Trade versus aid: donor generosity in an era of globalization

Why do foreign aid budgets vary across countries and over time? Existing research indicates that the same set of factors shapes commitments toward both domestic and international redistribution. While scholars have acknowledged international normative influences on aid allocations, research on levels of donor generosity has not examined how international trade influences aid budgets. This paper examines whether imports from developing countries have a ‘displacement effect’ on aid commitments. Employing a panel of nineteen OECD donor countries, we analyze aid budgets from 1980 to 2000. We find that increased imports from developing countries to donor countries are associated with aid reductions. These results persist after controlling for international and domestic variables identified in previous research, and under other estimation techniques and model specifications.     

A decision problem of long-term economic planning

The model described in the present paper has been worked out to approximate a concrete problem of national economic planning. The problem presented itself in the daily practice of the National Planning Board of the Hungarian People's Republic in the course of a planning project carried out with the aim of laying the foundation of the national economy's long-term development.     

A. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI (TA'RIKH AL‐RUSUL WA ‘L‐MULUK) [An annotated translation] (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies):

VOLUME VI: MUHAMMAD AT MECCA. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1988. xlvi, 178pp.

VOLUME VII: THE FOUNDATION OF THE COMMUNITY [MUHAMMAD AT ALMADINA A.D. 622–626/HIJRAH‐4 A.H.]. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1987. xxxviii, 182pp.

AL‐TABARI: THE EARLY ‘ABBASI EMPIRE. Translated [and annotated] by JOHN ALDEN WILLIAMS:

VOLUME 1: THE REIGN OF ABU JA'FAR AL‐MAN?UR A.D. 754–775. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. xx, 263pp. £30.00 (US $49.50).

VOLUME 2: THE SON AND GRANDSONS OF AL‐MAN?UR. THE REIGNS OF AL‐MAHDI, AL‐HADI AND HARUN AL‐RASHID A.D. 775–808. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. xviii, 342pp. £35.00 (US $54.50).

AL‐FUSTAT: ITS FOUNDATION AND EARLY URBAN DEVELOPMENT. By WLADYSLAW D. KUBIAK. Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 1987. 186pp.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1945–1951: ARAB NATIONALISM, THE UNITED STATES AND POSTWAR IMPERIALISM. By W. ROGER LOUIS. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1984. xix, 803pp. £45.00.

ISLAM IN A WORLD OF NATION‐STATES. By J. PISCATORI. Cambridge, Cambridge U.P., in association with RIIA, 1986. 193pp. H/B: £25.00. P/B: £10.95.

GADDAFI'S WORLD DESIGN: LIBYAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1969–1987. By R.B. ST JOHN. London, Saqi Books, 1987. 184pp. £14.95.

ÄGYPTEN UNTER MUBARAK; IDENTITÄT UND NATIONALES INTERESSE. By GUDRUN KRÄMER. Baden‐Baden, Nomos Verlaggesellschaft, 1986. 230pp. £29.95.

MERCHANTS OF ESSAOUIRA: URBAN SOCIETY AND IMPERIALISM IN SOUTHWESTERN MOROCCO, 1844–1886. By D.J. SCHROETER. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge University Press, 1988. 343pp., 9 photographs, 17 figures, 7 maps, 20 tables. £30.00.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN VILLAGE: CHANGING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RELATIONS. Edited by RICHARD LAWLESS. London‐New York‐Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987. 304pp. 29 tables, 30 figures, 20 plates. £27.50.

CHANGE ON THE EUPHRATES: VILLAGERS, TOWNSMEN AND EMPLOYEES IN NORTHEAST SYRIA. By ANNIKA RABO. Stockholm, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm, 1986. viii, 222pp.

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN EGYPT AND TURKEY: A STUDY IN HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY. By BILL WILLIAMSON. London, Macmillan Press, 1987. vii, 242pp. £35.00.

