Border Area Development in the GMS: Turning the Periphery into the Center of Growth

Border area development is neither an original nor a brand new idea of the author. It has long been discussed in a variety of words including border industries, growth triangles, growth areas and economic corridors. The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation revitalized the border area development as a new development strategy for less developed countries such as Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. This paper examines the location advantages of border areas, in particular of those between less developed regions and more developed ones. They include complementary factor endowment, cross-border infrastructure services and the degree of economic integration and border barriers. An industry located in border areas has a growth potential, as it can exploit the location advantages of the abundant and cheap labor force in less developed regions, while avoiding high service link costs and unstable utility services that accrue from underdeveloped infrastructure in less developed regions, by utilizing cross-border infrastructure services provided from more developed regions. Special economic zones (SEZs) located in the border areas can effectively exploit such location advantages and contribute to the formation of industrial clusters in border areas.Border Area Development; GMS; Border Industry; SEZ.

Returns to migration : the role of educational attainment in rural Tanzania

Given the migration premium previously identified in an impact evaluation approach, this paper asks the question of why migration is not more prominent, given such high premium associated with it. Using long-term household panel data drawn from rural Tanzania, Kagera for the period 1991-2004, this study aims to answer this question by exploring the contribution of education in the migration premium. By separating migrants into those that moved out of original villages but remained within Kagera and those who left the region, this study finds that, in consumption, the return on investment in education is higher at both destinations. However, whilst the higher return on education fully explains the gains associated with migration within Kagera, it only partly explains those of external migration. These findings suggest that welfare opportunities are higher at the destination and that an individual's limited investment in education plays a major role in preventing short-distance migration from becoming a significant source of raising welfare, which is not the case for long-distance migration. While education plays a role, it appears that other mechanisms may prohibit rural agents from exploiting the arbitrage opportunity when they migrate to the destination at a great distance from the source.Tanzania, Population movement, Migration, Education, Rural societies, Africa, Internal migration, School Investment, Return to education, Welfare growth

Method for horizontally growing ribbon crystal

A high speed method for forming ribbon crystal of desired width and thickness is characterized by drawing out the ribbon through a space whose distance is 5.7 times that of the thickness of the grown ribbon. The ribbon is drawn out between the molten body of the lower surface and the tip of the upper surface of the seed crystal and growing crystal. The ribbon growing at the tip of the seed crystal is drawn out horizontally and centrifugally by controlling the amount of cooling and heating. The temperature is maintained about equal to the upper surface of the outlets from which the molten substance is drawn, at least in certain portions of the crucible rim, the rim is elevated to prevent dropping of the molten raw material