We studied ionospheric responses to the 2012 April 11 Mw 8.6 North Sumatra earthquake using tota lelectron content (TEC) measurements with the regional Global Navigation Satellite System network. This earthquake ruptured the oceanic lithosphere off the Indian Ocean coast of North Sumatra, and is known as the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded. Coseismic ionospheric disturbances (CIDs)…

we are able to show how the tenants� strategic response to the varying economic and tenure-security status of the landlords helps explain sharecroppers� productivity differentials. The study reveals that sharecroppers� yields are significantly lower on plots leased from landlords who are non-kin and landlords with weaker economic and tenure-security status (such as female) than o…

In autumn 2012, the new release 05 (RL05) of monthly geopotencial spherical harmonics Stokes coefficients (SC) from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission was published. This release reduces the noise in high degree and order SC, but they still need to be filtered. One of the most common filtering processing is the combination of decorrelation and Gaussian …

Much of our understanding about contemporary African economies relies on survey data fromsmall andmediumenterprises. In this study,we apply a newmethod for sampling enterprises: respondent-driven sampling, or RDS. RDS is a modified method of chain-referral or network sampling, in which survey participants recruit other enterprises in their social network to the study. It incorporates a mathema…

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) methods are widely use donland to mapelectric conductivity and/or magnetic susceptibility distributions of surficial sediments. In contrast, the application of these methods in marine environments is relatively novel. Based on the recently developed electromagnetic benthic profiler MARUM-NERIDIS III we investigate the potential of concentric-loop EMI …

Economic stagnation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) led a number of economists to question the region�s ability to attain sustained economic growth, some arguing for the need to shift away from primary exports. Yet,we find that lowgrowth has not been common to all SSA countries and that those that maintained political stability and significantly liberalised their economies experienced high a…

Across invertebrates and vertebrates, steroids are potent signaling molecules that affect nearly every cell in the organism, including cells of the nervous system. Historically, researchers have focused on the genomic (or ‘‘nuclearinitiated’’) effects of steroids. However, all classes of steroids also have rapid non-genomic (or ‘‘membrane-initiated’’) effects, although there is …

This paper estimates the long-run impact of a large income shock based on regional variations in the 1987�89 locust plague in Mali. We take comprehensive population census data to construct birth cohorts of individuals and compare those born and living in the years and villages affected by locust plagues with other cohorts. We find a clear, strong impact on the educational outcomes of …

Spherical harmonic and mascon parameters have both been successfully applied in the recovery of time-varying gravity fields from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). However, direct comparison of any mass flux is difficult with solutions generated by different groups using different codes and algorithms. It is therefore opportune to compare these methodologies, wit…

This paper contributes to the long-standing debate on the merits of decentralised beneficiary targeting in the administration of development programmes, focussing on the large-scale Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP). Using nationally representative household survey data, the study systematically analyses the decentralised targeting performance of the FISP during the 2009�10 agr…