Process of Cluster Formation in China: A Case Study of a Garment Town

In China industrial clusters consisting of small and medium enterprises have been proliferating in areas where private sectors have successfully developed. This study inquires into the process of forming a new industrial cluster and the roles of local and distant urban traders in the garment industry in China. We found that the local marketplace, where enterprise managers can easily purchase materials from and sell products to local traders, plays a critical role in stimulating the entry of new enterprises in the early stage of cluster development. As a cluster develops, however, entrepreneurial ability in producing high-quality products and marketing them to urban traders plays a more significant role.     

Green revolution and labour demand in rice farming: The case of central Luzon, 1966–90

While the adoption of modern rice varieties (MVs) increased labour requirements for crop care and other activities, it might have induced the adoption of labour‐saving technologies. Thus, whether the net impact of MV adoption on labour demand is significantly positive is still debated in the green revolution literature. Using farm‐level survey data collected in Central Luzon from 1966 to 1990, this study estimated simultaneously the labour‐saving technology adoption and the labour demand functions. We found, among other things, that MVs increased labour demand significantly without inducing the widespread adoption of labour‐saving technologies.     

An Inquiry into the Heterogeneous Outcomes of International Migration: Evidence from Rural Households in Bangladesh

There are considerable differences in the duration, intensity, and history of migration experiences among migrant households. The variation can have a significant effect on their investment behaviour. We classify our sample households in Bangladesh into four groups depending on the history and stage of migration and estimate its differential effect on physical and human capital investment. The results show that the patterns of investment are distinct between the groups and even of opposite directions in some cases. These heterogeneous effects often cancel each other out, leading to insignificant effects of migration when the average effect on all migrant households is estimated.     

Land Tenure Systems and Their Impacts on Agricultural Investments and Productivity in Uganda

This article provides an empirical analysis of the impact of different tenure systems (mailo, customary, and public land) on agricultural investment and productivity in central Uganda. A major hypothesis tested is that land investments and practices may have both economic and tenure security implications. The results indicate that coffee planting is used by farmers to enhance tenure security, while fallowing is practised to a greater extent by farmers on more secure holdings. This supports the notion that farmers consider tenure implications when making investments and that different tenure systems do not inhibit the promotion of tree-planting investment. Tenure had no impact on the productivity of crop farming.     

Japanese Suspect Interviews,Confessions, and Related Factors

Two hundred and ninety-one new adult male inmates convicted of murder, robbery, arson, rape, forcible indecency, and kidnapping completed questionnaires about their pretrial interviews. Logistic regression analyses revealed that marital status, feelings of guilt, and perceptions of the strength of the evidence significantly affected the likelihood of confession by those who had already decided to confess prior to interview. By contrast, prior arrest history and interview style affected the likelihood of confession by those who had not previously decided to confess. Suspects who had no previous arrests and had undergone either Undifferentiated-high or Relationship-focused interviews were more likely to make full confessions. In Undifferentiated-high interviews, police officers employed all of the interviewing techniques examined: they listened closely to the suspects’ accounts, attempted to build good relationships, and discussed the crimes, while also presenting evidence and confronting the suspects. In Relationship-focused interviews, police officers listened attentively to the offenders’ accounts, tried to build good relationships, and discussed the crimes directly. Prisoners who experienced Relationship-focused interviews felt satisfied with their confessions and admitted guilt at trial.     

Police interviewing styles and confessions in Japan

Psychological studies of suspects' confessions have been conducted mostly in English-speaking and European countries, and the results may not generalise to countries whose cultures and policing practices differ. In particular, the difference between Japanese and Western laws may affect the roles that police interviewers play in suspects' confessions. This study examined the interviewing techniques used by Japanese police officers and associated features of the suspects' confessions. An extensive questionnaire was completed by 276 police officers across Japan. Detailed ratings of their interview techniques were factor analysed, yielding five factors: Presentation of Evidence, Confrontation, Rapport Building, Active Listening, and Discussion of the Crime. Based on these five factors, we identified four interviewing styles: Evidence-focused, Confrontational, Relationship-focused, and Undifferentiated. When interrogators employed the Relationship-focused interviewing style, suspects were more likely to make full confessions and to provide new information. By contrast, suspects were more likely to make partial confessions and were less cooperative when the police officers employed an Evidence-focused style.     

Transformation of the Rural Economy in the Philippines, 1988–2006

This research explores the changing structure of the rural economy in the Philippines from 1988 to 2006. We found that the expansion and upgrade of infrastructure such as electricity and roads and investment in secondary and tertiary education are important factors that induced the economic transformation of the rural economy. The importance of higher education as an entry requirement to the nonfarm labor market has declined over time, indicating that the rural nonfarm sector has been increasingly providing employment opportunities to the unskilled and the uneducated, who form the bulk of the rural poor.     

Differential adoption of modern rice technology and regional wage differential in Nepal

In Nepal, which consists of ecologically distinct regions, the concentration of the adoption of modern rice varieties in the favourable rice growing areas of the country has raised fears that regional income disparities have widened. This study shows that greater demand for hired labour due to the adoption of modern rice varieties has induced permanent and seasonal migration from unfavourable to favourable areas. This appears to have largely equalised average wage rates across different production environments. Thus, as far as labour income is concerned, benefits from the modern varieties have been widely shared.     

Gender Differences in Land Inheritance,Schooling and Lifetime Income: Evidence from the Rural Philippines

This article examines the difference in lifetime incomes arising from parental preferences in the allocation of land inheritance and investments in schooling between sons and daughters in the rural Philippines. Sons are preferred with respect to land inheritance, receiving 0.15 additional hectares of land, while daughters are treated more favourably in schooling investments, receiving 1.5 more years of schooling. However, differences in both current and life-cycle incomes between sons and daughters are insignificant. This suggests that Filipino parents allocate intergenerational transfers to equalise incomes among their children, without sacrificing efficiency.