95 research outputs found

    Māori cultural concepts and service provision for homeless Māori men

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    Homelessness is a pressing issue for indigenous minorities such as homeless Māori men. Their circumstances are more vulnerable in ways, than other homeless groups given that their lives are impacted upon by ongoing colonisation. Homeless Māori men, like other ‘indigenous homeless groups’, often find themselves homeless because of social/cultural dislocation where, they are disconnected from their culture and closest forms of support. This study set out to explore how homeless Māori men’s circumstances could be improved through administering interventions in the form of Māori cultural concepts like: manaakitanga, wairuatanga, whanaungatanga and whānau. The overall approach used to gather the research was based on hybridisation, where several different approaches were used simultaneously to generate research data. These were participant observation: a kaupapa Māori approach, semi structured interviewing, thematic analysis and the use of a socio-historical context to underpin the entire research process. Two groups of Māori participants were interviewed for this study, one group comprising staff members, and one made of homeless Māori men. Each group had a number of unique characteristics. For example, the entire staff group comprised skilled and qualified professionals, while the men’s group was made up of individuals with severely impoverished backgrounds. The study produced several conclusive findings to show how Māori cultural concepts were used successfully as forms of social interventions. Concepts like whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, wairuatanga and whānau, were shown to produce positive social outcomes for homeless Māori men. These outcomes helped the men to stabilise their lives, as they attempted reintegration

    Does public capital crowd out private capital? : evidence from India

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    A recent but rapidly growing empirical literature focuses on the relationship between public and private capital. But for the most part, it ignores the heterogeneity of public investment. In many countries, especially in the developing world, public investment includes not only basic infrastructure projects, but also commercial and industrial projects similar to those undertaken by the private sector. And those two types of public investment are likely to have quite different effects on the accumulation of private capital. Using data from India, the author examines this issue empirically by implementing a simple analytical model encompassing two types of public capital. The empirical results show that in the long run capital for public infrastructure projects crowds in private capital - other types of public capital have the opposite effect. But in the short run, both kinds of public investment may crowd out private investment.Decentralization,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Banks&Banking Reform,Capital Markets and Capital Flows,Inequality,Economic Stabilization,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform

    Romania's evolving legal framework for private sector development

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    As the economies of Central and Eastern Europe move from central planning and state ownership to market-driven development of private sector activity, they are undertaking comprehensive change in the"rules of the game", the legal framework for economic activity. The authors analyze the evolving legal framework for private sector development in Romania. The government has worked intensively in the last two years to create a legal framework for a market economy. It has adopted not only a new constitution but also extensive new legislation covering real and intellectual property, companies, and foreign investment. It has revived the pre-war civil code as a basis for contract law, and is moving to modernize its bankruptcy code. The only area surveyed in which little legal reform has occurred is antimonopoly law. Challenges remain in both law and practice. The broad principles of private ownership, free market exchange, and equal treatment of public and private firms are well recognized and have been largely achieved. But a tendency towards centralized, bureaucratic control remains in excessive requirements for approval and uneconomic limits on certain activities. Moreover, implementation will take a long time because there is little or no institutional framework for enforcement and dispute resolution. Developing a body of regulation and case practice will take time.Environmental Economics&Policies,National Governance,Legal Products,Banks&Banking Reform,Real&Intellectual Property Law

    The Cabellian: A Journal of the Second American Renaissance (Vol. III, No. 1, 1970)

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    The Influence of Provencal Poetry on James Branch Cabell / Edgar E. MacDonald -- Alexander Dumas, Père (Sonnet) / Viola Jacobson Berg -- Vardis Fisher and James Branch Cabell: A Postscript / Joseph M. Flora -- Cabell’s Hamlet Had an Uncle and Shakespeare’s Hamlet / Desmond Tarrant -- Deems Taylor’s Musical Version of Jurgen / G. N. Gabbard -- Young Jurgen: A Comedy of Derision / Gerard Previn Meyer -- Inside Book Two of James Branch Cabell’s The Silver Stallion / Penn Dameron -- Abstract of a Bibliographic Article on Cabell / Maurice Duke -- Vardis Fisher Memorial / Opal Fisher -- The Mencken Room / Betty Adler -- James Branch Cabell Library: Phase One / Julius Rothman -- Cabell’s Books at This Time & Other Matters / Julius Rothman -- The Cabell Society: A Report / Julius Rothman -- Book Reviews: Cohen, Poetry of This Age / Norman C. Suckling -- Hilfer, The Revolt from the Village / James Ringo -- Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual 1969 / Kenneth E. Eble -- Wade, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet / Eugene Current-Garcia -- Welty, Losing Battles / Phyllis Franklin -- Back Issues of The Cabellian -- Cabell Collectors’ Corner -- About the Author

    Introduction to property theory - the fundamental theorems

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    The market system consists of a price mechanism, built on the foundation of a system of property, and contract. In many developing, and transition economies, the market system functions poorly. In many cases, if not most, the malfunctioning is not simply in the price system (for example, anti-competitive activities), but in the underlying property system (such as contracts being breached, and externalities in the sense of transfers not covered by contracts). Economic theory tends to take the functioning of the system of property, and contract for granted, and focuses on the operation of the price mechanism. Property theory focuses on the underlying system of property, and contract. In this paper, the author inaugurates the mathematical treatment of property theory.In contrast with earlier work in"law and economics", and the"new institutional economics", this approach uses principles drawn from jurisprudence, and does not attempt to reduce"law"to"economics"in the sense of efficiency considerations, such as the minimization of transaction costs. The main results are the two fundamental theorems of property theory that are analogous to the two fundamental theorems of price theory that, in essence, state that: 1) A competitive equilibrium is Pareto optimal. 2) Given a Pareto optimal state, there exists a set of prices such, that a competitive equilibrium at those prices would realize that Pareto optimal state.Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Housing and Land,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Municipal Housing and Land,Land and Real Estate Development

