A new look for Stackelberg-Cournot equilibria in oligopolistic markets

Summary. This note deals with Cournot type oligopolies in which the market clearing price occasionally may be non-unique. A Stackelberg leading producer is present. Given that setting we explore continuity properties of the followers' reaction and provide sufficient conditions for existence of equilibrium. Received: June 20, 2000; revised version: April 24, 2001     

Too Many People? The Myth of Excess Population

Is the world threatened by overpopulation? Professor Jacqueline Kasun, of Humboldt State University, demolishes the myth of overpopulation and argues that population growth can be better regulated by individual decision rather than state control.     

Subcontracting in banking: some evidence from Britain and France

The oversimplified analysis of subcontracting in terms of the relations between small and large firms needs to be abandoned in favour of a broader societal approach. Drawing on empirical evidence from Britain and France it is argued that such an approach can identify a wider range of political, social and economic factors affecting the decision to subcontract.     

Cultural influences on consumer satisfaction with impulse and planned purchase decisions

This study examines factors thought to influence consumers' planned and impulse purchase decisions including subjective culture (individualist or collectivist consumers) and the presence of another person at the time of purchase. Data was collected in four countries — the USA, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. The results indicate that overall, consumers are differentially influenced by others in planned and impulse purchase situations, even after controlling for price. These differential influences can be explained by culture. Compared to more individualist consumers, more collectivist consumers are likely to be more satisfied with an impulse purchase when another person is present at the time of purchase.     

Temporal and spatial modelling of tropical deforestation: a survival analysis linking satellite and household survey data

We estimate a spatially explicit model of the forest clearance process among smallholder farmers in an agricultural frontier of southern Mexico. Our analysis takes as its point of departure a simple utility‐maximising model that suggests many possible determinants of deforestation in an economic environment characterised by missing or thin markets. Hypotheses from the model are tested on a data set that combines a time series of satellite imagery with data collected from a survey of farm households whose agricultural plots were geo‐referenced using a global positioning system (GPS). We implement a survival analysis to identify the effect of household level explanatory variables on the probability of deforestation. This approach allows us to introduce a measure of the time until clearance as a covariate, thereby affording a control for the effect of potentially important explanatory variables that vary through time but are not directly observable. In addition to identifying several variables relevant for policy analysis, including household demographics, proximity to roads, and government provision of agricultural support, model results suggest that the deforestation process is characterised by non‐linear duration dependence, with the probability of forest clearance first decreasing and then increasing with the passage of time.     

Targeting and distribution in complex emergencies: Participatory management of humanitarian food assistance

The extensive literature on community participation in the targeting and management of humanitarian food assistance suggests that participatory approaches work best in slow-onset emergencies with no conflict or displacement. Yet the policies of many agencies—and compliance with Sphere minimum standards—require that the recipient community participate in decisions about the assistance they receive including targeting, regardless of the causes of the emergency. This paper analyzes current practice in the targeting and management of humanitarian food assistance in complex emergencies, the constraints to recipient communities’ participation, and the possibilities for participatory approaches to improve targeting.     

Whose interests are at stake? Civil society and NGOs in South Africa

The democratic transition in 1994 necessitated the new government of South Africa to review critically most of its policies in order to achieve sustainable human development for all its citizens. Popular notions within current development thinking, such as civil society, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and people-centred development are integrated firmly in the revised policies. This article discusses how these notions appear in the housing and population White Papers. It is argued that civil society and NGOs appear as abstract concepts and as ‘black boxes’ in academic discussions and government policies. These abstract concepts foster assumptions of homogeneity and common interests among and within civil organisations and the people they claim to represent. To understand the complexities of interest representation, these abstract concepts need to come alive and the black boxes need to be opened. To this end, the authors present a theoretical framework and methodological tools for finding multiple interests among a variety of actors.     

International Trade in Nutmeg and Mace: Issues and Options for Indonesia

Indonesia produces more than three-quarters of the world's output of nutmeg and mace. In 1986 the government introduced export regulations that facilitated cartehsation of the market. This led to a dramatic rise in world prices. Problems such as accumulation of unsold stocks in Indonesia and smuggling of nutmeg and mace through Singapore led the government to abolish the regulations in 1990. World prices fell steeply, and since then have remained low. Indonesian nutmeg and mace exporters have called for the reregulation of the market. This paper assesses the case for reregulation, considering the costs and benefits to affected parties within Indonesia and the long-term sustainability of regulation.     

Deforestation and land use change: sparse data environments

Understanding determinants of land use in developing countries has become a priority for researchers and policy makers with a wide range of interests. For the vast majority of these land use issues, the location of change is as important as its magnitude. This overview paper highlights new economic approaches to modeling land use determinants that combine non‐traditional data sources with novel economic models and econometric techniques. A key feature is that location is central to the analysis. All data elements include an explicit location attribute, estimation techniques include the potential for complications from spatial effects, and results are location‐specific. The paper reviews the theory underlying these models. Since this paper is intended to provide the potential new researcher with an introduction to the challenges of this analysis, we present an overview of how remotely‐sensed data are collected and processed, describe key GIS concepts and identify sources of data for this type of econometric analysis. Finally, selected papers using these techniques are reviewed.