bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adaptation of Botswana's Development Strategy to Meet Its Peoples' Needs for Land, Jobs
Authors: Curry Robert L.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The history of Botswana's economy reflects the development of an open, multi‐party democracy through which group, class and regional conflicts have been resolved. Four socioeconomic problems have been emerging in ways which challenge this process and thereby threaten the bases for Botswana's material progress and social and economic stability. The problems involve a growing income and asset ownership gap among Batswana, an expanding demand for scarce water, a decreasing output of cereal crops, and a growing economic dependence on the Republic of South Africa. In response to the problems, matters of which the governing class is clearly cognizant, these key development policy measures have been undertaken: the Arable Lands Development Program; the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy; and the Financial Assistance Program. The measures' contents are designed to expand rural, agricultural employment and generate rural incomes, expand cereal crop production, lessen food dependency on South Africa, and improve water management. However, the measures need to be modified to insure the maximum developmental impact.
The Traditional Industrial Sector in Developing Countries: An Update on Its Role and Functioning
Authors: Scoville James G.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. In the theory of urban labor markets in less developed countries, levels of traditional industrial sector incomes, are a key determinant of modern sector skilled wages (directly through the external labor market) and unskilled wages (indirectly through operations of internal labor markets). Data on traditional sector incomes for 40 urban areas are assembled from a variety of sources; the quality of these data and needs for future data collection are critically appraised. The data are then used to conduct a preliminary test of the labor market model. In general, the predictions of the model are supported by these tests
Some Issues About the “Quality” of Sunbelt/Frostbelt Life
Authors: Wish Naomi Bailin
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Definitions of “Quality of Life” (QOL) differ among researchers. But most agree that the concept consists of both an environmental and a psychological component. Subjecting principal components of sets of QOL measures in use to factor analysis, however, demonstrates that basing our comparisons of cities or regions on metropolitan area data biases the results. The largest urban areas with national reputations and urban areas in the South are favored. Analysts must look deeper than available QOL measures, e.g., to explain Frostbelt to Sunbelt migration. Perceptual measures must be improved and integrated into objective measures because they now show that the data are contradictory and city rankings are unreliable.
Institutionalism versus Orthodoxy
Authors: Fischer Charles C.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Orthodox economics has been quite effective in exploiting equilibrium methodology; equilibrium as a heuristic device, as a theoretical norm, and as a prototype of the scientific method. Also, orthodoxy has contrived the dichotomy of equilibrium‐anti‐equilibrium to depict institutional thought as being muddled and unscientific. Institutionalists have not successfully countered these attacks, nor have they adequately articulated a comprehensive methodological alternative to orthodoxy. Institutionalists have paid too much attention to the methodological components of institutionalism and have neglected the articulation of a guiding, overall methodology. It is proposed that institutionalists recast the methodological debate by expanding the arena from equilibrium‐anti‐equilibrium analysis to the broader context of closed versus open systems analysis. This would both help expose the methodological weaknesses of orthodox economics, and demonstrate the relevance and power of institutionalism for socioeconomic investigation.
Henry George and Europe
Authors: Silagi Michael , Faulkner Susan N.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. In the eyes of European scholars, publicists and politicians who studied Henry George's work, he, as a social philosopher, had adopted the position of the natural law philosophers of the 18th century. The latter inspired the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, as well as the poiitical philosophy of Jeffersonian democracy, the ethos of the 18th and 19th century pioneer settlers. George rejected Social Darwinism. He saw natural law as the only true and reliable basis for a just social order. Like Karl Marx he mastered Ricardian economics; unlike Marx, George made two factors the basis of his system, labor and land. George saw that each person had a natural right—and a natural imperative for survival—to apply his or her productive capacity to the earth–as living space and as storehouse of nutrients and raw materials. The person‐land relationship, he discovered, lay at the basis of human culture. And so the land's rent, now monopolized by the few, had to be appropriated to meet the needs of society, most efficiently and justly by a land value tax.
The Nature of the Agrarian Land Question in the Republic of South Africa
Authors: Daniels Rudolph
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Most of the land in South Africa is dommnated by 4.5 million Whites. A tiny fraction of this key resource is designated for Black occupation in Black townships in White South Africa and for Black ownership in the ten “homelands.” Several interrelated factors account for the lop sided land distribution that exists in South Africa. The two most important factors are the removal of native occupants from the majority of the land, accomplished by early Dutch settlers, and legislative measures that were designed to guarantee a White controlled economy and foster economic development by assuring an abundant supply of disenfranchised and cheap black labor The extent of the inequality in the land distribution suggests that, from the viewpoint of ownership and control, Blacks were better off prior to 1652 when the first Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape.
Economic Development and Crime: The Two May Be Associated as an Adaptation to Industrialism in Social Revolution
Authors: Fisher Sethard
Published: July 2006

