Indonesia's small and medium-size exporters and their support systems

The authors survey a sample of 91 small or medium-size exporters of garments, rattan furniture, the two are reasonably equally mixed. About 75 percent of the entrepreneures in garments and rattan furniture, and carved wooden furniture (Jepara), and interview people in public and nonprofit agencies active about issues affecting small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Indonesia's garment industry is dominated by entrepreneurs of Chinese descent and the Jepara industry by pribumi (Indonesian Malays); in rattan furniture, the two are reasonably equally mixed. About 75 percent of the entrepreneures in garments and rattan furniture have some university education; less than half of those in the more traditional, skill-based Jepara industry do. In most of the firms, international marketing was handled exclusively through private channels, that is also how most firms acquired technological capability. But such channels appeared to be more readily accessible by larger firms, by educated entrepreneurs, and by non-pribumi who could take advantage of the extended-family network that connects ethnic Chinese in the region. Relying exclusively on private channels means running the risk that participation in export markets will be limited to a relatively narrow base of entrepreneurs. Pribumi and smaller firms relied heavily on collective marketing support provided with a"light touch"- for example, support for participation in trade fairs. The Ministry of Trade's international network of offices geared to providing information and facilitating transactions was of little use to the firms surveyed. Collective technology support also appeared to be somewhat more important for smaller, pribumi firms, although its impact was modest. Employing expatriates was a powerful mechanism for acquiring technological capability, especially in the rattan and garment sectors, although it was concentrated disproportionately among the non-pribumi entrepreneurs. Indonesia's collective institutions suffer from pervasive organizational weaknesses that limit their ability to help broaden the base of private entrepreneurship in small and medium-size firms. Public institutions generally lack the commitment, resources, and flexibility needed to provide quality support to SMEs, and the industry association often lack the professionalism and accountability needed to gain SMEs'confidence. But public support can be useful when it involves relatively simple services, such as support to organize local fairs, to facilitate participation in fairs abroad, or to use foreign private consultants.Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Water and Industry,Public Health Promotion,Small Scale Enterprise,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Microfinance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Water and Industry

Is Gaining Access to Selective Elementary Schools Gaining Ground? Evidence From Randomized Lotteries

In this paper, we examine whether expanded access to sought-after schools can improve academic achievement. The setting we study is the "open enrollment" system in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We use lottery data to avoid the critical issue of non-random selection of students into schools. Our analysis sample includes nearly 450 lotteries for kindergarten and first grade slots at 32 popular schools in 2000 and 2001. We track students for up to five years and examine outcomes such as standardized test scores, grade retention and special education placement. Comparing lottery winners and losers, we find that lottery winners attend higher quality schools as measured by both the average achievement level of peers in the school as well as by value-added indicators of the school's contribution to student learning. Yet, we do not find that winning a lottery systematically confers any evident academic benefits. We explore several possible explanations for our findings, including the possibility that the typical student may be choosing schools for non-academic reasons (e.g., safety, proximity) and/or may experience benefits along dimensions we are unable to measure, but find little evidence in favor of such explanations. Moreover, we separately examine effects for a variety of demographic subgroups, and for students whose application behavior suggests a strong preference for academics, but again find no significant effects.

The Attack on Blackness in Fashion

This paper identifies specific and general instances of anti-black sentiment in the fashion industry across the Western world, in order to demonstrate how the actions and rhetoric of this industry equates to an all out assault on blackness and black culture, despite the contemporary acceptance and commodification of some of its elements. Next, an analysis is conducted into the overall effect this trend has on black life and psyche in today’s world. Finally, the paper suggests specific changes that must be made in order to reverse and correct this trend

Eisenhower and the Interstate

By passing the Federal Highway Act of 1956, 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower would go down in history as the father of the American Interstate Highway System. It was Ike’s determination to execute his ‘Grand Plan’ for a modernized road network that initiated the monumental effort to produce the roads we as Americans use every day. However, today’s highway network is a far cry from what Ike had in mind when he first envisioned the plan. Congressional dissent and special interests did much to undermine the success of Ike’s ‘Grand Plan,’ forcing him to compromise significantly on the issue. Through an analysis of Ike’s motivations, actions, and rhetoric surrounding the Interstate Highway effort as president of the United States from 1953-1960, I will demonstrate what Ike thought of the road network he initiated, and why it fell short of his greatest expectations

The Effect of School Choice on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Randomized Lotteries

School choice has become an increasingly prominent strategy for urban school districts seeking to enhance academic achievement. Evaluating the impact of such programs is complicated by the fact that a highly select sample of students takes advantage of these programs. To overcome this difficulty, we exploit randomized lotteries that determine high school admission in the Chicago Public Schools. Surprisingly, we find little evidence that attending sought after programs provides any benefit on a wide variety of traditional academic measures, including standardized test scores, attendance rates, course-taking, and credit accumulation. This is true despite the fact that those students who win the lotteries attend better high schools along a number of dimensions, including higher peer achievement levels, higher peer graduation rates, and lower levels of poverty. We do, however, uncover evidence that attendance at such schools may improve a subset of non-traditional outcome measures, such as self-reported disciplinary incidences and arrest rates.

Statistical Properties of Many Particle Eigenfunctions

Wavefunction correlations and density matrices for few or many particles are derived from the properties of semiclassical energy Green functions. Universal features of fixed energy (microcanonical) random wavefunction correlation functions appear which reflect the emergence of the canonical ensemble as the number of particles approaches infinity. This arises through a little known asymptotic limit of Bessel functions. Constraints due to symmetries, boundaries, and collisions between particles can be included.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure