The Hong Kong model of industrialization

Hong Kong is an interesting case study of economic development for two reasons: (1) the Colony is one of the few successful cases of industrialization and economic development among contemporary less developed countries; and (2) it closely resembles and is in fact a last remnant of the laissez-faire economy. This paper describes the pattern of industrialization in Hong Kong and its economic rationale in terms of the theory of international comparative advantage. The special features of industrialization in the Colony, taken together, constitute what is called the "Hong Kong Model of Industrialization." The "model" is found to be a pure case of industrialization through exploitation of comparative advantage. --

Tariff concessions in the Kennedy Round and the structure of protection in West Germany: An econometric assessment

It is well documented that the structure of tariffs in industrialized countries affords the greatest protection to relatively (unskilled) labor-intensive branches of industry (Constantopoulos3 1974 and references therein). Since we know from the Stolper-Samuelson theorem that this implies an improvement in the relative reward for services of labor, in particular unskilled labo, the political motive for such a tariff policy is obvious. In recent years industrialized countries have loudly proclaimed their dedication to the principles of free-trade and their intent to counterbalance the disadvantageous trade position of the less developed countries. While progress on the latter objective has been modest (Murry, 1973), great gains have been achieved in lowering tariff barriers. The most significant advances in this regard were effected in the GATT Kennedy Round (1963-67), which produced an average 35 percent reduction in tariff levels of non-agricultural products by far and away exceeding any reductions negotiated in previous GATT rounds. An interesting question in light of industrialized countries practised, as well as proclaimed dedication to trade liberalization is whether their tariff policy continues to be designed with labor's short-run interests in mind.

Factor proportions, linkages and the open developing economy

The purpose of this paper is to examine the theoretical rationale underlying the growth of footloose, import-dependent industry observed in many of the most successful developing countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan, S. Korea, for example). A second objective is to develop empirical formulations appropriate for analyzing the resource allocation consequences of a footloose industrial structure in a developing country. It is argued that previous applications of input-output techniques to factorintensity measurement have in general ignored the implications of trade in intermediate inputs. The Leontief test of the Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory is perhaps the first and certainly the most widely adopted application of input-output techniques to the measurement of the factor intensity of production. The first section of this paper will attempt to demonstrate that the procedure developed by Leontief is not strictly appropriate in an open economy which utilizes imported as well as domestically supplied inputs. An alternative formulation is developed in this paper, which when compared to the Leontief formulation yields a measure of the domestic resource cost or saving resulting from the use of imported rather than domestically produced inputs.

Industrial employment expansion under alternative development strategies

The general consensus in recent literature on development economics is that outward-looking strategies are likely to create more employment opportunities in labour abundant countries than inward-looking strategies. The reasons generally given to support this contention are (i) that inward-looking strategy limits the scope for structural change into relatively labour-intensive branches and (ii) that policies associated with inward-looking strategy tend to distort factor prices thereby giving incentive to the adoption of relatively capital-intensive techniques of production. This paper develops an identity which delineates the components of industrial employment expansion into effects of: (i) productivity change, (ii) capital accumulation and (iii) change in the composition of manufacturing. Applying this identity to India and Taiwan, two countries that have taken very different paths towards economic development, provides some insight into the source of employment expansion and its stringent limitations under alternative development strategies.

The expansion of manufactured exports in developing countries: An empirical assessment of supply and demand issues

Economist's thinking about the role of international trade in the process of economic development exhibits a cyclical behaviour. The classical thinking, which held sway until the 1930s, emphasized the crucial role of trade in promoting growth through the optimal allocation of resources made possible by the exploitation of international comparative advantage. By the 1950s, after years of frustration and disappointment in attempting to foster development on the basis of primary commodity exports, many economists, particularly those associated with the Latin American experience, rejected the logic of the classical argument, maintaining instead that underdevelopment is a fundamental problem of transforming the structure of an economy and not of merely achieving marginal optimality in the allocation of resources. Furthermore, imperfections of the international trading framework, such as increasing oligopolistic competition, discriminatory pricing on world markets and product differentiation, discredited deeply the idea of an export-led growth for developing countries. The economic consequence of the new viewpoint was a fundamental rejection of the market mechanism in favour of direct intervention and control of economic decision-making. The main tactic of this strategy was to force the substitution of imports with domestic production by controlling investment decisions and protecting the domestic market from international competition. By the mid-1960s, however, this strategy, or at least the tactics employed to pursue it, had proved unsuccessful (in terms of sustained growth, adequate expansion of industrial employment and removal of severe balance of payments constraints), in many instances only exacerbating problems they were designed to cure.

