The supply of education quality in a spatial model with asymmetric moving costs

The paper analyses the characteristics of the supply of higher education in different geographical macroareas using a strategic interaction framework. It focuses on universities operating in centralised funding system that autonomously set the quality of education showing that in equilibrium it is inversely related to students’ moving costs across areas. We show that in the presence of asymmetric information about workers’ ability and asymmetric costs of moving, the only PBE consistent with forward induction involves that only high ability workers acquire education and the quality of education is lower in macroareas where the moving costs are higher. Our model predicts that in economies with centralised university funding, educational policies must be regulated according to the specific socioeconomic characteristics of the area. Direct subsidies to universities may be ineffective in improving the quality of education in the less developed areas. When regional disparities are not too big, efficiency gains may be obtained by reducing moving costs.     

Building routes to power: Lessons from Cruddas park

This paper reflects on routes to power taken by residents in a poor people's neighbourhood in Newcastle upon Tyne. This paper draws upon ethnographic work undertaken as part of an evaluation of the Cruddas Park Community Development Trust Toe paper examines the problem of defining and acting upon overarching common concerns while carving out solutions which offer opportunities for different groups of residents. It concludes with thoughts on barriers to empowerment.     

Forward implications of a simple stochastic asset market model

The behavior of forward rates in a simple stochastic asset market model is investigated theoretically; empirical estimates from the foreign exchanges show the model to be of relevance.     

Structural barriers to food programming: An analysis of the “Mexican food system”

Plagued by widespread malnutrition, stagnant staples production, and increasing dependence on food imports, the Mexican government launched a new food program, the Sistema Alimentario Mexicano (SAM), in 1980. This program was designed to restore self-sufficiency in staples production while improving the diet of the poor by stimulating increased production in rainfed areas and subsidizing basic food consumption. In spite of its achievements, the program was soon discontinued. The major obstacles it confronted are found to be: inadequate technical information about alternative production strategies, organizational complexity, and internal bureaucratic competition; opposition from established agricultural élites; and the inadequacy of the state's financial resource base.     

Technological change and input-output analysis: An appraisal

There is an extensive literature on technological change (TC) pertaining to input-output (I-O) analysis, that offers the potential to significantly extend the range of applications of this valuable tool. This paper classifies and analyzes the major types of TC. It summarizes some established methods for estimating TC, expands on methods not well developed, and shows how some methods not typically identified with I-O are useful. In addition, the methods are critically evaluated and their appropriateness to various subcategories of TC assessed.Two major conclusions are drawn. First, that input-output does not deserve much of the criticism it receives for being a rigid tool of analysis, insensitive to price changes, policy regulations and innovation. Second, given the availability of numerous approaches to incorporating TC into I-O models, researchers no longer have a legitimate excuse for assuming away TC or using crude modification methods.     

Off-farm Labour Supply with Productivity Increases,Peak Period Production and Farm Structure Impacts

The study of of-farm employment of farm family members in the context of a neoclassical time allocation model of labor supply is used to attempt to explain the amount and type of off-farm employment currently prevalent on the Canadian Prairies. The effect of labor saving technical change together with a production process characterized by periods of peak activity affect the priority that may be assigned to off-farm work These factors require explicit consideration in the theoretical framework for the study of off-farm employment. The refinements occasioned by expanding the paradigm in this manner have implications for the role of rural development policy in the support of the agricultural sector