Browsing by Author "Deaton, Brady J."
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- Agricultural tenancy and contracts: an economic analysis of the strange farmer system in the GambiaSallah, Tijan M. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987)This dissertation explores, both theoretically and empirically, the role of strange farmers in the Gambia's mono-cash crop economy and analyzes the structure of strange farmer contracts within the context of rural production relations; ie. the relations of economic agents to resources of production in terms of their use and ownership rights and the relations between economic agents as principals (ie. landlords) and agents (ie. workers; strange farmers). Strange farmers, the migrant laborers who come from the West African hinterland to farm in the coastal areas of the Senegambia region due to certain transaction cost advantages, constitute a dynamic population adjustment to West Africa's spatial, unequal spread of resources. It is argued in this study that the reason "strange farming" has continued to persist is because it is flexible and adaptable to the prevailing agroclimatic conditions and endowments of the West Africa region, and to the economic changes induced by the interplay of internal (the government; technology) and external (e.g., world primary commodity markets) institutional and market forces. Detailed analysis of the strange farmer contract (a contract of "input sharing"), as contrasted with wage, fixed-rent, and sharecropping, is presented; and emphasis is placed on the "strangeness" of the strange farmers (the fact that they are non-residents of their farming areas) as the distinguishing feature of the contract. Our analysis considers how environmental and idiosyncratic factors such as information, risk, and incentive constraints impinge on agents in this environment and how alternative models of the strange farmer system explain how such problems are circumvented. The study concludes by examining the efficiency and (briefly) the equity implications of strange farming, and argues that strange farming performs the vital economic role of providing otherwise labor deficient landlords with a steady and timely supply of labor throughout the farming season and indeed circumvents the contract enforcement and shirking problems posed by a second-best environment.
- An analysis of sources of growth in French agriculture 1960-1984Bouchet, Frederic C. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987)Agricultural production in France has increased considerably since the late fifties, turning France into a net exporter in world markets. This has generated a heated policy debate between France and the United States, centering around different views of the sources of growth in French agricultural production between 1960 and 1984. To shed some light on this debate, these sources of growth were analyzed. A sectoral model of the French agricultural sector is developed. It is based on the assumption of profit maximization. Duality theory is used to derive short- and long-run output supply and input demand equations. All variables controlled by the decision-maker are endogenized. These include output supplies (cereals, other crop products, milk, other animal products), use of variable inputs (feeds, fertilizer-energy, hired labor), and optimal quantities of the quasi-fixed factors (family labor, capital). The data used in estimation comes from published sources, except for series concerning French agricultural research expenditures, preferential credit rates, and agricultural labor. These were collected from unpublished sources specifically for the study. In general, signs of estimated coefficients conform to theoretical expectations. Technological change is estimated to have played the major role in inducing production growth. Technology-led increases are attributed mostly to French research expenditures in the case of cereals, and, in the case of milk, both to French research expenditures and to transfers of technology. Credit policies have also played a role, being responsible for an estimated 8.6 and 10.4 percent of the growth in cereals and milk production. These results have important policy implications. First, if rapid technological gains have brought France into a situation of comparative advantage, we should expect to see French policy-makers shift toward a freer market stance in trade negotiations. Second, because of massive technology transfers and shrinking export markets, the problem of protection of national research is likely to become a part of trade policy debates. Third, even if international negotiations succeeded at reducing price supports, such steps could be quickly outweighed by continual outward shifts of the supply curves if efforts to develop agricultural technology are pursued.
