Increasing consumption, decreasing support: a multi-generational study of family relations among South Indian Chakkliyars

This article looks at intergenerational relations in two Chakkliyar neighbourhoods in rural Tamil Nadu. Post-1991 economic changes, together with longer-term changes in the rural economy and state policies, have significantly widened the customary ‘needs gap’ between younger and older generations by expanding the needs and aspirations of younger generations both absolutely and in comparison to the perceived needs of older people, whilst not providing them with the means to meet those needs. The declining demand for agricultural labour has not only constrained sons’ capacities to meet the needs of both their conjugal and natal families, but also severely undermined older people's livelihoods as they compete with younger people for agricultural work. The cause of the elderly Chakkliyars’ tenuous subsistence lies not with negligent sons but with the way their vulnerabilities are built into the structure of the economy, society and polity

Aging, work and the demographic dividend in South Asia

Much current interest in South Asia's population structure focuses on 'the working generation' (aged 15-60) and particularly on the 'youth' who could potentially deliver a 'demographic dividend', thereby solving the conundrum of population ageing in developing economies. In contrast to this idea and the related one underlying a wide range of development strategies, that reductions of poverty at younger ages will have a meaningful impact on poverty in old age, this paper will demonstrate, first, that older people’s paid and unpaid work is needed to realise the demographic dividend, second, that older people already play an important role in reducing family poverty and sustaining national economies and, third, that only age-specific policies can address poverty in old age

Risk-talk: the politics of risk and its representation

Looking at the concept of risk from a cross-cultural perspective, the contributors challenge the Eurocentric frameworks within which notions of risk are more commonly considered. They argue that perceptions of danger, and sources of anxiety, are far more socially and culturally constructed – and far more contingent – than risk theorists generally admit. Topics covered include prostitutes in London; AIDS in Tanzania; the cease-fire in Northern Ireland; the volcanic eruptions in Montserrat; modernisation in Amazonia; and the BSE scare in Britain

Skill gaps: existence and efficiency

Given the interdependences between human capital accumulation and technological change, skill gaps may arise in equilibrium. However, they are not necessarily inefficient, and in this paper we present a model in which the simple absence of such a skill gap can be inefficient.efficiency

Meiotic irregularities in Alstroemeria andina var. Venustula (Alstroemeriaceae)

Alstroemeria andina Phil. var. venustula (Phil.) M. Muñoz (sub nom. A. andina Phil. subsp. venustula (Phil.) Ehr. Bayer) is a perennial, small herb, 5-16 cm tall, that occurs mainly at 2,800-3,700 meters above sea level, in populations of limited distribution from Argentina and Chile. The course of the meiosis was analyzed in a population of this taxon (2n = 2x = 16), and it proved to be highly irregular. It was characterized by presenting bridge and fragment configurations both at anaphases I and II. The highest number of bridges at anaphase I found in one cell was two, suggesting heterozygosity for as many as two paracentric inversions. Typical chiasmata were almost not detectable, even though they actually existed. The chiasma-like structures observed may be regarded as concealed chiasmata as it has been described in cryptochiasmate meiosis. A high frequency of tetrads with micronuclei was observed, implying significant levels of unbalanced gametes. Pollen stainability ranged between 28 and 30%. In Alstroemeria species the meiotic behaviour is highly regular, and the presence of rearrangements is very uncommon. The whole situation led us to suggest that some environmental factors have drastically affected the chromosome structure and the control of the meiotic process. The present study constitutes the first report of remarkable meiotic irregularities found in a wild population of this genus.Fil: Sanso, Andrea Mariel. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Wulff, Arturo Federico. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Endogenous longevity, biological deterioration and economic growth

The identification of the types of bidirectional interactions that take place between longevity and economic growth in the long-run is carried out by means of the integration of human capital accumulation, innovation in medical technology, a health goods sector, and individual decisions on health and longevity in a dynamic general equilibrium set-up. In this context, in which individual agents decide not only on their “quality” of life but also on its “quantity”, the mere process of biological deterioration, that is to say, the continuous loss of health goods effectiveness in maintaining a given level of health as individuals age, provides the reason for an additional, and new, engine of growth.Biological deterioration; Health; Health goods; Endogenous longevity; Endogenous growth

Consequences of the Spanish integration in the EU on the trade of Catalonia

The aim of this paper is to analyse, according to the new trade theories, the changes in the trade of Catalonia -a Spanish region- from the trade liberalisation due to the Spanish integration in the European Community. Concretely we examine if the changes in trade are predominantly of the intra-industry type or on the contrary they are, above all, of inter-industry type. Measures of intra-industry trade (IIT), marginal intra-industry trade (MIIT) and unmatched changes in trade are examined and calculated using the SITC classification on Catalonia for the years 1985 and 1994, studying the share of these changes as well as their amount. This research allows us to determine the consequences of trade liberalisation in the sense that the change in the pattern of trade triggers off other outstanding effects, specially referred to the structural adjustment. The adjustment costs are expected to be lower if the increase of the trade is of the intra-industry type since in this case the adjustment will imply productive factors moving within the same industry. These adjustment costs are analysed relating the measures of MIIT to structural economic variables such as production. Keywords: Regional Integration, Adjustment Costs, Intra-Industry Trade.