Embargoes and corporate goals

A recent article in Food Policy, ‘US-Soviet grain embargoes: regulating the MNCs’, by Erik Lindell,¹ broached the problem of controlling and regulating multinational corporations (MNCs) during recent US-Soviet grain embargoes. While agreeing with Lindell's analysis as far as it goes, Peter Okaiyeto provides a conceptual framework to improve our understanding of why MNCs behave as they do, demonstrating that MNCs will undermine those global interests of their national governments that run counter to their own interests.     

Personal and nonpersonal incentives in mail surveys: Immediate versus delayed inducements

A mail survey was conducted to empirically investigate contributions to charity as a method of stimulating responses to a mail survey. The research design included a control group and four experimental groups with the following treatments: a prepayment of $1.00 enclosed with the questionnaire (immediate personal reward), $1.00 promised upon return of the questionnaire with the respondent identified (delayed personal reward, no anonymity), $1.00 promised upon return of the questionnaire with no identification of the respondent (delayed personal reward, anonymity), and the promise of $1.00 contribution to a respondent-selected charity (delayed non-personal reward). The $1.00 prepayment yielded a statistically significant higher response rate than the $1.00 promised to charity or $1.00 promised upon return of the questionnaire. This study generally supports existing empirical foudnations of equity theory. An immediate personal reward yields a higher response rate than a delayed personal or non-personal reward.     

A trade without collective bargaining

The contract cleaning industry has hitherto managed to avoid the establishment of collective bargaining machinery. Will this situation be remedied in the light of the N.B.P.I, report, pressure from the unions concerned and the T.U.C. ?     

Devaluation and its consequences in developing countries

To analyze the role of the trade and payments regime in economic development the National Bureau of Economic Research undertook a major research project on this issue. In this article a brief report on some of the findings pertaining to the effect of exchange rates, i. e. devaluation under exchange control is provided.     

An appraisal of the Box-Jenkins approach to univariate time series analysis

Summary Some comments are made on the current methodology associated with theBox-Jenkins approach. The three strokes of Identification, Estimation and Verification are considered; and a final stage, that of Interpretation, mentioned. A discussion of whether the approach is practicable is also given.     

Breastfeeding versus infant formula: the Kenyan case

An Infant Feeding Practices Study (IFPS) in 1982 in Kenya, which included a cross-sectional survey of a weighted sample of 980 low and middle income Nairobi mothers who had given birth in the previous 18 months, found that most women breastfeed their infants for long periods, but many introduce alternate feeding, especially infant formula, in the 1st 4 months (86 and 50% of the infants were breastfed at 6 and 15 months respectively, but 50% of the 2 month-olds and 63% of the 4 month-olds were receiving substitutes, mostly formula). This is done largely out of the belief that infant formula is an additional health benefit. A workshop to discuss the findings of the IFPS and other available data, and to make policy recommendations urged the adoption of a policy of protection, support and promotion of breastfeeding. Since breastfeeding is already widely prevalent in Kenya, protection of breastfeeding should receive the 1st priority in policy related to infant feeding. Attention should be directed at at least 2 influences which help undermine breastfeeding: widespread availability and promotion of breast milk substitutes. Support for breastfeeding is viewed as the 2nd policy priority. Situations where support can play a helpful role are, women's paid employment outside the home, hospital practices, maternal morbidity, and difficulties in breastfeeding. Since promotion is the least cost effective of the 3 options, and most Kenyan women are already motivated to breastfeed, this should be the last priority. Promotion includes reeduction of mothers to make them better aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. The workshop recommended the dissemination of appropriate information, consisting of standarized messages based on clearcut guidelines, using mass media techniques.