Gender and poverty: how we can be misled by the unitary model of household resources – the case of Tajikistan

Using the 2003 Tajikistan Living Standard Survey this paper looks at the relationship between gender and poverty and show how, by modifying the equal sharing assumption of the household resources, we can easily be misled by the poverty and gender relationship. This paper also shows how those gender analyses which use the female headed household and male headed household dichotomy in Tajikistan obscure the gender analysis of poverty due to the heterogeneity of female headed household types

What Are the Useful Past Inter-Organizational Relationships (IORs) for Forming Complex IORs?

Purpose: The purpose is to explore the relationship between prior and later inter-organizational relationships (IORs) by studying whether past experience can be leveraged on when forming new, more complex, IORs. Methodology: Participation in prior IORs is characterized in terms of both resource- transferring and resource-pooling IORs in home-country networks, while complex IORs are considered those with foreign partners. An empirical test on 366 Italian firms is performed using OLS with robust standard errors. Findings: Both resource-transferring and resource-pooling IORs have non-convergent effects. The former has controversial effects on the base of the position a firm occupies, that in turn affects the structure of interests between the partners. The latter has different effects in line with the information complexity of the objective of the relationship. Research Implications: Results provide support to the idea that structure of interests and information complexity represent \u201cdiscriminating characteristics\u201d that identify salient structural alternatives in the analysis of inter-firm organization. Practical Implications: The paper advances that firms can partially leverage on the exploitation of prior experience in settings that are explorative in nature, by carefully selecting within past experiences. Originality: A distinction between coordination \u201cgiving\u201d and coordination \u201ctaking\u201d IORs is proposed to discern among different types of inter-firm coordination forms

Grain marketing and National Competition Policy: reform or reaction?

Grain marketing arrangements in Australia have been controversial for many years. Following an account of the historical background to grain marketing, this article concentrates on more recent debates. The most interesting technical economic argument concerns the validity of claims that statutory marketing authorities with export monopoly powers can obtain higher prices. The article also discusses how marketing in Australia has been affected by Commonwealth and State Government policies with respect to microeconomic reform and privatization. Although major changes appear to have been made in grain marketing and its institutions, there are inherent economic problems with the current approach to deregulation.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

How can Fishery Comanagement Groups Enhance Economic Performance? Hints from Japanese Coastal Fisheries Management

Although comanagement is gaining increasing attention as a way to manage fisheries, few studies have attempted to understand quantitatively which factors of comanagement are critical for their success. This study investigates fishery comanagement regimes adopted by coastal fisheries in Japan. Utilizing a wide variety of examples of fishery comanagement nationwide, we search for key rules and measures that underlie traditional, cultural, and social aspects of comanagement. The study focuses on the rules of the game adopted by comanaging groups called fishery management organizations (FMOs). Upon examination of successful fishery comanagement cases, we found two distinctive measures: effort coordination and pooling arrangements. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that pooling arrangements are vital supporting measure for effective effort coordination, in which case having both of these two measures rather than only either one may be the key for successful fishery comanagement. We test this hypothesis with two sets of data. One is Japans fishery census, which was published by the government and offers a large sample size but lacks information on effort coordination. Another is data from a survey designed and conducted by the authors to supplement the information on effort coordination and other self-imposed regulations. Our results show that (1) merely establishing comanaging groups such as FMOs has limited effect; (2) FMOs that establish pooling arrangements earn greater revenue from their fishing efforts, particularly when such pooling arrangements are combined with effort-coordination; and (3) pooling arrangements and effort coordination coupled with marketing activities result in the greatest revenue.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Regional service delivery among Pacific Island countries: an assessment

Experience with pooling service delivery among Pacific Island countries has not met the optimistic expectations of advocates, finds this study. Abstract Pacific Island countries face a range of development challenges, including smallness, distance from major markets and capacity constraints. Regional service delivery, or pooling, has been advocated as a means of addressing these challenges. This article presents the findings from the first comprehensive study of pooling initiatives in the Pacific. It draws on a review of the literature pertaining to 20 pooling initiatives identified in the region and on interviews with stakeholders involved in many of those initiatives. The study finds that experience with pooling among Pacific Island countries has not met the optimistic expectations of advocates, including development partners. This is the result of the challenges inherent in voluntary regionalism, which are exacerbated by the diversity of Pacific Island states and political economy constraints. The article concludes that an incremental approach to expansion of regional service provision in the Pacific is both likely and appropriate given these factors