The Making and Remaking of Agro-Industries in Africa

This article introduces the special section on the making and remaking of agro-industries in Africa. It examines what the contributions tell us about how agro-industries work, but also why national industries work the way they do, how they came to be that way and what factors and forces drive or hinder their dynamism.     

The less developed countries and the global economy

The Transnational Corporation and Uneven Development: The Internationalisation of Capital and the Third World. By Rhys Jenkins. London: Methuen, 1987. Pp.229. £28 (hardback); £8.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 416 733409 and 73350 6.

Developing With Foreign Investment. Edited by Vincent Cable and Bishnodat Persaud. Beckenham: Croom Helm, 1987. Pp.viii + 327. £25. ISBN 0 7099 4825 5.

International Industry and Business: Structural Change, Industrial Policy and Industry Strategies. By Robert H. Ballance. London: Allen & Unwin, 1987. Pp.xxi + 357. ISBN 0 04 339037 4 and 339038 2.

Trade Among Multinationals: Intra‐Industry Trade and National Competitiveness. By Donald C. MacCharles. London: Croom Helm, 1987. Pp. xiv + 207. £30. ISBN 07099 4618 X.

Myths and Reality of External Constraints on Development. By James Riedel. Alder‐shot: Gower for the Trade Policy Research Centre, London, 1987. Pp.xvi + 111. ISBN 0566 05336 5.

International Economic Restructuring and the Regional Community. Edited by Herman Muegge and Walter Stohr. Aldershot: Gower, 1987. Pp.x + 404. £28.50. ISBN 0566 05478 1.     

A Molecular Key for the Identification of Blow Flies in Southeastern Nebraska*

Abstract: Immature blow flies (Calliphoridae) are typically the first colonizers of cadavers. Identification of the early instars using traditional, morphology‐based keys is difficult because of their small size, similarity, and simplicity in external morphology. Information derived from molecular genetic data would augment the accurate identification of immature flies. Nine species of blow flies commonly found in southeastern Nebraska were used to examine the utility of molecular‐based keys. Polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR–RFLP) were investigated with 10 common, inexpensive, restriction enzymes from an amplicon of approximately 1500 bp spanning the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. A simple molecular taxonomic key, comprising RFLP from the restriction enzymes HinfI and DraI, enabled the differentiation of all species used. Further development of PCR–RFLP, including more extensive and intensive examination of blow flies, would benefit forensic laboratories in the accurate identification of evidence consisting of immature blow flies.     

Efficiency in the provision of pure public goods by private citizens

This paper raises an old question and proposes a new answer. The question is, “Must public goods be produced by governments?” The consensus answer is “Yes,” on the grounds that transaction costs related to group size prevent all potential consumers of a public good from entering into voluntary arrangements to produce efficient levels of that good. Government intervention thus is required to achieve efficiency. Yet many obvious examples of public goods are not financed or even subsidized by government. Conspicuous examples of this phenomenon include the development of important innovations in technique in fields such as music (Bach and Beethoven), literature (Defoe, Dickens and Shakespeare, not excepting Homer or Adam Smith), and the visual arts (Cezanne), not to mention many crucial scientific discoveries. Indeed, the obvious public-good aspects of scientific knowledge induced many private societies to offer prizes for particular innovations. Two questions are raised by the private, voluntary provision of nonrival outputs or inputs: (1) what conditions contribute to this phenomenon, and (2) can voluntary provision come “close” to efficient provision? We suggest in this paper that, under certain conditions, the gains from many public goods whose benefits reach nationwide populations are largely realized at group sizes far smaller than even county or municipal jurisdictions.     

Science governance and the politics of proper talk: governmental bioethics as a new technology of reflexive government

Abstract

The article examines the emergence of governmental bioethics in Great Britain, France and Germany, i.e. bodies, discourses and procedures meant to guide policy-making in terms of ethical considerations. It argues that governmental bioethics, marked by openness, transparency and participation, can be understood as a form of reflexive government in the realm of science governance. It grew out of the problematization of older forms of science governance based on ideas of effectiveness, scientific expertise and system stability, and operates through structuring and managing proper talk rather than intervening in processes of techno-scientific development. Yet, rather than challenging the commitment to techno-scientific ‘progress’, it stabilizes it through mechanisms of inclusion, involvement and mobilization: within the framework of proper ethical talk, participation can be employed to pursue rather than oppose system stability.     

The Impact of Drinking Water Quality and Sanitation on Child Health: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

This paper examines the association between stored drinking water quality and sanitation on diarrhoea incidence among under-five children in Ethiopia. Using primary household survey data and microbiological water quality testing for Escherichia coli, our results show that uncontaminated stored drinking water and safe child stool disposal are associated with decreased child diarrhoea incidences of 18 and 20 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, neighbourhood concentration of pit latrine shows an increased incidence of child diarrhoea of 16 percentage points. To protect rural children from the risk of contracting diarrhoea, improving household drinking water quality and changing people’s behaviour towards safe sanitation practices is needed.     

Planning for governmental efficiency through staffing allocation

The planning of personnel requirements for the various divisions of a government agency is a prerequisite to the preparation of reasonable operational budgets. This study describes a method for developing baseline estimates of personnel requirements in public agencies, by adpting traditional task analysis and work measurement approaches to teh broader framework of organizational theory. An application to determining the staffing requirements at the National Science Foundation for Fiscal Year 1979 - 1981 illustrates the method.