The socio-economic differences between landfill and street waste pickers in the Free State province of South Africa

Waste picking is an important survival strategy of many people throughout the developing world. South Africa has a sizeable waste picker population who ply their trade on municipal landfill sites as well as on the streets of cities and towns. This study lifts the lid on this neglected area of research by analysing and comparing landfill and street waste pickers side by side in a socio-economic context. Samples of waste pickers were drawn from the three main municipalities of Mangaung, Matjhabeng and Metsimaholo in the Free State province of South Africa and a questionnaire-based survey was conducted. Among the findings was that waste picking offers a financial lifeline when, due to inadequate schooling and grinding poverty, individuals would be hard pressed to find employment in the formal economy. The study lays an important foundation for further comparative and qualitative research into this important segment of South Africa’s informal economy.     

Cofinancing to Manage Risk in the Motion Picture Industry

Cofinancing is a term used in the movie industry to describe films for which multiple firms share the cost of production and revenues. We find that one-third of movies produced by major studios between 1987 and 2000 are cofinanced. Anecdotal evidence strongly indicates that cofinancing is for the purpose of risk management. However, the major studios are publicly traded firms, which allows investors to make their own diversification decisions, leading us to question the importance of cofinancing for risk management. Contrary to industry claims, we find that cofinancing decisions are unrelated to the distribution of individual movie returns—studios do not appear to cofinance relatively risky films. But we do find that studios are more likely to cofinance movies that account for a large fraction of their total annual production budget, which reduces portfolio risk via the law of large numbers. Toward an alternative explanation for cofinancing, we also find that cofinancing between two major studios impacts the release dates of their other movies.     

book reviews

THE CHANGING SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN University of Glasgow LABOUR RELATIONS—HERITAGE AND ADJUSTMENT Sir Otto Kahn-Freund, Q.C.* Lanchester Polytechnic MANPOWER PROBLEMS IN THE HOTEL & CATERING INDUSTRY Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board THE POSTAL BUSINESS 1969–79 University of Nottingham WORKING WOMEN AND THE LAW Legal Officer General and Municipal Workers' Union INDUSTRIAL LABOR IN THE USSR Univesity of Glasgow AFRICANISATION, NATIONALISATION AND INEQUALITY University of Edinburgh     

The technology adoption life cycle attractor: Understanding the dynamics of high-tech markets

Unlike more stable industries, high-tech firms must constantly be in a strategy development phase. These companies are in desperate need of assistance in strategy formulation. This paper introduces a quantitative (rather than subjective) approach to help high-tech firms to understand their position in the technology adoption life cycle using some of the principles and tools of Chaos and Complexity theories. This approach is demonstrated by using data sets of three case studies in the hard drive, microprocessor, and server high-tech industries.     

The Lasting Effects of an Introductory Economics Course: An Exploratory Study

The author advocates the application of experiential learning in economics courses at the tertiary level. The author evaluates a range of learning methods, both passive and active, in a student survey that provides data on under-graduate attitudes to various class activities. The results indicate a clear student preference for learning activities in economics that can be described as experiential. Analysis of reported student preferences also detects differences according to gender and day or evening class attendance.     

Credit agency regulation and the impact of credit ratings in the international bond market

The use of credit ratings in financial and other legal documents — both in the USA and Europe —, has led to a situation in which the major rating agencies have become (largely unwilling) participants in the legislative process. This situation has become partly formalized in the US (and is being repeated elsewhere in the European Union, Eastern Europe and Latin America) through the creation of officially ‘recognized’ agencies whose ratings now carry the imprimatur of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the necessity for formal legal status to be sustained in the market for bond credit ratings. In this context, the criteria for a credible rating agency are examined and evidence is provided on one element of the criteria which is under-researched: namely, the impact of the ratings in the market place. The influence of rating agencies in international capital markets is assessed through an analysis of the impact of ratings on the yields of bonds, represented by a comprehensive sample of actively traded debt. The sample contains analysis of ratings introductions on both new and seasoned debt and also examines the impact of ratings revisions. It is concluded that official recognition has no market-based role and it is argued that ratings are used by regulators because of the success of the major agencies in performing their market function.     

Rethinking tomorrow's cities: Emerging issues on city foresight

Rethinking tomorrow's cities now, builds our capacity to act with foresight and create resilient and liveable places. I use methods from the futures studies field, particularly macrohistory, to provoke our current patterns of city making. From macrohistory, the grand patterns of social change reveal some of the key systems dynamics influencing the rise and fall of cities in civilisation. The key urban system dynamics in the broadest sense provide a meta-framework of emerging issues shaping new urban challenges or opportunities for our towns and cities. The hope drawn from the past and present is to focus our urban interventions in the key areas to create future cities of wonder and purpose. The implications of the emerging issues (critical focus areas of city foresight) that arise from the macrohistorical analysis are discussed using the case study of the Maroochy 2025 community visioning project.2025 is a community driven project to develop shared visions and action plans for the Maroochy Shire¹ towards the year 2025, for the purpose of creating an empowering and community owned response to the challenges facing them locally and globally.