A tobacco supply function for the Dominican Republic was estimated and the resulting coefficients used to measure the effects of government policies on tobacco production. Nominal (Direct and Total) protection rates (NRP) and effective rates of protection (ERP) were estimated for tobacco, corn, and fertilizer. The results indicated that tobacco was taxed at an annual average rate of 9 percent while corn was subsidized during most years of the study. Direct and total price interventions for both crops and for fertilizer had the effect of decreasing tobacco production in 17 out of 21 years. A major source of taxation on tobacco production is the government policy of overvaluing the Dominican currency. In order to ameliorate the negative effects of the exchange rate policy, the Dominican government provides an explicit subsidy to tobacco production through the Tobacco Institute. Nonetheless, the results show that government revenues from tobacco product sales more than offset government expenditures on tobacco production. / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 V46 / Master of Science

Although President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the Dominican Republic in 1905 to prevent European creditor nations from securing a foothold at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, the idea persists among certain historians that Roosevelt's motives for intervention were primarily economic, not political. A close examination of Dominican economic history from the inauguration in 1882 of the tyrannical President Ulises Heureaux, combined with a study of American diplomacy toward the Dominican Republic to the initiation of the customs receivership in 1907, demonstrates that American policy attempted to thwart outside intervention, not promote economic subversion. Best primary sources are the State Department's Diplomatic Instructions, 1801-1906; the Despatches, 1883-1906; and Jacob H. Hollander's "Report" and "Exhibits." Excellent secondary sources are Dana G. MIunro's Caribbean studies.

To achieve independence, the Dominican Republic had to first endure three centuries of heavy-handed Spanish rule and period of Haitian domination that lasted for twenty-two years. Fear of Haitian reconquest, however, convinced the leading Dominican politicians that the new nation could not long endure without foreign protection. Encouraged by Dominican offers of a naval base, the United States toyed with the idea of expansion in the Caribbean as early as 1850, but civil war cut short these notions and allowed Spain to reassert control over her former colony. Although Spanish occupation ended in failure the United States became more determined that the island Republic should never again be dominated by a European power. Such a determination on the part of the United States to prevent European incursion led to an abortive annexationist attempt by the Grant administration in 1869 and to the establishment of a customs receivership in 1905, when unpaid foreign debts aroused the ire of European creditors. It was hoped that the establishment of a customs receivership would usher in a period of peace and prosperity for the Dominicans but by 1912 it became evident that such hopes were not to be realized. President Wilson adhered to the argument that foreign intervention in the Caribbean was not to be tolerated but broadened United States involvement in the domestic policies of the Dominican Republic by insisting on the establishment of a constitutional democracy, which he felt would establish domestic tranquility. When it became apparent that the internal conditions of the island Republic were not improving, Wilson reluctantly ordered in the United States Marines in the hopes that they would be able to educate the Dominicans to the ways of democracy. By broadening the scope of United States involvement in the domestic affairs of the Dominican Republic, Wilson had produce an occupation that denied the Dominicans the inherent right of a nation to govern itself, a liberty which had been maintained against overwhelming odds during the preceding seventy-two years.

This creative project presents architectural and design principles of the landscape features define as Hispanic gardens, which were built by the Spanish conquistadors of the island of La Hispaniola since 1492 up to the seventeenth century in La Ciudad Colonial of Santo Domingo, today capital of the Dominican Republic. This study researches the urban and architectural characteristics of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo as well as the main elements that define the Spanish gardens and also some of the current strategies and techniques for garden restoration. Those aspects are a background and support to the identification of these Hispanic gardens and to the proposed guidelines for the rehabilitation of these historic areas. To fulfill a further purpose of promoting an integral restoration* of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, the goals of the project relate to the areas of landscape and architecture, and to the social and educational contexts. Therefore, the recommended guidelines for the rehabilitation of the historic Hispanicgardens of La Ciudad Colonial of Santo Domingo are a preliminary step toward a different approach of the preservation of this cultural landscape.Integral restoration, to this project, it is understood as a plan of preservation, which valorizes all the aspects concerning to architecture, landscape, and the urban and social patterns related to La Ciudad Colonial of Santo Domingo. / Department of Landscape Architecture

We report a new chameleon-like Anolis species from Hispaniola that is ecomorphologically similar to congeners found only on Cuba. Lizards from both clades possess short limbs and a short tail and utilize relatively narrow perches, leading us to recognize a novel example of ecomorphological matching among islands in the well-known Greater Antillean anole radiation. This discovery supports the hypothesis that the assembly of island faunas can be substantially deterministic and highlights the continued potential for basic discovery to reveal new insights in well-studied groups. Restricted to a threatened band of midelevation transitional forest near the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, this new species appears to be highly endangered.

