Book reviews

Policy Evaluation in the Public Sector: Approaches and Methods. By Colin Palfrey, Ceri Phillips, Paul Thomas and David Edwards. Avebury, 1992. Pp. 176. £32.50 hb.

Managing for Service Quality. By Chris Skelcher. Managing Local Government series, Longman, 1992. Pp. 125. £16.95 pb.

Working Together for Better Community Care. By Randall Smith, Lucy Gaster, Lyn Harrison, Linda Martin, Robin Means and Peter Thistlethwaite. School of Urban Advanced Studies, University of Bristol, 1993. Pp. 228. £11.95 pb.

Citizen Involvement: A Practical Guide for Change. By Peter Beresford and Suzy Croft. Practical Social Work series edited by Jo Campling. Macmillan, 1993. Pp. 240. £32.50 hb, £9.50 pb.

Implementing Housing Policy. Edited by Peter Malpass and Robin Means. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1993. Pp. 199. £37.50 hb, £12.99 pb.

In Support of Education: The Functioning of Local Government. By Philippa Cordingley and Maurice Kogan. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1993. Pp. 122. £11.50 pb.

Tourism, Museums and the Local Economy: The Economic Impact of the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish. By Peter Johnson and Barry Thomas. Edward Elgar, 1992. Pp. 160. £29.50 hb.

The A‐Z of Council Tax and Council Tax Benefit: A Citizen's Guide. Association of District Councils, December 1992. £8.00.     

The capitalist state and political practice

Text reviewed:

N. Poulantzas (1978) State, Power, Socialism London, New Left Books, pp. 269, £7.50.     

Assets and Poverty Traps in Rural Bangladesh

Using longitudinal survey from rural Bangladesh, this article examines the determinants of land and asset accumulation over time and explores why some households may be trapped in asset poverty. Non-parametric and parametric methods are used to discern the shape of the asset accumulation path, and whether unique or multiple equilibria exist. We find evidence for concavity of the dynamic asset frontier but no evidence for multiple equilibria. It is suggested that the existence of well-functioning factor markets in rural Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia explain the contrasts between our results and those for several African countries.     

Transit Industry Gears Up and Responds to Climate Change Challenges

The transit industry in the United States is preparing for growth as the world deals with climate change and it is applying various methods to measure and monitor its impact on the environment. Working with local, state, and federal governments, transit agencies have adapted many commonsense solutions. Now the American Public Transportation Association is putting together standards and best practices to encourage the industry and inform the public about the benefits of public transportation to the environment, helping our nation join the rest of the world. It is also developing and applying new transit strategies that will attract more riders and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Portland, Oregon's Tri-Met, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Utah Transit Authority are leading the industry. Portland, Oregon's Tri-Met General Manager, who chairs the industry's Sustainability Committee for the American Public Transit Association has been leading by example with an Environmental Management System that addresses greenhouse gas, pollution, waste, inefficiency, and congestion. New York and Utah are recording greenhouse gases with the Climate Registry. Many agencies are developing new strategies that are attracting more riders and experiencing an intermodal shift to buses and trains. Meanwhile, developing countries are able to increase service and pay for it by selling carbon credits.     

Ethnic minority development in Vietnam

This study examines the disparities in living standards between and among the different ethnic groups in Vietnam. Using data from the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys and 1999 Census, we show that ‘majority’ Kinh and Hoa households have substantially higher living standards than ‘minority’ households from Vietnam's 52 other ethnic groups. While the Kinh, Hoa, Khmer and Northern Highland Minorities benefited from economic growth in the 1990s, the position of the Central Highland Minorities stagnated. Decompositions show that even if minority households had the same endowments as Kinh households, this would close no more than a third of the gap in their per capita expenditures. While some ethnic minorities seem to be doing well out of a strategy of assimilating with the Kinh-Hoa majority, others groups are attempting to integrate economically while retaining distinct cultural identities, and a third group is largely being left behind by the growth process.