This study analyzes the drought coping strategies and decision making processes of households and communities in response to a long and severe drought that prevailed from 1997 to 2004 in Nushki District, Pakistan. The relevant information was gathered through a review of the available literature, analysis of government documents, relief agencies- reports and newspaper articles. The analysis suggest that households adopted similar patterns of drought coping relating to food acquisition, income generation activities, extension of credit and management of productive and non-productive assets in Nushki District as in other drought affected areas. However, the coping strategies relating to security of access to drinking water were a major pre-occupation of households owing to the scarcity of water in Nushki District and these constitute a departure from the pattern of coping strategies reported elsewhere in the literature. The study concludes by offering a critique of government's drought policy for its failure to address the issues of livelihood security. It recommends that the Government of Pakistan should adopt a long-term approach focussed on rehabilitation and recovery of livelihoods for mitigating the effects of drought and make significant changes in its water supply, agricultural and livestock development policies to reduce the vulnerability of households to the effects of drought.

Ahmednagar District, in Bombay Presidency, was affected - along with much of South India - by a major drought in 1876-78, leading to famine relief by the Government of Bombay and considerable emigration and mortality. Recent literature, however, has suggested that famine is a complex, human and long-drawn-out process, rather than a sudden, natural phenomenon. This thesis seeks to identify that process among poor peasants in Ahmednagar between 1870 and 1884. It does so by examining their factors of production - land, capital and, to a lesser extent, labour - as well as markets in credit and the cheap foodgrains they produced, in order to locate both their chronic food insecurity and forces increasing their vulnerability over time. In this context, emphasis is given to the relationship of the British colonial state to the peasantry. The agrarian policies and agendas of the Government of Bombay are explored with regard to peasant vulnerability. It is argued that it failed to invest in production and infrastructure, while forcing peasants into competitive markets in which they were ill-equipped to compete. Despite a laissez-faire philosophy, it intervened to first promote, then penalise, usurious moneylenders, reducing the availability of credit. It also taxed peasants directly through the inflexible ryotwari land revenue system. In the crisis, peasants were not treated as famine victims and discouraged from accepting relief. The state can therefore be said to have contributed to the process of famine. It is argued that the propriety of colonial famine policies - and especially of other policies in the agricultural sector that undermined peasant food security - was widely discussed at different levels within the British state, from assistant collectors in Ahmednagar to secretaries of state in London. Attention is given to the way these debates were conducted and the process of policy-making analysed, concluding that the colonial hierarchy made it difficult for officers to be responsive to local problems.

This study investigates how the PRC, during the three decades since its establishment, has responded to international politics involving arms control and disarmament (ACD) issues, and explores the essence of China's approach to concepts of arms control and disarmament. The central finding is that, despite its seeming relaxation of hostility towards international ACD activities, and the more active and flexible part it has played in them at the UN since the mid-1970s, China remains unconvinced of the value of these activities. This does not make it dangerous, irrational or immature. Chapters Two to Five provide a comprehensive account of the history of Chinese ACD policy between 1949 and 1978. Each chapter represents a distinctive period of Chinese arms control policy. Although more interested in the banning of the use, rather than the possession, of atomic weapons, the PRC behaved at first as an uncritical disciple of Soviet ACD positions (Chapter Two). During the second period (Chapter Three), China became increasingly uneasy about international ACD efforts and began to deviate from the Soviet stance. Moscow's denial of concrete assistance to China's nuclear weapons development, and the conclusion of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, eventually led the PRC into a period (Chapter Four) of open hostility towards nearly all international ACD initiatives. Then, in 1964, China's first nuclear test likewise radically changed its outlook on ACD matters. The final period (Chapter Five) examines its record at the UN in this regard, showing how the PRC was persuaded to commit itself to the Tlatelolco Treaty and to the 1978 UN Special Session on Disarmament. In conclusion, however, there is no evidence to suggest that the PRC has been committed to the concept of a disarmament process through arms control which both the US and the USSR, in their very different ways, have accepted. China has participated in international ACD negotiations while not really believing in their objectives, based as these are on a permanency of two superpowers. It is to be hoped that China's increasing involvement in the UN disarmament negotiation machinery will feed back into PRC policy-making and lead to a more positive and more willing participation in these ACD negotiations.