Crime and economic development are discussed as part of a third major human adaptation to a new form of civilized life called industrialism. Most humans have lived the lives of hunters and gatherers while a much smaller minority has lived as members of societies based on agriculture and animal domestication. A much smaller group is now embarked on an adaptation to urbanization, technology and industrialization. Within this paradigm the process of economic development is viewed in stages, as suggested by W. W. Rostow. This allows a more extensive consideration of the social, cultural, and historicalcontexts of crime. Clusters of circumstances distinctive of specific developmental stages, or criminogenic contexts, are suggested as means of characterizing such variables. Two such contexts are briefly described. The first is a product of the unplanned drift of rural populations to urban areas in search of a better life. The second is a product of the changeover of elite groups in societies seeking to make the transition to modernization and sustained economic growth. Policy options in the interest of minimizing crime in the developmental process are briefly considered.
Export Processing Zones and Economic Development in Asia: A Review and Reassessment of a Means of Promoting Growth and Jobs
Authors: Rondinellli Dennis A.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Nearly every developing country in Asia has established export processing (EPZs) and free trade zones (FTZs) to promote economic development. EPZs and FTZs have created new employment, generated foreign exchange, expanded national revenues and increased export flows. But not all have thus benefited. Adverse effects of these industrial enclaves, not offset by national benefits, are varied. The zones mostly have high construction and maintenance costs, primarily employ low‐wage, unskilled female labor, offer an unstable employment base, generate little domestic added value, develop few labor or managerial skills, transfer little modern technology or know‐how and have weak links to domestic manufacturers. Large EPZs may promote undesirable in‐migration from rural areas, produce more dependence on foreign‐owned firms that tend to move or cut back production when wages, costs or international trends change. Policy options to prevent or mitigate adverse effects are presented.
The Effectiveness of Alternative Methods of Searching for Jobs and Finding Them: An Exploratory Analysis of the Data Bearing upon the Ways of Coping with joblessness
Authors: Wielgosz John B. , Carpenter Susan
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Job search has profound implications for both the extent and duration of unemployment and hence for the efficient allocation of human resources. Yet, little is known about the relative effectiveness of alternative methods of job search. This study uses the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience to examine whether different methods influence the duration of job search and job satisfaction. Methods of search do seem to differ significantly in influencing duration of job search but not so in respect of job satisfaction, contrary to a widely held view. Some have held that informal channels of job search convey a particular type of qualitative information which makes for better and more efficient job choice and that this largely explains their extensive usage, but the data do not support this position. Both findings have potentially important implications for job search theory and government intervention in the labor market.
Some European Perceptions of Japan's Work‐ethos in the Tokugawa Era: A Limited Survey of Observations from the West's First Encounters Offers Parallels to Today's
Authors: Alam M. Shahid
Published: July 2006