- An analysis of the effects of institutional, biological and economic forces on the Virginia oyster fisheryMarch, Richard Alan (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986)The Virginia oyster industry changed markedly in the period between 1950 and the present. This change has been the result of a variety of forces which can be conveniently classified as economic, biological and institutional. In general, biological forces initiated a series of changes in the fishery which have had economic impacts and impacts on the institutional structure of the fishery. The biological forces have had a much more severe impact on the seed-planting, or private grounds, sector than on the public grounds sector. The dependence of the seed planting sector on public seed beds and the different regulatory regimes applicable to the public and private grounds makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions on the relative merits of alternative tenure structures. The magnitudes of economic, biological and public policy forces as contributing factors to the decline of the oyster fishery are estimated and it is concluded that the biological forces have played the dominant role in the decline of the Virginia oyster fishery. It is suggested that attention be focused on the physical and management inputs to the production of oysters and on methods for bringing forth an appropriate resource mix. It is argued that either a predominantly private grounds fishery, a predominantly public grounds ‘' fishery, with appropriate institutional modifications to allow efficient harvest technologies to be used without threatening the viability of the resource base, or a mixed tenure system could be used and with appropriate management could result in substantial revitalization of the Virginia oyster industry. However, because of the biological changes which have occurred, management, whether public or private, takes on a much more important role in determining the future of the Virginia oyster fishery.
- A computable general equilibrium analysis of regional impacts of macro-shocks in the 1980SKraybill, David S. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)The purpose of this study is assess the domestic regional impacts of changes in federal fiscal policies and the nation's trade deficit. An attempt is made to fill a gap in the literature of regional economics by providing an explanation of how economic changes at national and international levels are transmitted to regions, and by providing general-equilibrium estimates of the effects of these changes. The level of regional economic activity is assumed to be linked to the federal budget through federal purchases of goods and services, through intergovernmental transfers, and through net transfers to households. Domestic regions are linked to the balance of trade through shifts in exports and imports and through shifts in net income transfers from abroad. An interregional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is constructed and calibrated for Virginia and the rest of the United States (ROUS). Scenarios approximating federal fiscal policies and the trade deficit during the period 1981-85 are introduced, and the model is solved to obtain a new equilibrium. As a result of these shocks, it is concluded: (a) that the magnitude of sectoral effects differed in Virginia versus ROUS, (b) that in contrast to non-rural sectors, rural sectors in Virginia experienced slower growth in value added, (c) that investment in Virginia and in ROUS increased in response to the net inflow of savings from abroad, but the increase was mitigated by the rise in federal spending, and (d) that a tariff increase on the output of the apparel and textile industry would increase output in that industry in Virginia but would decrease it in other industries if the economy were fully employed.
- Estimation of tax rate elasticities of durable assets: utility maximizing approach using the AIDS modelAbeyratne, Fredrick (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988)This research originated on the premise that if the response of various tax bases to changes in tax rates is different, local governments can minimize stress on tax bases by placing differential levels of reliance on these tax bases. Therefore, the objective of this research was to estimate and evaluate short-run and long-run, own- and cross-rate elasticities with respect to the following tax bases: real property (commercial, agricultural, and residential), personal property, and machinery and tools. The analytical model was based on demand theory, and a modified linear approximate Almost Ideal Demand System was used to estimate the elasticities. For the estimation of the long-run elasticities, a partial adjustment model was introduced to the demand system. Data covered 36 counties from Virginia, and covered the period 1981-1985. The results indicated that in the short-run, the value of commercial property had a negative elastic response, while agricultural property had a positive inelastic response. Machinery and tools and residential property values were not significantly affected, but personal property indicated a negative inelastic response for changes in tax rates. The long-run results indicated that elasticity figures become more elastic for commercial property, agricultural property, and personal property while for machinery and tools there was a significant inelastic negative response. With reference to cross-rate elasticities, in the short-run, machinery and tools depicted a complementary relationship with all the other tax bases except residential property. Tax rate changes of commercial property had a substitution relationship with agricultural property. In the long-run, however, machinery and tools were significantly impacted only on tax rate changes on personal property. Changes in the tax rate on machinery and tools had a significant complimentary impact on personal property and commercial property. Agricultural property had a significant substitution effect with respect to all the other tax bases except personal property. Hence, the results indicate that different tax bases respond differently to tax rate changes, which local governments can utilize to maintain or increase tax revenues while reducing the tax burden on tax bases which are very sensitive to tax rate changes.
