Industrial upgrading and development in Lesotho’s apparel industry: global value chains,foreign direct investment,and market diversification

Many low-income countries are integrated into apparel global value chains through foreign direct investment (FDI), including Lesotho, which has become the largest Sub-Saharan African apparel exporter to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. More recently, South Africa has emerged as a new apparel export market in Lesotho. The two markets are supplied by different types of FDI firms – affiliates of Taiwanese transnational producers and South African manufacturers – which are part of different value chain variants. The paper assesses the implications for industrial upgrading and development of integration into these two value chain variants in Lesotho, drawing on firm-level and institutional interviews. We show that their different characteristics in terms of investors’ motivation, governance structure, end markets, firm set up and most importantly and causally, ownership and embeddedness have crucial impacts on functional, product and process upgrading, local linkages, and skill development.     

Fishermen’s competitiveness and labour market performance: Evidence from shrimpers in Bangladesh

We conduct an experiment to determine competitiveness among shrimpers who engage in collecting shrimp seeds in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh. We then examine how competitiveness affects the labour supply decisions and labour market performance of these shrimpers. Our results show that shrimpers who prefer competition are more productive than shrimpers who do not prefer competition. Competitive shrimpers secure better prices and earn higher incomes selling their catches. We estimate that their wage elasticity of participation ranges from 0.4 to 0.5, which is consistent with preferences under neoclassical assumptions. Competitive shrimpers have a slightly greater wage elasticity than non-competitive shrimpers, suggesting that they might be more responsive to expected earnings. Our results have important policy implications for the efficient management of common pool resources.     

How to assess the impact of hope on a change in the use of land on market value?

This article is devoted to common yet quite specific approaches to valuation practice tasks that are involved in determining the market value of real properties in areas of possible land use changes. An intrinsic element of market value in such areas is the hope value, for which an option pricing model is used quite frequently.The authors propose a specially adapted Samuelson-McKean model for this task, which allows market value indication to be determined not only with the built-in development option, but also the dynamics of its components value in the current highest and best use and hope value – depending on the location of the given property. The greatest advantage of the Samuelson-McKean model is that it can be treated as universal for analyzing the range of possible indications of market value seeing as how its main task is to find a compromise between the interests of the buyer and the seller, which is the goal of any fair transactions and decisions.     

The influence of African swine fever information on consumers’ preference of pork attributes and pork purchase

This paper uses a randomized survey instrument to study the impact of African Swine Fever (ASF) information on Chinese consumers’ preference for pork attributes and purchases during the recent peak of the ASF pandemic in 2019. We study consumers’ preference for pork attributes including brand, meat texture and taste, quality safety assurance, and traceability under different information treatments. Results show that the willingness to pay (WTP) for quality safety assurance is the highest, followed by brands and traceability systems, and the WTP is lowest for good taste. We show that providing detailed ASF information substantially changes consumer preference by altering the relative importance of pork attributes and price sensitivity, which enables consumers to focus more on safety-related attributes while paying less attention to price and taste attributes. Furthermore, we find that a higher belief in the future of ASF occurrence reduces the frequency of purchases marginally but does not significantly influence for amount per purchase and the total purchase amount.     

Assessing non-industrial private forest owners’ attitudes to risk: Do owner and property characteristics matter?

This study relates owner and property characteristics to non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners’ attitudes to financial risk-taking in forestry decisions. Using a two-period mean-variance setting, the harvesting decisions of NIPF owners are examined with the aim of measuring their willingness to take risks. Since willingness to pay for reduction of risk is empirically unobservable, I rely on an index of NIPF owners’ attitudes to risk from a hypothetical survey question involving financial risk. According to the index, respondents (owners) are categorized as risk-averse, risk-neutral or risk-seeking. I apply a probit analysis to test how owner and property characteristics influence the NIPF owners’ attitudes to risk. The results show that characteristics influence the formation of risk attitudes. More explicitly, a longer period of ownership increases the probability that the owner is risk-averse, while increased time in the forest conducting silvicultural work increases the likelihood that an owner is risk-seeking. The results also show that female NIPF owners are more risk-seeking than male owners. The study fills a knowledge gap in the literature, relating owner and property characteristics to management decisions. Inclusion of risk attitudes and the judgement of risks into studies of NIPF owners’ management can help to understand why NIPF owners’ harvesting may deviate from net present value maximisation.     

Cultural norms,economic incentives and women’s labour market behaviour: empirical insights from Bangladesh

This paper sets out to explore a seeming puzzle in the context of Bangladesh. There is a considerable body of evidence from the country pointing to the positive impact of paid work on women’s position within family and community. Yet, according to official statistics, not only has women’s labour force participation risen very slowly over the years, but also a sizeable majority of women in the labour force are in unpaid family labour. We draw on an original survey of over 5000 women from eight different districts in Bangladesh to explore some of the factors that lead to women’s selection into the labour force, and into different categories of labour market activity, with a view to gaining a better understanding of the combination of cultural norms and economic considerations that explain these findings.     

