Production and substitution in two‐gap models

The paper examines the assumptions about production and factor substitution in two‐gap models. It focusses on the basic assumption of substitution between domestic and imported capital inputs implicit in the foreign exchange constraint argument. The elasticity of substitution between these two sets of inputs is measured using time series regressions employing data from Argentina. It is concluded that in Argentina the observed capacity to substitute domestic for imported inputs was substantial. It is argued that for countries with a somewhat developed industrial sector, rigid assumptions of complementarity between domestic and imported inputs might be inappropriate, and that projection of foreign exchange requirements based on such assumptions, commonly employed in two‐gap models, would be questionable.     

Co‐operation and the urban environment: An exploration

Many urban environmental problems (such as littering of streets) arise from the open access character of the resource concerned and can be analysed in the framework of co‐operation. Studies in the context of rural commons have indicated that though seeming to be violating a narrow definition of rationality, people do cooperate. This paper attempts to explore some issues in the context of the urban environment, focusing on solid waste management in Madras, India, and a co‐operation based institution called Exnora. A number of hypotheses on the conditions affecting co‐operation are examined. While group size may be relevant for costs, it does not have any impact on co‐operation. The management style of committees and economies of scope seem to be important.     

North‐South trade and female labour in manufacturing: An asymmetry

A simple method of measuring the impact of North‐South trade on the female intensity of manufacturing is applied to data for developed and developing countries. The results confirm that growth of exports has increased the relative demand for female labour in the South. However, there does not appear to have been a general counterpart reduction in the relative demand for female labour in Northern manufacturing, even among blue‐collar workers. There are several possible reasons for the apparent conflict between these findings and other evidence that in Northern manufacturing females have been disproportionately displaced by trade with the South.     

Farm‐to‐market transaction costs and specialisation in small‐scale agriculture: Explorations with a non‐separable household model

Using an integrated household model with endogenous transaction costs, this article illustrates how, even in the absence of risk, the tension between gains from specialisation and corresponding increases in transaction costs may lead to enterprise diversification on small farms. A numerical example illustrates that this tension may contribute to the prevalence of inter‐cropped cash‐crops on small farms, in apparent disregard for foregone yield and income from greater specialisation involving pure‐stands. By implication, measures that augment households’ abilities to override trading costs may be critical complements to efforts seeking to raise productivity and incomes in small‐scale agriculture via increased specialisation.     

The Postcolonial World and the Recourse to Myth: a critique of Albert Memmi’s Decolonization and the Decolonized

The seminal postcolonial thinker Albert Memmi’s reactionary turn with the publishing of Decolonization and the Decolonized provides an excellent opportunity to properly contextualise the conditions of the Third World. In this article, emphasis is laid on the necessity of linking the postcolonial world’s dire condition to the role of Western powers and economic processes of globalisation. Memmi’s primary shortcoming is his failure to examine these connections with any nuance, and instead choosing to blame the Third World’s condition on corrupt leaders and governments. Consequently, a focused critique of his work can serve as a valuable foundation for a broader critique of the general patterns of capitalism and its global effects. By examining the inconsistencies and obfuscations of this work in detail, both Memmi and the ideas he professes can be appropriately confronted.     

Foreign capital inflow and the output growth rate of the recipient country: One‐sector models compared

One of the main issues in the controversy about the desirability of the inflow of foreign capital in LDCs refers to the impact which this capital might have on the output growth rate of the recipient countries. In the first part of this paper we analyze the impact of foreign capital on the growth rate in the context of a savings constrained growth model with neo‐classical technology. In the second part, we study the impact of foreign capital on the growth rate under balance‐of‐payments constrained growth. Two main conclusions are: under neoclassical conditions, foreign capital will have a positive impact on the growth rate of domestic income as long as it grows at a rate higher than the product of the domestic saving rate by the profit rate required by foreign capitalists. Under balance‐of‐payments constrained growth, the growth rate of foreign capital needs to be higher than its own profit rate in order to have a positive impact on the growth rate of territorial income, if foreign trade parameters of overseas and domestic firms are identical.     

Difference unveiled: Bulgarian national imperatives and the re‐dressing of Muslim women, 1878–1989

Monique Armand and Marguerite Aymard, eds. European Bibliography of Soviet, East European and Slavonic Studies. Vol. IV — 1978. Paris: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1983. Pp. 523.

Mary M. Kritz, ed. U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policy: Global and Domestic Issues. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1983. Pp. xxi, 415.

János M. Bak and Béla K. Király, eds. From Hunyadi to Rákóczi: War and Society in Late Medieval and Early Modern Hungary. New York: Brooklyn College Social Science Monographs, 1982. Pp. xiv,545.     

