Empirical analyses of annuities markets have been limited to a few industrial countries and restricted by data limitations. Chile provides excellent conditions for research on annuities because of the depth of its market and the availability of data. The authors use a panel of life insurance company data to examine econometrically the main determinants of the annuity rate, defined as the internal rate of return on annuities. The results indicate that the annuity rate is determined by the risk-free interest rate, the share of privately-issued higher yield securities in the portfolio of providers as a proxy for the spread over the risk-free rate, the leverage of providers, the level of broker's commissions, the market share of individual providers, the level of the premium, and the degree of market competition. The results also show that efforts to improve market transparency produced structural shifts in the parameters of the annuity rate equation. The results are consistent with separate research on money's worth ratios, and indicate the need to develop appropriate financial instruments, allowing providers to hedge their risks while extracting higher returns, and also to ensure competition and transparency in annuities markets, in order to ensure good outcomes for annuitants. "--World Bank web site.
We leverage the multi-stressor nature of the COVID-19 generalized disruption as an opportunity to test the out-of-sample forecasting accuracy of both theory-based and data-driven vulnerability prediction models for the ex ante targeting of preventive interventions. [Author] Taking advantage of the World Bank multitopic surveys for Ethiopia and Nigeria, the two most populous African countries, our retrospective evaluation assesses the models’ ability to anticipate households and agrifood system actors experiencing food insecurity and income losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Author] The results are disappointing: we document that, despite considerable heterogeneity across data and methods, both models do not achieve satisfactory out-of-sample forecasting performances. [Author] Our findings are robust to the use of different data, estimation methods, and several heterogeneity analyses and sensitivity checks. [Author] This evidence calls for a refinement of current profiling methodologies and for interoperability efforts to close existing microdata gaps. [Author] Such efforts would enable policymakers to implement more effective early-warning systems of vulnerability hotspots and improve the cost-effectiveness of development interventions aimed at targeting groups vulnerable to future food crises. [Author]
The second chapter estimates the internal rate of return paid on annuities based on a stylized model of the demand and supply for annuities. The data used in this analysis are company-level. During the 1990s, illegal provision of cash rebates to annuitants played an important role in determining annuity demand. Thereafter, the rate of return on annuities became a more important factor in the market for annuities.
This addition to the ISOR series addresses the analytics of the operations of electric energy systems with increasing penetration of stochastic renewable production facilities, such as wind- and solar-based generation units. As stochastic renewable production units become ubiquitous throughout electric energy systems, an increasing level of flexible backup provided by non-stochastic units and other system agents is needed if supply security and quality are to be maintained. Within the context above, this book provides up-to-date analytical tools to address challenging operational problems such as: • The modeling and forecasting of stochastic renewable power production. • The characterization of the impact of renewable production on market outcomes. • The clearing of electricity markets with high penetration of stochastic renewable units. • The development of mechanisms to counteract the variability and unpredictability of stochastic renewable units so that supply security is not at risk. • The trading of the electric energy produced by stochastic renewable producers. • The association of a number of electricity production facilities, stochastic and others, to increase their competitive edge in the electricity market. • The development of procedures to enable demand response and to facilitate the integration of stochastic renewable units. This book is written in a modular and tutorial manner and includes many illustrative examples to facilitate its comprehension. It is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of electric energy systems, applied mathematics and economics. Practitioners in the electric energy sector will benefit as well from the concepts and techniques explained in this book.
Few politicians have risen to national prominence as quickly as Marco Rubio. Here is the full story of his unlikely journey. Florida Senator Marco Rubio electrified the 2012 Republican National Convention by telling the story of his parents, who were struggling immigrants from Cuba. They embraced their new country and taught their children to appreciate its unique opportunities. Every sacrifice they made over the years, as they worked hard at blue-collar jobs in Miami and Las Vegas, was for their children. Young Marco grew up dreaming about football, not politics. In this fascinating memoir, he reveals how he ended up running for the West Miami City Commission, and then the Florida House of Representatives. In just six years he rose to Speaker of the Florida House. He then won his U.S. Senate campaign as an extreme long shot. Now Rubio speaks on the national stage about the better future that’s possible if we return to our founding principles. In that vision, as in his family’s story, Rubio proves that the American Dream is still alive for those who pursue it.
The sections in this book are devoted to new approaches and usages of stainless steels, the influence of the environments on the behavior of certain classes of steels, new structural concepts to understand some fatigue processes, new insight on strengthening mechanisms, and toughness in microalloyed steels. The kinetics during tempering in low-alloy steels is also discussed through a new set-up that uses a modified Avrami formalism.
The present edition of "Current Insights in Pollen Allergens" provides recent aspects related to pollen allergy, a major medical problem which is still under thorough studies. The chapters of this book will be of significant value to those interested to get notions about molecular basis of pollen allergy, such as allergen proteins polymorphism and its implications in allergic disease, cross-reactivity between pollen and pollen-plant food derived allergens, as well as strategies for clinical trial and future research. This book also provides insights about the application of molecular tools in allergens detection and quantification such as "multiplex methods", helping in the development of the standardization process of pollen protein extracts, ensuring efficiency and safety in allergy diagnosis and immunotherapy, but also exploring factors that affect allergen product expression (environmental factors), and alternative effective anti-allergic and/or preventative strategies for allergic diseases.
This book demonstrates specific osteotomy techniques from the skull to the hallux. The role of osteotomy in the correction of deformity is under appreciated in part because of the ubiquitous nature of joint replacement surgery. It should be remembered, however, that osteotomy has a role to play in the correction of deformity in the growing child, the active young adult, and patients of any age with post-traumatic deformity limiting function and enjoyment of life. In this text we bring you a number of papers defining specific problems for which osteotomy is found to be an effective and lasting solution. I hope you find it useful.
Tras el caso Bank Little, Néstor «El Dandi» Sanchís decide seguir los consejos de Bibi, su mujer, y apartarse de las investigaciones calientes. Sin embargo, el detective no podrá cumplir su promesa durante mucho tiempo. La inesperada visita de Verónica Expósito, que le pide ayuda para demostrar su inocencia en un asesinato, hará que su mundo se ponga patas arriba. Poco a poco, el detective se verá arrastrado a un caso mucho más complejo de lo que podría imaginar, y de dimensiones inesperadas.Mientras, España se prepara para las elecciones. El país está siendo sacudido por los casos de corrupción, los recortes económicos y el independentismo catalán. Acabada la batalla electoral los políticos empiezan la guerra por el poder, pero hay otros que también mueven sus resortes. Sin querer, Sanchís se ve atrapado en medio de ese tablero de ajedrez en el que todo el mundo quiere jugar, sin importar las consecuencias. Porque, ¿quién no quiere el poder? Una novela que muestra la intrincada red de influencias y corrupción del poder, donde el dinero, el sexo y las mentiras se manejan desde una alargada sombra que intenta controlarlo todo
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