Three rights separation: China’s proposed rural land rights reform and four types of local trials

China’s central government is promoting a new round of land reform in its rural areas, the core of which is the so-called ‘three rights separation system’. In attempting to achieve the double goals of developing agriculture and maintaining the basic stability of rural society, central policy makers want to separate the original household right of contractual operation into a contractual right (right of disposal) and an operation right. When formally adopted, these two rights, combined with the village collective ownership, will constitute China’s new structure of farmland rights. Many local governments are already using practical approaches involving the separation of the three rights, providing a valuable reference for its formalization in the future.In this paper, we analyze four relevant existing approaches by case studies of four representative projects. The results show that, while all four have in different ways reached the goal of increased scale of farmland operations, all are facing different contradictions and conflicts among the collectives, local governments and farmers, due to different farmland interests, demands and endowment problems. In response, a new framework is developed involving three rights separation, entailing some new meanings. This involves the repositioning of the four leading players in the distribution of farmland rights − the state, collective, part-time farmers and professional farmers − in order to realize the free transfer, monetization and redistribution of farmland rights to meet the demands of all the parties involved. With this framework, collective ownership is limited to the management of the award and recovery of the contractual right instead of specific agricultural operations. The introduction of a contractual right exit mechanism encourages the contractual right to be sold back to the collective for awarding directly to the professional farmers. In this way, the transfer of the operation right to professional farmers is encouraged as far as possible to enable them to increase their operating area and agricultural income.     

Urban environmental amenities and property values: Does ownership matter?

This study examines if open space ownership, and ownership of the land on which water resources are located, has a different effect on the sale price of nearby single-family residential properties using an OLS and spatial lag modeling approach. Estimated coefficients for the percentage of land with publicly and/or privately owned water resources in the spatial lag model are mixed with significantly negative coefficients for privately owned land with wetlands or streams and a significantly positive coefficient for publicly owned land with wetlands. These results may reflect differences in accessibility, the current quality of these resources, and beliefs about future management. The spatial lag model has fewer significant coefficients than the OLS model, but the signs of key parameters are consistent across models. The average absolute difference between coefficients in the OLS and spatial lag models is 30.2%.     

The impact of new information technology on urban and regional structure in Europe∗

Summary

This paper discusses the revolutionary nature of information technology which affects the what, where and how of the production and delivery of goods and services. It suggests that it is virtually impossible to come to any quantitative assessment of the nature and timing of the impact of these technological changes on individual cities. What is more important is to assess the capacity of cities to respond to the challenge of new information technology. The extent to which they are able to adapt to this challenge will be deeply conditioned by their infrastructure, industrial, commercial and institutional capacity. Areas which lack the necessary telecommunications networks, innovative enterprises and public and private agencies well attuned to the new technology will lag behind in the race to take advantages of the opportunities.

Drawing on a major research project undertaken for the European Commission the paper assesses the major components of the environment necessary to participate in the information technology revolution. It reviews developments in telecommunications networks, switching and services and uptake of services within the regions of Europe. The analysis suggests that not withstanding the distance shrinking potential of telecommunications, the incremental process of network modernization coupled with the high levels of demand in major centres is likely to result in a continuing reinforcement of existing locations rather than any significant dispersal of economic activity. The paper goes on to review the impact of information technology within manufacturing and service companies; this suggests that there are few indications that new technologies will reverse present location tendencies. The paper concludes, nevertheless, that there is an urgent need to promote the widespread geographical diffusion of new information technology and in this respect urban and regional policies have an important role to play.     

Unearthing ‘dead capital’: Heirs’ property prediction in two U.S. southern counties

Heirs’ property is a form of tenancy in common. It is typically inherited land passed to subsequent generations as intestate property, or property inherited outside of the formal probate process, without “clear title.” In economic terms, this form of property ownership can result in inefficient property uses, as owners tend to under-invest in such properties, owing to uncertainties regarding returns on investments. This, in turn, contributes to a diminution of wealth for affected families. Unclear titles also impede homeowners’ ability to apply for various forms of land and home improvement aid offered by federal agencies. As well, tenancies in common have the effect of intensifying already existing vulnerabilities of place, again, because constraints on homeowners’ access to equity make home improvements less likely.The magnitude of the heirs’ property phenomenon is not well-understood. Extant estimates are dated and often not verifiable; and no systematic means of identifying these parcels has been accepted. We present a methodology for assessing the accuracy of predictors typically used to identify heirs’ parcels using logistic models and data from a rural Appalachian county (Leslie County, KY) and a more urban Black Belt¹ county (Macon-Bibb County, GA). This is the first attempt to empirically examine these predictors. Year property was last sold and financial caretaker are the strongest predictors in both counties. Using these indicators, the percent of correctly predicted heirs’ parcels is about 67 percent in Leslie County and 48 percent in Macon-Bibb County. Applications of this methodology for national forest planning are discussed.     

