Reviews

Big Men, Small Boys and Politics in Ghana: Power, Ideology and the Burden of History, 1982–1994 by Paul Nugent. Pinter Publishing Limited (London and New York). 1995. xiv plus 306pp. including bibliography and index. £35 or $63 hardback.

Understanding Contemporary Africa (2nd edition) edited by April A. Gordon and Donald L. Gordon. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder and London. 1996. xiv plus 432pp. including maps, illustrations, notes, bibliographies, appendices and index.

The Politics of Difference: Ethnic Premises in a World of Power edited by Edwin N. Wilmsen and Patrick McAllister. University of Chicago Press: Chicago and London. 1996. ix plus 210pp.

The Multilateral Development Banks. Volume 1. The African Development Bank by E. Philip English and Harris M. Mule. The North‐South Institute. Ottawa. 1996. xvi plus 213pp.

Brothers at War: Dissidence and Rebellion in Southern Africa by Abiodun Alao. British Academic Press, London and New York. 1994. xiii plus 201pp. including notes, bibliography, index. £39.50. Hardback.

Now that We are Free: Coloured Communities in Democratic South Africa edited by Wilmot James, Daria Caliguire and Kerry Cullinan. Lynne Rienner Publishing, Boulder (Colorado) and London. 1996. 142pp.

Imperialism or Solidarity? International Labour and South African Trade Unions by Roger Southall. University of Cape Town Press, Cape Town. 1995. 398pp.

The Aid Relationship in Zambia: A Conflict Scenario by Oliver Saasa and Jerker Carlsson. Institute for African Studies, Lusaka (Zambia) and Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala (Sweden). 1996. 170pp. including figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. Paperback.     

Reviews

Marie Lavigne, The Economics of Transition. From Socialist Economy to Market Economy. London: Macmillan, 1995, xvi + 295 pp., £13.99.

Michael L. Wyzan (ed.), First Steps Toward Economic Independence: New States of the Postcommunist World. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995, xii + 268 pp., £53.95

J. Barkley Rosser, Jr & Marina V. Rosser, Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy. Chicago, IL: Irwin, xx + 488 pp.

Masahiko Aoki & Hyung‐Ki Kim (eds),. Corporate Governance in Transitional Economies. Insider Control and the Role of Banks. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1995, xxiii + 467 pp., £29.95.

Marvin Jackson & Valentijn Bilsen (eds), Company Management and Capital Market Development in the Transition. Aldershot: Avebury, 1994, xxii + 281 pp., £40.00.

Nicolai N. Petro, The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995, ix + 226 pp., £25.50.

Judith Devlin, The Rise of the Russian Democrats: The Causes and Consequences of the Élite Revolution. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995, x + 294 pp., £49.95.

Mark Galeotti, The Kremlin's Agenda. Coulsdon: Jane's Intelligence Review, 1995, ix+ 162 pp., £20.00.

James E. Goodby (ed.), Regional Conflicts: The Challenge to US‐Russian Co‐operation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, xiii + 251 pp., £30.00.

A. Z. Rubinstein & O. M. Smolansky (eds), Regional Power Rivalries in the New Eurasia. New York and London: M. E. Sharpe, 1995, xii + 290 pp., $22.95.

Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan. A Borderland in Transition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995, x + 290 pp., $32.50.

John Thirkell, Richard Scase & Sarah Vickerstaff (eds), Labour Relations and Political Change in Eastern Europe. A. Comparative Perspective. London: UCL Press, 1995, viii + 197 pp., £32.00.

Jennifer Turpin, Reinventing the Soviet Self: Media and Social Change in the Former Soviet Union. Westport, CT and London: Praeger, 1995, x + 154 pp., £44.95.

Geoffrey Roberts, The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Second World War: Russo‐German Relations and the Road to War, 1933–1941. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1996, x + 192 pp., £37.50 h/b, £11.99 p/b.

Richard B. Day, Cold War Capitalism: The View from Moscow, 1945–1975. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1995, xvi + 355 pp., $85.00 h/b., $34.95 p/b.

David Mayers, The Ambassadors and America's Soviet Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, viii + 335 pp.

John L. H. Keep, Last of the Empires: A History of the Soviet Union, 1945–1991. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, xiii + 477 pp., £20.00.

Oleg V. Khlevniuk, In Stalin's Shadow. The Career of ‘Sergo’ Ordzhonikidze. Edited by Donald J. Raleigh. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1995, x+ 193 pp., $21.95.

Gennadi V. Kostyrchenko, Out of the Red Shadows: Anti‐Semitism in Stalin's Russia. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1995, 333 pp., £21.00.

Genrich M. Deych, A Research Guide to Materials on the History of Russian Jewry (19th and Early 20th Centuries) in Selected Archives of the Former Soviet Union. Edited and Introduced by Benjamin Nathans. Moscow: Blagovest, 1995, xi + 149 pp.