Competition among financial institutions in Korean household savings market (HSM) has become severe. Deposit money banks (DMBs) which have occupied the main prop of the Korean financial system have entered turbulent times mainly due to the relaxation of financial regulations which artificially provide a stabilized market environment, as well as the out-performance of non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs). Also, Korean households are becoming better educated, more sophisticated and richer in line with the increase in wealth of the nation. The market share of DMBs in HSM has gradually declined, but that of NBFIs has continuously increased. Consequently, DMBs are required to do something in the market in order, at least, to survive. As the first step, they should have a clear picture of the external environments which can dictate or affect their operations, along with the full understanding of their internal capabilities. Based on the conditions of external environments and internal capabilities, DMBs have to choose one of the 5Ds (ie. disinvestment, de-escalation, do-nothing, development or diversification) as their strategic direction in the market they serve. However, no matter which strategic direction DMBs choose, they are required to differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to support successfully the implementation of a strategic direction chosen and to achieve competitive advantages in the market they serve. In differentiating themselves from others, DMBs will encounter somewhat different aspects from those firms which produce and sell physical goods mainly due to the characteristics (ie. intangible, inseparable, heterogeneous, perishable and non-owned) of their products. Therefore, DMBs have to use the extended 7Ps in order to overcome the problems caused by the unique characteristics of their products and to differentiate themselves from their competitors effectively in the market. However, the discretion of Korean DMBs to implement the extended 7Ps in the market has been so strictly restricted by the regulation that they can not exercise their full capabilities in the market, and they have a passive attitude towards the implementation of strategies in order to differentiate themselves from others. However, the results of this research - mainly based on the study of the financial systems and regulations of Korea and of households as customers of FIs-HSM, and the surveys for FIs-HSM and Korean households - show the possibility that DMBs can achieve competitive advantages effectively in HSM by differentiating themselves from their competitors, be they other DMBs or NBFIs in HSM. DMBs can freely use some components (ie. promotion, physical environment, personnel as a participant, process) of the 7Ps in the market even though other components (ie. product, price, place) of the 7Ps have strictly restricted use in the market at present. Besides, all components of the 7Ps will be sooner or later free to use for differentiating themselves in the market in accordance with the relaxation of financial regulations. As a conclusion, DMBs have to utilize their capabilities fully in order to achieve competitive advantages in the market and to prepare for future changes in the market by conducting the continuous R&D and market research.