Land use planning policies and market forces: Utopian aspirations thwarted?

This paper asks the question, to what extent do market forces limit planning policies? It delves into the constraining relationship of market forces on planning by reference to urban policies in the UK. In this context market forces are defined as dominant long term spatial economic trends which promote decentralisation. The essay uses policy case studies to develop its arguments. In general planning is shown to suffer from the lack of a systematic analysis of land use markets. Yet at its heart planning not only regulates/constrains the property market it also shapes and stimulates it. Planning is found to be most successful when it is shaping urban growth and decentralisation. It is a fundamentally different task to stem market flows and the probability of success is very different. Market forces do limit routes to Utopian aspirations but planners need the motivation, understanding and means to work with the market to produce desired outcomes.     

Landowners’ conservation motives and the size of information rents in environmental bidding systems

We examine landowners’ conservation motives, conservation costs and information rents in environmental bidding systems designed for forestry with the help of Faustmann and Hartman models and data from Finnish conservation program. We show that the Faustmann landowners receive information rents, on average 55% of the rental payments. For the Hartman landowners the high conservation costs of old stands result in low information rents; they are only 13% of the rental payments. This estimate omits amenity benefits the landowners derive from their forests; accounting for these benefits would increase information rents dramatically. Despite the high information rents, landowners’ conservation motives decrease the rental payment required for participation in the conservation program. Hence, landowners’ conservation motives give governments a great opportunity to allocate conservation contracts in a more cost effective way, thereby extracting larger benefits for scarce conservation funds.     

Vacant industrial premises and local development: A survey,analysis and policy assessment of the problem in Stoke‐on‐Trent

Summary

This paper presents the results of some survey work carried out in 1985 and in late 1987 on the subject of vacant industrial premises (VIPs) in the Stoke‐on‐Trent area. The issue of VIPs is briefly discussed at the outset and attention is drawn to the virtual information void that exists as regards the topic. The main core of the paper discusses the results of a survey of VIPs conducted in Stoke‐on‐Trent in 1985 and 1987. A typology of VIPs is suggested and, using a components of change approach, trends in the mid‐1980s are analysed. Detailed consideration is made of individual components ‐ including premises persistently vacant and reoccupations ‐ and several themes are developed. These include questions of the local distribution of VIPs components; the problems of returning premises to use; and the policy issues involved. The survey results reveal that over 3 million ft² of vacant industrial floorspace was available in early 1985 but that the figure had fallen to less than 2 million ft² by late 1987.     

The ‘credibility thesis’ and its application to property rights: (In)Secure land tenure,conflict and social welfare in China

Debates over tenure insecurity have been divided between those favoring private, marketable, and formalized property rights versus champions of grassroots’ customary and communal arrangements. By positing the “credibility thesis”, this article argues that it might be more insightful to move beyond concepts of formal and informal, private and common, or secure and insecure institutions, to leave the discussion about institutional form for a discussion about function. The notion of credibility does so by drawing attention to institutional function over time and space rather than to a desired form postulated by theory or political conviction. Apart from furthering the theoretical foundations on credibility and institutional functionalism, this article aims to develop its methodology and empirical study by taking China as a case study, with particular reference to its rural land-lease system, which is perceived to be highly insecure due to forced evictions and government intervention. Paradoxically, the study finds significant social support for the rural land-lease system and a low level of conflict. These findings might indicate that the form of the Chinese rural lease system (insecure tenure) is the outcome of its present function (provision of social welfare). Simultaneously, it was also found that when conflict does occur expropriation is a prime cause for it.     

“Effectively organic”: Environmental gains on conventional farms through the market?

Qualitative field research in England identified a cohort of farmers practicing what they self-defined as ‘effectively organic’ or ‘semi-organic’ farming. Utilising Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour as a framework for analysis, reducing inputs was found to be primarily a response to financial pressures, also reflected in changing substantive norms towards balancing risks and potential returns against investment, rather than optimising production. However, despite the apparent ease of converting to organic farming from low input practice, formal conversion to organic farming was not found to be the automatic outcome of this trajectory: instead, organic farming was identified as only one of a number of options for increasing the financial viability of the farming operation, which included other niche markets, pluriactivity and contracting land to and from other farmers. The affiliation of low input farmers with organic production denotes positive attitudes towards both organic farming and environmental practices, but a lack of understanding about organic farming techniques. The author argues that due to declining returns/input ratios, future conversion to organic farming may reflect the value placed on other aspects of organic production, such as increased labour, risk reduction and environmental ideals, and highlights the environmental implications of the ongoing ‘cost price squeeze’ on farming households.     