Abstract. During the Tokugawa Era (1603‐1867), early European travelers from several nations encountered the work‐ethos of previously secluded Japan and recorded their observations in correspondence, articles and books. These perceptions are categorized under three headings, effort propensity, social efficiency capital and social rationality. Analysis of the construct thus achieved indicates that from this aspect the Japanese—in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries—appear to have been an industrious, efficient and disciplined people. These findings offer striking parallels to the observations in our contemporary literature. We shall not know how accurate these observations are until the economic and social historians supply more exhaustive evidence based on Japanese as well as European sources. But discrete use can be made of the information we now have.
Property Tax Assessment Reform: A Source of Local Revenue Windfall or Fiscal Retrenchment
Authors: Pillai Vel
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Researchers, state officials and taxpayers have often speculated that property tax assessment reform would lead to an increase in the overall tax burden. They contend that, given the large non‐discretionary increase in the tax base during the reform, local governments can raise more resources without increasing the nominal tax rate. An empirical analysis of 74 towns in New York supports that position. However, two types of tax shifts that occurred in the wake of reassessment—interclass shifts of tax burden to the owners of residential propertieskovn the other property classes and intra‐class shifts observed among residential property owners—have caused significant moderation in this pattern of local government behavior. Therefore, tax reform, while it bestows revenue windfalls upon some local governments, may require fiscal retrenchment by others.
The Worker, the Union and the Democratic Workplace
Authors: Alexander Kenneth O.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Much attention has been devoted to the potential gains in work satisfaction and productivity that can result from more democratic work organization. In the U.S. the willingness of management to share power is a key factor in the transfer from authoritarianism, as is widely recognized. Less widely recognized are the worker and the union as impediments to change. Various characteristics and interests of both, many related to the long history of the authoritarian workplace, make transition difficult. A particular set of conditions, not generally prevailing in the U.S., would be necessary for a pervasive joint union, management, worker thrust toward more participatory work organization.
The Passion of Self‐interest: The Development of the Idea and Its Changing Status
Authors: Suttle Bruce B.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Contemporaries who evoke the passion of self‐interest and cite Adam Smith as its most prominent defender have exhibited little appreciation for the speckled history of this passion. Moreover, they have demonstrated little awareness of how Smith did not view this passion as a virtue. Some of the major reasons are explained for the changes in our attitude toward self interest. A philosophical refutation of the thesis that self‐interest is our only motive for acting as we do is offered and the record is set straight on how Smith viewed the State's role in imposing limits on, and giving direction to, self‐interest as a testimony to man's failure at self‐legislation. Today the contenders for power—the special interests—are pitted against the guardians of public order.
Discrimination and Favoritism in the U.S. Labor Market: The Cost to a Wage Earner of Being Female and Black and the Benefit of Being Male and White
Authors: Cotton Jeremiah
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The hypothesis that Black female wage earners face greater wage discrimination than their White female or Black male counterparts is supported by evidence derived from a version of a widely used method for decomposing wage differentials. This version allows one to measure both the “cost” of being a female or Black wage earner and the “benefit” of being a male or White wage earner. The approach yields a model which is validated by testing with Census Bureau samples (n1,2,3,4= 23,800). The empirical test indicates that when skills are fairly comparable, the Black female earns an average wage nearly 21 percent lower than the White male average, whereas the White female's average was 15.5 percent lower. It suggests that being female has a relatively greater impact on Black female wages than being Black.
Competition and Conflict in the U.S. Atlantic Coast Menhaden Industry
Authors: Blomo Vito J. , Orbach Michael , Maiolo John R.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Fluctuations in the harvest of menhaden off the U.S. Atlantic coast, a common property resource, have caused competition and conflict among the small number of companies, two large and several small, which operate in the fishery. With no strong central management, the resource is not being exploited to the optimum and increased fishing pressure and effort bring, cyclically, a peak catch followed by contraction in catch and industry. The industry, state agencies and federal offices disagree on corrective measures. Restriction of the fall harvest off the North Carolina coast to replenish the stock would call for an extraordinary sacrifice by the North Carolina industry—costing it between $4.4 and $6.8 million to provide increases between $6.6 million and $8.4 million in gross revenues for the rest of the industry from Maine to Florida. This raises problems of equitable sharing of the burden. A bioeconomic computer model quantifies short and long run impacts that must be faced.
The Facts About Small Business and the Real Values of Its ‘Life World’: A Social Philosophical Interpretation of This Sector of the Modem Economy
Authors: Nooteboom Bart
Published: July 2006