    Comprehensive water resources management : a concept paper

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    The world is entering a period of intense competition for limited supplies of water for alternative uses - in agriculture, in urban and industrial supplies, for recreation, by wildlife, for human consumption, and to maintain environmental quality. Manifestations of this competition and our current ability to deal with it can be observed in many parts of the world. A large irrigation project in India does not operate because water has been diverted to the rapidly growing city of Pune. In China, industries are reducing their production because of water shortages. In California, selenium salts leached by irrigation are killing wildlife. Bank irrigation projects in Algeria are now competing with Bank urban water supply projects for the same water. Many proposed irrigation projects and most hydro project proposals are on hold because of environmental concerns. Until recently, the approaches taken in water planning management by planners in the developing countries and by analysts at the funding agencies were, by and large, appropriate and adequate to the task at hand. The increased competition for water, however, makes most of the project-by-project planning methods inadequate. The author discusses new approaches that are needed to integrate water resource use among different users and across different economic sectors.Water and Industry,Water Conservation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

    Economic shocks and the global environment

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    Policy formulation in most countries is complicated by the role of the external economic environment, especially during periods of great external shocks. The authors examine how individual countries were affected by, and responded to, external shocks. They apply an enhanced version of an earlier methodology for estimating the effect of three kinds of shock: terms of trade, variations in global demand, and changes in the interest rate. They discuss the magnitude of these shocks and country responses to them in Brazil, Ireland, and Korea and present numerical results for some other countries. The authors find that the magnitude of external shocks may be greater than previously recognized. The size and components of the shock depend on such factors as the country's openness to trade, the composition of its imports and exports, and its level of external debt. The authors also found that countries differ greatly in their responses to external shocks. Some rely on additional external financing, some place more emphasis on export promotion, and others favor import substitution. The authors conclude that the magnitude and composition of external shocks should be part of any explanation of why growth rates differ among countries.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade Policy,Achieving Shared Growth

    Structural adjustment, ownership transformation, and size in Polish industry

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    The authors argue that significant adjustment took place in Polish industry after Poland's 1990 reforms. They analyze data on two- and three-digit manufacturing industries, disaggregated by firm ownership and size. By applying a statistical model to labor productivity growth, they try to disentangle structural determinants of the recovery from cyclical determinants. They contend that structural determinants outweigh cyclical ones. They find that the productive response of state enterprises was markedly different from that of private firms--private firms outperformed state enterprises (just as anecdotal evidence suggested). Size also matters, at least among private firms. Generally, there seem to be increasing returns to scale for private firms, except for very large enterprises (many of which were previously state-owned and may need further restructuring). The fact that size does not appear to matter among public enterprises suggests that several of them have not yet adopted optimal technologies and production processes.Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Economic Theory&Research,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

    Infrastructure finance : issues, institutions, and policies

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    The author analyzes the distinctive features of formal and informal financing of infrastructure and the principal issues policymakers must address in dealing with infrastructure finance: its adequacy in competitive financial systems, its budgetary vulnerability, the rationale for foreign finance, the role of user charges and taxes, the pros and cons of earmarking taxes, the institutional framework for infrastructure finance, the role of municipal finance, different approaches to the private financing of infrastructure (such as franchises, leases, management contracts, and consumer cooperatives), the critical role of contractor finance, and informal financing of infrastructure.The author concludes the following points. Not only the amount of funds but the regularity of their flow is central to maintaining infrastructure. But infrastructure must compete on a level playing field with other sectors. Any essential (but not open-ended) subsidies for maintaining universal minimum standards of service are best carried on the government budget, subject to periodic review. Institutional reform is needed to rationalize the division of resources and responsibilities among all layers of government and to provide mechanisms for insulating infrastructure finance from budgetary and other pressures. Such mechanisms include earmarking, privatization, and objective criteria for sharing value-added tax and other national tax revenue. Most developing countries do not have a national infrastructure agency to fund and coordinate technical assistance for infrastructure projects. The author makes a case for an apex financial entity in charge of municipal financial intermediaries for infrastructure, pointing to the instructive experience of intermediaries in Colombia and Jordan. One responsibility of such an agency would be to determine the necessary import content (for equipment, technical, and managerial expertise) of infrastructure finance, to prevent overborrowing. Privatization of infrastructure should be viewed as implicit earmarking, but official regulation of public utility prices should allow private utilities to generate retained earnings (to encourage self-financing) and should allow adjustments for inflation and exchange rate fluctuations. Infrastructure policy should allow for cost recovery through user charges as well as for tax revenues, especially through municipal taxes, since even the viability of loan finance depends on an efficient tax effort. While infrastructure finance is important, it is not always the decisive constraint, judging from the operating losses of even adequately funded infrastructure projects.Banks&Banking Reform,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Housing Finance,Urban Economics,Public&Municipal Finance
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