On the value of drovers’ routes as environmental assets: A contingent valuation approach

The aim of this study was to evaluate the non-market benefits resulting from the restoration of an old drovers’ route for recreation uses in Valencia (Spain). The valuation was carried out using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) through the elicitation of individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP). Since 52% of the respondents stated a zero WTP response, in order to inform decision-making processes more accurately, special attention was paid to the problem of zero and protest responses, and also to the possible presence of self-selection by those that protested. For the different specifications considered, results suggest that mean WTP estimates are higher for “rural areas” than for “the Valencia area”.     

The ‘squeezed middle’: Identifying and addressing conflicting demands on intermediate quality farmland in Scotland

The growing demand for a wide range of private and public goods and services from a finite land resource is increasingly challenging for planners at local, regional, national and international scales. The Scottish Government's development of a Land Use Strategy has given salience to resolving conflicts and enhancing synergies in land use. In Scotland, the poorest quality farmland is often designated for nature and landscape conservation and the highest quality farmland often protected for food production. This means that many of the competitive pressures on land are experienced in what we term the ‘squeezed middle’. The paper identifies the multiple (and not exclusively economic) drivers of land use choices and, through an ecosystem services lens, explores three particular areas of land use conflict. These are (i) the continued high level of public support for farming, which has done little to address the problem of low farm incomes; (ii) the pressure to increase woodland planting on farm (and other) land; and (iii) conflicts associated with intensive game management, especially on sporting estates. Using the Scottish situation as an example, the heterogeneity of land use pressures means that there is a danger of the principles of the Land Use Strategy becoming lost in translation from national policy to practical land use decision-making. The appropriate scale for delivery of integrated ecosystem services may therefore be more local than current pilot projects, and may require more active participation of land managers. It may also require policy instruments that are more flexible in adapting to the local context, including payments for ecosystem services.     

Secure property right as a determinant of SME’s access to formal credit in Ghana: dynamics between Micro-finance Institutions and Universal Banks

Does registered land title help to improve tenure security and enhance one’s chances of securing a loan from formal financial institutions? This question continues to sharply divide opinions among academics, policy-makers and international development partners. The long running debate on the subject of ‘Property in the Commons’, which serves as the ideological origin of what has become known as ‘Washington Consensus’ in contemporary times claims that there is positive correlation between the possession of registered land title and access to credit. However, this has often received considerable rebuttals. Even if the ‘Washington Consensus’ is accepted, the argument is still laced with some fundamental difficulty because it inherently assumes and treats financial institutions as a homogenous class of business. Yet financial institutions exhibit greater diversity in their operations and decision-making process. This paper attempts to contribute towards developing improved understanding between the ‘secure land title and access to credit relationship’ by disaggregating financial institutions into Micro-finance and Universal Banks (UBs) and examining what role secure land title play in granting credit from the perspectives of these two categories of financial institutions. To achieve this, field level investigations were conducted amongst officials of both Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) and UBs in Ghana using structured questionnaires. A total of 200 questionnaires – 100 each to MFI and Universal Banks were administered of which a response rate of 51 and 57 was, respectively, achieved. The data were analysed using various non-parametric statistics. The study amongst other things established that UBs and MFIs differ in their opinions on how important secure titles are in the lending process and the nature of the influence they can exert on the final lending decision. It was established that both categories of lenders do regard secure titles as important but whether or not it will influence their decision to accept a given landed property as collateral varies across lender types.     

Convergence between satellite information and farmers’ perception of drought in rangelands of North-West Patagonia,Argentina

Drought is a complex natural hazard with social and environmental implications. Satellite information is increasingly used to support decision-makers in preventing or coping with the negative impacts of drought. The integration of local and scientific knowledge to support drought monitoring is still far from being the main procedure in the development of drought monitoring and early warning systems. This study aimed at assessing the degree of convergence between satellite information on the effect of droughts on rangeland vegetation, from time series analysis, and farmers’ perception of drought in North-West Patagonia, Argentina. We characterised the scientific evidence of drought in terms of duration, spatial distribution, most severe years and recovery for the period 2000–2018 by identifying inter-annual NDVI changes. Farmers’ perceptions and experiences of drought were studied with open-ending interviews, with respect to occurrence, duration and recovery for that period. Satellite information matched farmers’ perception of drought at a regional scale, emphasising the value of remote sensing tools in supporting regional policy decision-making. However, farmers’ perceptions and recall of past drought impacts were more diverse than satellite information at a local level, highlighting the need for knowledge integration at finer scales.