The present study was designed to contribute to the application of human security principles in vulnerable populations, using the Bateyes (sugar mill camps) from the Dominican Republic (DR) as a case study. Following the Robin Hood principle of using resources allocated for the identification and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a base from which to build infrastructure for other health and human security needs, this project sought to reduce inequalities and promote equal rights in a vulnerable population living in isolated rural areas of the DR. The impact of a human security model versus non-intervention (standard of care) was examined longitudinally in relationship to the outcomes (prevention of morbid events such as HIV, tuberculosis, diarrhea, dengue, malaria, and model impact on breastfeeding and vaccines rates). The project was implemented in three phases: baseline assessments, implementation of a human security model over a six month period, and evaluation of the interventions at six and twelve months after the initiation of the intervention. Qualitative evaluation methods were used to complement quantitative assessments. An economic analysis was also conducted to evaluate the costs of the intervention and potential sources of economic benefits. Overall, at baseline, the owners of the houses from Batey A (Case) were more likely to respond incorrectly than the residents of Batey B (Control) questions about knowledge, attitudes and practices, for the most prevalent infectious diseases of the southwestern area of the Dominican Republic. To control for baseline differences between the study groups, a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) score system was created. The KAP score system showed that the people living in Batey A had a higher percentage of right answers than residents of Batey B, six months after the intervention. These findings, however, were not observed at the 12 month follow-up visit, suggesting that future studies using the human security intervention model may need to be maintained for more than 6 months, to promote sustainability. Economic analysis revealed that the total cost-savings of the Program to the Ministry of Health and society overall to be 252,399USD. In addition, at the follow-up visits, morbidity and mortality rates of the study population were lower than the rates reported in a recent Demographic Health Survey conducted in the Southwestern Bateyes of the DR. The qualitative interviews allowed for the identification of community perceptions of the model, as well as the necessity for an interdisciplinary approach, including structural interventions (i.e. water pump, construction of latrines, etc) and monitoring community security-related issues through household monthly visits. The use of HIV resources demonstrated that the money allocated for HIV prevention could be utilized, not only to reduce the burden of disease, but also to invest in health systems and services. Applied to other settings, the design and outcomes of this study could have a beneficial impact on refugee and undocumented populations in other countries under the impact of the structural violence observed in the Bateyes of the DR.

Poverty reduction and conservation can seem contradictory as integrated goals. Despite mixed results over the past several decades, both goals are increasingly being sought out together in practice. Using a case study of an integrated conservation and development project in the Azua province of the Dominican Republic, this thesis examines the definitions and measurement of poverty and wellbeing within integrated conservation and development initiatives. It asks whether the inclusion of subjective ideas and participatory approaches may present new opportunities to better integrate poverty measurements within natural resource initiatives. Four focus groups and 250 questionnaires formed the core methods for data collection. The study reveals wellbeing as a concept was better able to capture the multi-faceted nature of capabilities poverty. Wellbeing often engages with the themes of vulnerability and inequity and includes politically-sensitive considerations instead of concepts that are about assets or consumption, ideas based in the outdated income-poverty perspective. Locally developed indicators were best able to reveal nuances related to context that universal poverty indicators would miss or misrepresent. The results also found that the way poverty, wellbeing, problems and solutions are conceptually framed and defined can be highly relevant. Using asset-based concepts and metrics would lead to economic development goals whereas rights-based ideas would promote very different objectives and methods. The comprehensive identification and targeting of stakeholders was found to be a necessary focus in determining the priorities. Participatory processes, especially with a commitment to power devolution, can help ensure that an array of local ideas are accounted for, and contribute to, a nuanced understanding of complex phenomena. Overall, subscribing to a rights-based approach that targets the means (opportunities) of development and not the ends (assets) can facilitate the needed shift towards the new poverty paradigm, in both concept and practice. A more successful integration between poverty reduction and conservation will require such a shift.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 92 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Tourism development has been advocated for as a means by which to stimulate regional economic development in developing countries by international development agencies and governments seeking to transition from agricultural to industrial economies. First viewed as a purely private sector activity, tourism development planning was ad hoc or reactive to the demands of a quickly growing and highly dynamic industry. The externalities and negative impacts of rapid development and poor planning were quickly recognizable in small economies; high economic leakages, cultural encroachment, environmental degradation. When planning processes were undertaken, methodologies were derived from those of developed countries, proving not to be the most appropriate approaches to tourism development in lesser developed economies where administrative and structural capacities are weak or non-existent. Planning objectives also were heavily focused on physical requirements and financial outputs, all derived from identified market segments. Sustainable tourism development evolved from the recognition that the industry is dependant upon natural and cultural resources which must be preserved. Planning processes focus more on the capacity of these underlying resources, as opposed to simply meeting market demands for products and services. The integration of these resources as tourism amenities is furthermore thought to be crucial to sustaining the value of the tourism product. Nonetheless, sustainable tourism development planning is no better defined than its traditional counterpart. Implementation of planning processes, both traditional and sustainable, are challenging, especially in developing countries. This report seeks to identify fundamental differences in traditional versus sustaining planning processes for tourism in regards to vision, goals, objectives, strategies and performance indicators. The goals and objectives of sustainable tourism development are evaluated against national developmental indicators for socio-cultural, environmental and economic outcomes. A case study example is undertaken of the mass tourism destination La Romana-Bayahibe, Dominican Republic where, through the local private sector hotel association, the Interamerican Development Bank is funding the development of a “Sustainable Tourism Development Model”. An evaluation of the established goals and objectives is undertaken with the aim of identifying rational performance indicators for evaluation of the project’s impact. / text