AL SABAH: HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF KUWAIT'S RULING FAMILY 1752–1987. By ALAN RUSH. London, Ithaca Press, 1987. [x], 304pp. Illustrations, genealogical tables. £29.50.

OPEC: TWENTY‐FIVE YEARS OF PRICES AND POLITICS (Cambridge Energy Studies). By IAN SKEET. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 263pp. Maps, tables. £25.00.

THE NEGLECTED GARDEN: THE POLITICS AND ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE IN IRAN. By KEITH McLACHLAN. London, I.B. Tauris, 1988. xxi, 266pp. 28 maps and figures. £24.50.

CHALLENGE OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS. By MUHAMMAD AKRAM KHAN. Lahore, All‐Pakistan Islamic Education Congress, 1985. 93pp. $3.00.

THEORETICAL STUDIES IN ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE. Edited by MOHSIN S. KHAN and ABBAS MIRAKHOR. Houston, Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, 1987. xvi, 245pp. $14.95.

RELIGION UND POLITIK BEI DEN SCHI'ITISCHEN HAZ#afARA IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAN UND PAKISTAN. ETHNIZITÄT UND GESELLSCHAFT: PROBLEME ETHNISCHER GRENZZIEHUNG IN GESELLSCHAFTEN DES VORDEREN UND MITTLEREN ORIENTS. By ROLF BINDEMANN. (Freie Universität Berlin Forschungsgebiets‐schwerpunkt, Occasional Papers No.7.) Berlin, Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1987. 104pp.

ISLAM AND RESISTANCE IN AFGHANISTAN. By OLIVIER ROY. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986. 253pp. £30.00 (hardback), £10.95 (paperback).

THE CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ECONOMY. By Z.Y. HERSHLAG. London, Routledge, 1988. xi, 178pp. £30.00.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: TURKEY UNDER DEVELOPMENTALISM. By RUSEN KELES and HIROMASA KANO. Tokyo, Institute of Developing Economies Middle East Series No.17, 1986. iv, 201pp.     

Effect of temperature on development of Liopygia (= Sarcophaga) argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) and its forensic implications

The temperature-dependent development of the forensically important flesh fly Liopygia (Thomsonea) argyrostoma (Robineau-Desvoidy) (=Sarcophaga argyrostoma) was studied at six constant temperature regimes in the laboratory. Total developmental time of L. argyrostoma from larviposition to adult emergence was 54.9+/-1.45, 31.3+/-1.1, 22.2+/-0.67, 16.3+/-0.54, and 14.9+/-0.4 days (+/-S.D.) when reared at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 degrees C, respectively. At 8 degrees C, larval development was not completed. From linear regression of development rates of five of the six studied constant temperature regimes, it was determined that the minimum development threshold (tL) for total immature development is 7.4 degrees C, and the overall thermal constant (K) for L. argyrostoma is 396.4+/-19.18 (mean +/- S.D.) day-degrees (DD) above the threshold.     

Virtopsy: postmortem minimally invasive angiography using cross section techniques--implementation and preliminary results

Postmortem investigation is increasingly supported by Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This led to the idea to implement a noninvasive or minimally invasive autopsy technique. Therefore, a minimally invasive angiography technique becomes necessary, in order to support the vascular cross section diagnostic. Preliminary experiments investigating different contrast agents for CT and MRI and their postmortem applicability have been performed using an ex-vivo porcine coronary model. MSCT and MRI angiography was performed in the porcine model. Three human corpses were investigated using minimally invasive MSCT angiography. Via the right femoral artery a plastic tube was advanced into the aortic arch. Using a flow adjustable pump the radiopaque contrast agent meglumine-ioxithalamate was injected. Subsequent MSCT scanning provided an excellent anatomic visualization of the human arterial system including intracranial and coronary arteries. Vascular pathologies such as calcification, stenosis and injury were detected. Limitations of the introduced approach are cases of major vessel injury and cases that show an advanced stage of decay.