topic for the MFIs and poverty alleviation initiatives to achieve sustainable development goals of the UN. We explored the following question: Does the financial structure in terms of financial leverage affect the financial performance: Financial sustainability, depth, and breadth of outreach of MFIs? Our research focuses on studying the relationship between capital structure and financial performance of micro-finance institutions as well as achieving the objectives of this program by reaching out to the deserving clients without collaterals. A dataset of 187 MFIs is used to establish the relationship between the capital structure and performance of MFIs. Panel data regression analysis has been used for this study using the Random effect and Fixed effect models. Return on Asset (ROA), and Net Income to Expenditure (NIER) have been used as measures of financial performance. The findings indicate that Equity to Asset Ratio (EAR), Debt to Loan Ratio (DTL), Risk, and Size are the factors that influence NIER. Furthermore, EAR, and DTL have a positive effect on ROA, and Risk has a negative effect. The findings of this study will enable MFIs to configure their capital structure by creating a portfolio of sources of their capital from market-based sources of funds that can maximize their financial performance and reach out to poor clients without collaterals.

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This study attempts to investigate the effects of women empowerment on infant mortality in Bangladesh. Four indicators have been considered to measure four dimensions of women empowerment: the level of education, participation in household (HH) decisions, autonomy in movements and employment status. The rotated factor analysis technique is used to construct the last three dimensions. The Weibull parametric survival model has been specified and estimated using the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data of 2011. The results show that three measures of empowerment (the level of education, participation in HH decisions and autonomy in movements) contribute significantly to the reduction of infant mortality. But women employment is associated with increased mortality for infants. The findings of this study have a number of policy implications on this issue for a developing country like Bangladesh.

A high zinc concentration of 520 M, approximately 100 times that used most often in standard plant tissue culture media, was found to be superior in liquid callus cultures of japonica rice, increasing growth to 146% compared with standard N6 medium. At the same time, the internal zinc concentration increased 40 times in fast growing cells; soluble protein doubled, and free amino acids decreased. Under zinc-free conditions the cultures slowed in growth, and several free amino acids such as aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, and glutamine accumulated. We suggest that zinc acts as a direct regulatory factor in inducing auxin activity, but not auxin levels, making high internal zinc accumulation mandatory if high auxin concentrations are required as in rice callus cultures.

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