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Economic development and industrial structure - an overview
Get PDFThis essay offers a selective review of central issues related to economic growth. The interrelationship between technological progress, capital accumulation, specialisation and industrial structure is emphasised. It is conc1uded that, first, there is little evidence that industrial structure plays an independent role for growth. Second, economists have been more successful in explaining the consequences of technological progress than the determinants of technological progress. However, even the consequences are not well understood, and there is still a long way to go before general and well-documented policy implications can be draw
Water supply in the Central Namib Region: A socio-economic study
Get PDFThis study provides an empirical report and analysis of the results of a June/July 1995 household sample survey of the four towns (Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Arandis and Henties Bay) located in the central west coast region of Namibia. It also draws on other primary data sets, in particular 1991 census enumeration area returns and 1994/95 municipal account databases. Its aim is to establish the socioeconomic context of domestic and small business water supply for urban communities in a desert environment and a social structure deeply divided by racially based inequality. Key issues are the present rates and patterns of water consumption; water usage patterns in house and garden; watersaving practices, awareness and attitudes; and likely water consumption responses to increases in charges. The study also assesses respondents views on policy questions of equity and payment, in particular price and non-price methods of reducing water consumption and how to assign the cost burden of additional bulk supply infrastructure
Share-tenancy within the household unit
Get PDFVirtually all peasant household models assume efficient allocation of household productive resources between different household activities. In an African context characterised by different plots of land being cultivated and controlled by different household members, the efficiency assumption has been shown to be incorrect. In order to capture central aspects of African household organisation, this paper introduces the "share-tenancy" household model viewing the husband-wife relationship as a landlord-tenant relationship. The assymetric relationship existing between husband and wife influences the way they react to changes in exogenous variables and explain the often observed lack of correspondence between changes in producer prices and agrarian output levels. The model also shows how such changes may influence the welfare levels of different household members in various ways
Fish as vehicle for economic development in post-independence Namibia
Get PDFA key fishery policy issue decided by the new government of Namibia soon after independence in 1990 relates to the division of the total allowable catch for hake between wetfish and freezer trawlers. Using economic and social arguments, the government decided to use a criterion of 60:40 in favour of wetfish trawlers. The main question I pursue in this paper is, is this criterion economically sensible? How would the answer to this question be modified if, say, the employment generation capacity of the fishery were to be taken into consideration? The study suggests that based on purely economic and employment generation criteria, only the wetfish traw1ers should be allowed to exploit the resource. However, the impact of other considerations such as biological, market, harvesting, and processing constraints tend to lend support to the current government policy
Strategisk handelsteori og økonomisk utvikling
Get PDFThis paper gives an overview of theories of strategic trade policies and discusses whether these theories are applicable as development strategies for developing countries. The general answer is no. The theories are partial and the policy prescriptions fragmented and depend strongly on the specification of model parameters. It is also argued that the government policies of developing countries, generally, are less credible than those of developed countries and that these countries generally are weak due to their size.
On the other hand, being a small actor also has its advantages which can be used strategically in markets characterized by imperfect competition. While being a small actor is an obstacle according to the Cournot model, it has an advantage under the alternative Bertrand model. One way of making oneself small is through product differentiation. The paper underlines the importance of developing countries entering markets characterized by product differentiation
Repayment of Old Loans through New Loans. Is "Cross-Financing" a Problem for the Grameen Bank?
No full textThe study analyses the problem and extent of cross-financing in the Grameen Bank system. The main finding is that cross-financing is rarely a problem. However, survey data indicate that long term borrowers, who generally have the highest loan portfolios, turn into irregular borrowers. The study was funded by NORAD.
Karin Ask is a social anthropologist and research fellow with the Chr. Michelsen Institute
Dr. Arne Wiig is an economist and research fellow with the Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Erland Sigvaldsen is a banking consultant with the Nordic Consulting Group
The Evolution of Private Property Rights in Traditional Agriculture: Theories and a Study from Indonesia
Get PDFThe starting point of this paper is a universally observed tendency of common property to be replaced by private property in traditional agriculture. The paper seeks to explore the forces behind such a development. Four different theoretical approaches are discussed: neo-institutional economics, which focuses on increasing land value; Marxian, class-based explanations; a state-local perspective, focusing on predatory state intervention and lack of respect for customary law; and a cultural explanation based on a "commoditization of land" hypothesis. These approaches are discussed in relation to the development in the study area in Sumatra. A framework which integrates elements of all approaches is outlined, using a "demand and supply for institutional change" metaphor. In particular, the neo-institutional and the state-local approaches are found to be relevant to explain the evolution of private property rights. The paper also develops a formal analytical model which endogenizes farmers' decisions about tenure security
Women and Islamisation - Carving a New Space in Muslim Societies
Get PDFThe diversity in Muslim women's religious practices and positions within contemporary resurgent Islam, often referred to as "Islamic fundamentalism", has so far been given little attention. The different chapters in this volume describe gendered practices and female participation in a number of groups related to Islamic movements. We analyse how the muslim component of a woman's identity is made relevant in new ways for self-understanding and pragmatic choices in every day life. The analytical arguments and ethnographic data presented seek to dislocate understandings of Islamist and Islamic "fundamentalism" that analyse the movement mainly as a reaction against "Westernisation" and modernisation"
Underdevelopment and labour migration: the contract labour system in Namibia
Get PDFThis volume reproduces, with minor changes, a set of previously published papers on the history of the origins, formation and evolution of the contract labour system in Namibia from first commercial contact with industrial capitalism in the L 840s through to the onset of final collapse in the early 1970s. The main aim of republication under one cover is to make this work undertaken during 1974-76 and appearing first in the late 1970s, more easily accessible, especially to Namibian readers. The content and referencing of the papers has not be en updated but the presentation has been improved and parts of the text integrated where appropriate
Democracy and Violence: The Colombian Paradox
Get PDFThis study argues that the Colombian paradox between formal democracy and endemic political violence is a direct result of the narrow polity established by elite pacts. Through an analysis of the Colombian situation and empirical evidence related to human rights violations this study considers the limitations of elite pacts as a mechanism for democratic transition and consolidation.
Eva Irene Tuft is a political scientist. She spent four years as a human rights researcher in Colombia. She is currently working as Coordination Consultant for Research and Training Programmes at the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), Santa Domingo, the
Dominican Republic