Recent research studying the link between law and finance has concentrated on country-level investor protection measures and focused on differences in legal systems across countries and legal families. Klapper and Love extend this literature and provide a study of firm-level corporate governance practices across emerging markets and a greater understanding of the environments under which corporate governance matters more. Their empirical tests show that better corporate governance is highly correlated with better operating performance and market valuation. More important, the authors provide evidence showing that firm-level corporate governance provisions matter more in countries with weak legal environments. These results suggest that firms can partially compensate for ineffective laws and enforcement by establishing good corporate governance and providing credible investor protection. The authors' tests also show that firm-level governance and performance is lower in countries with weak legal environments, suggesting that improving the legal system should remain a priority for policymakers. This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study corporate governance around the world.

/pdf/corporate-governance-investor-protection-and-performance-in-2rtartzc1e.pdf

Corporate Governance, Investor Protection and Performance in Emerging Markets

Agroforestry systems are believed to provide a number of ecosystem services; however, until recently evidence in the agroforestry literature supporting these perceived benefits has been lacking. This special issue brings together a series of papers from around the globe to address recent findings on the ecosystem services and environmental benefits provided by agroforestry. As prelude to the special issue, this paper examines four major ecosystem services and environmental benefits of agroforestry: (1) carbon sequestration, (2) biodiversity conservation, (3) soil enrichment and (4) air and water quality. Past and present evidence clearly indicates that agroforestry, as part of a multifunctional working landscape, can be a viable land-use option that, in addition to alleviating poverty, offers a number of ecosystem services and environmental benefits. This realization should help promote agroforestry and its role as an integral part of a multifunctional working landscape the world over.

Agroforestry for ecosystem services and environmental benefits: an overview

Nonlinear matrix equations arise in different scientific topics, such as applied statistics and control theory, among others. Standard approaches to solve them include and combine some variations of Newton’s method, matrix factorizations, and reduction to generalized eigenvalue problems. In this paper we explore the use of secant methods in the space of matrices, that represent a new approach with interesting features. For the special problem of computing the inverse or the pseudoinverse of a given matrix, we propose a specialized secant method for which we establish stability and q-superlinear convergence, and for which we also present some numerical results. In addition, for solving quadratic matrix equations, we discuss several issues, and present preliminary and encouraging numerical experiments.

/pdf/universidad-central-de-venezuela-1tk1qxmc15.pdf

Universidad central de venezuela

http://www.usfx.bo/nueva/vicerrectorado/citas/AGRARIAS_7/AGROFORESTERIA/VEGETACION.pdf

Vegetation structure and productivity in cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Talamanca, Costa Rica

Cote d’Ivoire produces 40 % of the world supply of cocoa but much of the plantation area is aging and declining in productivity, while opportunities for land expansion into new forest land are quickly disappearing. Rejuvenation strategies for cocoa presently coalesce either around improved varieties and greater use of agro-chemical inputs in full sun systems or eco-certification that requires trees to be integrated with cocoa. Here, we explore the possibility of uniting these approaches through building on current farmer practice of incorporating trees in their cocoa fields to improve cocoa productivity and diversify their livelihoods. We interviewed 355 farmers about trees integrated in their cocoa fields across four locations in the South-West of Cote d’Ivoire in 2012, stratified by whether or not farmers were eco-certified. Despite the massive deforestation, a rich diversity of trees was found in cocoa fields and an overwhelming majority of farmers (95 %) wanted more trees and/or more tree species, regardless of their certification status or ethnic origin. There was a consensus that most trees were compatible with cocoa, but farmers also traded off negative impacts of some species against their productive contribution to their livelihood. Farmers valued tree diversity on their cocoa plots and provided detailed information on how 32 tree species interacted with cocoa in terms of soil moisture retention, soil fertility improvement and pest and disease interactions but also had key gaps in knowledge about alternative hosts of mirids and mistletoe. The majority of farmers were not aware of the certification requirements for tree species and shade cover but a much higher proportion of certified farmers (76 %) had received information about shade trees than non-certified farmers (15 %), although advice only related to eight tree species. Scope for building on local knowledge and practice to sustainably increase cocoa productivity through promoting tree diversity while enhancing other ecosystem service provision was identified and the next steps required to realize this set out.

