Trends in government promotion of black entrepreneurship

The Review of Black Political Economy -     

Contrived dualism and government policy

If the government's goal is to maximiza current employment (as the International Labour Office has advised for Columbia), family farms become the desirable land tenure system. This article suggests policies by which family farms, and non-mechanized agricultural techniques, can be encouraged. The context is Columbian agriculture which faces distortions in factor prices, and the article suggests policies by which these distortions can be corrected to favour family farms. Both the prices of labour and of capital can be adjusted by the government, a process called ‘contrived dualism’.     

Federal health care policy and the public-general hospital

Conclusion Although a stringent policy environment adversely affects both private and public hospitals, the market circumstances are worse for public hospitals. Because they are providers of last resort, they do not have as much flexibility as private hospitals in determining the quantity and scope of services they provide.     

Japanese government debt and sustainability of fiscal policy

We construct quarterly series of the revenues, expenditures, and debt outstanding for Japan from 1980 to 2010, and analyze the sustainability of the fiscal policy. We pursue three approaches to examine the sustainability. First, we calculate the minimum tax rate that stabilizes the debt to GDP ratio given the future government expenditures. Using 2010 as the base year, we find that the government revenue to GDP ratio must rise permanently to 40–47% (from the current 33%) to stabilize the debt to GDP ratio. Second, we estimate the response of the primary surplus when the debt to GDP ratio increases. We allow the relationship to fluctuate between two “regimes” using a Markov switching model. In both regimes, the primary surplus to GDP ratio fails to respond positively to debt, which suggests the process is explosive. Finally, we estimate a fiscal policy function and a monetary policy function with Markov switching. We find that the fiscal policy is “active” (the tax revenues do not rise when the debt increases) and the monetary policy is “passive” (the interest rate does not react to the inflation rate sufficiently) in both regimes. These results suggest that the current fiscal situation for the Japanese government is not sustainable.     

Adult vocational training and government policy in France and Britain

Provision of continuing vocational training is subject to severalmarket failures: capital-market imperfections (credit constraints),risk arising from variability of future values of skills, mismatchof costs and returns owing to worker mobility, and general positiveexternalities of human capital. In the light of these marketimperfections we evaluate the contrasting French and Britishsystems of adult training. French policy is interventionistand includes an employer training levy. British policy has abandonedlevies and emphasizes individual initiatives by workers andemployers. Despite contrasting policies, the character of trainingprovision is similar in both countries, being mainly arrangedand financed by employers. Differences are that the French systemoffers both higher public subsidy and cost-sharing between trainingand non-training employers. Training provision is higher inFrance and occurs earlier in the working life-cycle. We concludeBritish policy could usefully reconsider employer levies forsolving training under-investment.     

人力资本投资分析及政府政策选择

一、人力资本投资的概念界定要界定人力资本投资首先要清楚人力资本概念。人力资本是指体现在劳动者身上的、以劳动者的数量和质量表示的非物质资本,表现为劳动者具有一定的健康体魄、操作技能和劳动熟练程度。较早的人力资本投资定义是加里·贝克尔在《人力资本》一书中提出的。他认为,所有用于增加人的资源并影响其未来货币收入和消费的投资为人力资本投资,并指出“对于人力的投资是多方面的,其中主要是教育支出、保健支出、劳动力国内流动的支出或用于移民入境的支出等形成的人力资本”。这一提法得到了广泛的认同并沿用至今。人力资本的…     

当代印度政府提高粮食生产的政策研究

独立以来,作为世界上第二人口大国的印度,历届政府都极其关注粮食问题,从尼赫鲁政府的土地改革到后来的绿色革命等,印度政府采取一系列措施增加粮食产量,取得相当大的成就。一个最显著的成果是到20世界70年代末,印度在低水平上实现了粮食自给。粮食是农业的基础,粮食可持续发展是农业可持续发展的基础,农业可持续发展是一国经济增长的基础。在这个背景下,研究印度独立以来解决粮食生产问题,分析其成败得失,不仅对印度粮食安全和农业发展有着重要的意义,而且对广大发展中国家包括中国在内,都有现实的借鉴意义,也可丰富发展经济学的相关研究。     

Federal agricultural policies: Do black farm operators benefit?

Findings of this study support the contention that benefits from federal agricultural programs accrue primarily to a few very large producers while small producers receive only minimal amounts, and black producers, even less. Not only does this study confirm the belief that, as a whole, black farmers receive only a very thin slice of the “benefit pie” but it makes clear the fact that their individual share is much smaller than their white counterparts’. Although low product volume is an obvious and often cited factor contributing to this inequity, these findings indicate that another very important factor is low program participation. Underparticipation by black farm operators is primarily attributed to racial discrimination against blacks, the negative attitude of many black farm operators toward government programs, failure of some to access available information, and poor decision-making skills of others.     

The role of Malawian local government in community development

The promotion of basic elements of good governance including community involvement through a decentralised local governance system has been at the centre stage since the advent of the multiparty democracy in Malawi in the 1990s. This article examines the role of Malawian local government in community development and analyses the context of community involvement in local governance. The article is primarily based on documentary research, which includes journal and newspaper articles, and interviews with senior district assembly officials and local people. The major conclusions drawn are that, firstly, the decentralisation process tends to feature the district assembly very highly, with little clarity on how community-based institutions are integrated into the local government system. Secondly, the political, socio-economic and administrative factors prevailing at the local level need to be addressed pragmatically for efficient and effective community participation in development.     

Public housing and the black community

Summary and Conclusions Earlier in this paper five major goals of federal housing policy were listed and it was noted that the public housing program was only one vehicle used to work toward these goals. In this section, the conflicts and issues that arise in the pursuit of these goals through this program, as spelled out in the preceding pages, will be summarized. As well, suggestions of other means to provide housing for the low-income will end the paper.     

Public housing and the black community

Summary and Conclusions Earlier in this paper five major goals of federal housing policy were listed and it was noted that the public housing program was only one vehicle used to work toward these goals. In this section, the conflicts and issues that arise in the pursuit of these goals through this program, as spelled out in the preceding pages, will be summarized. As well, suggestions of other means to provide housing for the low-income will end the paper.     

The cost of male subemployment in the black community

Summary and Conclusions In 1969, the direct and indirect costs of the subemployment of black men exceeded total federal expenditures on manpower programs by almost $2 billion ($4.0 vs. $2.1 billion) and today, with the black unemployment rate approaching 13 percent, it is improbable that this difference has narrowed appreciably. Nor is there any evidence to indicate that the black male’s tie to the family unit has strengthened to any significant extent. There is no readily available panacea for eliminating these economic costs and the continued waste of human resources, but the World War II and Korean War experiences are indicators of how society can act to simultaneously attack the related problems of subemployment and family instability.