Agricultural development in Southern Africa: Theory,lessons and the food crisis in Africa

In this paper a household economics theory of farm‐household production in the Southern African context is presented which (a) places a new interpretation on the causes of low productivity per person and unit of land in the African farming sector, (b) demonstrates that even where improved food crop technology is widely adopted it may have a very limited impact on marketed production, and (c) contributes to an understanding of why Africa's food production per person continues to fall despite per capita aid inflows which have exceeded those for any other continent over the last decade.     

THE INFLATION ADJUSTMENT OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTS: THE CASE OF MONETARY ITEMS

This paper investigates the sensitivity of the computed loss from holding monetary items to alternative numerical estimating techniques. Using data from 38 companies for the fiscal year 1980-81, we find that estimation of the loss from holding monetary items is robust with respect to the calculating technique utilized, provided the monetary base is broadly defined. The implications of this for “market model” type studies of the impact of inflation adjustments are discussed.     

A Spectral Analysis of Australia's Leading and Coincident Indexes of Cyclical Economic Growth

Using the methodology of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Boehm and Moore (1984) have recently constructed leading and coincident indexes of Australian cyclical economic growth. The present article examines the reliability of the leading index by investigating the coherence between these two measures of economic activity at different cycle-lengths using the technique of cross-spectral analysis.     

AN EVALUATION OF A NEW ZEALAND MARKETING BOARD'S SUPPLY DIVERSION STRATEGIES

It appears that the agricultural economics literature lacks much evidence upon which we can judge the performance of statutory boards as marketing institutions. This paper reports the achievements of the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board in two areas of supply diversion—the allocation of fruit between fresh and process markets, and the allocation of fresh fruit sales over time. Results indicate that the Board has achieved considerable gains for producers in the first of these areas, while in the second its behaviour has favoured consumers.     

Restructuring for the 21st century: The end of ideology or rediscovering corporatism?

Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General for Regional Policy, 1991: Europe 2000. Outlook for the Development of the Community's Territory. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, no price stated.

Kennedy, R. 1991: London. World City Moving into the 21st Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, £24.95 cloth.

Sheffield Economic Regeneration Committee, undated: Sheffield 2000. Phase One. Sheffield: Sheffield Economic Regeneration Committee, £7.50 in Sheffield, £25.00 outside Sheffield.

Stanworth, J. and Stanworth, C. 1991: Work 2000. The Future for Industry, Employment and Society. London: Paul Chapman Publishing, £15.95 cloth.     

Immigrants,Financial Knowledge,and Financial Behavior

This research seeks to identify gaps in financial knowledge and behaviors between immigrants to Canada and individuals who are born in Canada. The research aims to evaluate to what extent immigrants involve themselves in financial planning and avoid harmful financial behaviors. Employing the Canadian Financial Capability Survey (2009), the findings of the study suggest that immigrants are less likely to show high levels of financial knowledge compared to born citizens. The knowledge gap between immigrants and born citizens narrows as an individual resides longer in Canada. In addition, immigrants are less likely to prepare themselves financially for their retirement or to have long-term investments. The findings provide a basis for addressing the implications of weak financial knowledge.     

Income inequality and education revisited: persistence,endogeneity and heterogeneity

This article presents new results on the relationship between income inequality and education expansion – that is, increasing average years of schooling and reducing inequality of schooling. When dynamic panel estimation techniques are used to address issues of persistence and endogeneity, we find a large, positive, statistically significant and stable relationship between inequality of schooling and income inequality, especially in emerging and developing economies and among older-age cohorts. The relationship between income inequality and average years of schooling is positive, consistent with constant or increasing returns to additional years of schooling. While this positive relationship is small and not always statistically significant, we find a statistically significant negative relationship with years of schooling of younger cohorts. Statistical tests indicate that our dynamic estimators are consistent and that our identifying instruments are valid. Policy simulations suggest that education expansion will continue to be inequality reducing. This role will diminish as countries develop, but it could be enhanced through a stronger focus on reducing inequality in the quality of education.     

Interpreting Value at Risk (VaR) forecasts

Value at Risk (VaR) forecasts have been increasingly accepted globally by both risk managers and regulators as a tool to identify and control exposure to financial market risk. However, modern portfolios are characterized by a constantly changing composition of security holdings that reflect portfolio managers’ strategies, expected prices, and net cash flows into the portfolio. As a result of these factors, portfolio returns are time-varying mixtures of distributions which are unlikely to be well approximated by conventional methods.     

The Greenspan years: an analysis of the magnitude and speed of the equity market response to FOMC announcements

We examine the impact of monetary policy on the S&P 500 using intraday data. The analysis shows an economically and statistically significant relationship between S&P 500 intraday returns and changes in the Fed funds target rate. The significance and magnitude of the response is dependent on whether the change was expected or unexpected. An expected change in the Fed funds target rate has no impact on prices in the broad equity market; however, an unexpected change of 25 basis points in the Fed funds target rate results in an approximate 48 basis points decline in the broad equity market’s return. The speed of these market reactions is rapid with the equity market reaching a new equilibrium within 15 minutes.