Rural Reform and Fiji's Indigenous Sugarcane Growers: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis

We examine the performance of Fiji's indigenous sugarcane growers, measuring their technical efficiency using a stochastic frontier production function. Of particular interest are the cooperative or communal farming structures among new entrants into Fiji's sugar industry. These structures are emerging in response to government rationalisation policies in agricultural support-from individuals to groups-and the growing emphasis from the indigenous community on economic activity to reflect community requirements, values and imperatives. Our study finds that growers who are members of a cooperative group have higher levels of technical efficiency than growers who live in villages and that their performance is on par with galala or independent growers. Group structures are used as vehicles to centralise management decision-making and pool resources, thereby overcoming experience and capital accumulation constraints. The research also shows that these structures provide a vital mechanism for aligning cultural values and legitimising individual economic activity that has communal benefits. This finding is not only important for Fiji's struggling agricultural sector, it points a way forward for other South Pacific island nations and other countries where agricultural intensification is carried out on communally owned land

Oldham capitalism and the rise of the Lancashire textile industry

The joint stock company, centred on Oldham, is a central narrative in Douglas Farnie’s seminal book, the English Cotton Industry and the World Market. Farnie was the first to highlight the idiosyncratic nature of these limited companies, including their highly democratic system of governance. Documenting the collapse of this system is a useful post-script to Farnie’s analysis. The chapter will extend Farnie’s contribution by examining new evidence in the pre-1896 period. It will then go on to document subsequent developments after 1896 and show that changes in governance had serious consequences for the industry. Cliques of mill owners, and the speculative stock market capitalism they engendered, promoted over-expansion of the industry and financial instability. The over-expansion of the 1907 boom was repeated with disastrous consequences in the re-capitalisation boom of 1919. It will be shown that the activities of networks local directors, which had been established pre 1914, not financial syndicates, banks, trade unions or government, were responsible for the collapse that precipitated the industry’s long decline

Options for sustainability improvement and biomass use in Malaysia : Palm oil production chain and biorefineries for non-food use of residues and by-products including other agricultural crops

The Division Biobased Products of the WUR institute A&F was approached by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality with a policy support question about the potential of Bio-based economic developments in Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the major international trade partners of the Netherlands. Annually 4.500 – 5.000 million euro’s worth of goods are imported from Malaysia. The Netherlands are Malaysia’s most important trading partner within the EU. The volume of agricultural commodities and especially palm oil products are substantial and the use of biobased resources for the generation of energy or biofuel has created a fierce debate on the sustainability of expansion of use of the biomass resources. In the context of the international policy to support the transition towards a biobased economy the potential resources that can be used for production of materials, chemicals and energy needs to be indentified. This report is reviewing the options that the current Malaysian agro-forestry sector may provide for sustainable developments. The main conclusions are that especially the currently underutilized residues and polluting wastes from the palm oil production have big potential for value addition and technical product development that also could substantially contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Examples can be found in fermentation of residues and effluents to produce bio-gas / ethanol or bioplastics but also fibre boards and building materials. Demonstration on pilot scale of such technologies could create new business and bilateral interactions between Malaysia and The Netherlands

Norwegian Aerospace Activities: an Overview

Excerpts from a Governmental Investigation concerning Norwegian participation in the European Space Organization (ESA) is presented. The implications and advantages of such a move and a suggestion for the reorganization of Norwegian Aerospace activity is given

The First Round of Legislative Reforms in the Post-Serrano World

An overview of recent legislation in the field of educational finance reform which describes a number of similarities among the bills enacted after the Serrano decision but Before the first major reversals of some of the earlier decisions. Weaknesses common to these efforts are detailed and indications of future trends are suggested. An Appendix enumerates 1972-1973 school finance reforms in eleven different states

The PLC: a logical development

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) have been used to control industrial processes and equipment for over 40 years, having their first commercially recognised application in 1969. Since then there have been enormous changes in the design and application of PLCs, yet developments were evolutionary rather than radical. The flexibility of the PLC does not confine it to industrial use and it has been used for disparate non-industrial control applications . This article reviews the history, development and industrial applications of the PLC

