TARIFFS AND IMPORTS MISINVOICING UNDER OLIGOPOLY

Mismatch of trade statistics between developed and developing countries indicate a substantial misinvoicing of trade figures, primarily by developing country traders. This is due to the inflexible exchange rate regimes, severe import restrictions and export subsidies prevailing in Less Developed Countries (LDCs). In this paper, we focus on import underinvoicing due to high tariff barriers in a market where domestic producers compete with importers. Specifically, we examine how tariff levels, market structure and government intervention (in the form of intensity of monitoring and severity of penalties) affect the levels of underinvoicing. We also look at the optimal levels of import tariff and instruments of government intervention in these circumstances.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
David McDermott Hughes, From Enslavement to Environmentalism: Politics on a Southern African Frontier
Edmund Abaka, Kola is God's Gift: Agricultural Production, Export Initiatives & the Kola Industry of Asante & the Gold Coast c.1820–1950
David Hall-Mathews, Peasants, Famine and the State in Colonial Western India
Linda Whiteford and Scott Whiteford (eds), Globalization, Water and Health
Penelope Francks, Rural Economic Development in Japan: From the Nineteenth Century to the Pacific War
Him Chung, China's Rural Market Development in the Reform Era     

MID‐DAY MEAL PROGRAM AND INCIDENCE OF CHILD LABOUR IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY

The present paper purports to examine the consequence of a mid‐day meal program and/or cash stipend scheme on the incidence of child labour in a developing economy using a three‐sector general equilibrium model. It has been found that the policy may be counterproductive as it lowers both the initial incomes of the working families and the return on education. Direct cash payments to the working families instead of a mid‐day meal program are likely to be effective in eradicating the problem of child labour.