Deploying strategic resources: comparing members of farmer cooperatives to non-members in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Primary producers in global value chains, like any other firm, aim for entrepreneurial success through deploying strategic resources, collective action, strategic intent, and a supportive institutional environment. In the current article, we analyze the extent to which members of farmer cooperatives in Ethiopia succeed in deploying strategic resources. We find that non-members utilize resources more efficiently and that the potential for collective action is not realized. The potential for collective action remains unrealized due to the institutional environment. We suggest pathways for further research.     

Effects of health information on Nordic meat and fish demand

Increasing public concerns about health risks associated with dietary intakes of cholesterol are expected to have significant impacts on the demand for foods with high fat content. This paper investigates how information about cholesterol, as measured by two newly constructed indices based on published medical research, has affected the demand for meats (beef, chicken and pork) and fish in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). To compare the effects of information across countries and over time, the demand equations for all the countries are estimated within one system, and a complete set of price and expenditure elasticities is estimated. Our findings suggest that health information has affected consumption in a healthy way in all countries studied except for Denmark. We find positive effects on the demand for chicken in Finland, Norway and Sweden and for fish in Finland and Sweden. A negative effect on the demand for beef in Sweden also is found. First version received: May 2001/Final version received: December 2001 RID="*" ID="*"  The authors would like to thank Wen S. Chern and Bj?rn Sl?en for their assistance in the construction of the health information indices. The suggestions of two anonymous referees have also been of great assistance. The EU (contract FAIRS-CT97-3373) and the Research Council of Norway (grant no. 134018/110) provided financial support for this research.”     

European Integration,Capitalist Diversity and Crises Trajectories on Europe’s Eastern Periphery

ABSTRACT

European policy responses to the Global Financial Crisis and its European manifestation have set off a scholarly debate whether different national varieties of capitalism are equally able to cope with deepened European integration. To date, this debate has mostly focused on the contrasting fates of the thriving northern export-oriented capitalisms and the ailing southern European ones. This paper seeks to broaden the debate by focusing on Europe’s Eastern periphery. It argues that a combination of domestic transformation strategies and the EU’s accession policies resulted in two different growth regimes on Europe’s Eastern periphery: a dependent export-driven in the Visegrád countries and a dependent debt-driven in the Baltic States. On the basis of the pre- and post-crisis trajectories of these two growth models, this paper finds that because East Central European capitalisms were profoundly shaped by EU integration, they are on balance also more compatible with deepened integration than Southern European capitalisms.     

Is social expenditure responsible for recent rise in public debt in OECD countries?

In developed economies, social expenditure is alleged to cause the rise in public debt over the last three decades. With dynamic panel data of 34 OECD countries from 1980 to 2014, we find robust evidence that the rise in public debt is not attributable to social expenditure.     

Are remittances good for economic growth? The role of political institutions

Within a sample of 109 developing countries for the period 1975–2014 and controlling for country and time-fixed effects, this article presents evidence that workers’ remittances are more effective in promoting growth in developing countries with strong democratic institutions. The evidence is robust to alternative samples and different measures of democratic institutions.     

Debt,seigniorage, and the Growth Laffer Curve in developing countries

The endogenous growth literature established the existence of an inverted-U curve between taxes and economic growth, namely a Growth Laffer Curve, but empirical evidence on this relationship in developing countries is rather limited. Given that seigniorage and public debt are also important means of financing public spending in these countries, we take into account in this paper their respective impacts on growth, as they might deform the existing relationship between taxes and growth. To this end, we develop a growth model with public investment as the engine of perpetual growth, and look for the effect of debt, tax and money financing on economic growth. We study in particular the way fiscal and monetary policies deform the Growth Laffer Curve in developing countries. An empirical section based on a panel of 100 developing countries over the period 1980–2010 provides both OLS-Fixed Effects and GMM-system estimations that support our theoretical conclusions, namely the existence of Growth Laffer Curves indexed by the levels of debt and of seigniorage.     

Competition, cooperation, and the neighboring farmer effect

In this paper we propose a model that explains how cooperation can emerge spontaneously between firms in a highly competitive market environment. The basic idea is that the more competitive is the market, the less costly it is for firms to help each other like good neighbors. Cooperation takes the form of sharing technical know-how, which speeds up the adoption of new technologies (normally developed elsewhere) that spur industrial development. The model comports with the development history of Japan's first example of successful industrial development – its cotton spinning industry – whose conditions match those of firms in small open economies today.     

中国集体主义价值观下的两希文化教学

两希文化作为西方文明的源头,是英美文化教学不可缺失的内容。了解并掌握两希文化,一方面可为英语语言学习和教学提供丰富的背景知识;另一方面也可为中西文化对比学习提供先决条件。然而,在中国的外国文化教学中不难发现,由于不同民族的价值观有所差异,往往会对文化学习产生一定的阻碍。因此有必要从中国集体主义价值观视角出发,研究英语专业学生对两希文化了解缺失的原因,进一步发现学生在学习过程中的主要困难,通过课堂实践,提出可行的两希文化学习策略。     

试论魏晋南北朝的辞章理论成就

我国魏晋南北朝是古代汉语辞章学的奠基时期:在体式、风格方面,已开始区分文与笔;出现了中国古代辞章学第一篇综合性的文论——魏·曹丕《典论·论文》;以荀粲为代表的言不尽意说、以王弼为代表的得意忘言说、以欧阳建为代表的言尽意说的言意论以及许多名家各具代表性的辞章理论,如晋·陆机《文赋》、葛洪《抱朴子》、南朝·梁·刘勰《文心雕龙》、钟嵘《诗品》、萧统编辑的《文选》等都对后世辞章理论与实践作出重要的贡献,产生深远的影响;尤其是南朝·梁·刘勰《文心雕龙》是第一部最全面、最系统、体大思精的中国古代辞章学专著,堪称中国古代辞章学的奠基之作。     

嘉兴古镇民居聚落的保护与发展研究

以田野考察获取的调研数据为依据,比较分析嘉兴传统古镇民居聚落的共有现状：除西塘和乌镇的部分聚落得到了合理的保护和发展外,余者未能得到有效保护,甚至被冷落。它们存在的共同问题是新旧建筑混杂、卫生状况堪忧、水污染严重、部分内河在逐渐萎缩,提出了整体性、特色性、合理性保护策略,论述了公司化运作经营、开放式旅游等发展模式,探讨了研究古镇民居聚落的价值和意义。