Steel: Price and Policy Issues

[Excerpt] The rapid growth of steel production and demand in China is widely considered as a major cause of continued high steel prices and prices of teelmaking inputs. Steel companies have achieved much greater pricing power, in part through an ongoing consolidation of the industry. High prices persist, despite the revocation in 2003 of President Bush’s broad safeguard order on imports. U.S. steel production in 2006 was 108 million tons. The integrated side of the industry continues to lose share domestically to the minimills. Imports rebounded in 2006 to reach the highest tonnage level ever, though they declined in 2007. Input prices, especially ferrous scrap and iron ore, remain high, meaning higher costs, which have been largely passed along to industrial consumers. China now produces 40% of the world’s steel and is the world’s largest steelmaker and steel consumer. This contributed to a large global increase in demand for both steel and steelmaking inputs. China has become a large net exporter as well. In 2006, its steel exports to the U.S. market more than doubled, and it became the second-largest import source. Congress became increasingly concerned over allegedly unfair trade competition from China, and has considered many proposals to deal with these issues. In the 110th Congress, bills were introduced to allow penalty tariffs to offset a country’s manipulation of its currency exchange rate for trade advantage. The Commerce Department undertook a countervailing duty case against China, and the U.S. government also brought a case in the World Trade Organization against China over subsidies, including subsidization of steel exports. The U.S. steel industry sponsored in 2007 a report that detailed alleged government subsidies to the Chinese industry. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has terminated some trade remedy cases and orders against imported steel products. But in other cases, orders have been upheld, and new cases are proceeding. President Bush decided in a China safeguard case not to provide relief for domestic producers of steel pipe, despite a positive ITC determination. The Byrd Amendment, under which domestic steel producers receive distributions of trade remedy duties, was repealed by P.L. 109-171, and is no longer in effect from October 1, 2007. Internationally, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has abandoned the effort to achieve an international agreement to ban subsidies for steel mills. In April 2006 the World Trade Organization, (WTO) Appellate Body ruled against the “zeroing” methodology used by the U.S. Commerce Department in calculating dumping margins

Oldham capitalism and the rise of the Lancashire textile industry

The joint stock company, centred on Oldham, is a central narrative in Douglas Farnie’s seminal book, the English Cotton Industry and the World Market. Farnie was the first to highlight the idiosyncratic nature of these limited companies, including their highly democratic system of governance. Documenting the collapse of this system is a useful post-script to Farnie’s analysis. The chapter will extend Farnie’s contribution by examining new evidence in the pre-1896 period. It will then go on to document subsequent developments after 1896 and show that changes in governance had serious consequences for the industry. Cliques of mill owners, and the speculative stock market capitalism they engendered, promoted over-expansion of the industry and financial instability. The over-expansion of the 1907 boom was repeated with disastrous consequences in the re-capitalisation boom of 1919. It will be shown that the activities of networks local directors, which had been established pre 1914, not financial syndicates, banks, trade unions or government, were responsible for the collapse that precipitated the industry’s long decline.

Стійка технологія переробки відходів електричного та електронного обладнання

Об’єкт досліджень: технологічні основи «переробки відходів електричного та електронного обладнання». Предмет досліджень: механізм піролізу, отримання рідкого палива, подрібнення друкованих плат після піролізу, вібраційний млин та його сили, які впливають на подрібнення. Вихідні дані для проведення роботи: характеристики друкованих плат та їх переробка у світі. Наукова новизна: відокремлення металевої фракції від наповнювачів, за рахунок ковкості металевої фракції при подрібнені та подальшому розділення при грохочені. Практична цінність: поліпшення екологічної складової за рахунок втілення нових технологій в сектор управління відходів та рециклінгу вже добутих мінералів. Дипломна робота написана англійською мовою та надалі буде захищена в ТУ "Фрайберзька гірнича академія"