Irregular Migration and Asylum Seekers in the Caribbean

migration, irregular migration, Caribbean population, asylum

No. 04: The Urban Food System of Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is a colonial city and, like the country of Jamaica more generally, was the product of early mercantilism moulded by colonialism, sugar plantations and slavery. As Jamaica’s capital, Kingston is an economic and administrative hub with a social geography marked by many of the characteristic fissures of emerging cities in transition economies. Its population is fed by a combination of food imports and domestic production from agricultural areas across the island. The key trading point for fresh produce flows into Kingston is Coronation Market in the city centre. Between 60% and 70% of fruit and vegetables arriving at Coronation Market are re-distributed through other wholesale markets in and around Kingston. Domestically produced foods flow into Kingston largely through Jamaica’s higgler system. These informal vendors perform many functions as market intermediaries, including trade, harvesting, post-harvest processing, re-distribution and sales. Jamaicans spend an average of 43% of their income on food; a figure significantly influenced by price shocks. Some of these shocks are the result of severe weather conditions, including cyclones with excessive rains as well as drought. While there is a strong preference for domestically produced goods, cheaper prices and perceived safety of imports entice consumers. Jamaica has also moved increasingly towards a higher fat, more refined diet, resulting in higher rates of obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases

Small Farmers and Big Retail: trade-offs of supplying supermarkets in Nicaragua

In Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America, small-scale farmers are weighing the risks of entering into contracts with supermarket chains. We use unique data on negotiated prices from Nicaraguan farm cooperatives supplying supermarkets to study the impact of supply agreements on producers’ mean output prices and price stability. We find that prices paid by the domestic retail chain approximate the traditional market in mean and variance. In contrast, we find that mean prices paid by Wal-mart are significantly lower than the traditional market but that Wal-Mart systematically reduces price volatility compared with the traditional market. We find some evidence, however, that farmers may be paying too much for this contractual insurance against price variation.Nicaragua, Supermarkets, Wal-Mart, Modern Retail, Market Risk, Contracts, Supply Chains, Agribusiness, International Development,

Differences between domestic accounting standards and IAS: measurement, determinants and implications

This study analyzes determinants and effects of differences between Domestic Accounting Standards (DSA) and Internationake Accounting Standards (IAS).International accounting differences; institutional factors; earnings managements; synchronicity

No. 19: Inclusive Growth and the Informal Food Sector in Kingston, Jamaica

This report should be read in conjunction with previous work on the food system in Kingston by the Hungry Cities Partnership. HCP No. 4, The Urban Food System of Kingston, Jamaica provides a comprehensive overview of the nature and operation of Kingston’s food system and the current state of knowledge about the informal food sector (Thomas-Hope et al 2017). It demonstrates the importance of the informal sector and city markets as a source of affordable food and employment. HCP No. 15, The State of Household Food Security in Kingston, Jamaica (Kinlocke et al 2019) presents the results of a city-wide household food security survey and provides convincing evidence of the widespread reliance of lowerincome households on the informal food sector for income and as the major source of food consumed in the household. Against this backdrop, this report examines the informal food sector in Kingston through an analysis of data from a large-scale survey of food vendors. Much of the public and academic discourse on food vendors in the city of Kingston consists of anecdotal accounts that do not specifically characterize this subset of the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. Despite their important function in the urban economy, small-scale informal enterprises in the food system have been largely overlooked by policy and legislative frameworks, which generally fail to identify them as a focal point for attention (Kinlocke and Thomas-Hope 2019). The characterization of these vendors is a highly relevant starting point for the development of interventions that seek to reduce vulnerabilities emerging from structural vagaries, marginalization in the face of urban renewal programs, and limited access to necessary facilities and services. This report therefore presents an evidence-based analysis of vendors in the city of Kingston in relation to their socio-demographic, economic, and spatio-temporal characteristics

Locating the Old Houses of Cumberland Maine

https://digitalmaine.com/cumberland_books/1001/thumbnail.jp

Rate of Mobile Phone Usage by Automobile Drivers in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Drivers do engage in the use of mobile phone while driving despite the legislation frowning at such act. This cross sectional mixed method study sought to find out the rate of usage of phones in the three residential density areas in Ibadan. Multi-stage sampling techniques were used for the questionnaire administration and purposive sampling technique for observation. The results of the analysis revealed more males used mobile phones while driving in the three residential density areas; total volume of traffic per day is highest in the medium density area; highest percentage of violation was recorded between 3pm-4pm; highest percentage of drivers were spotted using mobile phone on the wheel on Monday and recommendations were offered to reduce the rate of mobile phone usage by drivers. Keywords: mobile phone, automobile drivers, residential density areas

Does ‘Scientists believe…’ imply ‘All scientists believe...’? Individual differences in the interpretation of generic news headlines

Media headlines reporting scientific research frequently include generic phrases such as “Scientists believe x” or “Experts think y”. These phrases capture attention and succinctly communicate science to the public. However, by generically attributing beliefs to ‘Scientists’, ‘Experts’ or ‘Researchers’ the degree of scientific consensus must be inferred by the reader or listener (do all scientists believe x, most scientists, or just a few?). Our data revealed that decontextualized generic phrases such as “Scientists say…” imply consensus among a majority of relevant experts (53.8% in Study 1 and 60.7-61.8% in Study 2). There was little variation in the degree of consensus implied by different generic phrases, but wide variation between different participants. These ratings of decontextualized phrases will inevitably be labile and prone to change with the addition of context, but under controlled conditions people interpret generic consensus statements in very different ways. We tested the novel hypothesis that individual differences in consensus estimates occur because generic phrases encourage an intuitive overgeneralization (e.g., Scientists believe = All scientists believe) that some people revise downwards on reflection (e.g., Scientists believe = Some scientists believe). Two pre-registered studies failed to support this hypothesis. There was no significant relationship between reflective thinking and consensus estimates (Study 1) and enforced reflection did not cause estimates to be revised downwards (Study 2). Those reporting scientific research should be aware that generically attributing beliefs to ‘Scientists’ or ‘Researchers’ is ambiguous and inappropriate when there is no clear consensus among relevant experts