The language component in technological capability: Lessons from architecture

The paper argues that the ability to use language, particularly spoken language, is central to technological capability. An understanding of its role depends on acknowledging design and technology as work with symbols, and is assisted by seeing the product of design as a virtual artefact. Language is one of the symbol systems used to construct and communicate this artefact. It articulates aspects of the design that cannot be represented graphically, as well as accommodating the interpersonal dimension of the process. Implications for the curriculum are briefly suggested. The argument is supported by evidence from recordings and observations of a problem-solving episode which occurred in a Canadian architects' practice over a few days in the construction phase of a project.     

The East Asian Crisis and International Capital Markets

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence about international capital mobility. The authors find that its potential benefits depend on certain assumptions about market structures and institutions. Many of these conditions were absent in the economies worst affected by volatile capital movements. The main features of the recent East Asian financial crisis are described, and the principal distortions that led to the crisis. In some instances, these distortions were due to government policies; in others, they stemmed from market failures that had not been adequately addressed either by individual governments or by international financial institutions.     

Encumbering harvest rights to protect marine environments: a model of marine conservation easements*

We adapt the concept of a conservation easement to a marine environment and explore its use to achieve conservation goals. Although marine environments generally are not owned, those who use them for commercial fishing often are regulated. These regulations grant harvesters rights to use marine environments in specified ways, and the possibility of encumbering these rights to achieve conservation goals creates a potential role for marine easements. We examine this potential under alternative fishery management regimes and find, generally, that marine easements tend to be most effective when harvest rights are delineated most fully. Our analysis suggests ways that marine easements can have flexibility and transactions cost advantages over other approaches to achieve marine conservation goals. We also propose ways in which the design of laws allowing marine easements should follow, or depart from, the design of laws authorising conservation easements on land.     

The relationship of early life experiences to later life leisure involvement

Abstract

Data from the 1982–1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey were used to determine whether late life differences in leisure behavior reflect a response to early life patterns or present‐day socioeconomic differences. Individuals aged 65 and over were categorized as either “expanders”; or “contractors”; based on their pattern of leisure involvement. Differences in lifelong learning of leisure activities between these two groups were examined. In addition, a discriminant analysis was done to determine whether present‐day differences on socio‐demographic variables were effective in differentiating between expanders and contractors. Results showed that expanders altered their leisure patterns by the addition of new activities throughout the life span whereas contractors learned most of their outdoor recreation activities before age 21. However, none of the socio‐demographic variables used in this study were effective in differentiating between the expanders and contractors.     

The Role of Place Marketing as a Competitive Response by Town Centres to Out-of-town Retail Developments

Following a consideration of the development of regional shopping centres (RSCs) and issues relating to place marketing activities by town centres, this paper details the collective response of a number of town centre management (TCM) schemes in the north west of England to the opening of the Trafford Centre RSC in September 1998. This response incorporated a public relations-led place marketing campaign to promote the advantages of shopping in town centres. The scope of the campaign was later extended to incorporate a more explicit and overt urban regeneration focus. The paper concludes with an evaluation of both elements of the campaign and a discussion of its implications in terms of the role of public relations in place marketing activity, and also in terms of the further development of the concept of town centre management in the North West and more generally.     

Policy transfer and learning in the field of transport: A review of concepts and evidence

This paper presents a state-of-art review of why and how policies and policy lessons in the transport planning arena are transferred between cities. It begins by drawing on literature from the fields of political science, public administration, organisational learning and management to outline a conceptual framework for policy transfer and learning. This framework is then used to structure a review of policy transfer literature in the fields of transport and planning policy. Although there is only a limited amount of literature on policy transfer in this field, the findings suggest that transport has much in common with other areas of public policy in terms of the main aspects and influences on policy transfer. As well as being part of a process for introducing new ideas into countries or cities, policy transfer in the transport sector (as in other areas of public policy) can also be a highly politicised process that seeks to justify preferred solutions. Little is known about the relative importance of different parts of the transfer process or the extent to which learning about policies in other areas can influence the effectiveness of policy design in the transport arena and/or policy outcomes. The paper concludes with some research and methodological recommendations that may help to answer these questions. It is suggested that policy transfer concepts can be important to both practitioners and researchers in the transport arena, particularly given the pressures to seek solutions to accelerate progress to a more sustainable future.     

A social networks approach for strengthening participation in technology innovation: lessons learnt from the Mount Elgon region of Kenya and Uganda

Participatory approaches to agricultural technology development have not yet fully lived up to their promise to incorporate farmer knowledge. This paper introduces a social networks approach (SNA) to improve participatory research processes for co-innovation. Drawing upon findings from a collaborative project developing conservation agricultural production systems for smallholders in western Kenya and eastern Uganda, the paper explores farmer support networks to improve participation in technological innovation and development. Key research themes include: identifying farmers’ agricultural production networks; the local articulation of agricultural production networks and mindsets; using networks to facilitate meaningful participation in technology development; and disadvantages and advantages of using a social network approach. The introduction of SNA improved participatory research by building external and internal legitimacy for determining who participates, discouraging participatory attrition, and providing a meaningful forum for participation of all stakeholders. As a result, the introduction of SNA is demonstrated to show strong promise for improving processes of participatory technology development in agriculture.     

The Empirics of Foreign Reserves

In this article, we study the determinants of cross-country variation in the level of international reserves over the period 1981–1995. Confirming intuition, trade openness is easily the most important variable. There is also some evidence that financial deepening is associated with an increase in the reserves ratio. Smaller and more volatile industrial countries hold larger reserves than their larger, less volatile counterparts. In addition, more indebted developing countries tend to have smaller reserve ratios. We view these results as establishing some interesting stylized facts that may be helpful in informing future theoretical modeling of reserves behavior.     

Is it really more dispersed?

The ECB’s one size monetary policy is unlikely to fit all euro area members at all times, which raises the question of how much monetary policy stress this causes at the national level. I measure monetary policy stress as the difference between actual ECB interest rates and Taylor-rule implied rates at the member state level. These rates explicitly take into account the natural rate of interest to capture changes in trend growth. I find that monetary policy stress within the euro area has been steadily decreasing prior to the recent financial crisis. Current stress levels are not only lower today than in the late 1990s, they are also in line with what is commonly observed among U.S. states or pre-euro German Länder.     

The Teacher Labour Market and Teacher Quality

A growing body of empirical evidence shows teacher quality tobe the most important schooling factor predicting students'learning gains. Unfortunately, US public schools face difficultiesattracting the best and brightest college graduates. Over thelast several decades there has been a notable shift in the occupationalchoices of prospective teachers. The most academically proficientcollege graduates were, in the 1960s, as likely to enter teachingas any other occupation. Today, however, teachers are disproportionatelydrawn from the lower end of the academic proficiency distribution.We explore these trends and speculate on the reasons for them.In particular, we focus on the roles of compensation structuresand changes in the labour market in explaining the occupationaldecisions made by existing college graduates and what theseforeshadow for the teacher work-force in the future.