Landsat: A tool for development

A major problem for many decision-makers is the lack of reliable information on which to base decisions. This is particularly true for the extent and location of as well as changes in such natural resources as forests, rangeland, agricultural fields and water bodies. A very useful data source in providing such information is the Landsat orbiting satellites. These satellites have been repetitively collecting images of essentially the entire earth's surface since 1972. These images are readily available, inexpensive, useable and can provide exceptional resource information. Examples are presented on the use of this data for a variety of resource analyses.     

Settling Defaults in the Era of Bond Finance

Comparisons of the debt crises of the 1930s and 1980s emphasizethe greater incidence of default and the greater ease of restructuringhalf a century ago. The difficulty developing-country debtorshave had in putting the current crisis behind them, it is argued,is due to the more systematic involvement of creditor-countrygovernments and intergovernment agencies. This article reviewsthe negotiating strategies of the debtors and creditors of the1930s, the terms of settlement, and the realized rates of returnon U.S. and U.K. foreign bonds. It shows that rather than beingsharp and complete, default in the 1930s was often partial andintermittent. Uncertainty about debt, trade, and export creditslingered on. Often many years passed before final settlementswere achieved. Creditor-country governments were intimatelyinvolved in the settlement process, although their influencewas not always to the benefit of the bondholders.     

The emerging oligopoly of pay-TV in the USA

The pay-television industry in the USA has been developing very rapidly in the past five years and is providing network quality alternatives to the mass taste programming of commercial television. However, the industry has been developing along lines very similar to the early history of radio in the USA with the emergence of strong distributor networks, restrictive affiliation contracts, and wide-spread vertical integration across all stages of production. History and economic efficiencies suggest that the result will be a strong oligopoly market structure. The proper public policy, then, is to insure that the unavoidable degree of concentration is not greater than that needed for efficiency reasons.     

What Is Distinctive about China′s Economic Transition? State Enterprise Reform and Overall System Transformation

Entry of nonstate industrial firms has played a crucial role in China′s reform process by creating markets and competition. Yet the state-owned sector has also performed adequately, improving incentives and productivity, and turning in a respectable growth performance. Moderate improvements in the state sector have thus supported a virtuous cycle of reform. Simple contrasts between state and private ownership systems therefore explain little of China′s apparently successful combination of reform and growth. J. Comp. Econom., June 1994, 18(3), 470-490. University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0519.     

Revisiting low price guarantees: Does consumer versus retailer governance matter?

Retailers often use low price guarantees (LPG) as a signal to attract consumers and increase sales. Consumers interpret LPGs as a signal that a particular retailer is committed to low prices. However, if more and more retailers employ LPGs, their effectiveness as a price signal wears off. As a result, retailers adapt increasingly extreme guarantees to get an advantage over the competition. Retailers, for instance, are experimenting with taking on the responsibility of looking for lower prices and automatically refunding consumers when a competitor offers a lower price for the same product. This research shows that automatic price protection of this sort might backfire under certain conditions. Three studies show that LPGs alone are not enough to signal low prices and that retailers combining large refunds with a retailer-enforced LPG obtain less favorable reactions than those implementing other types of LPGs.