THE POWER OF IMPENDING ZONING: Governance through Inaction in a Secondary City in Burkina Faso

A comprehensive zoning plan has been under way for more than a decade for an urban informal settlement in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. In this article I explore the narratives and strategies of its residents in response to the impending restructuring, suggesting that the continual postponements of the zoning plan's implementation may be understood as constituting an elusive form of urban governance that relegates strategies of both resistance and accommodation to formal governance to the sphere of micro-politics at the level of the neighbourhood. Urban governance is thus approached here neither as a set of formal policies nor through the day-to-day workings of the state bureaucracy, but as a much less tangible form of urban governance that is best studied through its perceivable effects instead of its stated intentions or institutionalized techniques. In the relative absence of the state in the everyday lives of urban residents, the main effects of the workings of the state bureaucracy in this context seem to be to discourage citizen involvement and to slow official procedures to a halt. I argue that the force with which impending evictions and yet-to-be-implemented urban zoning shape residents’ outlook and opportunities for negotiation and mobilization constitutes a form of governance through inaction.     

Informal lending amongst friends and relatives: Can microcredit compete in rural China?

This paper explores the relationship between informal and formal lending in China with consideration of how the strength of informal lending might affect microcredit. Lending relationships involving trust are investigated using original survey data from over 1500 farm households. Econometric results confirm a relationship between trust and informal lending, and mistrust and formal lending. With over 67% of farm households borrowing from friends and relatives the economic significance between this form of informal lending and borrowing from Rural Credit Cooperatives and Micro Finance Institutions cannot be overlooked.     

The efficiency of small and medium enterprises in informal metal manufacturing in Zimbabwe: Implications for stakeholders in the agricultural sector

This study uses the structure–conduct–performance framework to examine the structure and efficiency of small and medium enterprises in the informal metal manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe. Small and medium enterprises provide a lifeline to the country's resource-poor farmers, whose numbers increased exponentially after the agrarian reform in 2000. The study utilises nationally representative, enterprise-level data from five major towns (Harare, Chitungwiza, Bulawayo, Mutare and Rusape) in Zimbabwe. Various performance measures are applied at the industry level to assess efficiency, profitability and competitiveness; these include the Herfindahl–Hirschman index, concentration ratios, average yearly profits and Tobin's q ratio. The results indicate that small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe are modestly efficient, profitable and competitive. These findings highlight the need to integrate informal metal fabrication activities into Zimbabwe's national economic development plans.     

Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector

Although enterprises in the informal food sector require energy to transform, cook and process food, energy-use patterns in this sector are not well understood by policymakers and the local-level authorities who regulate their trading activities. This paper reviews relevant literature and presents empirical data collected in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa on the use of traditional and modern energy sources by informal food sector operators. Our sample includes male- and female-operated enterprises in the urban centres of three African countries where the informal food sector is important, not only for providing the convenience of affordable and readily prepared meals, but also as a source of income for women and men in developing countries. Multiple fuel-use and energy-stacking strategies are common among informal food enterprises and policy needs to acknowledge this if it is to intervene in ways that will benefit both enterprises and regulators.     

The scope and scale of the informal food economy of South African urban residential townships: Results of a small-area micro-enterprise census

Growing urbanisation in South Africa is reflected in burgeoning Working class and informal township settlements on the fringes of its major towns and cities. Paired with this is an increasing reliance on cash as the primary means of economic transaction, which has in turn stimulated the growth of micro-enterprise business activities within the township context. This article discusses the findings of an eight-township small-area census which occurred between 2010 and 2013 in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Durban townships representing 250 000 residents. The researchers were able to establish the scope and scale of informal food and drink retailing in these localities. Of the 10 049 micro-enterprises located in the study, some 3966 (or 39% of the total) trade in food. These include enterprises in primary production, fresh produce retailing, grocery retailing from house and spaza shops, and informal foodservice enterprises. Food is the basis for much township informal business and plays an important role in making food increasingly affordable and locally accessible, and in creating cash employment. The article builds on the knowledge base of the township informal economy role in bolstering food security needs for the marginalised.     

International Financial Cooperation and the Number of Adherents: The Basel Committee and Capital Regulation

Theoretical analyses of international cooperation point to cooperation being optimized with a small number of participants. History is consistent with this view. However an anomaly is the international capital standards created by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). Basel I has over 100 adherents, and approximately that number of countries have been identified in a survey as candidates for Basel II. The author demonstrates that this is not an anomaly. First, Basel I was a product of a duopoly and then an oligopoly prior to approval by the BCBS. Secondly, self-interest and other factors explain why more than 100 countries have agreed to accept these standards. JEL Classification Numbers: E58, F33, G15, G28     

The Cognitive and Emotional Components of Behavior Norms in Outdoor Recreation

Behavioral norms consist of two components: a cognitive component of obligation that is the memory repository of social standards, and an emotional component of sanctions that are the feelings and physiological states that result when actual behavior is consistent or not consistent with the obligation. This article analyzes the cognitive and emotional components of norms identified in three studies of behaviors (littering, controlling dogs while cross country skiing, and bikers and skaters warning when passing) in outdoor recreation settings. All three studies provide data on obligations to behave a particular way and internal and informal sanctions for correct or incorrect behavior. Obligations for all the behaviors were highly crystallized and were not statistically different. Internal sanctions were shame and guilt, and informal sanction was embarrassment. The intensity of the norms was determined by summing individuals' responses for shame, guilt, and embarrassment. The power and prevalence of the norms were determined by cross tabulating obligations by intensities. Intensity, power, and prevalence were very high for littering and failing to control your dog while cross country skiing, but were very low for skaters and bikers failing to warn when passing slower users on a multiple use trail. Measuring sanctions is shown to be critical to determining the intensity, power, and prevalence of behavioral norms. Suggestions are given for ways to include sanctions in studies of social and environmental condition norms.     

Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa: New empirical evidence

We report on the prevalence and patterns of non-farm enterprises in six sub-Saharan African countries, and study their performance in terms of labor productivity, survival and exit, using the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). Rural households operate enterprises due to both push and pull factors and tend to do so predominantly in easy-to-enter activities, such as sales and trade, rather than in activities that require higher starting costs, such as transport services, or educational investment, such as professional services. Labor productivity differs widely: rural and female-headed enterprises, those located further away from population centers, and businesses that operate intermittently have lower levels of labor productivity compared to urban and male-owned enterprises, or enterprises that operate throughout the year. Finally, rural enterprises exit the market primarily due to a lack of profitability or finance, and due to idiosyncratic shocks.     

我国中小企业的融资模式研究

我国民营中小企业已成为国民经济和社会发展的重要力量,但其发展常陷入融资困境,我国的融资模式存在很大的局限性。中小企业只有在一个法律法规体系完善、金融体系和信用担保体系健全的金融环境中,才能形成可行的融资模式。中小企业亟需顺应金融环境、市场制度的变化,不断创新,创造符合自身发展的融资模式,进行多元化融资,形成充足的资金流,促成企业的长足发展,才能在竞争激烈的市场中不断做大做强。     

经济欠发达地区民间借贷问题研究——基于桂林的样本数据

随着社会主义市场经济的发展,民间借贷现象逐渐被重视,而经济欠发达地区的民间借贷行为由于其鲜明的特点和运行机理尤其引人关注。本文以桂林辖区民间借贷为样本,在分析民间借贷现状、特征的基础上,试图探讨经济欠发达地区民间借贷的经济政策效应及监测体系,以达到为货币政策制定和执行提供参考的目的。