The effect of livestock theft on household poverty in developing countries: The case of Lesotho

While livestock theft in Lesotho is primarily caused by increased poverty among unemployed workers and drought stricken crop farmers, its effect on stock farmers can be devastating. It reduces the affected households’ own consumption of both the “returns” on their wealth, e.g. milk and wool, and of wealth itself, e.g. meat and hides. In addition, it restricts their ability to sell their returns and wealth in the market place and use the proceeds to acquire other food and non-food products. Some policy implications are also highlighted.Livestock theft, Lesotho, own consumption, animal products, diversified farming, nutritional status, human capital, HIV/AIDS

Development economics : 'trustee for the poor' or 'guardian of rationality'? : inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University

Inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes UniversityRhodes University Libraries (Digitisation

Metrics that matter for assessing the ocean biological carbon pump

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Buesseler, K. O., Boyd, P. W., Black, E. E., & Siegel, D. A. Metrics that matter for assessing the ocean biological carbon pump. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, (2020): 201918114, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1918114117.The biological carbon pump (BCP) comprises wide-ranging processes that set carbon supply, consumption, and storage in the oceans’ interior. It is becoming increasingly evident that small changes in the efficiency of the BCP can significantly alter ocean carbon sequestration and, thus, atmospheric CO2 and climate, as well as the functioning of midwater ecosystems. Earth system models, including those used by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, most often assess POC (particulate organic carbon) flux into the ocean interior at a fixed reference depth. The extrapolation of these fluxes to other depths, which defines the BCP efficiencies, is often executed using an idealized and empirically based flux-vs.-depth relationship, often referred to as the “Martin curve.” We use a new compilation of POC fluxes in the upper ocean to reveal very different patterns in BCP efficiencies depending upon whether the fluxes are assessed at a fixed reference depth or relative to the depth of the sunlit euphotic zone (Ez). We find that the fixed-depth approach underestimates BCP efficiencies when the Ez is shallow, and vice versa. This adjustment alters regional assessments of BCP efficiencies as well as global carbon budgets and the interpretation of prior BCP studies. With several international studies recently underway to study the ocean BCP, there are new and unique opportunities to improve our understanding of the mechanistic controls on BCP efficiencies. However, we will only be able to compare results between studies if we use a common set of Ez-based metrics.We thank the many scientists whose ideas and contributions over the years are the foundation of this paper. This includes A. Martin, who led the organization of the BIARRITZ group (now JETZON) workshop in July 2019, discussions at which helped to motivate this article. We thank D. Karl for pointing us in the right direction for this paper format at PNAS and two thoughtful reviewers who through their comments helped to improve this manuscript. Support for writing this piece is acknowledged from several sources, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ocean Twilight Zone project (K.O.B.); NASA as part of the EXport Processes in the global Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) program (K.O.B. and D.A.S.). E.E.B. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship through the Ocean Frontier Institute at Dalhousie University. P.W.B. was supported by the Australian Research Council through a Laureate (FL160100131)

The power of perceptions: exploring the role of urban design in cycling behaviours and healthy ageing

Good urban design has the power to aid in the provision of inclusive journey environments, yet traditionally neglects the perspective of the cyclist. This paper starts from the premise that more can be done to understand and articulate cyclists’ experiences and perceptions of the urban environment in which they cycle, as part of a closer linking of urban design qualities with transport planning and infrastructure interventions. This approach is particularly applicable in relation to older cyclists, a group whose needs are often poorly understood and for whom perceptions can significantly influence mobile behaviours. Currently, knowledge regarding the relationship between the built environment and physical activity, including cycling, in older adults is limited. As European countries face up to the challenges associated with ageing populations, some metropolitan regions, such as Munich, Germany, are making inroads into widening cycling’s appeal across generations through a combination of urban design, policy and infrastructure initiatives. The paper provides a systematic understanding of the urban design qualities and built environment features that affect cycling participation and have the potential to contribute towards healthy ageing. Urban design features such as legibility, aesthetics, scale and open space have been shown to influence and affect other mobile behaviours (e.g. walking), but their role as a mediator in cycle behaviour remains under-explored. Many of these design ‘qualities’ are related to individual perceptions; capturing these can help build a picture of quality in the built environment that includes an individual’s relationship with their local neighbourhood and its influences on their mobility choices. Issues of accessibility, facilities, and safety in cycling remain crucial, and, when allied to these design ‘qualities‘, provides a more rounded reflection of everyday journeys and trips taken or desired. The paper sets out the role that urban design might play in mediating these critical mobility issues, and in particular, in better understanding the ‘quality of the journey’. It concludes by highlighting the need for designers, policy makers, planners and academics to consider the role that design can play in encouraging cycle participation, especially as part of a healthy ageing agenda

Efficiency considerations and the allocation of new deal funds: an examination of the public goods explanation of expenditure patterns

The uneven state-level distribution of New Deal spending has been frequently studied and a variety of economic and political models have been developed. In their article, “Does the Distribution of New Deal Spending Reflect an Optimal Provision of Public Goods?,†(Economics Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2007. pp 1-5) Bateman and Taylor propose that much of the disparity in state-level New Deal expenditures can be explained if the creation of public goods and the spillover effects are included in economic models. Using the available wealth of data on New Deal programs, expenditures by agencies within the New Deal are examined and correlation statistics provided to test this hypothesis against the 1930 US census population density figures.New Deal, public good, spillover effects, Public Works Administration, PWA, Civil Works Administration, CWA

