Who Gains from Trade Reform? Some Remaining Puzzles

This paper focuses on three unresolved issues with regard to the impact of trade reform. First, many studies linking trade reform to long run growth are surprisingly fragile. To illustrate the problems with this literature, we examine a popular measure of openness recently introduced by Sachs and Warner (1995). We show that their measure fails to establish a robust link between more open trade policies and long run growth. The second puzzle we identify is the small impact of trade reform on employment in developing countries. Finally, we analyze evidence on the relationship between trade reform and rising wage inequality, focusing on the 1985 Mexican trade reform. Wage inequality in Mexico rose after the reform, which is puzzling in a Heckscher-Ohlin context if Mexico has a comparative advantage in producing low skill-intensive goods.

Fixing numbers for matroids

Motivated by work in graph theory, we define the fixing number for a matroid. We give upper and lower bounds for fixing numbers for a general matroid in terms of the size and maximum orbit size (under the action of the matroid automorphism group). We prove the fixing numbers for the cycle matroid and bicircular matroid associated with 3-connected graphs are identical. Many of these results have interpretations through permutation groups, and we make this connection explicit.Comment: This is a major revision of a previous versio

Rural finance and natural resources

The Department for International Development (DFID), through its Renewable Natural Resources Knowledge Strategy (RNRKS), emphasizes demand-led research and a clear identification of uptake pathways in research design and implementation. These guidelines aim to provide RNRKS programme managers and project managers with sufficient information on rural finance to judge the extent to which project design may have to take it into account. This includes in particular the possibility that the characteristics of rural finance may pose a constraint to the uptake of research results. The main interface between RNRKS projects and rural finance relates to the uptake of research results – and the implicit assumption sometimes made that rural households have access to credit (or adequate savings) to invest in new technology. These guidelines provide an overview of different types of rural finance, explain terms, and suggest useful contacts, so that research leaders may know how to assess the importance of rural finance in relation to their areas of investigation or intervention

Fish marketing in Kanyakumari. Report on work undertaken in India in collaboration with the Kanyakumari District Fisherman's Sangams Federation

The Kanyakumari District Fishermen's Sangams Federation (KDFSF), an organisation of village level co-operative societies, approached the ODA Post-Harvest Project of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) for assistance with fish marketing. Already selling export fish direct to processing companies, and organising auctions at fish landings, the organisation was looking for new ways to improve the incomes of its membership. An NRI economist was asked to work with the KDFSF during a five week period. She was asked to identify existing market systems (and associated consumer requirements) and to comment on the economic and logistical feasibility of a greater marketing role for the KDFSF. Five market systems were identified: export marketing; high value table fish (perch, snapper, seer, pomfret) sent by well-organised merchants to major urban markets; opportunistic marketing by small-scale local merchants with transport, and the flexibility to take advantage of localised (in Kanyakumari and Kerala) fluctuations in market conditions; marketing in the immediate hinterland by cycle vendors and women; and marketing of traditionally processed fish. Within Kerala and Kanyakumari, tuna is eaten widely, along with anchovy and sardines. Most of the dried fish is anchovy and ribbonfish, supplying distant markets in India. Although there is a widely held belief by fishermen that most money can be made by sending fresh fish to major urban markets, it was concluded that the financing and managerial requirements of such an operation would be beyond the capability of the organisation at the moment. Local marketing would not appear to offer significant prospects for financial gain: existing women and cycle vendors operate on very low margins. (Nor would it be desirable to displace this low income group). The marketing of processed fish appears to offer scope for improvements in product quality, and marketing in major wholesale markets. Moreover, the inherent risk in this would be less because of the longer shelf life of the product. Recommendations are therefore made in respect of marketing expertise, processed products, and iced fish. KDFSF should employ a marketing officer to oversee marketing activities. Production and marketing trials are recommended on new anchovy products, with the assistance of BOBP and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology. Higher prices for processed fish could probably be secured if markets are researched before sale, and fish sold at wholesale markets rather than to visiting merchants in the fishing villages. Prospects for replicability with other fishing groups are particulary interesting if these initiatives are successful