Intensive methods for the mass production of Oreochromis niloticus (Chitralada strain) seed using concrete tanks, hapas within earthen ponds and earthen ponds were investigated. On the basis of these trials, the productivity and economic performance of various production strategies for hormonally sex-reversed Oreochromis fry (MT fry) were then compared and modelled for adoption in Central and Northeast Thailand. Regular disturbance and harvesting of seed after a short period of spawning opportunity (5-10 days) was found to increase seed production in concrete spawning tanks. Exchange of female broodfish increased synchrony of breeding. A change in conditioning and spawning environment had no effect on seed yield from spawning tanks and hapas (area =12.57 m2and 40m2 respectively). Seed wet weight, seed clutch size and weight was greater in female fish spawned in tanks than hapas. Females conditioned in hapas however produced heavier seed clutches of larger absolute and relative size than tank conditioned fish. Records of tagged females indicated considerable differences in the frequency of spawning; in hapas the distribution was normal wheras in tanks it was skewed. The evidence suggests that hierarchy is important in the control of reproduction and exerts it's strongest effect in clear water, densely stocked tanks. Selective female broodfish exchange optimised seed yield per unit weight of broodfish and seed production was not improved by conditioning females for periods longer than 10 days. Male broodfish exchange did not significantly improve (P > 0.05) seed yields. Early nutrition of broodfish raised under different supplemental feeding regimes in fertilised earthen ponds had a significant effect on later spawning frequency in concrete tanks. However, this effect was confined to broodfish maintained at densities lower or higher than optimal for seed production. Broodfish stocked over a range of densities for extended periods (201 days) showed greater variability of seed production in hapa than tank production systems. This was mainly due to periods of poor water quality in hapas; when water quality was high seed production was significantly higher in hapas than tanks over a range of broodfish densities. The optimal density of broodfish for seed production was exceeded in tanks but not hapas. The relationship between seed production and broodfish density over time suggested that both stocking biomass and number have an effect on fry output. Density of broodfish showed an inverse relationship to clutch size in both tanks and hapas and synchrony of spawning in tanks. Production of swim-up fry in large earthen ponds (area=1740m2) was not significantly different (P>0.05) at 2 levels of harvest intensity. The use of small broodfish however produced double the yield of hormone treatable fry than a similar biomass of larger broodfish of the same cohort. A commercial scale incubation system was devised and evaluated in order to allow tank and hapa systems harvesting unhatched seed to be compared with the production of swim-up fry obtained from earthen ponds. Seed removed from mouthbrooding females was roughly staged and incubated in batches of similar development to give information on survival to swim-up fry. A simple incubation system was designed with a capacity for hatching >100,000 eggs/set. A mean survival of 75% of all harvested seed to swim-up fry was obtained over several trials. A trend to intensification (fry/mVday) from ponds to hapas to tanks was evident when yields of swim-up fry are compared. Productivity exceeded any in the published literature for comparable systems, largely because of the intensity of broodstock management and early and efficient harvest of seed. Broodfish productivities (fry/kg female/month) were also higher across the range of systems tested often by a factor of 1.5-3. The best strategies were selected over a range of total investment cost using dominance analysis. Economic analysis suggested that for a start-up operation in Central Thailand fry production in earthen ponds can give the best return on levels of investment of less than Baht 0.8 million. Substitution of techniques into current carp fry production operations in Northeast Thailand indicated that more intensive methods (production in tanks and hapas) are more attractive over a range of investment levels. The break-even price of MT fry after hormone treatment in nylon hapas was approximately half the cost of treatment in a recirculated water concrete tank system. The break-even price in Central Thailand was lower than the Northeast by a factor of around 1.5 but the break-even price for both areas was lower than the current price of untreated Oreochromis fry.

The nature of the leisure profession and the leisure professional has been recharacterised by a series of government policies first implemented by the Conservative government during the period 1979-97. Whilst the re-characterisation has been acknowledged by leisure professional bodies and also in an emerging body of literature, no systematic analysis of this process has been undertaken in the Scottish context. This thesis addresses this through an ideological analysis of New Right Conservatism and the impact of New Right policies in Scotland and on the Scottish Leisure profession. Scottish political and cultural traditions together with the notion of credentialism provide original dimensions to this critical analysis. Using a multimethodological research approach, this thesis examines the link between New Right government policies and the Scottish leisure profession. It establishes whether or not the process of professionalisation is a coherent one that will underpin a collective legitimacy for the Scottish leisure profession. It is concluded that the New Right undermined the professionalisation of leisure management in Scotland. Leisure management has been restructured and generalised and the resulting professional anticollectivism within the industry has left the standing of the profession in doubt. This original theoretically and empirically informed study of the leisure profession in Scotland makes a small contribution to the growing body of work on professionalism and professionalisation.

