Aid instability as a measure of uncertainty and the positive impact of aid on growth

This article contributes to the literature on aid and economic growth. We posit that uncertainty, measured as the instability of aid receipts, will influence the relationship between aid and investment, how recipient governments respond to aid, and will capture the fact that some countries are especially vulnerable to shocks. When we account for uncertainty (which is negative and significant), we find that aid has a significant positive effect on growth, largely due to its effect on the volume of investment. The finding that uncertainty of aid receipts reduces the effectiveness of aid is robust. When the regression is estimated for the sub‐sample of African countries these findings hold, although the effectiveness of aid appears weaker than for the full sample.     

The Perils of Bula Matari: Constraint and Power in the Colonial State

This review article argues that analyses of the food security implications of emerging powers in Africa could be strengthened through foregrounding the issue of perspective. Researchers working in this area should engage with food security opinion contests, and avoid obscuring these debates moving forward.     

Business groups,financing constraints and investment: the case of India

We examine the effect of business group affiliation on corporate investment behaviour in India. More specifically, we test whether group affiliation reduces financing constraints for the affiliated firms. We use a data set containing 694 listed Indian companies for the 1989–97 period. We estimate a simple investment equation and find evidence that the investment-cash flow sensitivity is much lower for group affiliates. This suggests that business group affiliates have better access to external funds than stand-alone firms.     

Infant and child mortality in developing countries: Analysing the data for Robust determinants

Is development best achieved by going for growth, or does specific attention need to be paid to directly improving human welfare? In contrast to the Human Development Reports of the UNDP, the World Bank has stressed the growth approach. Recent work has reinforced this position by arguing that health spending is extremely ineffective in reducing infant or child mortality, which is mainly explained by a country's income per capita. This article contests this position through testing the robustness of determinants of infant and child mortality. We have estimated over 420,000 equations which show that, while income per capita is a robust determinant of infant and child mortality, so are indicators of health, education and gender inequality. Some health spending, such as immunisation, is thus shown to be cost effective way of saving lives. Our results are consistent with the view that much health spending in developing countries may be poorly targeted or otherwise ineffective, but do not support the position that public health strategies should not be given too great a role in pursuing improvements in human welfare.     

Unravelling the linkages between the millennium development goals for poverty,education, access to water and household water use in developing countries: Evidence from Madagascar

All members of the United Nations have pledged to meet eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. This study looks at the MDG objectives and linkages between poverty, education, access to water, and household water use based on primary data collected in Madagascar. We find strong links between these MDGs. Better educated and higher income households rely significantly more on private water supplies and use significantly more water. Econometric results show that, for poorer households who rely on public sources, improving access to public water taps (by reducing the distance to such a water source) would not alter dramatically water use patterns. Improved access does free up a significant amount of time that could contribute to poverty reduction. The willingness of households to pay for improved access is very price sensitive, probably because of the liquidity constraints of these households.     

Responding to Food Insecurity: Employing the Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis Framework in Rural Northern Kenya

Aid agencies are increasingly advocating for cash transfers as a substitute or complement to food transfers when responding to both emergency and chronic food insecurity. Yet, cash is not always optimal. In this article, we demonstrate how a newly developed response analysis tool, the Marketing Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis (MIFIRA) framework can guide evidence-based identification of appropriate transfers. We present findings from a MIFIRA analysis in Marsabit; a remote and generally food-insecure district of northern Kenya. As a demonstration of the analytical versatility of MIFIRA, we utilise a variety of data, ranging from rigorously-collected household data, to market surveys and rapid assessments in focus groups. As a proof of concept, this article shows how MIFIRA can be effectively deployed in other regions facing chronic or emergency food insecurity to help response agencies make systematic decisions on a solid evidence base.     

Other publications received

Raw Materials and International Control. By H. R. G. Greaves. Pp. vi. +166. London: Methuen. 5s.

Soviet Money and Finance. By L.E.Hubbard. 8? × /3/4>”. Pp. xx+339. Macmillan. 1936. 12s. 6d.

Big Horse's Flight. By Sven Hedin. Translated by F. H. Lyon. Pp. 248. Illustrations and map. London: Macmillan and Co. 1936. 21s.

South to Samarkand. By Ethel Mannin. Pp. 355, 20 illustrations and sketch maps. London: Jarrolds. 1936. Price 12s. 6d.

Sven Hedin's Archæological Collections from Khotan. By Gösta Montell. Reprinted from the Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, No. 7. Stockholm. 1936.

The Quest for Cathay. By Brigadier‐General Sir Percy Sykes, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G. Pp. xii+280. A. and C. Black. 15s.

Tamerlane or Timur the Great Amir. Translated by J. H. Sanders, from the Arabic Life by Ahmed ibn Arabshah. 8vo. Pp. xvii + 341. With a map and a frontispiece. Luzac and Co. 1936. 12s. 6d. net.