/pdf/farmers-in-cote-d-ivoire-value-integrating-tree-diversity-in-2lgeiudqtj.pdf

Farmers in Côte d’Ivoire value integrating tree diversity in cocoa for the provision of ecosystem services

This article presents a brief review of the main environmental service functions that are provided by agroforestry systems (AFS): 1) maintenance of soil fertility/reducing erosion via organic matter inputs to the soil, nitrogen fixation and nutrient recycling; 2) conservation of water (quantity and quality) via greater infiltration and reduced surface runoff that could contaminate water courses; 3) carbon capture, emphasizing the potential of silvopastoral systems; and 4) biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes. These service functions complement the products that AFS provide (for commercial and home use; e.g. fuelwood, timber, fruits) but farmers are rarely rewarded for them. More research is needed on the possible trade-offs between the different service functions and the negative effects on the traditional products/uses of AFS when the tree component of agricultural systems is increased; e.g. maximizing carbon capture with high-density tree monocultures will have negative effects on biodiversity conservation and could eliminate the source of food supplements, fibres, medicines, etc. used by rural families. Methods for managing financial incentives, as rewards to farmers who provide these services by adopting/improving AFS, in order to leverage better land use, also have to be developed and tested in different socio-economic frameworks. A major limitation to the promotion of AFS is the dearth of economic analyses that include valuation of these service functions. (Resume d'auteur)

Servicios ambientales de los sistemas agroforestales

Environmental services of agroforestry systems.

Demand for sweet water doubles every twenty years, at twice the rate of world population growth. However, water is one of the most degraded natural resources in the world, due mainly to the decrease in forested lands and changes in land use that reduce the capacity for water reception and storage in aquifer mantels. Superficial runoff and infiltration rates were evaluated in native overgrazed pastures without trees, native pastures with trees, improved pastures with trees and young secondary forests (tacotal) in the rainy season in the sub-humid tropics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The soils evaluated were similar for land use systems in Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Alfisols and Inceptisols, respectively). In both localities, soil texture was loam to clay loam, with a sloping landscape. Surface runoff was estimated with three runoff plots per system. Infiltration capacity was estimated by the double ring infiltration method. Native overgrazed pastures without trees presented the highest surface runoff, which was four and five times greater than that of young secondary forests; two and three times higher than that of improved pasture with trees; and seven and 11 times greater than that of fodder banks in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, respectively. Young secondary forests showed the highest infiltration capacity compared to the other systems, while the pasture with trees had a higher infiltration rate than native overgrazed pastures. Isolated trees in native or improved pastures decrease the surface runoff and increase the infiltration of water, which can lead to water conservation on cattle farms. 1 CATIE, Costa Rica. Correos electronicos: jrios@catie.ac.cr (autor para correspondencia), handrade@catie.ac.cr, mibrahim@catie.ac.cr, fjimenez@catie.ac.cr. 2 Nitlapan – UCA, Nicaragua. Correo electronico: auracard@ns.uca.edu.ni. 3 Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica. Correo electronico: fsancho@cia.ucr.ac.cr. A g r o f o r e s t e r i a e n l a s A m e r i c a s N o 4 5 2 0 0 6

http://www.sidalc.net/repdoc/A6009e/A6009e.pdf

Escorrentía superficial e infiltración en sistemas ganaderos convencionales y silvopastoriles en el trópico subhúmedo de Nicaragua y Costa Rica

Factores ecológicos y socioeconómicos que influyen en la regeneración natural del laurel en sistemas silvopastoriles del trópico húmedo y subhúmedo de Costa Rica

Riqueza, abundancia y diversidad de aves y su relación con la cobertura arbórea en un agropaisaje dominado por la ganadería en el trópico subhúmedo de Costa Rica

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