- Evaluation of the importance and magnitude of agricultural maintenance research in the United StatesAdusei, Edward Opoku (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987)The United States has invested substantial resources in agricultural research since the Morrill and the Hatch Acts. These investments have made American agriculture one of the most productive in the world. Several studies have evaluated U.S. agricultural research. However, few of these studies have attempted to assess the decline in agricultural productivity that would have resulted in the absence of agricultural research. The purpose of this dissertation is to measure the magnitude of agricultural maintenance research currently or recently undertaken to forestall such productivity declines. A two part procedure was used to evaluate the importance of maintenance research in U.S. agriculture. First, questionnaires were mailed to agricultural scientists at the state agricultural experiment stations. The information sought from the scientists included examples of maintenance research and research depreciation, their annual research budgets, and the percentage of their research efforts devoted to maintenance research. The second part of the procedure was to estimate a profit function model to assess the importance of research depreciation in U.S. agriculture and to test the overall length and shape of the research lag. Duality theory was used to obtain the output supply (foodgrains, feedgrains, other crops, hay, livestock, and poultry), input demand (feed, fertilizer, fuel, and labor) equations. The fixed factors included were land, research, extension, education, capital, and breeding stock. Secondary data, from various sources, were used to estimate the equations. The results from the responses to the questionnaire indicate that, on average, the United States devotes roughly a third of total agricultural production research to maintenance research. In addition, there are significant differences in maintenance research among individual commodities. The results from the output supply equations indicated that the impact of agricultural research on agricultural output rises and then declines for some commodities. Also, research depreciation occurs for some agricultural commodities and maintenance research may be required to prevent productivity from declining. However, the results were for the most part, not statistically significant, reducing the strength of the conclusion that can be drawn.
- Food aid and economic development: impact of food for work on labor allocation, production and consumption behavior of small family-farms in a semi-arid area of KenyaBezuneh, Mesfin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1985)Food-for-Work (FFW) was conceived as both a short-run assistance program for meeting basic food needs of low income households, and as a long-run developmental tool for building infrastructure and for providing income to ease capital constraints on farm production. However, it was feared that FFW might divert labor from own-farm production and reduce the level of locally produced food crops. The purpose of this dissertation was to empirically examine these hypotheses in the Ewalel and Marigat locations of Baringo District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya. A househoId-firm model that integrated both production and consumption concerns of FFW was developed. The model was block recursive. First, production decisions were made by maximizing net returns (net income) subject to production constraints. This output (income) was then substituted into the budget constraint, and household utility was maximized subject to this budget constraint and to a total time constraint. The data used in the study was drawn from a representative sample of 300 households were randomly selected in Marigat-Ewalel locations. Of these, 100 were found to be participants in the FFW Project supported by the UN/FAO World Food Program. Food items provided to the program in the study area are maize, beans, and vegetable oil. A two-year linear programming model was developed for the production segment of the model. ln this model, three crops under two technologies and two types of livestock were used. The household consumption component of the model was specified econometrically using systems of demand equations, the Almost ldeal Demand System. Seven commodities including FFW items, five foods, non-food and leisure, were used in the system. The analysis was conducted for both participant and non-participant households to compare levels of production activities, employment, income, and consumption patterns with and without the FFW program. The production component of the analysis revealed that the following results were associated with FFW in the study area: (a) augments own-farm output by contributing to the minimum nutrient 1 requirement, (b) eases the capital-constraint by the second year of participation, (c) increases the marketable surplus from both own-crop and livestock production, (d) increases hired labor in farm production, (e) causes a shift from maize to millet production, and (f) increases savings. As a result, the net income for the representative farm households with FFW is 52% higher than those without FFW; and participation in the FFW program declines by 11% from year 1 to year 2. Thus, disincentive effects on own-farm employment and output were not found in this study. In fact, according to the model used, the FFW Program could be expanded by either increasing the monthly participation hours or the number of participants without resulting in any production disincentive. The results of the entire household-firm model, which reveals the changes in consumption resulting from participation in FFW and changes in income, were derived in elasticity form. Most of the benefits to the representative participant households, as compared to non-participants, take the form of increased consumption of food items. Thus, the primary effects of FFW are to insure participants increased consumption and saving without creating disincentives to either own-farming or to local agricultural production.
