The pyramids plateau: A dream searching for survival

Recognized as one of the most unique archaeological sites in the world, the Giza pyramids plateau is the location of the three great pyramids and the Sphinx, tombs, seven smaller pyramids, and other monuments. Over the centuries the plateau has been instrumental in introducing Egyptian civilization to the world, and was recently declared as one of the most iconic travel spots on the planet.In recent years, the location of the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) within the site of the plateau re-ignited the debate between scholars, practitioners and activists over development activities within and around this unique site. Consequently, a growing conflict re-emerged between conserving the plateau and developing the surrounding areas. Additionally, this invaluable site is threatened by urban expansion and development, pollution, rising groundwater and extensive tourism. Yet, currently there are neither tourism management nor development plans for the site.Building on national and international conservation conventions and charters, this paper explores analyses and documents the current gap between ideal conservation management sittings within and around the pyramids plateau and the reality of urban development trends and tourism activities.     

A post-nationalist South Asia

The ideas of ‘nation’, ‘national security’ and ‘development’ have played havoc with South Asian cultures. The notion of ‘nation state’ has tended to reproduce aspirations of the majority people who are often reconstructed by alien categories and leads to the alienation of minority communities. Virtually all ethnic conflicts in South Asia have their roots in this idea. A more viable and desirable future for South Asia lies in rethinking the model of development and reinventing the notions of state and security.     

Infinite desires in a finite world: Scarcity and its socio-economic implications

Natural resource scarcity has been making a resurgence as a dominant theme in recent economic writings. Most of the papers on this subject, however, have been narrow in their scope— discussing the issue mainly from a specific viewpoint or ideological stand. This paper attempts to give a balanced treatment to three economic positions (the traditionalist, the revisionist, and the unorthodox economist) taken toward natural resource scarcity. As such, the main objective of the paper is to present and analyze the basic arguments that have been advanced by the proponents of these three positions. It is the author's intent that this approach will help clarify the main factors that have been the source of disagreements among economists over the probable causes and ramifications of societal problems emanating from scarcity and in so doing provide a clearer perspective for prudent action.     

IFRS adoption in Europe and investment-cash flow sensitivity: Outsider versus insider economies

We examine the economic consequences of the mandatory adoption of IFRS in EU countries by showing which types of economies have the largest reduction in investment-cash flow sensitivity post-IFRS. We also examine whether the reduction in investment-cash flow sensitivity depends on firm size as well as economy type.We find that the investment-cash flow sensitivity of insider economies is higher than that of outsider economies pre-IFRS and that IFRS reduces the investment-cash flow sensitivity of insider economies more than that of outsider economies. Also, we find that small firms in insider economies have the highest sensitivity of investment to lagged cash flow pre-IFRS, and that they are no longer sensitive to lagged cash flow post-IFRS. Overall, our results suggest that IFRS adoption might have improved the functioning of capital markets in relation to small firms in insider economies.     

Is a cluster a necessary condition for success? The case of Benidorm

This paper analyses the application of the cluster concept to tourist destinations using Benidorm as a case study. A questionnaire was administered to tourism firms based in Benidorm in order to determine whether this destination currently constitutes a tourism cluster or whether it possesses the ideal characteristics to become a cluster with the private agents' collaboration, that is, whether it is a potential cluster. The results obtained from this research indicate that Benidorm's success is not derived from the presence of a cluster due to a series of elements that prevent its existence. In this destination there is a need to strengthen cooperation between public and private agents (especially in those areas that determine the competitive advantage of the destination) and to design a strategy based on shared goals. Both of these elements are fundamental for the characterisation of a cluster.     

The Recreational Value of Rohtas Fort,Pakistan

This study evaluates the use value of Rohtas Fort, in province Punjab (Pakistan). Employing the Individual Travel Cost Method, the study estimated the total annual consumer surplus as US$ 8.71 million and the total recreational value as US$ 11.70 million (which is 0.05% of total GDP of Pakistan in the year 2013). The major influencing factors of visitation frequency were observed as travel cost, household income, age, household size, education and sex. Visitors were highly satisfied from the museum as against the waste disposal services. Cleanliness is a major problem faced by visitors with the highest priority index value of 0.88. Based on high willingness to pay for the entrance fee, the authority can increase the entrance fee which will add to the revenue generation for the Fort and ultimately the authority would have resources for renovation/maintenance projects. The authority should arrange the appropriate waste disposal system for the Fort.     

SOURCES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA1

This paper provides some empirical evidence on the sources of growth in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Within the classical convergence framework, several macroeconomic, socio and political factors are identified as affecting the steady state growth paths of the SSA countries. The rejection of the constant technology growth rate assumption implied by the linearised Solow‐Swan growth specification suggests differences in the economies' technology growth rates. An endogenous technology growth model is estimated to measure contributions of diminishing returns and technology transfer to the rate of conditional convergence in the region. The results carry important policy implications for improving the standard of living and economic growth rate of African countries.     

Returns from research in economies with policy distortions: hybrid sorghum in Sudan

Conventional estimates of the economic return to agricultural research use market prices for the values of products and inputs; on this basis, economic rates of return are typically well above the cost of capital, suggesting that more investment in research would be socially desirable. But these estimates may be incorrect if, as is often the case, market prices are distorted by market failures or government policies and hence do not reflect social values. This paper presents a simple, partial-equilibrium methodology with which to improve the measurement of social returns to research by taking account of multiple distortions in the market prices of products, inputs and foreign exchange. The method also takes account of variation in domestic and world prices, making a product tradable in some years and nontradable in others. The method is applied to the case of Hageen-Dura 1 (HD-1), Sub-Saharan Africa's first commercially successful hybrid sorghum. HD-1 was released in the Sudan in 1983. From the start of research in 1979 to 1992, the HD-1 breeding program had an estimated IRR of 97% when all major policies in the sorghum market, the fertilizer market, and the exchange rate are taken into account. The high rate of return to HD-1 research was due to the program's low cost and rapid payoff, pointing to the potential value of small adaptive research programs, taking full advantage of foreign technology and genetic material to produce locally-appropriate crosses in a short period of time. Even in the highly distorted economies of Africa, such programs can yield very high payoffs.