ELECTRICITY REFORMS IN MALI: A MACRO–MICRO ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS ON POVERTY AND DISTRIBUTION

This paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) micro-simulation model to explore the distributional and poverty-related effects of price reform in the electricity sector of Mali, a poor country in West Africa. In the first part of the paper we analyse the distribution of electricity in Mali by income deciles, showing that few poor households are connected to the electricity grid. We then apply a sequential CGE micro-simulation model to track the transmission mechanisms between increases in electricity prices and changes in poverty and inequality among different household groups. Our results show that direct price increases have a minimal effect on poverty and inequality, whereas the general equilibrium effects of such increases are quite strong and negative. The compensating policies we tested do not help those who lose from the pricing reform. In fact they amplify the negative effects.     

THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA PLAGUE AS A NATURAL EXPERIMENT: THE UPKEEP OF VINEYARDS IN CATALONIA (SPAIN), 1858–1935

This paper analyses the impact in Catalonia of the grape Phylloxera plague in Europe (1865–90). A statistical model is used to analyse the economic resilience of 35 districts in Catalonia to this external ecological and economic shock, and to explain why districts in the provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona resumed growing wine grapes after the plague, in contrast to districts in Girona and Lleida provinces. The opportunity cost of labour, the demand pull of Barcelona's commercial growth, and the agro-climatic suitability of land for growing grapes are used to explain the differing capacities of districts to endure the Phylloxera plague in Catalonia.     

'THE LAW OF STORMS': EUROPEAN AND INDIGENOUS RESPONSES TO NATURAL DISASTERS IN COLONIAL INDIA, c. 1800–1850

Focusing on collective response to storms and floods in early colonial India, the paper explores obstacles to successful disaster response with one example related to meteorology of cyclones and the other the use of embankments. In both these examples, there was an attempt to build public-private partnerships, which succeeded in the case of weather prediction and failed in river embankment. The failure is explained by two factors. Coordination and contracting were costly when the private partners had variable capacities and interests. Furthermore, whereas meteorology predicted nature, embankments interfered with nature, an intervention which carried social and economic costs.     

RAINFALL, THE MÉLINE TARIFF, AND WHEAT PRODUCTION IN MEDITERRANEAN FRANCE, 1885–1914

Wheat production stagnated in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, while cultivated acreage and wheat output declined sharply around the Mediterranean from the 1870s. Wheat output never recovered in this region despite the introduction in 1885 of tariff measures, such as the 1892 Méline Tariff. This paper analyses the response of Mediterranean wheat growers to changes in local rainfall and to variations of the duty on imported grains. It uses regional level data for nine administrative divisions located on or near the Mediterranean and assesses the impact of rainfall on yields. It argues that an interplay of protectionist policies and environmental conditions explain the decline of wheat production.     

INSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN INDONESIA'S FOOD SECURITY SECTOR: THE TRANSFORMATION OF BULOG INTO A PUBLIC CORPORATION

The National Food Logistics Agency (BULOG) which had managed food security, buffer‐stock operations, and domestic food price stabilization through its monopoly over imports and distribution was reorganized into a public corporation, “Perum BULOG”, in May 2003. This study investigates the background and the process of reforming BULOG, and seeks to clarify the characteristics and remaining problems of institutional reform implemented in Indonesia since the economic crisis and the impact of globalization. The major findings are: (1) the reforms led by the IMF and World Bank were an attempt to curtail the rent‐creation mechanism in BULOG and to improve its corporate governance; (2) globalized and standardized modules of institutional reform methods were applied for reforming BULOG, but the implanted institutions will need substantial time to take root; (3) there is still a failure to coordinate among food security institutions, particularly between the Ministry of Agriculture and Perum BULOG.     

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA: 1883–84 TO 2003–04

This paper describes changes in the number of residents and admissions to public psychiatric hospitals in Australia, and in the state of Queensland in particular, from 1883 to 2003. It identifies when the deinstitutionalisation of dedicated psychiatric institutions began in Queensland and finds that the policy described as 'opening the back door' (discharging residents) began around 1952–53, while the policy of 'closing the front door' (reducing admissions) began in 1962–63. Deinstitutionalisation in Queensland thus began earlier than most contemporary writers suggest.     