- Food security in less developed countries: assessing the effects of food aid in rural Kenya as a food supply shock on consumption and nutritionAthanasios, Athanasenas (Virginia Tech, 1986-06-05)Food Security can be defined in terms of establishing national or regional minimum nutritional standards, or in terms of securing national or regional self-sufficiency production levels. In this research, food security is viewed from a nutritional-economic standpoint. The prevalence of severe malnutrition and food production instability, especially in Sub-Saharan African Countries, creates the impetus to identify the several economic aspects which characterize the overall food sector and its security floor. Hence, LDC governments, drawing on the WFP (World Food Program) and other international agencies, are interested in formulating a desirable national food strategy which, to a certain degree, secures a balanced national food production sector and consumption pattern. Food aid, in turn, is an essential mechanism designed to serve developmental purposes, such as income redistribution or provision of food as a real resource. Food-for-Work (FFW), as a specific form of food aid programs, represents a short-run food supply shock in the market environment of the recipient country's economy, since it is used as a "bridge" for meeting the basic nutritional requirements of the poorest households in the short-run. In the long-run, FFW can be used for developing infrastructure, creating jobs and advancing working skills, providing additional income to participants, and further improving the overall nutritional status of the poor. Recognizing these features of food aid, this research focused on the empirical estimation of the specific nutritional contribution of a FFW project, implemented at the community level in the Ewalel and Marigat locations of the Baringo District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya. The primary objectives were to measure empirically the magnitude of the FFW contribution on the nutritional status of the participant households, and to determine the relationship between consumption patterns and domestic (local) food prices. In this research, FFW participants' consumption behavior was hypothesized to be differentiated from the non-participants in terms of their income elasticities of demand for nutrients. Also, it was hypothesized that the FFW nutritional contribution to participants was greater than the equivalent net income gains through the value of the FFW provided food items (monetary market value of provided food items). Both hypotheses are supported by the analysis. To determine the course of this research, a two step analytical procedure was followed. First, following Lancaster's conceptual setting on the "Goods' Characteristics Theory."
- The impact of financial deregulation on rural capital markets in Virginia: an analysis of bank decision makingMarkley, Deborah M. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1984)The primary objective of this research was to examine the potential impact of financial deregulation on capital availability in nonmetropolitan areas of Virginia by determining whether bank behavior and performance vary by the institutional structure of the bank. The research approach combines a case study analysis of bank decision making with an aggregate analysis of operating ratios that are important indicators of bank performance. The lexicographic ordering technique is used to test the behavioral hypothesis that rural banks affiliated with a multi-bank holding company have the same operating goals as rural independent unit banks. The corollary behavioral hypothesis that rural affiliate banks have the same operating flexibility as rural independent banks was tested by using the case studies to identify the administrative level at which policies are set and the influence of local conditions on the policy making process. The hypothesis that the market performance of rural affiliate banks is the same as that of independent banks was tested by using discriminant analysis to determine the statistical significance of bank operating ratios in distinguishing between rural affiliate banks from rural independent banks. The test of the behavioral hypothesis provided limited evidence of differences in the operating goals of rural affiliate and independent banks and, therefore, the behavioral hypothesis was not rejected. The case studies identified important differences in operating flexibility, with independent bankers having greater flexibility in decision making. Therefore, the corollary behavioral hypothesis was rejected. The results of the discriminant analysis showed no striking performance differences, providing no basis for rejecting the performance hypothesis. However, two ratios were important in separating independent banks from affiliate banks. The equity capital/total assets ratio and the agricultural loans/total loans ratio were higher for independent banks. This study also identified a difference in the potential range of services offered by the banks, with affiliates able to utilize the full range of financial and human resources of the holding company to meet local capital needs. This study identified differences between independent banks and affiliate banks that result from their differing institutional structures. These differences will most likely persist in a post-deregulation environment and suggest that financial deregulation may affect future capital availability in nonmetropolitan areas of Virginia.