Theories of economic underdevelopment: a general equilibrium analysis

This thesis is mainly concerned with the question whether 'conventional' economic theory - especially the neoclassical theory of general equilibrium - is sufficiently flexible to accommodate the particular conditions prevailing in the developing countries. It is argued that most existing theories of economic underdevelopment adopt an interpretative approach which essentially amounts to relaxing some of the chief assumptions of the neoclassical theory. When applied to the two-sector model of general equilibrium, these theories generally yield predictions which are vastly different from those associated with the neoclassical assumptions of perfect competition, unlimited factor substitutability and unrestricted resource mobility. Several theories seek to explain the development problem in terms of the specific production processes used in poor countries. Myrdal's (1957) theory of cumulative causation, for example, effectively introduces increasing returns to scale in at least one sector or region of the economy; in contrast to the neoclassical theory, he thus nvisages a cumulative process of regional divergence in the output level per worker. Similarly, Richard Eckaus's (1955) explanation of the "factor-proportions problem" is based on the assumption of limited factor substitutability. This enables him to establish the existence of a so-called "unemployment equiIibrium", thus implying that developing countries may be faced with a conflict between the objective of maximizing social -welfare on the one hand, and that of full employment on the other. More recently, Leibenstein (1960) has shown that this trade-off may be complicated by the introduction of capital-biased technological inventions and innovations. The solution to the factor-proportions problem consists in the adoption of more appropriate, usually labour-biased technologies, increased capital formation and a reduction in the rate of population growth. Much of the postwar literature on economic development has focused on the imperfectly competitive structure of the product and the factor markets in developing countries. Myint (1954) has highlighted the role played by monopolies and ligopolies during the "opening-up" process of economic development. Likewise, both Lewis's (1954) dualist theory and Todaro's (1969; 1971) model of rural-urban migration attempt to explain the unemployment problem in terms of various factor price distortions. In an international context, Prebisch (1950; 1959) and Singer (1950) have again shown how prevailing differences in the structure of markets between developed and developing countries may turn the terms of trade against the latter; using a two-sector model, Bhagwati (1958) has demonstrated that such a deterioration in the terms of trade could bring about a net decrease in the welfare level of the countries concerned. Generally, the policy measures relevant to the "market imperfections" problem include the creation of job opportunities in the rural (rather than urban) sector, the encouragement of informal-sector enterprises,and the imposition of factor taxes and subsidies as a means of counteracting the adverse effect of factor price distortions on employment. A more recent approach to the unemployment problem is the plea by the International Labor Office (1970; 1972) for a redistribution of income within the developing countries. In terms of the two-sector model, such a policy may well succeed in eliminating labour unemployment caused by fixed factor proportions and/or factor price distortions. It should be realized, though, that a redistribution of income may lower the aggregate savings level, and hence also the growth rates of capital and labour employment in the economy. On the whole, it would seem that these theories do indeed adopt a modified version of the neoclassical theory in providing a fairly comprehensive explanation of the economic problems of labour unemployment, low incomes and inequality

Response-scale heterogeneity in the EQ-5D

This paper discusses two types of response-scale heterogeneity, which may impact upon the EQ-5D. Response-scale heterogeneity in reporting occurs when individuals systematically differ in their use of response scales when responding to self-assessments. This type of heterogeneity is widely observed in relation to other self-assessed measures but is often overlooked with regard to the EQ-5D. Analogous to this, preference elicitation involving the EQ-5D could be subject to a similar type of heterogeneity, where variations across respondents may occur in the interpretations of the levels (response categories) being valued. This response-scale heterogeneity in preference elicitation may differ from variations in preferences for health states, which have been observed in the literature. This paper explores what these forms of response-scale heterogeneity may mean for the EQ-5D and the potential implications for researchers who rely on the instrument as a measure of health and quality of life. We identify situations where they are likely to be problematic and present potential avenues for overcoming these issues

A burst chasing x-ray polarimeter

Gamma-ray bursts are one of the most powerful explosions in the universe and have been detected out to distances of almost 13 billion light years. The exact origin of these energetic explosions is still unknown but the resulting huge release of energy is thought to create a highly relativistic jet of material and a power-law distribution of electrons. There are several theories describing the origin of the prompt GRB emission that currently cannot be distinguished. Measurements of the linear polarization would provide unique and important constraints on the mechanisms thought to drive these powerful explosions. We present the design of a sensitive, and extremely versatile gamma-ray burst polarimeter. The instrument is a photoelectric polarimeter based on a time-projection chamber. The photoelectric time-projection technique combines high sensitivity with broad band-pass and is potentially the most powerful method between 2 and 100 keV where the photoelectric effect is the dominant interaction process. We present measurements of polarized and unpolarized X-rays obtained with a prototype detector and describe the two mission concepts; the Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter (GRBP) for the U.S. Naval Academy satellite MidSTAR-2, and the Low Energy Polarimeter (LEP) onboard POET, a broadband polarimetry concept for a small explorer mission