PROSPECTS FOR ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ IN SOCIOECONOMIC OUTCOMES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS?

Practical reconciliation' and more recently 'closing the gap' have been put forward as frameworks on which to base and evaluate policies to address Indigenous disadvantage. This paper analyses national-level census-based data to examine trends in Indigenous wellbeing since 1971. There has been steady improvement in most socioeconomic outcomes in the last 35 years; a finding at odds with the current discourse of failure. Evidence of convergence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes, however, is not consistent. For some outcomes, relatively rapid convergence is predicted (within 25 years), but for the majority of outcomes, convergence is unlikely to occur within a generation, if at all.     

EQUILIBRIUM FARM GATE PRICE IN THE CASE OF TWO SUCCESSIVE MARKETS WITH FIXED SUPPLY

This study aims to describe the evolution of the organisational structure of raw agricultural product markets in West African countries (the supply may be regarded as fixed) using microeconomic models to assess the evolution of the farm gate price; and focusing on the impact of the vertical integration of some firms on the producer price. This paper shows that the evolution of the commercial organisational structure of agricultural products has led to a gradual improvement in the producer price. It also shows that whatever the degree of vertical integration on these markets, it has a positive impact on the farm gate price. However, even if vertical integration also improves the price of agricultural input on the intermediary market, the intermediary firms undergo a deteriorating situation.     

Once were farmers: Occupation, social mobility, and mortality during industrialization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec 1840–1971

We study men's adult mortality and longevity by socio-occupational status during industrialization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Data were extracted from the BALSAC database (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi), which comprehensively traces the demographic history of the region since the beginning of the French Canadian settlement in 1840 up to the early 1970s. Using five occupational classes and controlling for year, age at marriage, urban/rural residence, and literacy, we found no evidence for the emergence of a socioeconomic gradient in mortality. At least until the early 1970s, mortality in the region is the lowest for farmers and appears to be driven by occupational risk rather than fundamental social causes.     

ANTHROPOMETRIC TRENDS IN SOUTHERN CHINA, 1830–1864

Anthropometric indicators can shed light on the ‘Great Divergence’ debate on the timing of the welfare development in China and Europe. We mobilise two new datasets of some 13,000 Southern Chinese contract migrants who were sent to Suriname and Indonesia, and thus supplement the limited existing evidence on early to mid‐nineteenth century China. The Southern Chinese were about as tall as Southern Europeans during the early and mid‐nineteenth century, but notably shorter than Northwestern Europeans. Height development was stagnant or slightly downward over the period studied, which fits into the pattern of real wage developments at that time.     

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON INDIGENOUS SOCIOECONOMIC OUTCOMES IN AUSTRALIA, 1971–2001

Current debate in Indigenous affairs in Australia often involves the assertion that the last 30 years has been a period of policy failure. This article examines trends across a number of socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians from the 1967 referendum to the present, using census data. Overall, there has been steady, although not spectacular improvement in outcomes over time. These improvements are especially marked for education, which was coming from an exceptionally low base. This finding is somewhat at odds with the common perception of the 'failure' of Indigenous policy.     

THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS ASSOCIATION 1880–2006: THE RISE AND FALL OF A CO-OPERATIVE MODEL FOR NEWS GATHERING

The establishment of New Zealand's press agency, the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA), as a co-operative news gathering agency in 1880 has traditionally been regarded as reflecting a pioneering spirit of newspaper unity or as being largely determined by the political situation of the time. But these explanations are insufficient. Applying economic and organisational theories of co-operatives to the history of NZPA, this paper reveals it was market conditions that led to the creation of NZPA as a co-operative news gathering service. Following profound changes in those market conditions, NZPA recently abandoned this co-operative news gathering model.     

INVESTIGATING THE GENDER GAP IN SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP: A DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS

This paper investigates the gender difference in trade union membership among African men and women in South Africa. Using labour force survey data for 2001 and 2007, we show that at least two thirds of the gender gap is explained by differences in union‐related characteristics. When compared with gender differences in personal, household‐ and job‐related characteristics, disparities in job characteristics account for a larger proportion of the gender gap. These findings imply that women would have had higher unionisation rates than men if they possessed male endowments of union‐related characteristics, especially access to unionised jobs.     

Dynamics of Child Malnutrition in Rural and Small‐Town Ethiopia

Improving the status of malnourished children, and preventing children from becoming malnourished, lies at the heart of several of the Sustainable Development Goals. While many cross‐sectional studies examine correlates of stunting, they largely cannot identify drivers of change in stunting. We use two waves of panel data from Ethiopia and incrementally larger sets of fixed effects to control for time‐variant observable characteristics and time‐invariant unobservable characteristics. After controlling for these potential confounders, our analysis reveals that many factors that are associated with stunting in the cross‐section do not impact stunting dynamics. We also estimate individual fixed‐effects regressions, separately, according to baseline stunting status. We find evidence suggesting that while improved societal conditions drive many children out of a stunted state, certain exogenous factors may lead previously healthy children to become stunted. Overall, policymakers and practitioners would be wise to consult research utilising both cross‐sectional and panel data analyses in order to more effectively target already stunted children as well as vulnerable children who may be at risk of becoming stunted.     

Social class, social mobility and mortality in the Netherlands, 1850–2004

This study uses data from a random sample of births in the Netherlands during the period 1850–1922 to examine the relationships between social class, social mobility and mortality at middle and old age. Population registers and personal cards covering the period from 1850 to 2004 for all Dutch provinces were used to reconstruct individual life histories of 14,900 births. For men we did not find an effect of the social class of origin (using two different SES-classifications) on mortality in age group 18 to 35. We also did not observe an effect of own social class on mortality after age 35. For women effects of social class of origin and social class of husband were generally absent as well. Our conclusion is that the standard ideas about the negative effects of processes of industrialization and urbanization on the duration of life do not seem to apply to the Netherlands. Where one lived mattered more for survival than the social class one belonged to.     

FACTOR PRICES AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN LESS INDUSTRIALISED ECONOMIES 1870–1939

Global trade expansion after 1870 had potentially powerful effects on income distribution, especially in land-abundant less industrialised economies, by increasing land prices relative to wages. The papers in this issue add evidence on wage–rentals for a range of countries, specifically Australia, Canada, Ghana, India, and Sweden. These new data offer partial support for Jeffrey Williamson's view that the distributional effects of booming global trade to 1914 were powerful and ubiquitous, but they highlight that more attention might be given to geographical boundaries and to other distribution forces including technology and wage bargaining conditions.     

Income inequality in central Spain, 1690–1800

This paper studies the evolution of income inequality in central Spain during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, taking as case study the province of Guadalajara. The first part of the paper presents the sources and the dataset that was created to estimate income inequality using grain tithes. The second section shows that through the period grain represented the lion share of total income and therefore that it can be used as a reliable proxy. The following part of the paper introduces an analysis of income inequality in the province during the period 1690–1800 and concludes that inequality decreased during the last third of the eighteenth century. Finally the paper addresses this unexpected result and concludes that it was consequence of the success of the land reform carried out by the central government in the late 1760s. The reform was a success in Guadalajara, thanks to the characteristics of its population and the lack of bargaining power of pressure groups.     

WATER DEMAND AND THE URBAN POOR: A STUDY OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING WATER CONSUMPTION AMONG HOUSHOLDS IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Water demand management is a key focus area for most water managers and even more so in developing countries since improved access to water is important to the poor. Different policies have been introduced to ensure a water management system th at cares for the poor, among them the Increasing Block Tariff (IBT) structure. Studies demonstrate that it is very important to know the shape of the demand curve when deciding on the IBT structure. This paper adds to the understanding of the factors that influence water consumption. The focus is on how water demand patterns vary with the level of income among urban dwellers. The results support the hypothesis that pricing is an ineffective measure to manage water consumption among the poor, while it is relatively more effective for the richest group. Therefore, redistribution using water pricing policy will hardly work.