Abstract. According to a line of European social philosophers from Marx to Habermas, the development of society is characterized by a process of rationalization, accompanied by alienation and objectification of labor and human relations, and more generally a degradation of what Jürgen Habermashas called the person's “life world.” But the facts about small and medium sized business, as disclosed by empirical investigation, offer a different picture, one of small and medium size enterprises (SME) with a number of attributes associated with social organization on a small scale, of e.g., personality and independence. These can provide a counterweight to its disadvantages and limitations and therefore can be seen as values from a social philosophical point of view. Economically the same attributes make SME vulnerable to the market power and competition of big business. The new technology offers threats to SME, but also opportunities.
Owner and Organizational Characteristics of Black‐and White‐Owned Businesses: Self Employed Blacks Had Less Training, Fewer Resources, Less Profits, but Had Similar Survival Rates
Authors: Auster Ellen R.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Owner and organizational characteristics of 94 Black‐owned businesses and 385 White‐owned businesses in Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C, are examined. Black business owners had fewer years of education and less business experience than their White counterparts. Black businesses were also smaller, more labor intensive, located in poorer neighborhoods, less likely to have insurance, visited by fewer customers per day, more likely to rent their shop space, and to be less profitable than White businesses. However, despite these organizational and individual characteristics, the survival rates of Black and White businesses were not significantly different. Logit analyses suggested that variables such as race, education, size of business, and the average income of those living in the neighborhood, in this sample, did have significant effects on business profitability but did not explain business survival.
Child Poverty and Welfare Benefits: A Reassessment with State Data of the Claim That American Welfare Breeds Dependence
Authors: Schram Sanford F. , Turbett J. Patrick , Wilken Paul H.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Several critics of the American welfare system have claimed that it exacerbates the problem of poverty by making living in poverty preferable to acting in ways that would promote upward mobility. One version of this argument, by Gallaway and Vedder, proposes that in the 1970s this resulted in states with high welfare benefit exhibiting increases in child poverty. State data for 1970, 1980, and 1970‐1980 are analyzed by means of multiple regression to assess this argument. The results suggest that the relationships between high welfare benefits, child poverty, and recipiency of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) are much less clear‐cut than has been alleged. They also cast doubt on the wisdom of using aggregate data to analyze these relationships.
Obstacles to Small Farm Development in the Commonwealth Caribbean
Authors: Heath John Richard
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Small farms now form the locus of attempts to develop agriculture in the English‐speaking Caribbean. Attempts to boost extra regional export need to be coupled with closer cooperation among the 12 nations to substitute food imports from outside the region. A series of macroeconomic and sectoral constraints are working to insure that export agriculture is accorded higher priority than production of staples for the domestic market. In this way the needs of the region's poorest farmers tend to be overlooked.1
An Examination of Proposals for a U.S. Industrial Policy
Authors: Genovese Frank C.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. An “industrial policy” for the U.S. appears from the writings and statements of its advocates to involve modification of federal tax laws and expenditures to allow a largely unchanged set of business institutions to better serve the public interest. It employs planning but it is planning of the sort the U.S. has always had. Those who oppose all government activity in the private sector oppose it, not realizing that the anti‐trust laws, for example, do not interfere with the economy's operation but aid it to function beneficently. It is those whose activities are anti social who are loudest in their demands for business “freedom.” Does the U.S. need a more efficient economic system? Intercountry comparisons show that in many areas it lags. To achieve stability of income and employment as well as productive efficiency, the U.S. has many policy options it can consider—and it must.
The Economic Impact of Rent Seeking and Military Expenditures: A Comparison of Third World Military and Civilian Regimes
Authors: Looney Robert E.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The general stereotype of modern Third World military regimes is that of ultra‐conservativism combined with military force to dismantle organizations of popular expression. These organizations through their rent‐seeking activities are assumed to have reduced overall rates of economic growth. Empirically, the paper does find some support for this line of argument. However, it is apparent that the traditional stereotypes are inappropriate. The two regime types differ largely in terms of contrasting styles of economic management. Military regimes create an environment where military expenditures tend to have a positive overall impact on economic growth Civilian regimes having less control over rent seeking groups do not appear to be able to combine rent seeking activities and military expenditures in a manner conducive to overall economic growth.
A Keynesian Defense of the Reagan Deficit: The Real Issue Is How Big Should Federal Budgets Be and How Should They Be Met
Authors: Alexander Robert J.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Agreement is general that the U.S. budget deficit of the Reagan administrations is a national disaster. The supply side and laffer curve economics of Mr. Reagan and his advisers have proved totally fallacious. Draconian monetary policy Curbed the inflation. But most of the negative charges against the deficit have also proved wrong. The U.S. is not a ‘debtor country.’ The purchasing power pumped into the economy may have mitigated the crisis in major U.S. industries. The real issue in the budget deficit debate is how big a share in the economy should the Federal Government have and should it be financed by taxation or borrowing.
Crime in One Long‐Lived Comic Strip: An Evaluation of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy'
Authors: Mooney Linda A. , Fewell Carla‐Marie
Published: July 2006

