Reproducing the Firm: Routines,Networks, and Identity

Firm survival or reproduction does not occur as a matter of course. Especially under circumstances in which uncertainty and equivocality prevail is firm reproduction potentially problematic. Uncertainty prevails when there is insufficient or inadequate information to assess a situation, equivocality when the information available is multiinterpretable. Firm routines, social networks in a firm, and an organization’s identity can explain how a firm reproduces. We offer suggestions as to which of these will contribute to firm reproduction under what circumstances.     

Institutional Quality and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Can Management Effort and Bribes Compensate for Low-Quality Institutions?

The industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa is perhaps more affected by the quality of institutions than that of other regions. We investigate what alternatives managers may have and what their firms would need to function in case the institutional furniture they encounter is of low quality. We find that, in high quality institutional environments, management spending effort to deal with the authorities and to navigate regulations negates the effect of the institutional environment. Managers do not need to spend such efforts. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that the positive effect of high-quality institutional environments on firm performance is enhanced by making informal payments.     

Payment Certainty in Discrete Choice Contingent Valuation Responses: Results from a Field Validity Test

Two methods for calibrating discrete choice contingent valuation responses—the dichotomous choice with follow-up certainty question method of Champ et al. (1997) and the multiple-bounded method of Welsh and Poe (1998)—are evaluated using data from a field validity comparison of hypothetical and actual participation decisions in a green electricity pricing program. Both calibration methods can produce hypothetical participation levels that closely correspond with actual program participation rates. However, the two methods demonstrate procedural variance as they yield significantly different underlying distributions of willingness to pay.     

A GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF SPOT PRICE STABILIZATION USING FUTURES*

This paper presents a graphical analysis of stabilizing commodity prices via intervention in the futures market. It uses a two-period analysis. The paper identifies some of the major parameters which seem likely to influence the success of such a scheme, but it is without empirical content.
Cet article présente une analyse graphique de la stabilisation des prix des biens au moyen a"interventions sur le marché des cotations en utilisant une analyse en deux phases. Ce document identifie quelques uns des principaux paramètres qui semblamt vraisemblablement influencer le succès d'un tel projet, mais sans fondement empirique.     

EXPERIENCES WITH FARMER ORIENTED LINEAR PROGRAMMING FOR CROP PLANNING

This paper presents a linear programming model for farm planning known as the "Purdue Top Farmer Cropping Model 'B'." This model is designed for direct use with farmers and has been used by more than 5,000 individuals. The paper describes the features of this model and discusses the rationale for these features. In this process details on application, evolution and impact of the model are given. The success of the model is due to its design and the interplay between research and extension personnel in the model design.
Un modèle de programmation linéaire, connu sous le nom de "Purdue Top Farmer Cropping Model 'B'," et destiné à la planification de la production des exploitations agricoles, est presenté dans ce rapport. Le modèle, déjà employé par plus de 5000 individus, est construit de manière à être directement utilisable par les exploitants agricoles. Le rapport décrit et expose la raison d'être des caractéristiques du modèle. Des détails sur les applications, l'évolution et l'impact de ce dernier sont fournis. La collaboration entre Je personel de recherche et d'extension dans le dessin du modèle en explique le succès.     

Das Chronic Fatigue-Syndrome (CFS)

The chronic fatigue syndrome is an ill defined disease. Therefore it often raises difficulties when patients have to have medical underwriting or legal examinations. Patients who suffer from this disease can only be correctly evaluated when a biopsychosocial assessment is used. It is most likely that pathogenetically a maladaptive stress response triggers the symptoms. A too late initiated correct diagnostic and therapeutic steps will promote the process of chronification and reduce the primarily good prognosis. The relevant current hypothesis on pathogenesis and therapy of CFS are reviewed.     

Development Bank lending: The Cameroon experience

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the lending activities of the Cameroon Development Bank, which was established to promote the economic development of Cameroon, particularly in the industrial field. It is found that most of the Bank's lending has been in the form of short-term loans for financing marketing activities, housing and household equipment, and that to this extent the Bank has not so far played its intended role in promoting industrial development. Consequently, it is suggested that in future the Bank should place greater emphasis on the granting of credits to finance industrial operations which utilize Cameroon's agricultural resources.     

Gains from trade and the size of a country,II

This paper establishes the generalized, multicountry, classical presumption that larger countries gain less from free trade than do smaller countries. The proposition is then used to clarify a recent contribution by Alok Ray.     

Social capital and rural institutions in Kenya Is Machakos unique？

In Eastern Africa, the experience of Machakos has been heavily debated between Malthusians and the more optimistic Boserupians. Machakos was the epitome of overpopulation and resource degradation in the 1950s, but has since thrived. The Boserupians view Machakos as an illustration of how population growth can solve rather than exacerbate the vicious cycle of poverty and resource degradation. The question arises whether Machakos is unique. This study investigates the role of social capital in Machakos. Using principal component analysis, the authors estimate various dimensions of social capital and find significant differences between Machakos and two other Kenyan regions particularly when it comes to the formation of associations.