- Impacts of foreign assistance on less-developed countries' agricultural productivityRai, Kalyani (Virginia Tech, 1987-10-14)The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of foreign assistance on less-developed countries' agricultural productivity. The study employed a Cobb- Douglas production function model. Several alternative model specifications were utilized in an attempt to model the true relationship between agricultural inputs and output. First, the foreign aid variable was included as a distributed lag of past foreign aid receipts and then as a three years moving average of aid expenditures. Second, dummy variables were introduced to allow the effects of aid to differ by income levels, yearly factors, and geographical regions. An inter country pooled cross section and time-series data for a set of 59 countries was used in the models from 1975-1984. The empirical results did not support the hypothesis that the aggregate effect of foreign aid on agricultural production ls positive. However, the results of the model including dummy variables which account for the regional differences of aid effects revealed that the contributions of aid differ by geographical regions.
- Income distribution in Virginia: the effect of intersectoral linkages on the short-run size distribution of income in small regionsBernat, G. Andrew (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1985)The purpose of this study is to assess the role intersectoral linkages play in shaping the short-run size distribution of household income. Input-output models are constructed for four regions in Virginia using secondary data. Two distinguishing features of these models are that the household sector is disaggregated into 12 income classes and unemployment benefits are an endogenous component of household income. Using these models, it is concluded that: (a) As linkages increase, the effects on inequality of changes in different components of final demand converge. (b) Increasing the degree of linkage, with constant industry mix, will tend to increase inequality. (c) Although the degree and pattern of linkages among household groups varies from region to region, all income groups are more strongly linked to middle income households than to either high or low income households.
- Income uncertainty and the quality of life : a socio-economic study of Virginia's coal countiesKraybill, David S.; Johnson, Thomas G.; Deaton, Brady J. (Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, 1987-09)
- The influence of communications infrastructure on agricultural growthDeaton, Brady J. (Virginia Tech, 1993-06-05)Increased access to communications infrastructure is theorized to influence both the productiveness of the agricultural sector and the direction of technical change. The purpose of this thesis is to empirically examine the effects of the level of communications infrastructure on agricultural production and the direction of technical change. A Cobb-Douglas production function was used to estimate an inter-country production function for fifty developing countries over a fifteen year period, 1970 to 1985. The production function estimates were then used to assess the influence of the communications variables, roads and radios, on the level of agricultural production and the direction of technical change. Increased levels of radios and roads increased the level of agricultural production in developing countries. Increased levels of radios did not significantly affect technical change. However, increased levels of roads led to an increase in the labor-saving bias associated with research expenditures.
- Local government revenues and expenditures in the Cumberland Plateau, Planning District 1971-1980 : a trend analysisMcNamara, Kevin T.; Deaton, Brady J.; Chandler, Robert Michael, 1948-; Lacy, Donald P. (Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, 1984-10)Discusses the local revenues and expenditures for the Virginia counties in the Cumberland Plateau Planning District: Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, and Tazewell.
