Process of Cluster Formation in China: A Case Study of a Garment Town

In China industrial clusters consisting of small and medium enterprises have been proliferating in areas where private sectors have successfully developed. This study inquires into the process of forming a new industrial cluster and the roles of local and distant urban traders in the garment industry in China. We found that the local marketplace, where enterprise managers can easily purchase materials from and sell products to local traders, plays a critical role in stimulating the entry of new enterprises in the early stage of cluster development. As a cluster develops, however, entrepreneurial ability in producing high-quality products and marketing them to urban traders plays a more significant role.     

An Exploratory Analysis of Fertility Differentials in India

The association between improving economic conditions and declining growth of population has led economists and demographers to hypothesise a direct relationship between indicators of economic development and fertility rates. Using recent National Family Health Survey data and the 1991 Census to explore factors contributing to fertility rates in India, we found that economic variables explain 70 per cent of the interstate variations in India's fertility rates. However, several non-economic variables explain an even greater proportion, for example, indicators of female autonomy explain 84 per cent of the variations. Our analysis demonstrates that to successfully explain Indian fertility rates, models must rely heavily on non-economic variables.     

The American-Japanese ‘Co-prosperity sphere’

Abstract

For many years Jane Hamilton-Merritt has carried out a publicity campaign in support of Vang Pao and the so-called “Lao resistance,” while condemning the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and anyone who challenges her own views. Hamilton-Merritt has demonstrated great effectiveness in marshaling the mainstream media, reputable public figures, and otherwise respected institutions as the channels or even mouthpieces for her campaign. The publication of Tragic Mountains highlights her ongoing efforts to find acceptance for her fanciful vision of the recent history of Laos (and the United States). Her success in this campaign has been possible only because few in her audience know the facts behind her distorted misrepresentations. In this book, Hamilton-Merritt constructs a fantastical account of “the Hmong, the Americans, and the secret wars for Laos” that bears little relation to the truth of the events and personalities she discusses.     

Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on School Attendance and Child Poverty: An Ex Ante Simulation for Sri Lanka

For countries assessing whether to implement a cash transfer programme, an ex-ante evaluation is vital to assess its potential impacts. This study simulates the impact of alternative cash transfer programmes on school attendance and poverty among Sri Lankan children. We find that cash transfer programmes targeting poor children would be the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty and encourage school attendance. If means-testing is not feasible, then programmes targeting the children in households with at least three school-age children would provide a suitable second-best solution. Our findings suggest that even a limited programme budget can provide significant impacts.     

Food energy intake and cost of basic needs: Measuring poverty in Bangladesh

Past estimates of poverty in Bangladesh based on the food energy intake method found decreasing poverty over time and similar poverty in urban and rural areas. Using the cost of basic needs method, we find increasing poverty for 1984–92 and higher poverty in rural than urban areas. Examples of lack of consistency in past estimates are highlighted. A method is introduced to assess the gap narrowing and re‐ranking impacts on poverty measures of changes in poverty lines. The article also estimates the marginal impact of household characteristics such as household size, education, occupation and land ownership on the probability of being poor.     

Demographic pressure,technological innovation and welfare: The case of the agriculture of Bangladesh

In the early years of its introduction, the HYV technology was widely regarded as a technical breakthrough that would bring about rapid agrarian progress and a revolutionary improvement in the standard of living of the farm population. Three decades later the promise of the new technology remains unfulfilled. This article argues that the adoption of the HYV technology in the agriculture of Bangladesh was determined mainly by an acute demographic pressure. Since the non‐agricultural sectors did not expand sufficiently rapidly, there was a tremendous pressure on agriculture to accommodate the additional workforce. The imperative to employ a larger workforce and feed a rising population forced the farmers to adopt the labour‐intensive, land‐augmenting HYV technology. The welfare of the farmers did not show any secular increase with the switch to the new technology.