31 research outputs found
FDI in Agricultural Land, Welfare and Unemployment in a Developing Economy
The paper purports to examine the consequences of foreign direct investment (FDI) in agricultural land in a developing economy using a three-sector general equilibrium model with simultaneous existence off unemployment of both skilled and unskilled labour. The analysis finds that FDI in agriculture does not only improve national welfare unequivocally but also mitigates unemployment problem of both types of labour. The paper theoretically justifies the desirability of flow of FDI in agriculture in the developing economies.FDI in agricultural land; national welfare; unemployment; fair wage hypothesis; skilled labour; unskilled labour; general equilibrium
Consumption efficiency hypothesis and the optimality of free trade policy in a small open economy
The paper is designed to examine the optimality of the free trade policy in a small poor economy incorporating the consumption efficiency hypothesis in the simple two-by-two Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) framework. It finds that the protectionist policy in the form of a tariff on the capital-intensive import-competing sector may improve social welfare and unambiguously raise the economy-wide effective employment.Consumption efficiency hypothesis; Optimality of free trade; Protectionist policy; Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model; Effective employment
Consumption efficiency hypothesis and the HOS model: Some counterintuitive results
We show how accommodation of the consumption efficiency hypothesis can explain the existence of involuntary unemployment in the two-by-two Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) model. Although the workers consume both the commodities their nutritional efficiency depends on the consumption of one commodity only. An increase in the relative price of the capital-intensive (labour-intensive) good raises (lowers) the effective employment in the economy. The effects of commodity price changes on the output levels of the two sectors might be perverse. These results are different from the standard HOS results.Consumption efficiency hypothesis; General equilibrium; Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model; Effective employment; Output composition
Foreign Capital Inflow, Skilled-Unskilled Wage Inequality and Unemployment of Unskilled Labour in a Fair Wage Model
This paper has developed a three-sector general equilibrium framework that explains unemployment of both skilled and unskilled labour. Unemployment of unskilled labour is of the Harris-Todaro (1970) type while unemployment of skilled labour is caused due to the validity of the FWH in the high-skill sector. There are two types of capital one of which is specific to the primary export sector while the other moves freely among the different sectors. Inflows of foreign capital of either type unambiguously improve the economic conditions of the unskilled working class. However, the effects on the skilled-unskilled wage inequality and the extent of unemployment of both types of labour crucially hinge on the properties implied by the efficiency function of the skilled workers.Fair wage hypothesis; skilled labour; unskilled labour; wage inequality; foreign capital; unemployment
Economic Liberalization and Informal Wage in a Small Open Economy: Does Capital Mobility count?
Empirical evidence suggests that the size of the informal sector in the developing countries has increased considerably during the liberalized economic regime. The present paper purports to analyze the consequences of economic reforms on the wellbeing of the informal sector workforce using a three-sector general equilibrium model with two informal sectors. The theoretical analysis finds that different liberalized policies produce diverse effects on the informal wage and that these results are independent of the nature of capital mobility between the informal and the formal sectors. It also shows that labour market reforms, contrary to the common wisdom, are likely to produce favourable effects on the informal wage.Informal sector; formal sector; informal wage; economic reforms; capital mobility; general equilibrium model
Foreign Capital, National Welfare and Unemployment in a Fair Wage Model
The paper develops a three-sector general equilibrium model that can explain simultaneous existence of unemployment of both skilled and unskilled labour. The unemployment of unskilled labour is explicated in terms of rural-urban migration mechanism while that of skilled labour is shown using the âfair wage hypothesisâ. The paper finds that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the primary export sector improve both national welfare and urban unemployment problem of unskilled labour while the consequences of foreign capital flows into the import-competing sector and high-skill export sector are ambiguous. The paper justifies the desirability of FDI flow in the primary export sector from the perspective of both unemployment and social welfare.Fair wage hypothesis; skilled labour; unskilled labour; national welfare; unemployment.
Making Organisations Gender EqualâA long journey: Experience from a non-profit in India
Organisational leadership plays a key role in shaping the workspace. The collectively held beliefs, assumptions, and values which constitute the culture of an organisation are mostly influenced by its leadership. Monogamous patriarchal family structuresâevolved based on male ownership and womenâs subjugationâhave led to the deep-seated idea of male supremacy. Organisations, including value-based non-profits, show the same pattern. Within organisations, patriarchal leadership exhibits sexism in order to maintain the status quo. The deep culture of gender inequality in organisations is apparently maintained as a means of maintaining male supremacy. This article demonstrates how, in two consecutive gender audits, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), a non-profit organisation scored much lower in âwillingness of leadership to make the organisation a better place for women to workâ in spite of the fact that PRADAN is among a small number that invested resources, financial and human, to bring about gender equality in the organisation. As members of the leadership group of PRADAN, the authors assert the need for a powerful Guiding Coalition, outside the normal hierarchy, to lead initiatives and to work with the leadership group, as a way forward to make the organisation a better place for women to work
Why are Womenâs Self-help Groups on the Periphery of Adivasi Movements in India? Insights from Practitioners
âAdivasiâ is an identity of protest against the oppressive practices of displacement and dispossession faced by tribal communities across India. As the social and political scenario of the vast Central Indian Plateau (CIP), the homeland of many such communities, is shaped by the social dynamics of oppression and resistance, any social or political organisation working in this region for justice and equity has to not only understand this adivasi consciousness of resistance against the concentration of capital and accumulation of surplus through a process of dispossession but also evolve their strategy in the context of adivasi consciousness. The authors have many years of experience of working with womenâs group in the CIP. In this reflective piece they critique their own action as failing to assimilate the important socio-political dynamics of the adivasi consciousness. As a result the womenâs groups promoted by them have remained peripheral in the struggle against dispossession. Non-inclusion of women in traditionally male dominated forums in adivasi society is a hindering factor for the women to take leading part in the adivasi movements. The authors conclude that it is important to work with both men and women to fight against dispossession which will also change the culture of male dominated committees within the Adivasi society
Heat conduction and phonon localization in disordered harmonic crystals
We investigate the steady state heat current in two and three dimensional
isotopically disordered harmonic lattices. Using localization theory as well as
kinetic theory we estimate the system size dependence of the current. These
estimates are compared with numerical results obtained using an exact formula
for the current given in terms of a phonon transmission function, as well as by
direct nonequilibrium simulations. We find that heat conduction by
high-frequency modes is suppressed by localization while low-frequency modes
are strongly affected by boundary conditions. Our {\color{black}heuristic}
arguments show that Fourier's law is valid in a three dimensional disordered
solid except for special boundary conditions. We also study the pinned case
relevant to localization in quantum systems and often used as a model system to
study the validity of Fourier's law. Here we provide the first numerical
verification of Fourier's law in three dimensions. In the two dimensional
pinned case we find that localization of phonon modes leads to a heat
insulator.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure