CHILD LABOUR AND TRADE LIBERALIZATION IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY

The paper analyzes the implications of trade liberalization on the incidence of child labour in a two-sector general equilibrium framework. The supply function of child labour has been derived from the utility maximizing behaviour of the working families. The paper finds that the effect of trade liberalization on the incidence of child labour crucially hinges on the relative factor intensities of the two sectors.Child labour, general equilibrium, trade liberalization

Human Capital Accumulation and Endogenous Growth in a Dual Economy

Human Capital, Dualism, Economic growth, Rural, Urban, Competitive Equilibrium, Steady-state growth, Planned Economy

International factor mobility, informal interest rate and capital market imperfection: a general equilibrium analysis

This paper makes a pioneering attempt to provide a theory of determination of interest rate in the informal credit market in a small open economy in terms of a three-sector general equilibrium model. There are two informal sectors which obtain production loans from a monopolistic moneylender and employ labour from the informal labour market. On the other hand, the formal sector employs labour at an institutionally fixed wage rate and takes loans from the competitive formal credit market. We show that an inflow of foreign capital and/or an emigration of labour raises (lowers) the informal (formal) interest rate while lowers the competitive wage rate in the informal labour market when the informal manufacturing sector is more capital-intensive vis-à-vis the agricultural informal sector. International factor mobility, therefore, increases the degrees of distortions in both the factor markets in this case.Informal credit, formal credit, moneylender, foreign capital, emigration, general equilibrium

Fatty acid synthesis by isolated leucoplasts from developing Brassica seeds: role of nucleoside triphosphates and DHAP-shuttle as the source of energy

Fatty acid synthesis in leucoplasts isolated from developing seeds ofBrassica campestris was absolutely dependent on external source of ATP. None of the other nucleoside triphosphates could replace ATP in the reaction mixture. Use of ADP alone also resulted in reduced rates of fatty acid synthesis. However, in combination with inorganic phosphate or inorganic pyrophosphate, it improved the rate of fatty acid synthesis, giving up to 50% of the ATP-control activity. Inorganic phosphate or inorganic pyrophosphate alone again did not serve as an energy source for fatty acid synthesis. AMP, alongwith inorganic pyrophosphate could promote fatty acid synthesis to up to 42% of the activity obtained with ATP. The three components dihydroxy acetone phosphate, oxaloacetic acid, inorganic phosphate of dihydroxy acetone phosphate-shuttle together could restore 50% of the activity obtained with ATP. Omission of any one of the components of this shuttle drastically reduced the rate of fatty acid synthesis to 15-24% of the ATP-control activity. Inclusion of ATP in reaction mixtures containing shuttle components enhanced the rate of synthesis over control. The optimum ratio of shuttle components dihydroxy acetone phosphate, oxaloacetic acid, inorganic phosphate determined was 1:1:2. Maximum rates of fatty acid synthesis were obtained when dihydroxy acetate phosphate was used as the shuttle triose. Glyceraldehyde-3-P, 3-phosphoglycerate, 2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate as shuttle trioses were around 35-60% as effective as dihydroxy acetone phosphate in promoting fatty acid synthesis. The results presented here indicate that although the isolated leucoplasts readily utilize exogenously supplied ATP for fatty acid synthesis, intraplastidic ATP could also arise from dihydroxy acetone phosphate shuttle components or other appropriate metabolites