Abstract. A six‐months run of the popular and long‐lived newspaper cartoon, “Dick Tracy,” was analyzed in terms of the frequency with which certain characters were used, the location and setting in which they appeared and the criminal activity and law enforcement technique portrayed. Also studied were physical characteristics of criminals and police, and the use of violence. The results indicated the continued theme of the cartoonist, Chester Gould, was a “morality play,”i.e., the triumph of good over evil. All pictured criminals were either apprehended or killed as a result of police expertise, and police violence was both minimal and reactive. However, contrary to similar analyses of primetime television, the majority of offenses pictured were crimes against the American economic system, rather than violent crime, and offenders were disproportionately White, middle‐aged males.
Export Agriculture and the Expansion of Urban Slum Areas
Authors: Crist Raymond E.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Many of the richest people have all or a large part of their accumulated wealth in land, yet the men and women who work the land are usually their country's most poverty‐stricken. The landowning elite is very powerful because land has been concentrated in few hands. In the Third World' of less developed countries (LDCs) and in the United States this situation in the last four decades has led to an emphasis on export crops and a restructuring of agriculture to produce them. Brazilis an example of this change, which has led to deforestation and multiplication of the hungry, homeless and alienated, the new “barbarians within the gates.” Comparable developments are seen in the U.S., threatening fiscal and political stability in many countries.
The World Bank and Poverty: A Review of the Evidence on Whether the Agency Has Diminished Emphasis on Aid to the Poor
Authors: Sanford Jonathan E.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The World Bank's loan patterns in recent years are examined to see if there is any empirical evidence of a diminution of interest in poverty alleviation programs. Four very different concepts on what poverty alleviation is are used to categorize the international agency's loans: the share of lending going to (1) poor countries; (2) programs targeting direct aid to poor individuals; (3) certain sectors deemed to be intrinsically beneficial in meeting basic human needs, and (4) overall country programs which make poverty a key element of their goals. Each of the concepts has different criteria and standards. Analysis of the data indicates that the Bank seems to be doing at least as well today in the struggle against poverty as in previous decades. In some ways the Bank's current program is more poverty‐oriented than are bilateral aid programs financed by the United States and other major donor countries.
It's No Laffer’Matter: Claim That Increasing Welfare Aid Breeds Poverty and Dependence Fails Statistical Test
Authors: Schram Sanford F. , Wilken Paul H.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The claim is analyzed that there is a Laffer‐type relationship between welfare spending and poverty. Conservative analysts in recent years have asserted that over the last several decades poverty declined with increased welfare spending up to a point, beyond which increases in spending produced increases in poverty. Measures of pre‐transfer and pre‐welfare poverty are used in order to account for poverty due to welfare dependency. Employing data for 1959‐1983, the authors find evidence which casts doubt on the validity of the hypothesis that there has been a Laffer‐type relationship between welfare spending and poverty.
The Effects of local Fair Housing Ordinances on Housing Segregation: Their Impact Is Small, But It's an Important Positive Change Toward Integration
Authors: Smith Richard A.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. State and local fair housing ordinances, patterned after federal legislation, are promoted by federal policy. This study investigates whether these local laws have had any effect on levels of residential segregation between Whites and Blacks, 1970‐1980, by comparing changes in segregation for 111 cities characterized by different types of fair housing coverage. Results show average declines of 9 points in the index of dissimilarity, with cities covered by both state and local laws declining slightly more than cities with no fair housing coverage. Declines are not greater in cities with laws that are “substantially equivalent” to Title VIII vs. cities with non‐equivalent laws. When changes in segregation were examined by a variety of population, economic and housing variables that may affect segregation change, it was found that local ordinances continue to have a small, but statistically significant effect. This effect varies according to the pattern of segregation change under study; deconcentration of ghetto areas and integration of White areas are not affected by type of local fair housing coverage.
George on Free Trade, At Home and Abroad: The American Economist and Social Philosopher Envisioned a World Unhindered in Production and Exchange
Authors: Bonaparte T. H.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Henry George's theories on international trade are little known though he is respected as an advocate of free trade. He went along with the free traders of his time in three‐fourths of his classic, Protection or Free Trade. But he went far beyond the others in the last fourth of his book. “True” free trade, he argued, in the debate over protection that engaged some of the best minds in England and America, applied to domestic production as well as production for export. Hindrances to trade, like most tariffs, taxes, subsidies or other government policies, make products more expensive for the working people, worsen their situation by increasing economic rent to resource owners at the expense of labor and capital, and misallocate resources, maximining inefficiency and cost. The principle of free trade leads to Justice and equal rights, he held, seeking to advance his vision of a free society. Short run and long run solutions to protectionism are presented.
How Discrimination Against Female Workers Is Hidden in U.S. Industry Statistics: Sex Differences in Wages in the Cotton Textile and Boot and Shoe Industries Between the World Wars
Authors: Niemi Albert W.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The conclusion that the male‐female earnings gap largely reflects sex differences in occupational structure is widely accepted, This conventional wisdom is challenged by examining intraoccupational male‐female wage differences in two leading manufacturing industries, cotton textiles and boots and shoes, for the 1920s and 1930s. The results show little evidence of sex differences in wage rates in particular occupations in the cotton textile industry. The piece wage system protected the wages of female workers and kept intraoccupational wage differences between the sexes within narrow limits. In contrast, the evidence points to sharp sex differentials in occupational wage rates in the boot and shoe industry. In this industry, piece wages in the different occupations varied directly with the price of the shoes. By assigning work on low quality shoes to females employers were able to practice wage discrimination against them.
Cultural and Family Effects on Fertility Decisions in Taiwan, R.O.C.: Traditional Values and Family Structure Are as Relevant as Income Measures