Cronica de Dom João de Castro. By Leonardo Nunes. Edited with an Introduction by Professor J. D. M. Ford. Demi‐oct. Pp. xxviii+241. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1936. 10s. 6d.

The Making of Modern Turkey. By Sir Harry Luke, C.M.G. 8/1/2>” × 6”. Pp. viii + 248. Frontispiece. Macmillan. 1936. 10s. 6d.

Quinze Ans de Mandat; I'?uvre Francaise en Syrie et au Liban. Anonymous. Pp. 69.

Euphrates Exile. By A. D. Macdonald. 7/3/4>" × 5/1/4>”. Pp. 301. Illustrated. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. 7s. 6d.

Richard Burton, Explorer. By Hugh J. Schonfield. 8/3/4>” × 5/3/4>”. Pp. 303. Frontispiece. London: H. Joseph. 1936. 15s.

Hebrew Origins. By Th. J. Meek. The Haskell Lectures for 1933–1934. Pp. viii+219. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1936. $2.

Thy Neighbour. By Lord Melchett. 7/3/4> × 5. Pp.284. 2 illustrations and 2 maps. London: Muller. 1936. 7s. 6d.

A Plan for Lasting Peace in Palestine. By Nevill Barbour. Jerusalem. 1936. Equivalent 1s.

A Palestinian Kaleidoscope, “ Palestine on the Eve.” By Ladislas Farago. Two maps. Sixty‐three illustrations. Putnam. 10s. 6d.

New Zionist Publications—No. 2. New Zionist Press, 47, Finchley Road, London, N.W. 8. 1s.

From Alexander Burnes to Frederick Roberts. A Survey of Imperial Frontier Policy. By J. L. Morison.

The 1st Battalion Duchess of Connaught's Own (late 124th D.C.O. Baluchistan Infantry) and the 10th Battalion (late 2/124th Baluchistan Infantry), the 10th Baluchistan Regiment. By O. A. Chaldecott. 8/3/4>” × 5?”. Pp. xiv+250. Eleven maps, two portraits. (Lieut.‐Col. J. N. Soden, Baluchistan Regiment, Karachi.)

Diamonds and Dust; India through French Eyes. By Baron Jean Pellenc. 9” × 6”. Pp. 306. Illustrations and map. London: Murray. 1936. 10s. 6d.

The Tiger Hunters. By Brigadier‐General R. G. Burton. 8¾> × 5¾>. Pp. xvi+225+xxxii. 16 illustrations. Hutchinson. 12s. 6d.

Honoria Lawrence : A Fragment of Indian History. By Maud Diver. Pp. 524. John Murray. 16s.

Scott of the Shan Hills: Orders and Impressions. Edited by G. E. Mitton (Lady Scott). 9 × 6. Pp. 333. Illustrations and maps. London: John Murray. 15s.

Return to Malaya. By R. H. Bruce Lockhart. Pp. i+426. Putnam. 10s. 6d.

Far East in Ferment. By Guenther Stein. Methuen. 10s. 6d.

Key Economic Areas in Chinese History. By Ch'ao‐ting Chi, Ph.D. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.

China's Red Army Marches. By Agnes Smedley. 8? × 5/1/2>? Pp. xxii+311. London: Lawrence and Wishart, Ltd. 5s.

"Living China”: Modern Chinese Short Stories. Compiled and edited by Edgar Snow. With an Introduction by the Editor and an Essay on Modern Chinese Literature by Nym Wales. 8? × 5”. Pp. 355. Frontispiece. London: Harrap. 1936. 8s.

River of Golden Sand. By Thomas Woodroofe. 8/3/4>” × 5/1/2>”. Pp.325. Faber and Faber, Ltd. 8s. 6d. net.

Manchoukuo: Jewel of Asia. By D. M. B. Collier and Lieut.‐Colonel C. L. E. Malone. 8/3/4> × 5/3/4>”. Pp. iv+267. Sixteen photographs. Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 12s. 6d. net.

When Japan Goes to War. By O. Tanin and E. Yohan. 8/1/4>” × 5/1/2>”. Pp. 271. London: Lawrence and Wishart. 1936. 5s.

Japan : Recollections and Impressions. By Grace James. Pp. 285. Illustrated. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 1936.

Militarism and Foreign Policy in Japan. By E. E. N. Causton. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 7s. 6d.

Stalking in the Himalayas and Northern India. By Lieut.‐Colonel C. E. Stockley, D.S.O. Pp. 250. Illustrated. Herbert Jenkins. 15s.     

The rise of radical African studies

African Social Studies: A Radical Reader. Edited by Peter C. W. Gutkind and Peter Waterman. Heinemann Educational Books, 1977. Pp. ix + 481. Paper £2–90.

The Political Economy of Contemporary Africa. Edited by Peter C. W. Gutkind and lmmanuel Wallerstein. Sage Publications, 1976. Pp. 318.

Nigeria: Economy and Society. Edited by Gavin Williams. Rex Collings, 1976. Pp. 226. Hardcover £5.25.