Colonialism and Industrialization: Empirical Results

This paper presents theory and evidence to show that imperialism was a major factor impeding the spread of the industrial revolution during the century ending in the 1950s. Two empirical results stand out. First, analysis of historical evidence shows that most sovereign countries were implementing active industrial policies during the nineteenth century, while policies in dependent countries were biased in the opposite direction. Second, when allowance is made for economic determinants, industrialization in dependent countries in 1960 is found to be significantly lower than in sovereign countries. This result is shown to be quite robust to changes in data, sample size, functional forms, and specifications of the estimating equations. In particular, the basic results are not affected by the inclusion of a dummy for Sub-Saharan Africa

Segregation in a fluidized binary granular mixture: Competition between buoyancy and geometric forces

Starting from the hydrodynamic equations of binary granular mixtures, we derive an evolution equation for the relative velocity of the intruders, which is shown to be coupled to the inertia of the smaller particles. The onset of Brazil-nut segregation is explained as a competition between the buoyancy and geometric forces: the Archimedean buoyancy force, a buoyancy force due to the difference between the energies of two granular species, and two geometric forces, one compressive and the other-one tensile in nature, due to the size-difference. We show that inelastic dissipation strongly affects the phase diagram of the Brazil nut phenomenon and our model is able to explain the experimental results of Breu et al. (PRL, 2003, vol. 90, p. 01402).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Some Economic Results of the Civilizing Mission

This paper proposes three tasks. It briefly delineates the character of the civilizing mission and the interests it served, especially the colonization of Asia and Africa. In addition, the claims of the civilizing mission and the neoclassical theory of trade are tested empirically by comparing growth rates of sovereign countries and colonies, and of colonies before and after they gained sovereignty. Finally, we offer a quick review of the changing dynamics of the global economy as goods which were hitherto non-tradable become increasingly tradable.Civilizing mission; imperialism; colonization; global economy; neoclassical theory; free trade; growth rates; non-tradable goods; tradable goods

Global Disparities Since 1800:Trends and Regional Patterns

This paper reviews the growing body of evidence on the relative economic standing of different regions of the world in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In general, it does not find support for Eurocentric claims regarding Western Europe’s early economic lead. The Eurocentric claims are based primarily on estimates of a per capita income, which are plagued by conceptual problems, make demands on historical data that are generally unavailable, and they use questionable assumptions to reconstruct early per capita income. A careful examination of these conjectural estimates of per capita income, however, does not support claims that Western Europe had a substantial lead over the rest of the world at the beginning of the nineteenth century. An examination of several alternative indices of living standards in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries – such as real wages, labor productivity in agriculture, and urbanization – also fails to confirm claims of European superiority. In addition, this paper examines the progress of global disparities – including the presence of regional patterns – using estimates of per capita income.Global economy; Disparities; Regional patterns; Per capita income; Real wages; Labor productivity; Agriculture; Eurocentric

Does the Participation in the Microcredit Programs Increase Consumption of Participating Households? The Case of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh

This paper assesses empirically the impact of the participation in the microcredit program of the Grameen Bank on consumption of participating households. A household level survey was carried out for collecting data (N=521). The results of the empirical estimations indicate that the participation of a household in the microcredit program of the Grameen Bank increases consumption of participating households significantly. But there is non-linearity in the increasing trend in consumption of participating households. The consumption level goes up gradually with the increase in the membership duration up to five years of membership, but the growth rate starts declining after that period of membership.Microcredit, Consumption, Impact Assessment, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) for building construction industry - A review of the contemporary developments and future directions

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Applied Energy. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.Demand for energy efficient buildings has increased drastically in recent years and this trend will continue in the future. Insulating building elements will play a key role in meeting this demand by reducing heat losses through the building fabric. Due to their higher thermal resistance, Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) would be a more energy efficient alternative to conventional building insulation materials. Thus, efforts to develop VIPs with characteristics suitable for applications to new and existing buildings are underway. This paper provides a review of important contemporary developments towards producing VIPs using various materials such as glass fibre, foams, perlite and fibre/powder composites. The limitations of the materials currently used to fabricate VIPs have not been emphasised in detail in previous review papers published. Selection criteria, methods to measure important properties of VIPs and analytical and numerical models presented in the past have been detailed. Limitations of currently employed design tools along with potential future materials such as Nano/microcellular foams and SiOx/SiNx coatings for use in VIPs are also described

Microfinance and Environment: Does the Participation in the Microcredit Based Social Forestry of Proshika in Bangladesh Improve Environmental Literacy?

The study intends to assess the impact of the participation in the microcredit based social forestry program of Proshika in Bangladesh on the environmental literacy of participating households. The analysis is based on a household-level survey of 450 households. Considering the endogeneity in program participation, the instrumental variable (IV) technique has been used to achieve the objective of the paper. The results indicate that the participation in the social forestry program of Proshika significantly enhances the environmental literacy of participating households.Microcredit, Social Forestry, Environmental Literacy, Proshika, Bangladesh,