Black americans and Ghanaians: Comparative patterns of internal migration

Conclusions For our purposes here, the analysis has been fruitful in that it has served to indicate and underscore in both general and specific terms the sources and determinants of migration movement and the destination of migrants. The qualitative analysis and the statistical test have led to several research conclusions. Both United States and Ghanaian migrants behave in accordance with the migration concepts examined. Common relationships between migration and economic opportunity are apparent. While push factors have generally initiated migratory movement among black Americans, particularly in respect to the South, both groups tend to move to regions with better economic opportunities. In both cases, migration is a negative function of distance, and a large labor force at the origin is a stimulus to out-migration at the origin.     

Transaction costs and crop marketing in the communal areas of Impendle and Swayimana,KwaZulu-Natal

High transaction costs are detrimental to the efficient operation or existence of markets for inputs and outputs. The cost of information and the costs associated with the search for trade partners, the distance to formal markets and contract enforcement are likely to influence the marketing of food crops. This study hypothesises that the level of income generated from food-crop sales by small-scale farmers in the Impendle and Swayimana districts of KwaZuluNatal is influenced by transaction costs and certain household and farm characteristics. Regression analysis shows that the depth of marketing methods is significantly influenced by transaction cost proxies, such as cooperation with large commercial farmers and ownership of means of transport. Results from a block-recursive regression analysis show that the level of crop income generated is determined by the depth of marketing methods, the size of allocated arable land and off-farm income. Households with lower transaction costs, sizeable allocated land and off-farm income can be expected to generate higher income from food crops. Investment in public goods such as roads, telecommunications and an efficient legal system (to uphold commercial contracts), as well as farmer support services (input supply, extension, marketing information and research), would probably raise farm and non-farm income by reducing transaction costs. This would increase the effective demand for locally produced goods and services, thus contributing to rural employment and livelihoods within rural communal areas.     

Recreation Vehicles: The Economics of Ownership

A breakeven point analysis of selected modes of recreational travel in which the costs of ownership and travel use of representative self-contained recreation vehicles are compared with the costs of lodging and travel by private automobile.