Authors: Yen Eva C. , Yen Gili , Liu Ben‐c.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Ever since Becker's 1960 article on fertility, the economic approach has posited that the wife's wage rate and household income play predominant roles in fertility decisions. This study attempts to relate some social and cultural factors, including traditional value concepts and complexity of the family structure to the demand for children. Empirical findings with family survey data taken from Taiwan, the Republic of China, tend to support the view that fertility is better explained by a framework with a family structure and a sector dummy than one without. For public decision makers, findings of this kind suggest that preference heterogeneity, family structure complexity as well as the rural urban development trends should be explicitly taken into account in demographic policies aimed at family planning and overall quality of life enrichment.
Some Alternative Definitions of Youth Unemployment: A Means for Improved Understanding and Policy Formulation
Authors: Singell Larry D. , Lillydahl Jane H.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Current definitions of unemployment are inadequate for analyzing and understanding the problem of youth unemployment in the United States. By focusing on alternative definitions of youth unemployment, this study seeks to better understand the nature of the problem. Alternative rates of unemployment using data disaggregated by age, race, and gender from 1971 to 1983 are presented. Some findings: (1) all of the rates taken together provide a much better understanding of the youth unemployment problem; and (2) more effort should be devoted to developing, analyzing, and applying alternative concepts of satisfactory or unsatisfactory status for young people. Further, detailed studies of the activities, needs, and goals of a diverse population of young people and of societal preferences are clearly warranted. Without such efforts, youth unemployment policies will most likely be misdirected.
Liberal Reformism and Declining Capital Formation in Hungary: The Developing Capitalist Sector Is Its Only Frontier But This Threatens the Party Dictatorship
Authors: Hall John B.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Of countries noted for having an Eastern type of economic system, Hungary is commonly touted for the successful, market‐type reforms applied to the management of its economy. The commonly held notion that these reforms have been successful is challenged. It is argued that the reforms have never been implemented as was intended, and this has consequently resulted in macro and microeconomic planning policy to be administered in a varying fashion; also that the new direction in planning policy is seeking to implement fundamental changes regarding the formation and growth of private eriteprise a response to the problems facing Hungary's State‐owned sector. This development is noted to be causing profound changes in Hungary's economy, while also having a disequilibrating effect on the composition of classes in Hungarian society.
Social Science and Social Policy: A Comment
Authors: Gray David J.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The notion that a social science can be value‐free ignores the fact that the concepts upon which the social sciences remain dependent cannot possibly be. The emphasis upon methodology, mainly responsible for that position continues, but in recent years it has been paired with emphasis upon policy, applied social science. Value free social policy is within possibility— but it would be irrelevant.
Transnational Corporations and Ocean Technology Transfer: New Economic Zones Are Being Developed by Public/Private Partnerships but Deep Sea Miners Balk on Royalties
Authors: Gopalakrishnan Chennat
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Coastal state jurisdiction at 200‐nautical miles is today a fact of international law. This has led to a unique situation in the ownership and control of ocean resources; thus 15 coastal states have received among them approximately 41 percent of the world's 200 mile economic zone area. At least half of these are less‐developed coastal states (LDCS) which lack the key inputs, capital, technology, and managerial skill, essential to tap their ocean resources. A significant part of ocean technology in offshore oil, fisheries, aquaculture, and deep seabed mining exists in the private sector. Consequently, the transnational corporations (TNCs) are the major providers of ocean technology to the LDCS by a process of transfer through service contracts, turnkey operations, co‐production agreements and, most importantly, Joint ventures. All evidence points to a continued constructive partnership between the LDCS and the TNCs under the new regime of ocean resource management.
Housing the Urban Poor in Developing Countries
Authors: Rondinelli Dennis A.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Governments in developing countries will face increasingly serious problems in providing adequate shelter for the more than 25 million households that will be added to their urban populations by the end of this century A review of the magnitude of their housing deficits discloses the growing need for low‐cost shelter. Public housing, sites‐and‐services, slum upgrading, and government assisted self‐help‐programs have failed to provide sufficient housing to meet the needs of the poor. These must be supplemented by programs that reduce the costs of housing construction and increase the participation of communities, the informal sector, and private enterprise in providing low‐cost housing. Analysis of the results of conventional government housing programs offers little hope of an adequate amelioration of the problem.
Public Policy Aspects of Beach Erosion Control
Authors: Fischer David W.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Beach erosion control conies with it several issues of importance to the public. The origin of these issues include the beach as a public good, the way decisions are derived for beach erosion, the assumptions behind beach erosion control, the incentives each actor faces in forming a beach erosion control strategy, and the concern for equity in beach erosion control decisions. The decision‐making system surrounding beach erosion control is outlined. The author concludes that all relevant interests require access to decision‐making for the public interest to be determined.
Ideological Conceptions of the Basis for the Sexual Division of Labor
Authors: Emami Zohreh
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The theoretical problem of the sexual division of labor approached through a comparative critique of Marx and Engels on the one hand and Becker on the other. Though fundamentally different in their methodologies, analyses, and intentions, both theories face similar problems that ultimately limit them as adequate explanations of the sexual division of labor and as foundations for social policy prescriptions. More specifically, both theories are plagued with problems of circularity, reductionism, economic functionalism, and most importantly naturalism. The identification of these problems in turn results in the conclusion that the complex phenomenon of the sexual division of labor cannot be explained in strictly economic terms and that we need a multidisciplinary framework to analyze this topic.
The Effectiveness of Tax‐Expenditure Limitations: A Re‐evaluation
Authors: Bails Dale G.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. A 1982 study of the efficacy and impact of tax and expenditure limitations (TEL) is updated. Utilizing various statistical comparisons, growth in expenditures and revenues in states with TELs is compared to growth in states without a TEL in place. This comparison matches growth in the pre tax revolt years with growth in the post revolt years. In all cases the statistical tests show that the existence of a TEL has had virtually no impact on the growth of statewide expenditures or revenues. Additionally, while aggregate state expenditures and revenues exhibited some decline during the tax revolt years, this decline was short‐lived and has since been reversed. Thus, the primary implication is that TELs as presently construed are an ineffective means of limiting growth in state budgets
Progress: Poverty or Prosperity?
Authors: Aslanbeigui Nahid , Wick Adele
Published: July 2006

