Is There Persistence in the Impact of Emergency Food Aid? Evidence on Consumption, Food Security, and Assets in Rural Ethiopia

We identify the impact of emergency food aid programs after the 2002 drought in rural Ethiopia on future welfare. Based on a difference-in-differences matching estimator, participation in food-for-work increases growth in total consumption and food consumption eighteen months after the drought. Separately, receiving free food raises growth in food consumption, but, surprisingly, negatively impacts food security. Food-for-work benefited households in the middle and upper tail of the consumption distribution, while the better-targeted free food program benefited the poorest. Evidence suggests these impacts demonstrate accumulated and persistent effects of food aid received in the first twelve months after the drought.     

PROBLEMS OF ADAPTATION OF PASTORAL BUSINESSES IN THE ARID ZONE*

With emphasis upon Central Australia, an assessment is made of the economic problems of pastoral firms in meeting the climatic conditions of the arid zone. Analysis ranges over the responsibility for conservation and drought planning, the inadequacy of a purely physical approach to conservation, the difficulties of station organization and management in the arid zone, the array of possible managerial strategies for meeting these difficulties, and the effect of social institutions on the choices avail. able to management.     

TOWARDS PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR MULTIPLE USE MANAGEMENT*

The general acceptance of multiple use as a desirable management goal has not been matched by practical guidelines to implement and achieve that goal. As Pearse [5] rightly noted, the most serious obstacles to applying multiple use principles are usually the lack of appropriate data and lack of established methodology. This study did not face prohibitive problems in valuing extra-market goods, but as with all multiple use studies, it did face the problem of applying the standard economic model of the multi-product firm. It is hoped this particular empirical application of the model contributes generally to the provision of guidelines for multiple use management.     

On the optimal choice of capital intensity in LDCs with migration

"Sen's classic work on the choice of capital intensity of investment is generalized in the light of new theoretical developments and empirical findings concerning rural-to-urban migration in LDCs. This is done by explicitly incorporating a migration function into the basic choice model. Revised conditions for maximization of surplus are derived and compared with Sen's original condition. Some justification for the particular migration function used in the presence of risk-aversion is suggested."     

Right-to-Work Laws and Geographic Differences in Living Costs: Comment

A bstract . M. Reynolds and M. Edwards , commenting on R. J. Cebula's study of geographic differences in living costs in states with Right-to-Work Laws , seek to extend his results and explore the relevance of alternative variables. Cebula, in reply, addresses the comment and re-estimates the living cost impact of such laws, taking into account additional factors. Even after allowing for additional South/non-South differences , Cebula reports, the original basic model is resilient.     

Ein Index zur numerischen Bestimmung der Niveau-Eigenschaft eines psychologischen Tests

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Index definiert, der den Grad, in dem ein Intelligenz- oder Leistungstest die Eigenschaften und Bedingungen eines ideal-typischen Niveau-Tests erfüllt, kennzeichnet. Der Index variiert in den Grenzen von 0 bis 1, wobei der Wert 0 einem idealtypischen Schnelligkeitstest (Speed-Test) und der Wert 1 einem idealtypischen Niveau-Test entspricht. Dieser Index kann aufgrund einer einmaligen Testdurchführung bestimmt werden; er ist abh?ngig von der Zeitbegrenzung des Testes und vom Leistungsniveau der untersuchten Stichprobe. Es wird vorgeschlagen, einen Test mitw> > 0,7 als Niveautest, einen solchen mitw<0,3 als Schnelligkeitstest zu bewerten. Die Berechnung vonw wird an Hand bekannter Tests demonstriert und einige Anwendungsbeschr?nkungen er?rtert.

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Summary An index (w) for determining a test as to its degree of being a speed or a power test is proposed varying like a coefficient of correlation from zero to one. This index may be derived from a single testing a posteriori. It is dependent on the given time limit and on the achievement level of the sample tested. From empirical evidence it is suggested to accept a test with an indexw>0,7 as a power test and a test withw<0,3 as a speed test. Numerical examples for calculatingw are given and some restrictions for its application are discussed.

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Herrn Prof. H. Münzner (Berlin) danken die Verfasser für die Durchsicht des Manuskriptes und für seine wertvollen Anregungen.     

Work and Welfare in Economics:

Abstract . Today's conventional economics typically ignores the impact of alternative forms of work organization upon the welfare of the worker. In effect, its methodology is concerned with the welfare of the individual as a consumer, but not with the welfare of the individual as a worker. Hence, welfare conclusions of economics are subject to challenge on grounds of being incomplete. Whether the worker is alienated or achieves self-fulfillment, etc., stands in no necessary relationship to either the formal lines of enterprise ownership, political ideology or form of economic system. Questions of authority and power in work organizations and the workplace conditions affecting the worker on the job transcend them.     

Research notes and communications corporate restructuring and strategic change: The effect on diversification strategy and R & D intensity

In the 1980s a number of large corporations restructured their diversified businesses through divestitures. It is hypothesized that restructuring activity focused on firms at intermediate levels of diversification (e.g., related-linked) which have a mixture of related and unrelated business units. Results confirm this hypothesis which explains that such mixed corporate strategies create organizational and control inefficiencies in managing both related and unrelated types of business units. Restructured firms were also found to move towards two types of different internal capital markets (related and unrelated). Most restructuring firms moved toward lower levels of diversification (e.g., related-constrained), although some moved toward higher levels of diversification (e.g., unrelated business). Also, this study finds restructuring firms that changed their corporate strategy by reducing diversified scope increased their R&D intensity. Firms that restructured and increased their diversified scope decreased R&D intensity. This result suggested a partial substitution between diversification and R&D activity.