Small-holder credit: Roles of farmers, government and private sector

The project purpose was to develop and promote efficient and effective crop marketing and credit systems. It focused on the use of credit to improve access by resource-poor farmers to productivity-enhancing purchased farm inputs. Two cotton input credit schemes were studied in detail, both still in a state of evolution and development. Each has coverage far in excess of any other formal sources of credit available to smallholders (60,000 farmers in Zimbabwe and 300,000 farmers in Uganda). They are particularly interesting, moreover, because both are private sector initiatives, and the Uganda example has especially strong poverty focus

Spillovers, Foreign Investment, and Export Behavior

Case studies of export behavior suggest that firms who penetrate foreign markets reduce entry costs for other potential exporters, either through learning by doing or through establishing buyer- supplier linkages. We pursue the idea that spillovers associated with one firm's export activity reduce the cost of foreign market access for other firms. We identify two potential sources of spillovers: export activity in general and the specific activities of multinational enterprises. We use a simple model of export behavior to derive a logit specification for the probability a firm exports. Using panel data on Mexican manufacturing plants, we find evidence consistent with spillovers from the export activity of multinational enterprises but not with general export activity.

Ask about degree and department)Handwoven Fabrics for Outerwear

I intend to create a group of fabrics suitable for use in outerwear. I will explore various historical weaves and patterns and present them in a contemporary context using a variety of textures, colors, and fibers

Tale Of Two Mergers: A Case Study In Leading Change

The case study examines P Pharmaceuticals’ horizontal merger experiences; first with S Pharmaceuticals, and later with U Pharmaceuticals.  The case compares and contrasts each merger process from leading and communicating the change effort to the resultant transformations in corporate culture.  As the case study unfolds, the aftermath of leading change and the resulting corporate merger outcomes are discussed

Using a mouse model to investigate male bias in autism spectrum disorder incidence.

The review (Chapter 1) overviews our current understanding of the sex bias in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), whereby males are 4 times more likely to develop the condition. The longstanding uncertainty surrounding the etiology of autism can be informed by inclusion of both sexes in future research to better understand the mechanism responsible for this sex bias. Both clinical studies and animal models are useful tools to elucidate the underlying cause(s) of sexual dimorphic morphological, physiological, and behavioral differences in the ASD phenotype. Sex differences in social behaviors are common across species, underscoring the importance of assessing baseline sex differences in behavior, especially when sexually dimorphic effects on behavior are expected. I examined pre-pubertal behavior (Chapter 2) in 3 strains of mice (C57BL/6, CFW, and CF1) using a wheel-running assay developed to be relevant to autism-like behaviors. The results indicated no sex differences in wheel running behaviors or social interaction with all mouse strains displaying typical wheel running behavior, i.e. more time running on the wheel when it would turn and increased performance of other activities when it was jammed. Studies have found that elevated levels of fetal testosterone (fT) are correlated with later ASD diagnosis. Prenatal valproic acid (VPA) treatment is a common animal model of ASD in rodents, mimicking many of the features of ASD including increased male vulnerability. I used the VPA model (Chapter 3) to evaluate sex-specific responses to prenatal VPA treatment, and to assess if masculinization of females with perinatal testosterone propionate (TP) after prenatal VPA treatment would masculinize their susceptibility for abnormalities in development relevant to ASD. My findings confirmed that VPA exposure results in impaired motor development abilities, and provide novel evidence that the combined effects of VPA, TP, and maleness (triple hit) led to more severe motor development deficiencies in some tasks. I also present evidence that the triple hit resulted in reduced anxiety, but elevated cognitive rigidity and self-grooming compared to control females. The results provide some evidence for increased vulnerability of triple hit males to behavioral deficits relevant to ASD, but more research is needed to better understand this effect