Economics of Pearl Oyster Culture

In this paper, the market situation of the pearl industry is examined and changes in its structure are related to new technologies. Differences in the industry’s socio-economic impacts are explored, sources of market supply are specified and factors involved in the marketing of pearls are given particular attention. Most, but not exclusive attention, is given to the experiences of the Australian pearl industry and that of French Polynesia. Australia is the major global producer of South Sea pearls and French Polynesia is the main supplier of black pearls

Socio-economics of pearl culture : industry changes and comparisons focussing on Australia and French Polynesia.

Concentrates on comparing socio-economic aspects of pearl culture in Australia, which mostly relies on the culture of the South Sea pearl oyster P. maxima, with that in French Polynesia which depends on the culture of the black-lipped pearl oyster P. margaritifera. Australian culture of pearl oysters dates from the 1950s whereas culture of black pearls in French Polynesia dates from the second half of the 1970s. After briefly outlining the history of pearl culture in Australia and Tahiti, this paper provides an overview of the industry, comparative structure of the industry in Australia and French Polynesia and its technologies. Socio-economic impacts, especially regional impacts, of the industry are considered. Market characteristics (such as prices of pearls and the marketing and promotion of Tahitian pearls) are given attention and observations are made about Australian export markets for pearls. There appears to be some positive correlation between the price received on average for Tahitian pearls and that obtained for Australian pearl exports, but more control is exerted over Australian supply of pearls to the market so enabling declines in the price for Australian pearls to be counteracted quickly

Change management, intersectoral migration and the economic development of small island states

This paper argues that there is a need to better acknowledge and problematise the manner in which individuals, households, organisations and governments in small island jurisdictions develop mechanisms that allow them to exploit the benefits, and/or minimise the losses, of episodic economic lurches. A ‘strategic flexibility’ approach is proposed to explain how actors practise intersectoral migration: cleverly shifting focus, interest and scope, not just out of necessity (reactively) but in ‘smelling’ promising opportunities (proactively). In a scenario where change is taken as a given, managing and coping with such change become the hallmarks of economic survival: just like surfers handling the ocean swell.peer-reviewe

Do migrant remittances promote human capital formation? Evidence from 89 developing countries

The few published empirical studies on the effect of migrant remittances on educational attainments are roughly based on cross-sectional microdata from household surveys. This paper applies the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator on aggregate level data from 1970 to 2010 in five-year intervals to examine the impact of migrant remittances on human capital formation in 89 developing countries. The estimation results show that, on average, an increase in migrant remittance inflows by 1% is associated with a 2% rise in years of schooling at both the secondary and tertiary levels. This suggests that migrant remittances have the potential to relax liquidity constraints and generate spillover effects that facilitate more schooling opportunities in remittance-receiving countries

The remittances of migrant Tongan and Samoan nurses from Australia

BACKGROUND: Migration and remittances are of considerable importance in the small Pacific island states. There has been a significant migration of skilled health workers in recent decades to metropolitan fringe states, including Australia and New Zealand. This paper reports the findings of a re-analysis of survey of Samoan and Tongan migrants in Australia where the sample is split between nurse households and others. METHODS: The study analyzes the survey data with a view to comparing the remittance behaviour and determinants of remittances for nurses and other migrant households, using both descriptive, cross-tabulations and appropriate econometric methods. RESULTS: It is found that a significantly higher proportion of nurse households sent remittances home, and, on average remitted more. Remittances of nurse households did not decline significantly over time contrary to what has generally been predicted. This was in contrast to other migrant households in the sample, for whom remittances showed a sharp decline after 15 years absence. Remittances contribute much more to the income of migrant sending countries, than the cost of the additional human capital in nurse training. CONCLUSIONS: Given the shortage of nurses in Australia and New Zealand, and therefore the high demand for immigrant nurses, investment by Pacific island governments and families in nurse training constitutes a rational use of economic resources. Policies encouraging investment in home countries may be more effective than policies directly discouraging brain drain in contributing to national development

Income, Consumption and Remittances: Evidence from Immigrants to Australia

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