The price of human capital in a pre-industrial economy: Premiums and apprenticeship contracts in 18th century England

Training through apprenticeship provided the main mechanism for occupational human capital formation in pre-industrial England. This paper demonstrates how training premiums (fees) complemented the formal legal framework surrounding apprenticeship to secure training contracts. Premiums varied in response to scarcity rents, the expected productivity of masters and apprentices, and served as compensation for the anticipated risk of default. In most trades premiums were small enough to allow access to apprenticeship training for youths from modest families.     

Human capital: A critique

The human capital approach increasingly has been absorbed within the folds of cultural determinism. The trend has been so pronounced that it prompted the organization of a session at the December 1984 American Economic Association meetings in Dallas, Texas, entitled “Human Capital and Culture: Analyses of Variations in Labor Market Performance.” The papers from that session are available in the May 1985 issue of theAmerican Economic Review. One of the discussants for the session was Stephen Steinberg, a sociologist at Queens College. Steinberg was invited to comment on the presented papers for two major reasons—first, he had written an outstanding study that debunked many of the conventional linkages made between culture and ethnic achievement,The Ethnic Myth, and second, as a sociologist, he was expected to provide a perspective on the subject quite different from the rest of the panelists, all of whom were economists. In the midst of the coven of economists, Steinberg appeared well armed. He arrived with his own paper, a paper that went far beyond comments on the presented papers. Unfortunately, the current rules governing the inclusion of papers in the AEA proceedings prohibit publication of the discussants’ remarks. Fortunately, Steinberg graciously has consented to have the paper appear in theReview of Black Political Economy.     

Saving,investment, and capital mobility: A comment on Leachman

In this note we use a consistent long-run data set recently published by Maddison (1991) for 10 countries to examine the long-run relationship between saving and investment. In contrast to recent findings of Leachman (1991) we conclude that saving and investment are cointegrated in many countries. Our results suggest that aggregate demand and supply shocks explain much of the time series correlation between total saving and investment.     

Sectoral shift in antebellum Massachusetts: A reconsideration

But no man, who can have a piece of land of his own, sufficient by his labor to subsist his family in plenty, is poor enough to be a manufacturer, and work for a master. Hence, when there is land enough in America for our people, there can never be manufacturers to any amount of value. Benjamin Franklin, 1760¹     

The organisation of urban agriculture in Cape Town,South Africa: A social capital perspective

This article explores urban agriculture in Cape Town and its organisational forms. Based on a literature review of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature, it examines the state of linkages among urban farmers and various supporting organisations of urban agriculture. Moreover, it examines the coordination of activities among key supporting organisations. By analysing the roles of state and non-state actors and linkages, the article discusses implications for the development of urban agriculture. This article suggests that a lack of effective coordination of initiatives among supporting actors presents a significant pitfall in the development of urban agriculture. Furthermore, the failure of farmers to self-organise is identified as equally detrimental. Therefore, it calls for improved synergies between state and non-state actors involved to ensure that the gains of urban agriculture are enhanced.     

Devaluation,capital flows and the balance of payments: A respecification

Zusammenfassung Abwertung, Kapitalverkehr und die Zahlungsbilanz: Eine Respezifizierung. — Dieser Aufsatz stellt ein Zahlungsbilanzmodell der Abwertung für einen Zwei-L?nder-Fall vor, in dem beide L?nder gro\ genug sind, um die Zinss?tze sowohl im Inland als auch im Ausland beeinflussen zu k?nnen. Das Modell legt besonderes Gewicht auf abwertungsinduzierte ?nderungen der Kapitalstr?me, die entstehen, wenn das Portefeuille-Gleichgewicht nach der Abwertung wiederhergestellt wird. Zus?tzlich werden langfristige abwertungsinduzierte Ver?nderungen des ?steady-state? Kapitalverkehrs bei Aufrechterhaltung des Portefeuille-Gleichgewichts untersucht. Der Aufsatz gibt eine Synthese der Handelsbilanzwirkungen in den herk?mmlichen Abwertungsmodellen und der Kapitalverkehrswirkungen im Zahlungsbilanzmodell. Abschlie\end werden die Implikationen für die Geldpolitik aufgezeigt.

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Résumé Dévaluation, mouvements de capitaux et balances des paiements: une ré-spécification. — Cet article présente un modèle de balance des paiements pour le cas d’une dévaluation oè les deux pays sont assez grands pour influencer les taux d’intérêt à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur. Le modèle met l’accent sur les ajustements des mouvements de capitaux associés avec les tendances de regagner l’équilibre du portefeuille après la dévaluation. En outre, l’auteur étudie les changements à long terme des mouvements de capitaux induits par la dévaluation pour le cas où l’équilibre du portefeuille est maintenu pendant toute la période. L’article intègre les effets sur la balance commerciale élaborés par des modèles synthétiques de la dévaluation avec les effects sur les mouvements de capitaux élaborés par le modèle de balance des paiements: A la fin de l’étude, l’auteur donne des implications pour la politique monétaire.

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Resumen Devaluación cambiaria, flujos de capital y la balanza de pagos: una re-especificación. — Este artículo presenta un modelo de balanza de pagos para analizar la devaluación en el supuesto de existir solamente dos países lo suficientemente grandes como para influenciar las tasas de interés tanto internas como externas. El modelo se centra en los ajustes de los flujos de capital inducidos por una devaluación cambiaria y ocurridos en el momento de reestablecerse el equilibrio portfolio. Además, se estudian los cambios en los movimientos capital inducidos a largo plazo por una devaluación, manteniéndose el equilibrio portfolio durante todo el período. El articulo intégra los efectos de balanza de marcancías en los modelos de devaluación estándar con los efectos de balanza de pagos de los flujos de capital. Al final se se?alan las implicaciones del anàlisis para la política monetaria.