INTERPERSONAL VARIATION IN FARM WORKERS‘ EARNINGS: ANALYSIS OF WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT ENQUIRY DATA

Most econometric analyses of the agricultural labour market in Britain have been concerned with explaining the general level of agricultural earnings and changes over time. This study complements such analyses by attempting to explain the variation in earnings between workers at any one time. The study uses multiple-regression analysis of cross-sectional data taken from the Wages and Employment Enquiry. Significant explanatory variables are age, grade and occupation of the worker, farm size, overtime hours and region. There is evidence of (a) an age-earnings profile with peak earnings at 45–54 years, (b) grade differentials which do not follow those expected from the official Agricultural Wages Board wages structure, (c) occupational differentials, (d) earnings rising with farm size, (e) the importance of overtime hours. Unexpected results occur with some of the regional coefficients.     

Inscribing the American Body Politic: Martin Sheen and Two American Decades

Film and television have been influential in the remaking of the American self since the traumas of Vietnam. We undertake readings of class, gender, ethnicity and race focusing on the roles of Martin Sheen and his two ‘crews’ in Apocalypse Now Redux and in the television series The West Wing. We argue that despite the appearance of a more progressive America as represented by the Bartlet White House it remains within a long tradition that represents the US in discourses of innocence and pureness of will and is largely blind to the kind of violence perpetrated by Willard and his crew in Apocalypse Now Redux. We suggest that the capacity of the US repeatedly to ‘forget’ its use of certain kinds of violence marks the limits of self-sacrifice of the American self and provides the discursive possibility for the eternal return of innocence.     

The ‘Earth summit’ and environmental economics: The case of the missing link

While environmentalists insist that economic planning by government should pay much greater attention to the environment, they have tended to ignore environmental economics. This lapse is all the more serious because the conventional economic remedy for environmental degradation is the ‘market solution’. This article reviews the orthodox microeconomic analysis of environmental problems, assesses the shortcomings of the market solution and, in the light of this, outlines the alternative strategy for sustainable development. Some concluding comments are offered on the chances of success in implementing sustainable development in South Africa.     

Towards a sustainable energy strategy for South Africa: Landfill gas as a renewable energy option

Insufficient attention has been paid to the energy problems faced by oil‐importing developing countries (OIDCs). For these countries, the solution lies not so much in following the energy development paths of their more developed neighbours, but rather in seeking to make more efficient use of non‐conventional energy sources. This article explores one such non‐conventional energy option ‐ landfill gas ‐for South Africa, where the energy problem is complicated by a heavy reliance on coal‐fired electricity, which is unsustainable and unfriendly to the environment and yet remains the focal point of the government's energy strategy as expressed in the Reconstruction and Development Programme.     

Stakeholding and Full Employment

John Philpott argues the case that moving towards full employment is a structural rather than a macroeconomic issue, and points to the ned for social consensus to underpin any improvement.     

After the windfall: the New Deal at work

The New Deal for Young People – the government's flagship welfare to work initiative – was launched over a year ago. This article assesses the New Deal in terms of its long-run objectives, its short-term effects and how well it is operating on the ground. The conclusion is that although the New Deal has made an excellent start and helped cut youth employment, a gap exists between what some young people and some employers expect from the New Deal and what they experience.     

The distribution of ncome in the UK and OECD countries in the twentieth century

Distributional changes are an important part of the economichistory of the OECD countries over the twentieth century. Inthe UK, income inequality in the 1970s was substantially lowerthan 40 years earlier, and is now much higher than in 1979.The pattern of change in the USA has similarities to that inthe UK, but other countries have exhibited significant differences.In order to explain diversity of experience over time, and differencesin income inequality across countries today, we need to recognizethat the distribution of income is subject to a variety of forces,affecting earnings, wealth, and income. These forces includethe policy choices made by governments affecting market incomesand fiscal redistribution. What we need to explain is why insome periods a number of these forces combine to produce episodesof rising, or falling, inequality. Any single theory, such asthat based on a global shift of demand away from unskilled workers,cannot provide a fully adequate explanation.