Capital inputs in the Chinese economy: Estimates for the total economy,industry and manufacturing

This paper presents new estimates of capital inputs in the Chinese economy. Estimates are made for the total economy (1953–2007), for the industrial sector (1953–2007) and for manufacturing (1985–2007). The capital input estimates for industry and manufacturing are also broken down by thirty regions. The paper makes a systematic attempt to apply SNA (System of National Accounts) concepts to the estimation of capital inputs, according to the Perpetual Inventory Method. It makes a clear distinction between capital services from a productivity perspective and wealth capital stocks. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the relevant Chinese statistical concepts and data. It provides an explanation of the procedures followed in constructing the new national and regional capital input series.     

Participation of blacks and immigrants in the American Merchant class, 1890–1910: Some demographic relations

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many persons of minority ethnic status perceived that business enterprise offered an important opportunity for joining the mainstream of American economic life. To become a merchant was to acquire a measure of personal independence and a chance for higher rewards than those earned by industrial employees. To establish a business required the assumption of substantial risk, for the rate of failure among incipient enterprises was always great. Many would willingly bear the risk. But how many could survive, and where was the probability of success highest? The answers depended in part on the demographic features of the markets they undertook to serve.This article seeks, through an analysis of quantitative evidence, to answer some questions about the relation between demographic patterns and the extent of participation in retail merchandizing. Did urbanization promote such participation? Was the North or the South more stimulating to the merchant class? To what extent did participation in merchandizing differ among blacks, immigrants, and native whites? By employing quantitative evidence and multiple regression analysis, this paper offers more precise answers than traditional methods of historical inquiry would permit. But at the same time it raises questions that can only be answered by more traditional methods of study.     

Capitals and Capabilities: A Framework for Analyzing Peasant Viability, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty

On the basis of themes emerging in current debates on rural development in Latin America, this paper develops an analytical framework for analyzing rural livelihoods in terms of their sustainability and their implications for rural poverty. The framework argues that our analyses of rural livelihoods need to understand them in terms of: (a) people’s access to five types of capital asset; (b) the ways in which they combine and transform those assets in the building of livelihoods that as far as possible meet their material and their experiential needs; (c) the ways in which people are able to expand their asset bases through engaging with other actors through relationships governed by the logics of the state, market and civil society; and (d) the ways in which they are able to deploy and enhance their capabilities both to make living more meaningful and to change the dominant rules and relationships governing the ways in which resources are controlled, distributed and transformed in society. Particular attention is paid to the importance of social capital as an asset through which people are able to widen their access to resources and other actors.     

The macroeconomic impact of AIDS in Malawi: a dualistic,labour surplus economy

This paper simulates the macroeconomic effects of the AIDS epidemic in Malawi. This is done by using Bulatao's (1990) predictions of the disease's demographic impact in a dual-economy macro model. The with-AIDS scenario is compared with a counterfactual no-AIDS scenario to assess the impact of the disease if it spreads unchecked. The results suggest that by the year 2010, Malawian real GDP could be as much as 10% smaller than it would have been in the absence of the AIDS epidemic. The impact on per capita income is smaller, ranging from 0% to 3% lower than it would have been in the no-AIDS case by 2010.     

Exploring urban practice in a democratising society: opportunities,techniques and challenges

By close consideration of carefully collected oral history accounts of planners, public administrators, community organisers and leaders, a great deal can be learned about both the challenges of governance and the opportunities that insightful and skilful practitioners can seize. This essay first discusses several of the blind spots that hamper practice-focused research and then draws on a novel research approach to give a series of practical suggestions for those who might wish to gather, produce and analyse vivid and engaged ‘practice stories’ – to reveal the complexities, difficulties and possibilities of South African public serving practices.     

广东紫城工业园:产城融合 产业兴县 推进区域工业发展进入“快车道”

党的十一届三中全会以后,紫金县工业企业通过深化改革,工业增速较快,经济总量明显增大;1998年以后,紫金县确立和实施工业立县战略,以深化改革为契机,努力推进工业化进程;2001年起,紫金县以工业园区为载体,积极实施借外发展战略;2004年,全县工业企业开发的新产品达30多种,工业总量直线上升……紫金县开始迈进产业高质量发展新时代。     

Fixed‐price contracts,learning, and outsourcing: explaining the continuous growth of output and labour productivity in the German aircraft industry during the Second World War1

In this article it is claimed that, at least in the aircraft industry, the development of German armament production and productivity was much more continuous than Wagenführ's armament index and both the Blitzkrieg thesis and the inefficiency thesis suggest. In order to prove this new thesis of continuity, we show on the basis of firm‐level data, firstly, that investment in production capacities had already started before the war and was especially high in the early phase of the war, and secondly, that the regulatory setting of aircraft production management was rather constant and was not dramatically changed after 1941. In addition, we demonstrate that the driving forces of productivity growth were primarily learning‐by‐doing and outsourcing, the latter being generally neglected by economic historians.     

Linking agribusiness and small-scale farmers in developing countries: Is there a new role for contract farming?

This article examines a new role for contract farming in developing countries in the light of the industrialisation of agriculture and the globalisation of world markets. A theoretical rationale for contracting in developing countries is developed on the basis of adopting new institutional economic theory for the purpose of matching governance forms to market failure problems and transaction characteristics. The history of contract farming is reviewed, together with the advantages and disadvantages to the various players, for the purpose of developing a list of key success factors, problems and some possible solutions.     

International labour migration in the Asian-Pacific region: patterns,policies and economic implications

"This paper reviews the literature on international labour migration from and within the Asian-Pacific region. It deals with patterns and characteristics of migration flows, government policies towards labour migration, and economic implications of labour migration for both labour-exporting and importing countries in the region. The indications are that, despite gradual slowing down of labour flows to the western industrial countries and the Middle East, labour migration will continue to be a major economic influence on surplus-labour countries in the region. As an integral part of the growth dynamism in the region, labour migration has now begun to take on a regional dimension, with immense implications for the process of industrial restructuring in high growth economies and the changing pattern of economic interdependence among countries."     

Agriculture and the migration of labour to a capital city: The case of Gaborone,Botswana

This study examines some aspects of rural urban migration in Botswana, focusing in particular on Gaborone, the capital. Models are specified that relate age grouping, sectoral income differential, government employment and time to male and female migration. Econometric models were based on published data. The study indicates that there is a positive relationship between migration and central government employment, expressed as a proportion of total formal employment. The differential between agricultural and average non‐agricultural income, especially for male migrants, is also positively related to migration. The results show that with time, male and female migration to Gaborone is likely to increase. Male migration is positively related to arable crop cultivation, whereas female migration has an adverse effect on it. Neither has any significant influence on harvested crop area in Botswana     

Challenges for the floriculture industry in a developing country: a South African perspective

The increasing numbers of global floriculture producers, and changes in the basis of competition in this international industry, make it important to evaluate the South African floriculture industry's competitive position. The industry employs more than 17 500 people and provides opportunities for rural employment. This article assesses the challenges facing the South African floriculture industry in the competitive global market, using a framework based on global value chain (GVC) and global commodity chain (GCC) analyses. An empirical study showed that the industry is insufficiently competitive and does not participate to its full potential in the global market. It is recommended that floriculture producers shift their focus from the domestic to the international market, as the domestic market is becoming saturated and its turnover is small. However, as enhancing the industry's competitiveness is a complex endeavour, the industry first needs to address the weaknesses identified.