title: Do the urban poor face higher food prices? Evidence from Vietnam

authors: Gibson, John

subjects: food prices

abstract: Whether there is a poverty penalty, in terms of food prices, is unsettled in the literature after more than four decades of study. Unit values from household surveys suggest that prices vary with income while outlet surveys typically find food prices varying with store type but not with neighborhood income. Most outlet surveys are from rich countries, with just one spatially limited study from a developing country. In this paper we use especially collected food price data from metropolitan areas of Vietnam to test whether the urban poor face higher food prices. Food prices in low-income neighborhoods are 1% lower, on average, than in other neighborhoods. Unit values give a different answer to the question of whether the poor face higher prices and are not suited to answer such a question.

text: Do the urban poor face higher food prices? Evidence from Vietnam Whether there is a poverty penalty, in terms of food prices, is unsettled in the literature after more than four decades of study. Unit values from household surveys suggest that prices vary with income while outlet surveys typically find food prices varying with store type but not with neighborhood income. Most outlet surveys are from rich countries, with just one spatially limited study from a developing country. In this paper we use especially collected food price data from metropolitan areas of Vietnam to test whether the urban poor face higher food prices. Food prices in low-income neighborhoods are 1% lower, on average, than in other neighborhoods. Unit values give a different answer to the question of whether the poor face higher prices and are not suited to answer such a question.

year: 2013

title: Towards rapid assay of cryptotephra in peat cores: review and evaluation of selected methods

authors: Gehrels, Maria J.

subjects: tephra

abstract: Peat bogs are highly effective archives for the preservation and detection of cryptotephra but the conventional methods used to detect these hidden, diminutive layers are destructive and can be time consuming. We briefly review methods that have been used for cryptotephra detection and evaluate the potential of a range of alternative reconnaissance methods, both non-destructive and destructive, to provide for more rapid examination of continuous cryptotephra content in peat cores. The techniques evaluated—magnetic susceptibility (MS), spectrophotometry, and X-ray fluorescence—are used to pick out compositional contrasts between tephra deposits and peat. Measurements of organic content are also evaluated as a potential guide to tephra content based on an inverse relationship. Although we find limitations to each method, particularly where deployed at the distal-most end of tephra dispersal, there is potential for all methods to be used in the detection of cryptotephra where time or material is limited. These methods can also provide additional sedimentological and stratigraphic information for studies of peat cores. However, where a reliable cryptotephra profile is required, we conclude that there is no quick or easy substitute for the conventional extraction-microscopy method.

text: Towards rapid assay of cryptotephra in peat cores: review and evaluation of selected methods Peat bogs are highly effective archives for the preservation and detection of cryptotephra but the conventional methods used to detect these hidden, diminutive layers are destructive and can be time consuming. We briefly review methods that have been used for cryptotephra detection and evaluate the potential of a range of alternative reconnaissance methods, both non-destructive and destructive, to provide for more rapid examination of continuous cryptotephra content in peat cores. The techniques evaluated—magnetic susceptibility (MS), spectrophotometry, and X-ray fluorescence—are used to pick out compositional contrasts between tephra deposits and peat. Measurements of organic content are also evaluated as a potential guide to tephra content based on an inverse relationship. Although we find limitations to each method, particularly where deployed at the distal-most end of tephra dispersal, there is potential for all methods to be used in the detection of cryptotephra where time or material is limited. These methods can also provide additional sedimentological and stratigraphic information for studies of peat cores. However, where a reliable cryptotephra profile is required, we conclude that there is no quick or easy substitute for the conventional extraction-microscopy method.

year: 2008-02

title: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori

authors: Awatere, Shaun

subjects: welfare economics

abstract: Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

text: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

year: 2008