Can Nature Drive Economic Growth?

The conditions that lead to successful economic development are diverse and place sensitive. Recent research supports the notion that there is a correlation between the presence of natural amenities and rural economic development. This case explores the situation of a rural county that is faced with constrained development options as a result of a significant federal footprint on the county's land area. The actions of the federal agencies managing the resources impact the economic vitality of the region. Two issues currently under review challenge the county to think critically about its potential for using nature as an economic development tool.     

The effect of subscriber line charges on residential telephone bills

This paper evaluates the way in which subscriber line charges (SLCs) have affected telephone company residential customers, comparing residential telephone bills before and after the $2.60 SLC began. Customer bills are analyses using the net bill reduction method and the consumer welfare method. Bills of low-income area and senior citizen customers are studied using a similar technique. The cumulative bill savings accruing to customers whose bills have been lowered for outweigh the small increases experienced by those whose bills are higher. Since the SLC programme began, interstate long-distance usage by low-income area customers has grown, on average, to nearly the same levels as usage for all residential customers.     

PREFERENTIAL CREDIT AND INSURANCE AS MEANS TO PROMOTE EXPORTS

Rationales for preferential export credit and export creditinsurance are reviewed and several countries' programs are examinedto determine if these preferential programs are appropriateexport promotion instruments for developing countries. Marketfailure is the most compelling rationale for their introductionbut these arguments have not been well articulated and thereis no systematic analysis of the costs of alternative governmentresponses. Industrial countries' programs have histories ofsubsidy while developing countries' preferential programs havenot been significant factors in stimulating exports.      

A social learning perspective of gambling behaviour among college students at Iowa State University,USA

This study assesses the proportion of college students who gamble and the level of their gambling involvement (i.e. frequency, scope, expenditure). In addition, a better understanding is sought of why students gamble and the factors that contribute to their gambling behaviour. The data were collected in the autumn of 1996 from 797 undergraduate students. The main outcome measures included the students' gambling status, scope, frequency and expenditure. The predictor variables were gender, age, employment status, grade point average and gambling expenditure of the mother, father and best friend of the respondents. Frequency and cross‐tabulation analyses were used to develop the respondents' demographic profile and to describe differences between characteristics of gamblers and non‐gamblers. Gamma‐statistics were used to test the strength of the relationship between predictors and outcome variables. Over half of the students gambled, and the two most frequently identified gambling activities were lottery and non‐casino cards. The majority indicated that they gambled for entertainment. On average, the students gambled three times and staked an average of 33 per month on their gambling. However, about 19% of them gambled 3–6 times and staked over 66 a month on gambling. Student gambling was found to be positively related to the gambling of their parents and the gambling of their best friend.     

An extension of Bale's labor displacement cost estimates

Bale (1976) failed to extend his labor displacement cost estimates to the more interesting question of whether these costs outweigh gains from trade liberalization. This note addresses that question by applying Bale's estimates to Magee's (1972) study of the welfare effects of U.S. trade restrictions. Our results indicate that gains far outweigh costs of tariff removal on imports directly competing with U.S. production.     

The use of DRCs to evaluate indigenization programs: The case of the ivory coast

The DRC methodology is extended to evaluate education programs for purposes of indigenization. Such programs can be likened to an import-substitution activity in which local labor is produced to replace previously imported skilled foreign labor. The method is then applied to the problem of expatriate labor replacement in the Ivory Coast.