Abstract. Henry George and Alfred Marshall agreed that prosperity—growth in national income—was necessary but not sufficient to eliminate the poverty both believed impeded the mental and moral development of mankind. This inherent optimism in the potential benefits of economic growth was, however, their only common ground. George asserted that as long as land was privately owned, prosperity would increase poverty; and called for the fiscal remedy of a “single tax” to appropriate land rent. Marshall argued that increased poverty was only a temporary concomitant of growth caused by a population that was too big in numbers but too Low in skills; and advocated “taming” competition by education, charity, thrift, and breeding restraint. This study constructs a joined debate on progress and poverty by aligning the arguments of these two influential authors whose different personalities and personal histories precluded any true communication during their lifetimes.
Quantum Theory and Social Economics:
Authors: Karsten Siegfried G.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The holistic approach of quantum theory is investigated as a tool for social economists to analyze and to interpret socioeconomic reality and paradigms. The link between quantum theory and the social economist's approach to socioeconomic reality, i.e., the “what is,” rests on the premise that each element of the socioeconomic universe relates to the whole system and vice versa. In other words, the meaning of each part is to be found in its implicit reflection of the whole of reality; it has no meaning exclusive of the whole. In terms of quantum theory, investigations of microeconomic processes are interwoven with the macroeconomic frame of reference of the observer. The very act of observation is to be considered as an integral part of the observed system.
On the Degree of Property Tax Assessment Inequity in Complex Tax Jurisdictions
Authors: Borland Melvin V.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The extent of interest in the degree of inequity in property assessment is indicative of the importance of identifying determinants of assessment inequity. Previous attempts to identify such determinants were certainly incomplete. An additional variable is offered for the list that would be expected to explain statistically the degree of inequity in the distribution of property tax liabilities, in general, and to examine specifically the relationship between assessment, inequity and the degree of complexity for assessing Jurisdictions. The latter are often complex in the sense that individual properties, although subject to a set of two or more nominal tax rates on assessed values, are not subject to the same set of nominal tax rates. It is argued—to the extent that individual property tax liabilities are capitalized in sale prices for individual properties—that the greater the number of specific property tax rates on assessed value, the greater is the expected frequency of change in such specific property tax rates and, therefore, the higher the expected value of the measure of the degree of inequity.
The General Public's Participation in Art Museums:
Authors: Hendon William S.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. From a nationwide study of arts participation among Americans, the population of art museum visitors can he compared to people who do not go to art museums. Visitors to art museums generally are in upper educational, occupational and income groups and are more active than nonvisitors in other forms of arts participation and most leisure activities. While direct parental influence does not seem too important, art museum visitors were far more likely than nonvisitors to have had art lessons as children. While museum visitors were more frequent participants, of perhaps most importance is that the preference orders of visitors and nonvisitors were about the same, indicating that the opportunity to participate or lack of it, may be the most important cause of differences in participation rates between the two groups.
On Market Structure and the Taxation of Exhaustible Resources:
Authors: Dore M. H. I.
Published: July 2006