The role of the state in Vietnam’s economic transition

This paper discusses Vietnam’s economic development for the three decades since the early 1980s, and the changing role that the state played in this process. The success of the first major liberalization step (Doi Moi ) is attributed, in large part, to the microeconomic/structural reforms that occurred throughout the 1980s and to the confluence of economics and politics. This did not continue into the second half of the 1990s when reforms stalled. Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98, the pace of reforms has accelerated. This paper argues that, for the reforms to be effective, the state has to be viewed as performing a catalytic role whilst permitting the private sector to contribute directly to economic growth

Developing a National Design Scoreboard

Recognising the growing importance of design, this paper reports on the development of an approach to measuring design at a national level. A series of measures is proposed, that are based around a simplified model of design as a system at a national level. This model was developed though insights from literature and a workshop with government, industry and design sector representatives. Detailed data on design in the UK is presented to highlight the difficulties in collecting reliable and robust data. Evidence is compared with four countries (Spain, Canada, Korea and Sweden). This comparison highlights the inherent difficulties in comparing performance and a revised set of measures is proposed. Finally, an approach to capturing design spend at a firm level is proposed, based on insights from literature and case studies. Keywords: National Design System, Design Performance</p

Fine-Water-Mist Multiple-Orientation-Discharge Fire Extinguisher

A fine-water-mist fire-suppression device has been designed so that it can be discharged uniformly in any orientation via a high-pressure gas propellant. Standard fire extinguishers used while slightly tilted or on their side will not discharge all of their contents. Thanks to the new design, this extinguisher can be used in multiple environments such as aboard low-gravity spacecraft, airplanes, and aboard vehicles that may become overturned prior to or during a fire emergency. Research in recent years has shown that fine water mist can be an effective alternative to Halons now banned from manufacture. Currently, NASA uses carbon dioxide for fire suppression on the International Space Station (ISS) and Halon chemical extinguishers on the space shuttle. While each of these agents is effective, they have drawbacks. The toxicity of carbon dioxide requires that the crew don breathing apparatus when the extinguishers are deployed on the ISS, and Halon use in future spacecraft has been eliminated because of international protocols on substances that destroy atmospheric ozone. A major advantage to the new system on occupied spacecraft is that the discharged system is locally rechargeable. Since the only fluids used are water and nitrogen, the system can be recharged from stores of both carried aboard the ISS or spacecraft. The only support requirement would be a pump to fill the water and a compressor to pressurize the nitrogen propellant gas. This system uses a gaseous agent to pressurize the storage container as well as to assist in the generation of the fine water mist. The portable fire extinguisher hardware works like a standard fire extinguisher with a single storage container for the agents (water and nitrogen), a control valve assembly for manual actuation, and a discharge nozzle. The design implemented in the proof-of-concept experiment successfully extinguished both open fires and fires in baffled enclosures

Prevalence and risk factors for cervical cancer and pre-cancerous lesions in Rwanda

Introduction: Cervical cancer prevalence in Rwanda has not been well-described. Visual inspection with acetic acid or Lugol solution has been shown to be effective for cervical cancer screening in low resource  settings. The aim of the study is to understand the prevalence and risk factors for cervical cancer and pre- cancerous lesions among Rwandan women between 30 and 50 old undergoing screening.Methods: This  crosssectional analytical study was done in 3 districts of Rwanda from October 2010 to June 2013.  Women aged 30 to 50 years screened for cervical cancer by trained doctors, nurses and  midwives. Prevalence of pre-cancerous and cancerous cervical lesions was determined. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess risk factors associated with cervical cancer. Results: The prevalence of pre-cancer and invasive cervical cancer was 5.9% (95% CI 4.5, 7.5) and  1.7% (95% CI 0.9, 2.5), respectively. Risk factors associated with cervical cancer in multivariate  analysis included initiation of sexual activity at less than 20 years (OR=1.75; 95% CI=(1.01, 3.03); being unmarried (single, divorced and widowed) (OR=3.29; 95% CI=( 1.26, 8.60)); Older age of participants (OR= 0.52; 95% CI= (0.28, 0.97)), older age at the first pregnancy (OR=2.10; 95% CI=(1.20, 3.67) and higher number of children born (OR=0.42; 95%CI =(0.23, 0.76)) were protective.Conclusion: Cervical cancer continues to be a public health problem in Rwanda, but screening using VIA is practical and feasible even in rural settings.Key words: Rwanda, cervical cancer, screening, VI

Primary Meningeal Rhabdomyosarcoma

Primary meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare primary brain malignancy, with scant case reports. While most reports of primary intracranial rhabdomyosarcoma occur in pediatric patients, a handful of cases in adult patients have been reported in the medical literature. We report the case of a 44-year-old male who developed primary meningeal rhabdomyosarcoma. After developing episodes of right lower extremity weakness, word finding difficulty, and headaches, a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a vertex lesion with radiographic appearance of a meningeal-derived tumor. Subtotal surgical resection was performed due to sagittal sinus invasion and initial pathology was interpreted as an anaplastic meningioma. Re-review of pathology demonstrated rhabdomyosarcoma negative for alveolar translocation t(2;13). Staging studies revealed no evidence of disseminated disease. He was treated with stereotactic radiotherapy with concurrent temozolamide to be followed by vincristine, actinomycin-D, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) systemic therapy