Assessing the impact of NERICA on income and poverty in central and western Uganda

Persistent food shortage and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are major development issues. New Rice for Africa (NERICA) was developed to boost crop yield and income of rural households in SSA. Although its high-yielding traits have become fairly well known, there is no empirical analysis of its impact on income and poverty. By taking the case of Uganda where a NERICA promoting program was initiated as one of the major poverty eradication measures, this study attempts to compare actual income with the hypothetical income without NERICA. We found that introduction of NERICA decreases poverty to a significant extent without deteriorating income distribution.     

Changes and continued stability in Japanese HRM systems: choice in the share economy

There is a growing acknowledgement by scholars both within and outside Japan that traditional patterns of human resource management are now under structural pressures to change. The author, from a labour economics perspective, examines the dimensional shifts that are now occurring in the Japanese labour market, both empirically and in the context of Weitzman's model of the share economy. She concludes that, in HRM terms, the current situation exhibits a combination of responses to change that are characterized by both innovative and traditional practices.     

Why did wage inequality increase? Evidence from urban India 1983–99

Since the start of the economic reform in 1991, there have been serious concerns regarding the increasing income inequality in India. However, no studies have analyzed how and why the inequality has been accelerated. This study aims to fill these knowledge gaps. The main findings are: (1) The wage inequality in urban India started increasing before 1991; (2) The increase in the wage inequality was mainly attributable to increases in the returns to skills; (3) The accelerating skill premium was due to increases in the demand for skilled labor. The demand shift is attributed to skill-biased technological changes within industries.     

An economic analysis of the Packaging waste Recovery Note System in the UK

In order to cope with the increasing scarcity of final dump sites for household wastes, the UK recently introduced an environmental policy targeted at the firms that produce and sell products that generate packaging wastes. This policy requires such businesses to hold predetermined numbers of tradable credits called “Packaging waste Recovery Notes” (PRNs). This article provides insights into the economic implications of such a policy through a simple analytical model of a recyclable product and the PRN markets. Our analysis yields two particularly interesting results. First, an increase in the required recycling rate dampens the output and landfill waste levels, while the effect on the level of recycling activities is ambiguous. Second, an increase in the landfill tax always leads to an increase in the landfill waste. We also discuss how the socially optimal landfill tax in the presence of the PRN market should be chosen.     

How enterprise strategies are related to innovation and productivity change: an empirical study of Japanese manufacturing firms

This study analyzes the total factor productivity of 1067 Japanese manufacturing firms. In production estimation, we employ the directional distance function and Luenberger productivity indicator. Research and development strategy survey data are used to analyze the determinant factors related to improvements in innovation and productivity. Our results indicate that increasing technology and knowledge through a ‘black box’ process is related to an increase in productivity. Furthermore, the protection and management of production knowledge and expertise is a valid method of increasing global technical change.     

Current Wealth,Housing Purchase,and Private Housing Loan Demand in Japan

Japanese households accumulate wealth for down payments at a high rate. Therefore, current wealth plays an important role in home acquisition as well as public loans whose direct mortgage lending is a strong support for home purchasers. We estimate the wealth effect on private mortgage debt as well as housing consumption by applying a model where mortgage-debt demand is derived from house-purchase decisions and is determined jointly with housing consumption. We use a simultaneous equation Tobit estimation method. Wealth effects on private mortgage debt, likelihood of borrowing, and housing consumption are not elastic. On the other hand, a change in housing consumption affects the likelihood of borrowing elastically much more than the private mortgage amount of borrowers. Housing and private mortgage markets fluctuate very closely with the number of participants in the mortgage market. Therefore, the number of housing starts is linked strongly to the private mortgage market.