Abstract. The older static theory of the taxation of exhaustible resources is distinguished from the modern theory based on the work of Harold Hotelling Both advocate some form of a profits‐based tax, which is appropriate for conditions of perfect competition. But an oligopolistic market structure has additional quasi‐rents which could be captured through taxation. It is argued that a sales tax will not only capture the rents but also lower the cut‐off grade of the ore mined.
Factional Conflict Through the Generations
Authors: Mantell Edmund H
Published: July 2006

Abstract

There are some kinds of violent conflicts between factions in which one generation of belligerents trains a successive generation to continue and/ or enlarge the scale of conflict in an arena where the hostilities are internecine A model is developed of the devolution of internecine conflict using the lexicon of game theory and the simple mathematics of probability Assumptions pertaining to the behavior and attitudes of factions are transcribed into mathematics to formulate a theory of conflict resolution The theory is general enough to be applied to the struggles in the Middle East as well as to warfare among youth gangs The chief proposition to emerge from the analysis demonstrates how the statistical incidence of aggressive and peaceable factions varies over time The time path has the characteristics of a stochastic process with estimable parameters
Business Political Influence on Municipal Budgets
Authors: Arsen David D
Published: July 2006

AbstractPast empirical studies oflocal governmentfiscal performance have made extensive use of themedian voter modelDespite its analytical advantages, the model proceeds from a highly simplified conception ofpoliticsin which business firms play no direct role An alternative model is developed which permits statistical tests for businesspolitical influenceonmunicipal budgetingand the estimation of local residents’net fiscal benefitfrom firms Firms’fiscal impact varies widely across municipalities, often entailing a negative net effect on residents Variations in these impacts indicate not only the presence ofbusiness influencebut also permit tests of alternative hypotheses ofinterest group politicsThe data used dealt with eighty‐sixSan Francisco Bayareacities
The Laws of Economic Rent and Property:
Authors: Bina Cyrus
Published: July 2006

AbstractEconomic rentin general, andoilrent in particular, is an historically‐specific, social category, reflective of uniqueproperty relations, which goes beyond the conventional notion of physical scarcity prevailing in economics literature Neither theRicardian theorynor the neoclassical general equilibrium theory suitably explain the nature of the capital‐land relation and convey an understanding of the priority of their mutual interaction within theproductionprocess Being an effect of specific property relation, the phenomenon ofrentmerely assumes the status of a special category applicable to the concrete conditions of some industries Hence,political economylacks a general theory of rent

The concept of oil rent is based on the potentially conflicting interaction of ownership ofoil reserves, and that of theoil leases, within the globaloil industryThe oil rent is the result of the transformation of the existing differential productivities of oil‐producing regions within the global oil industry The formation of global oil prices and differential oil rents rest on the globalcompetitionwhich has become a distinguishing feature of this industry since the early 1970s
Privatization Versus Groundwater Central Management
Authors: Bruggink ThomasH
Published: July 2006

Abstract

A group of free market natural resource economists argue that the current system of limited property rights for groundwater users should be replaced by a new system of freely transferable property rights This, they contend, would provide the more efficient allocation of groundwater resources and help alleviate the water scarcity problem in the United States Their case for privatization is critically appraised Groundwater hydrology, common property, contamination, and other third party effects are examined to determine the set of circumstances under which privatization would work best The following alternatives to the full privatization plan are also examined central management, legal reform, and “French style” privatized management of water systems
Henry George and Europe:
Authors: Silagi Michael , Faulkner Susan N
Published: July 2006

Abstract Henry George's Progress and Poverty was translated into German and published in Germany in 1881, a little more than a year after its publication in America But it was not through George's own words that his ideas first became known there Germany already had land reformers, organized in small societies They made his teachings known However, unlike the case in Britain, Germany's leftists did not welcome George's land reform ideas True, Karl Marx recognized and wrote about the role the land question played in the exploitation of labor and in his third volume of Capital took basic positions parallel to George's, it was published long after Progress and Poverty The hostility of Wilhelm Ltebknecbt toward land reform reflected the German public's disinterest in the land question and may explain why Marx concentrated on appealing to the urban industrial worker
Taxation and Economic Growth
Authors: Wang Pign , Yip Chong K
Published: July 2006

Abstract The effects of vorious tax policies on economic growth are recx amined on the basis of the recently developed endogenous growth therory The assertion of Henry George that the structure of taxation is more important than the level of taxation in explaining economic growth is elaborated and verified Annual data for Taiwan from 1954 to 1986 shows that the aggregate tax rate does not have significant effect on the long run growth rates of private ouptup, consumption and production factor inputs This result is due to the poostivie effect of consumption taxation offsetting the negative effect of factor taxation on economic growth