- A polyperiod risk programming analysis of smallholder farm development in KenyaLugogo, J. A. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1983)Educators in local school systems who have been assigned the task of developing programs for gifted children often experience difficulty deciding what giftedness is. This difficulty stems from the fact that neither researchers nor educators agree as to which of a myriad of abilities actually constitute giftedness. Research literature on cultural differences suggests that a solution to the problem might lie in the development of a definition based on the attitudes and perceptions of the population to whom the definition is to be applied. In light of these suggestions, this study focused on the development of a definition of giftedness based on the attitudes and perceptions of the residents of a rural county in Appalachia. The site specific definition was subsequently compared with the most widely used conventional definition, i.e., the federal definition. A second focal point of the study was the elicitation of a list of respondents' perceptions of means of identifying gifted children and a list of appropriate educational services for these children. Again, the site specific elements were compared with their conventional counterparts. The Renzulli/Hartman Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students served as a basis of comparison for the identification criteria. The conventional approach to the provision of services was derived from a synthesis of a body of literature describing special educational services for gifted children. The data collection centered around the determination of local attitudes and perceptions. The methodology, the Heuristic Elicitation Methodology, is one that is used by anthropologists and psycholinguists who seek to assess the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and preferences of specific groups. For the respondents, giftedness is a global concept comprising 18 elements. These elements are perceived as being closely related to each other in that they share a number of common features. The analysis also resulted in 16 items that are attributes of gifted people. Finally, the analysis showed that there are 13 kinds of educational services that are appropriate for gifted children. Some of these gifts/talents, attributes, and services are similar to their conventional counterparts; others are not.
- Productivity analysis of private and socialized agriculture in EthiopiaMirotchie, Mesfin (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)The system of cereal grain production in Ethiopia has been stratified into private, cooperative and state farms since the 1975 land reform. The private farms are being gradually replaced by the cooperative farms while the state farms are receiving increased technical and budgetary assistance by the Ethiopian government. lt is, however, not clear if these policies are consistent with the technical characteristics of these three modes of production. This study, therefore, evaluated technical efficiency, impacts of known and latent input factors, and returns to scale parameters for each farm type. Sample data were collected from Ethiopia on five cereal crops, namely, barley, com, sorghum, teff and wheat and several input factors, including labor, land, oxen, traditional farm implements, tractors, machinery services, modern yield·increasing inputs, livestock, education and rainfall over 77 awrajjas for the 1980-1986 production period. A covariance regression model was applied with these data to determine an appropriate functional form between the Cobb-Douglas and translog production functions. The Translog functional form was selected for the analysis on the basis of statistical tests. Results of the analysis suggest that the producer cooperatives collectively appear to have a potential to generate increased gross income per hectare at a declining rate with respect to an equiproportionate increase in all inputs, except land, upon an increasing average cost of production per unit of cereal output. The private and state farms appear to be operating with a close to fixed proportions type of production technology with a constant average cost of production per unit of cereal output per hectare. Moreover, the range of substitutability between input factors tends towards a complementary relationship as the institutional transformations and management techniques of the cereal producing farms shift from the traditional to a more advanced and centrally managed state mode of production. Partial income elasticity parameters suggest that (a) the private sector’s gross income per hectare is most responsive to traditional hand tools, fertilizer, labor, human capital at primary level of education, and rain in August and September; (b) the cooperative sector’s gross income per hectare is most responsive to the use of tractors and September rain; whereas (c) gross income per hectare of the state farms is most responsive to the use of traditional labor, machinery services and rain in June and August. Thus, Ethiopia’s agricultural income production per hectare is likely to be revitalized by: (a) qualitative changes in the traditional inputs, water management, and introduction of modem technical inputs such as fertilizer and farmer education in the private sector; (b) increased traditional labor employment, improved management of water, machinery and modem yield-increasing inputs on the state farms; and (c) a better usage of tractors and collaborative input factors, improved water management, and a substantial increase in capital investment to achieve full employment of the seemingly redundant labor and oxen input factors on the cooperative farms. It seems unlikely that the producer cooperatives will achieve the goal of maximum cereal output per hectare with the most prevalent composition of the redundant traditional input factors which contribute insignificantly at the margin without a major change in the current production techniques and structural policies of the sector.
