Induced innovation and land degradation: Results from a bioeconomic model of a village in West Africa

This paper introduces a modeling method which simulates a village's response to population and market pressure. The method combines a recursive and dynamic linear programming model with a biophysical model of soil condition and plant growth that predicts yields and land degradation for different type of land, land use and cropping patterns. The linear programming model simulates farmers' plans aggregated at the village level under constraints of risk aversion, food consumption, land area, soil fertility, soil depth, labor and cash availability. Detailed agroecological factors determine Ihe main processes of land degradation. A large number of technological alternatives, representing different degrees of labor and/or land-saving techniques available in the study areas, are introduced, taking into account their respective constraints, costs and advantages. The method has been calibrated for a village located in the sub-humid region of Burkina Faso. Several simulations are carried out to the Year 2030. The results show that population pressure leads to intensification and investment in land conservation practices out not necessarily to better farm incomes. Increasing market opportunities can play a more positive role in boosting productivity, but for the next decades the best way to increase production per farmer is to let farmers migrate from the high-population-density areas to the low-population-density areas because, under the current economic conditions of most Sahelian countries, intensification per hectare is stil more expensive than the fallow system.     

大同思想与西方空想社会主义之比较

大同思想是自中国古代开始的一种美好的社会理想，西方空想社会主义是16世纪伴随着资本主义社会的建立而产生的。它们在内容上有各自的特点，在反对私有制、提倡公有制、计划经济，贤人治国和民主原则，教育思想以及平均与平等思想等方面各有一些看法。     

Employee attitudes toward advertising

The attitudes and opinions of a group of bank employees toward a recent advertising campaign run by the bank which stressed employee service were studied via factor analysis. The analysis revealed three clearly defined dimensions underlying the attitude-opinion items: general attitude toward the campaign, relevance of the campaign to the respondent's job, and changes in the respondent's job behavior caused by the campaign. Relationships among factor scores on these three dimensions with job satisfaction, job involvement, degree of customer contact, and degree of contact with other employees were investigated using multiple regressions and canonical correlation analysis. Employee attitudes toward the campaign were significantly related to all four of the job characteristic variables, as was perceived relevance of the campaign to the employee's job. Changes in job behavior were related only to involvement and satisfaction. The relationships found here suggest that in some cases, employee attitudes should be considered in evaluating the effects of advertising campaigns. Close coordination between marketing and general managerial functions is required in situations where advertisements relate to employees as well as customers.     

Agency through Development: Hausa Women's NGOs and CBOs in Kano,Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Analyzing the participation of Hausa women in religiously influenced nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) devoted to development work provides critical insights into the complex intersection of gender, religion, class, culture, and politics and economics. Based on interviews with leaders and employees of various NGOs, including community-based organizations (CBOs), in Kano, Nigeria, in 2010–11, this in-depth case study provides important examples of how various types of NGOs navigate political pressures when it comes to funding; it recognizes the understudied importance of women's labor contributions in the context of the development apparatus in Africa; it highlights the role of women as progenitors rather than benefactors of economic development; and it illustrates the unique role that faith-based organizations (FBOs) can and do play in terms of reaching certain marginalized segments of the population.     

Institutional Environment and Technical Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Cotton Producers in West Africa

This paper examines the effects of the institutional environment on West African cotton farmers’ technical efficiency (TE). First, key aspects of the cotton sector institutional environment are discussed, including input and credit access, and producers’ organisations. Then, a stochastic frontier production function, which incorporates technical inefficiency effects, is applied to farm level data collected in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The survey includes farmers’ evaluations of the cotton sector institutional environment. Results suggest that institutional level features influence producers’ TE, besides farm‐level characteristics. Cotton growers who report a negative experience with the joint liability programme, who identify the cotton price mechanism or access to credit as the main constraints to performance, and who cultivate more hectares of cereals are technically more inefficient in producing cotton. Findings suggest that cotton farmers in Mali are less technically efficient in producing cotton than in Burkina Faso and Benin. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing farmers’ financial stress, particularly through the establishment of adequate price mechanisms (i.e. higher farm‐gate prices and timely payments to farmers) and improvement in the input–credit markets should be encouraged to improve TE in West Africa.     

Consumer Preference for Traditional Products in West Balkans Countries

The objective of this article is to better understand consumers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior toward traditional food among consumers in selected Western Balkans Countries (WBC). The article also presents a picture of the profile of WBC traditional food consumers (TFC) in terms of their sociodemographics, attitudes, lifestyle orientations, and behavioral characteristics. The method used for the data collection was a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. In total, 800 respondents participated in the survey. WBC consumers expressed a positive attitude toward traditional food. If the researchers try to explain consumers' behavior toward traditional food, they can say that there are different types of consumers giving more or less importance to components considered traditional. The information about the profile, the image, and the actual characteristics of TFC has practical implications for marketing and communicating about traditional food, including their identification, differentiation, research and development, and positioning in the WBC food market.     

长沙大河西战略的正效应研究

为探索＂两型社会＂发展的新路子,2007年底长沙市委研究决定扩大岳麓区的版图,并将它打造成一个先导区,由点到面带动整个城市群的发展,这个战略被命名为＂大河西战略＂。大河西战略实施至今,对长株潭地区的经济增长产生了明显的正效应,也给湖南的区域经济发展注入了有力的支持。     

接受视野下的明末清初《西游记》续书

续书是对原著的一种解读、阐释和生发，它既扩大了原著的影响，又从文体类型上巩固和强化了原著的文体特征和审美规范。作为《西游记》的衍生物，明清之际的三部续书对原作的接受主要表现为主题思想、题材、叙事结构和艺术风格等的步武摹写。但由于时代环境的变迁，续书又表现出与原著不同的时代新变，这主要体现为思想主题上的“收心”实用”倾向、表现手法的“意识流”倾向和艺术形象上的进一步虚化等，而这正是三部续书的价值所在。     

市场潜力与西部地区资源开发

文章模拟了运输成本和市场规模变化情景下市场潜力指数的变化,模拟结果表明,大部分的西部省区在现阶段的运费水平之下,能够通过运输成本的降低有所受益。但是运输成本下降的空间十分有限,难以通过运输成本的降低根本的改善西部的市场通达性。因此现阶段,市场规模是造成东西部地区之间市场潜力差异的主要原因。西部大开发进程中,国家首先致力于改善西部的投资环境,进行了大规模的基础设施建设。但是运输成本降低在改善西部地区市场通达性的同时,也减小了西部资源东运的成本。西部地区市场规模狭小,东部地区强大的市场引力作用吸引了资源的东运和制造业的集聚,成为了阻碍西部地区资源开发的逆向作用力。要对抗东部沿海地区的强大集聚引力、实现西部地区的资源开发、促进西部地区的工业化进程,就必须改善西部地区的市场通达性。因此,在推进基础设施建设的同时,西部开发应该更加重视扩大内需,增强市场引力作用。