This thesis examines the history of female immigrant domestic labour in Canada from a socialist feminist perspective. Over the past hundred years, Canadian immigration policy with respect to domestic workers became increasingly regressive with the shift in the racial composition of foreign female domestics. The women's movement contributed to this change as gains in Canadian women's public rights did not effectively challenge the dominant social paradigm of women's roles, and so left intact the public-private divide and the sexual division of labour to which were allied biases of race and class. The women's movement thus became an unwitting participant in the formulation of regressive immigration policies which rebounded on the women's movement itself, reinforcing its internal divisions.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a key element in achieving progress. In a world with increasing competition for capital, it is mandatory for countries to develop different mechanisms to attract FDI. Mexico is an example of a developing country that in recent years has greatly benefited from FDI. This trend results from this country's development of a number of mechanisms on both the domestic and the international scene promoting this type of investment. Along with the investment openings being fostered on the domestic scene, Mexico has been conducting international efforts to reach FDI objectives. It has entered into a number of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) as well as Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The most important goals achieved by this country encouraging the reception of FDI are the preferential trade agreements signed with the two biggest markets in the world, North America and the European Union. Mexico's participation in the WTO represents one of its efforts to establish lateral ties to achieve its FDI objectives. The fact that there is a relationship between trade and investment has been established.

The objective of this thesis is to examine price performance, and estimate the aggregate export and food crop output response to output price and non-price variables in tropical Africa and its four main agro-climatic regions. The analysis of real producer prices indicates that there are more countries that exhibited a statistically significant decrease in real producer prices than a significant increase. Moreover, nominal protection coefficient analysis shows that African crop exporters, on average, received a small proportion (50 to 60 percent) of border prices. Using pooled cross-section and time series data, a partial adjustment model was then specified to estimate agricultural export and food output response. The results show that aggregate agricultural export and food supply responses to output prices in tropical Africa are both positive and significant but inelastic. The price elasticity for the export crop output in Tropical Africa is 0.02 in the short run and 0.04 in the long run, and for the food crop output 0.05 in the short-run and 0.07 in the long-run. The responsiveness of agriculture varies, however, across the main agro-climatic regions in tropical Africa. The estimated coefficient of the price variable and price elasticity estimates regions reveal that producers in the Eastern and Southern Africa, and Western Africa regions were responsive to price incentives, while producers in the semi-arid Sudano Sahel and Central Africa regions were not. The trend variable, as proxy of technology, is positive and significant in most regions, suggesting that the provision of non-price factors along with favourable price incentives, could be very effective in raising agricultural production in these regions.

This dissertation is the first study of state feminism in a non-western nation state, focusing on the activities and roles of the Women's Bureau of the Ministry of Labor in post-World War II Japan. While state feminism theory possesses a strong capability to examine state-society relationships in terms of feminist policymaking, it tends to neglect a state's activity in improving women's status and rights in non-western nations where the feminist movements are apathetic or antagonistic to the state and where the state also creates a vertical relationship with feminist groups. To apply the state feminism theory to examine activities of a state institute for women in non-Western nations, I created new analytical factors, domestic and international master frames, which show how policymakers and activists collaborate on policymaking at a domestic level and how policymakers utilize international standards to create the domestic master frame. Using the two-level-analysis of domestic and international politics in terms of creation of master frames together with the existing institutional and mobilizing structural variables, this dissertation presents a detailed study of the activities and roles of the Japanese women's bureau as an initiator and facilitator of gender equality in the process of agenda setting for the equal opportunity laws by utilizing international influence to persuade the opposition and as an interest mediator in the process of decision-making for them. The empirical evidence presented also demonstrates that the change of roles arose from the lack of the following factors: 1) limited resources and institutional capability caused by the marginalization of the women's bureau within the government, 2) the lack of a domestic master frame on the issue of gender equality between the women's bureau and women activists, and 3) the lack of mobilizing structures that provide women's groups the access to political decision-making to reflect their opinions. The combination of these factors hindered policymaking on gender equality and created a gradual and incremental progress toward gender equality in Japan. The way to gender equality in Japan is different from the western nations. Yet, this is a way that other non-western nations have also advanced and will follow in. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-274). / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiii, 274 leaves, bound 29 cm