- Professional attitudes in urban planning and management: an exploratory study of the professional culture of Third World planners and planning consultantsMasilela, Calvin Onias (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1989)This research is concerned with the professional culture of planners and planning consultants working on aspects of urban planning and management in Third World settings. Research on planners' professional culture is of intrinsic value in development studies, where little is known about the socio-economic background, values, attitudes, and role orientations of either group despite the key roles both groups play in the management of human settlements. The particular point of departure here, however, is the significance of such research to planning studies. Of particular relevance, in this context, are the critical notions in the current literature on Third World urbanization and planning that the skills and attitudes of planning professionals are not attuned to the economic, social, and environmental questions which lie behind the material aspects of human habitat in Third World countries. This, it is contended, is in part due to the socialization of Third World planners to Western attitudes, standards, and values during their professional training in industrialized countries. The research reported here represents an attempt to explore these issues, drawing on samples of planning practitioners in several Third World countries (Barbados, Jamaica, India, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) and of planning consultants and academics working regularly on urban problems in Third World settings. The results were derived from a questionnaire survey designed to elicit information on respondents’ role orientations and values, and on their attitudes toward specific issues that relate to the theory and practice of urban planning and management. These include attitudes toward rural-urban migration, the informal sector, squatter settlements, self-help service provision, the use of Western versus indigenous methods and solutions, and receptiveness to current ideas about project replicability and cost recovery. Findings revealed that Third World planners and planning consultants do share some important professional traits as well as elements of a common culture, with a core of shared ideology, similar to that found among developed-world planners despite the differences in contextual detail. Nonetheless, the study findings point to significant overall differences in the attitudes of Third World planners and planning consultants toward planning issues and professional role orientations. The typical Third World planner is a middle-class male of mid-career age who attaches a good deal of importance to his profession and supports the notion of success via technical competence, and administrative and managerial skills, and yet at the same time pragmatic and grassroots oriented. Furthermore, Third World planners as a group do not see the profession as elitist, nor do they regard Western concepts, methods, or training in developed-world institutions as inappropriate to their professional roles. The typical planning consultant, on the other hand, though also male is somewhat older, is more likely to have a social science than a planning, architecture, or engineering background is more likely to have a higher degree and is rather skeptical about professional effectiveness and egalitarianism. It is suggested here that the difference between these actors emanates from the differences in the modus operandi of each group. In short, whereas planning consultants have the luxury to conceptualize problems and solutions in stable environments, insulated from the cut and thrust of local practice, Third World planners operating in environments afflicted with rapid change, uncertainty, and instability are of necessity compelled to adopt a more pragmatic outlook. Thus despite the seeming overpowering circumstances, Third World planners were found to be guardedly optimistic, quietly confident, and resiliently content to pursue their ideals. lt was thus concluded that contextual factors to which planners are exposed to are major determinant of planners' professional role orientations and world-views.
- A theoretical model for education production and an empirical test of the relative importance of school and nonschool inputsMcNamara, Kevin T. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986)The importance of public education in rural development has received increasing attention by local and state policy makers as competition for new industry has intensified throughout rural America. Uncertainty about the relationships of public and private inputs to education output, however, presents problems to state and local officials and parents interested in improving the quality and quantity of the public education system. This research examines the education process in a production function framework to identify the relationships of education inputs to education output. A theoretical model that combines public l and household decision making into an education production process is used as the basis for the empirical model that is developed. The estimated model includes input measures for school, family, volunteer and student inputs to education production and is estimated with cross·sectional data for Virginia counties. The expenditure measure used in the model is specified as a polynomial lag. The model also is specified as a joint-product production process. The results of the analysis provide evidence of the importance of expenditures in education production and indicate that the impact of changes in expenditures occurs over time. The number of and educational levels of teachers also is associated with education output. Household and student inputs also are associated with education output. Volunteer input measures are not statistically significant in the estimated equations, a reflection of the difficulty of specifying and measuring specific volunteer inputs into the education production process. The empirical results do not support a joint production hypothesis between outputs as measured by achievement test scores and the school continuation rate.