Yuri Tsivian, Early Cinema in Russia and its Cultural Reception, trans. Alan Bodger; foreword. Tom Gunning; ed. Richard Taylor. London and New York: Routledge, 1994, xxii+273 pp., £45.00.

James R. Schlesinger (Project Chairman) et al., Nuclear Energy Safety Challenges in the Former Soviet Union. Washington, DC: CSIS, 1995, vii + 94 pp.     

Domestic Predation of an Elder: A Fatal Dog Attack Case

We present the case of a 91‐year‐old woman lived alone at her home with two domestic dogs, that is,, a Labrador Retriever and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and found dead. The investigation of the scene revealed that the Bull Terrier's jawbone and chest were covered with blood. The autopsy revealed multiple, histologically confirmed, life‐threatening skin and bone lacerations without scavenging marks. The punctures and tearing of each of the wounds on the skin were compatible with bites. A left humeral fracture and multiple fractures of the right facial bones were observed. The death was attributed to external hemorrhages due to several dog bites. A veterinary physical and behavioral examination indicated that the Bull Terrier was involved in the attack. A domestic predation hypothesis was deemed here most likely due to the presence of food supplies at the scene, the dog's previous history of attack, and the breed of the dog.     

Women's friendships under urbanization: A Malaysian study

One of the less visible but often serious adaptations for women under urbanization is finding support in the form of friendships with other women. This paper draws on fieldwork by the author to consider the friendship issue for a sample of white-collar women in urban Malaysia and, in particular, to address the questions: How do white-collar women make friendships with other women in the city? How are the friendships maintained? How do the friendships contribute to women's successful survival in the city? Given ethnicity as a generally important influence on the lives of urban Malaysians, some particular attention is paid differences in friendship experience according to ethnic background, but it is also suggested that occupation makes a difference, that the friendship experience of white-collar women differs in important respects from that of women in other occupations.     

Life at the Bottom of the Fiscal Food Chain: Examining City and County Revenue Decisions

Any shifting of responsibilities from the state or federal governmentsto local governments would fall mostly on the shoulders of general-purposegovernments, namely, cities (municipalities) and counties. Thisstudy explores city and county revenue decisions associatedwith general funds—the governmental fund most likely tobe affected by state requirements for greater local financingresponsibility for new or devolved programs. The results suggestthat state control over local revenue authority affects decisionsregarding the imposition of financial burdens on residents,and that intergovernmental aid to cities and counties does notnecessarily mitigate those burdens. Despite evidence of healthyfinancial reserves, especially for cities, shifting responsibilitiesfrom the state to city or county governments could place citiesand counties in difficult fiscal positions. Given the importanceof own-source revenues to current budgets, and in view of thequestionable impact of intergovernmental aid on city and countyresidents' revenue burdens, questions persist about the abilityof city and county governments to maintain (and, if necessary,to expand) services during economic recession.     

Implementing Welfare Reform in Kansas: Moving, But Not Racing

Will welfare reform lead some states to race to the bottom?At least for Kansas, the answer appears to be a resounding no.Data gathered as part of the State Capacity Study's analysisof welfare reform suggest that in Kansas, elected officialsand the bureaucracy have responded in a fashion consistent withthe state's political and administrative culture: cautiouslyand incrementally. First, Kansas' welfare reform policy hasbeen driven primarily by bureaucratic decisions. Welfare administrators,supported by the governor, have minimized legislative resistanceto their policy objectives. Second, from the perspective ofwelfare generosity, Kansas has not deviated significantly fromits typical "middle" position relative to other states' policies.Third, Kansas' administration of reform embraces three primarystrategies: decentralized management authority; new links withother agencies to tackle specific welfare problems; and a newlyintegrated approach to frontline welfare case-management.     

What discount rate should bankruptcy judges use? Estimates from Canadian reorganization data

Using data from financial reorganization plans filed by insolvent Canadian firms, we estimate the discount rate implicit in the unsecured creditors’ reorganization decision. Using (HARA) utility functions, we find the implicit monthly discount rate of creditors to be 4.9%, which corresponds to an annual discount rate of 77%. This is 7–10 times higher than discount rates used in previous empirical studies of reorganization. The discount rate estimates are robust to a range of assumptions about the degree of risk aversion and the market-to-book-value ratio of assets.     

The Challenges of Contracting and Accountability Across the Federal System: From Ambulances to Space Shuttles

This article focuses on two questions related lo governmentcontracting and accountability. How are key components of contractingsimilar or different for city, state, and federal governmentsin the United States? To what extent do the three levels ofgovernment share the widely recognized challenges of contractdesign and contract management? To address these questions,we compared and contrasted six contracting cases, two each forlocal, state, and the federal governments. We found that forall governments in the U.S. federal system, the public managementfunctions of contracting are remarkably similar, and that contractmanagement and the achievement of accountability are "weak links"in the contracting process. Our findings do not support thehypothesis that contract management is more effective in localgovernment relative to state and federal governments.