Rural poverty in Mexico: assets and livelihood strategies among the Mayas of Yucatán

Understanding poverty and sustainability needs livelihood studies that acknowledge heterogeneity at the community and household level. This is particularly true for Latin America where inequality and ethnicity are important aspects of poverty and sustainability. This paper is a detailed examination of the natural resources, socio-economic assets and livelihood strategies of two Mayan communities of the Mexican State of Yucatán. There were three fundamental objectives: to elucidate the people's perceptions of poverty, to analyse their resource use and livelihood strategies, and to suggest ways in which access to markets can reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the dominance of certain successful strategies are made clear. First, milpa—the traditional system of maize production—is a way of life for the Mayas. Secure access to maize-producing land is a valuable asset, partly because it also attracts government subsidies. Second, ownership of small livestock is also part of Mayan life. Ownership of other assets such as beehives gives access to (relatively) lucrative product markets. Third, active agribusiness marketing also requires assets: ownership of transport services; finance to assemble and sell products such as forest fruits, honey and maize; business skills and an ability to create commercial linkages to traders. Appropriate interventions for different wealth groups are suggested to enhance sustainable development of the communities.     

Did the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act Alter Farm Enterprise Diversification?

We estimate how much United States farms changed enterprise diversification in response to a marked increase in crop insurance coverage brought about by the 1994 Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act, which substantially increased insurance subsidies. The analysis exploits farm‐level panel census data to compare farm‐specific changes in enterprise diversification over time. By examining diversification decisions of the same farms over time, we control for time‐invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity. We then use pooled cross‐sectional data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey to estimate the relationship between farm diversification and average returns. We find that the insurance subsidies caused a modest increase in enterprise specialisation and production efficiency. Estimated efficiency gains are far less than the subsidies.     

Business Strategy, R&D Management and Environmental Imperatives

Abstract
Environmental imperatives are seen by many business leaders to represent a major issue for the 1990's and beyond. The debate about the environmental sustainability of economic activity has important implications for the development of business and places considerable emphasis on the need for planned corporate change. The strategic significance of the environment is particularly critical to R&D as this is characterised by long planning horizons and provides the setting for the development of future products and processes.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the connections between environmental imperatives, strategic change and R&D management. To this end the paper reviews the strategic nature of environmental pressures on business. From this base, consideration is given to the responses required by business, in meeting these pressures. The paper concludes by suggesting that the application of management techniques in concert with organisational change is needed for R&D management to build environmental considerations effectively into innovation. These suggestions can be used to gauge how far individual businesses have developed the systems and structures to enable them to move towards sustainability. The implication of the paper is that R&D management will not only need to apply new management techniques but will have to play a leading role in innovative organisational structures in order to fulfil the full potential of environmentally sensitive products and processes.     

A note on the Robust Trend and ARARMA methodologies used in the M3 Competition

This brief note describes two of the forecasting methods used in the M3 Competition, Robust Trend and ARARMA. The origins of these methods are very different. Robust Trend was introduced to model the special features of some telecommunications time series. It was subsequently found to be competitive with Holt’s linear model for the more varied set of time series used in the M1 Competition. The ARARMA methodology was proposed by Parzen as a general time series modelling procedure, and can be thought of as an alternative to the ARIMA methodology of Box and Jenkins. This method was used in the M1 Competition and achieved the lowest mean absolute percentage error for longer forecasting horizons. These methods will be described in more detail and some comments on their use in the M3 Competition conclude this note.     

Discount Rates in Disarray: Evidence on Flawed Goodwill Impairment Testing

Discount rate selection represents a centrally material factor impacting valuation models. Given the strong reliance on discounted cash flow modelling as a basis for determining an asset's recoverable amount, the judgement exercised by reporting entities regarding rate selection is of paramount importance in influencing the outcomes of the impairment testing process conducted under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The discretion surrounding rate selection could be used opportunistically to avoid or manage the timing of impairment losses to the detriment of transparency, comparability and decision usefulness. This study provides evidence consistent with the opportunism on the part of financial statement preparers, by demonstrating the existence of variances between independently generated risk‐adjusted discount rates and those disclosed as having been used by a sample of large listed Australian companies.     

Inward Investment and Technical Progress in the United Kingdom Manufacturing Sector

This paper investigates the impact of direct investment by foreign‐owned companies on technical progress and hence labour productivity in the UK manufacturing sector. Using an industry‐level panel data set we find that foreign‐owned firms have a significant positive effect on the level of technical efficiency in domestic firms. There is evidence of significant intra‐industry and inter‐industry spillovers from inward investment. These findings remain robust even when other factors such as imports and domestic R&D expenditures are allowed for. Inward investment appears to be a much more important source of technical progress than foreign trade.     

Reviews

TECs UNDER SCRUTINY.

Finn, D. 1994: A New Partnership? Training and Enterprise Councils and the Voluntary Sector. London: Unemployment Unit, no price given, paper.

Boddy, M. 1995: TECs and Racial Equality: Training, Work Experience and Ethnic Minorities. Bristol: SAUS Publications, £11.50 paper.

REINVENTING A REGION.

Haughton, G. and Whitney, D. (eds) 1994: Reinventing a Region: Restructuring in West Yorkshire. Aldershot: Avebury, £37.50 cased.     

Short reviews

Centre for Employment Research, 1990: Ethnic Minority Businesses and Employment in Greater Manchester. Manchester: Greater Manchester Economic Development Officers Ltd, no price stated.

The National Economic Development Council, 1990: Working for Pleasure -Tourism and Leisure Tomorrow. London: NEDO, £15.00 Report, £35.00 Conference Papers.

John Freeman, Frank Gaffikin and Mike Morrissey, 1989: The Irish Economies: A Common Future? Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, Belfast. No price given.

Morrissey, H. 1989: Women in Ireland: The Impact of 1992. The Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union.

Gorman. G. 1989: School-Industry Links. London: Kogan Page.

Brewster, C. and Teague, P. 1989: European Community Social Policy-Its Impact on the UK. Institute of Personnel Management, £30.00 cloth.     

The Case for Britain Joining the EMS

Nigel Healey, of Leeds Polytechnic, argues that Britain should join the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System. He claims that the EMS would provide an anchor for economic policy in the absence of effective targets for monetary growth.     

Partnership perspectives in tourism and recreational property development

Property development partnerships are increasingly being seen in the UK as a means of achieving tourism and recreational projects. This article briefly examines the nature of the relevant property development market; characteristics and attitudes of involved organisations; purposes, benefits and mechanics of partnerhsips (illustrated by two case studies); and future directions for partnerships. The issues and potential approaches identified are, to varying extents, of relevance to project implementation in developed and developing countries.