An inquiry into quasi‐credit contracts: The role of reciprocal credit and interlinked deals in small‐scale fishing communities

The use of currency depreciation as a means of strengthening the balance of payments has long been a contentious issue amongst developing countries, especially in their negotiations with the IMF. This article reviews the various ways in which depreciation might exert its impact. A study of the empirical evidence suggests that it may be both an effective and cost effective instrument in many developing countries, even though exceptions do exist. Compared with alternative balance of payments policies, use of the exchange rate emerges as possessing many advantages. It is concluded that greater emphasis should be placed on the exchange rate in the context of IMF programmes than has perhaps been the case in recent years.     

Social Entrepreneurs and Social Inclusion: Building Local Capacity or Delivering National Priorities?

Abstract

Western governments have increasingly sought to tap the potential of the voluntary and community sectors in delivering neighborhood-based initiatives to combat social exclusion. The particular attributes claimed for the ‘third sector’ include closeness to the community and a capacity for flexibility and innovation. In-depth evaluation of the UK’s Neighbourhood Support Fund, a ‘flagship’ program designed to combat the social exclusion of disaffected young people living in deprived inner urban areas, demonstrates that to operate successfully in the current policy environment, community-based projects not only need these skills but must also acquire managerial capacity. In particular they have to be able meet the increasing demand from central government for detailed performance data. Successful community based projects therefore not only need to have the capacity for entrepreneurial activity but must now also have managerial skills not traditionally associated with the ‘not for profit’ organisations.     

Exchange rates in nineteenth‐century Brazil: An econometric model

This paper develops a model for the exchange rate in Brazil during the second half of the nineteenth century. The exchange rate discussion has a bearing in the sources of industrialization in Brazil. Two explanations stem from a primary export base. Whereas the ‘adverse shock argument’ links industrialization to unfavorable conditions in the external sector and exchange devaluations, the alternative approach views industrialization from the standpoint of the growth of income brought by the rise in exports. Those mechanisms are discussed. Also considered are the effects of monetary policy and the behavior of wages. The evidence shows that purchasing power parity is not enough to explain the exchange rate behavior, which clearly responded to coffee export revenues.     

Social darwinism and the taylor system: a missing link in the evolution of management?

Whereas linkages between Social Darwinism and Frederick Taylor's system of Scientific Management have been noted, there has been little elaboration on the relationship. In this paper, the parallels between the Social Darwinist theory of Herbert Spencer and the major tenets of Taylorism are explored. By the early 20th Century, members of the business community and leaders of organized labor had developed very different attitudes toward the principle of “survival of the fittest.” These opinions, informed by the prevailing ethos of society, appear to have colored business's and labor's reactions to Taylor's Scientific Management system. In addition, management historians may have developed different views concerning the strength of the relationship between Social Darwinism and Scientific Management because of the various forms of Social Darwinist theory.     

Women,work and Weil‐being in the Middle East: An outline of the relevant literature

This paper argues that a formalised small-scale gold mining sector could ameliorate Sierra Leone's emerging ‘crisis of youth’. Burgeoning pockets of unemployed young men now found scattered throughout the country, the mobilisation of whom proved instrumental in prolonging civil war in the 1990s, have fuelled fresh concerns about renewed violence. If supported, small-scale gold mining could provide immediate economic relief in the form of direct employment and downstream activities. Its promotion, however, is contingent upon a radical change in mindset in policymaking circles. Gold mining continues to be associated with diamond mining, an industry which perpetuated the country's civil war.     

Social Impact Bonds: Blockbuster or Flash in a Pan?

Despite the general hype, Social Impact Bonds’ (SIB) rate of adoption is still modest. The mismatch between widespread interest and actual adoption raises interesting questions as to whether we are still in the early adoption phase of SIBs and massive diffusion is yet to come, or we are observing a marginal phenomenon. In order to shed some light on this issue, the paper provides a review of the cases in which the SIB model has been already applied, exploring the specific configuration employed, with the purpose to identify regular configuration patterns and their deviation from a prototypical structure.     

Collapse at the WTO: a Cancun post‐mortem

This article offers an analysis of the collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun in September 2003. It argues that the collapse of the talks should not be regarded as a victory for the developing world, as many have suggested. Rather, the collapse should be seen as the inevitable result of deep‐seated tensions within the wto 's institutional framework, both in terms of the processes that underlie its working and the substance of its agreements. The article argues that these imbalances, if not corrected, will heighten the alienation of developing countries and work to the detriment of the legitimacy and survival of the wto.