As a consequence of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the rural economic development policy of the previous Thai government, silk production in the informal economy has expanded from micro production to small and medium size enterprises. This is because SMEs in the formal sector mostly subcontracted their orders to new . entrepreneurs in peri-urban areas. To achieve a large scale production, other process tasks, such as reeling, spinning and weaving have been distributed to home workers. in villages or nearby areas. Therefore, silk production has become another important source of income for agricultural areas. However, the growth of ~ese silk businesses has had an unexpected effect on the local environment and natural resources in rural and peri-urban areas. Extensive quantities of chemical substances and dyes, fuel-wood and water are utilised in bleaching and dyeing batch process to attain massive scale production. Due to lack of appropriate waste management, effluent is typically not treated to public health standards. Additionally, excess effluent has often overflowed onto common land or into reservoirs. This contamination has led not only to environmental deterioration but also to conflicts between villagers in relation to health and local resources utilisation, particularly in Pak Thon!?chai, Nakhon Ratchasima province. Therefore, the sustainability of silk production at the Micro-Small Enterprise scale or cottage industry should be investigated. The local sustainable development concept, the Sufficiency Economy philosophy, and other tools such as the Sustainable Livelihood and Cleaner Technology concepts were employed in this project to develop an appropriate win-win solution for the silk cottage industry. Currently the informal economy plays a significant role in the rural non-farm livelihoods of developing countries in general. An outcome of this project could be the improved application of sustainability tools and concepts in order to increasing an understanding of essential factors that affected the sustainability of this traditional craft economic activity and their community.

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I Third World countries and in particular in Latin America the high birth rate and the forced rural exodus of farm hands has caused a extremely high unemployment rate among the migrants who have flocked into the peripheries of the big cities. Without jobs many of these squatters remain in a desperate waiting position of sheer survival, but those that are more enterprising they to make their living by starting and developing a business of their own. Although this form of activity dates back to the very beginning of the worlds economic history, it has dramatically increased if the countries of the Southern hemisphere during the last three or four decades. Policy makers and scholars have been stirred up by the phenomenon. While ' new terms, like °microentrepreneur° and microenterpn`se° have been coined, a better insight into the labours of the struggling community of microentrepreneurs is still being sought after. This study, in its first chapter, tries to set the stage to uncover the factors that lead to success or failure of microbusinesses as seen from the unique point of view of the microentrepreneurs while doing business in the environment of the Brazilianfavela. The second chapter introduces the background literature on the relevant issues of the thesis. It presents a short historical overview and sheds light on the current social and economic situation of Brazil, on the general structure of microenterpises, on the importance of active entrepreneurship and on the personal traits of a entrepreneur. A vast set of information on the subject of help to microenterpises has been published by many support organizations, but as the predominant concern of the emerging enterprises seemed to be the lack of capital, most publications are restricted on how to collect and administer ftmds. These publications express the view of the donors, but almost no literature exists on the views of the receivers. It is the purpose of this study to l this apparent gap. The present research is geared to bringing to light views and perceptions at the grass root level. It intends to penetrate into the microenterprise culture of the favelas of Brazils megalopolises. A array of possible methodological approaches for achieving this aspired goal is presented in the third chapter and the final decision to use grounded theory, as a theory generating approach, is explained. The next chapter presents the scope of the field studies. Out of the almost homogeneous body of rural-urban migrants that constitute the majority of Brazils favela tenants, forty two microentrepreneurs were selected to form the target group of the thesis. I order to achieve a geographic spread, the megalopolises of Porto Alegre, Säo Paulo, and Salvador da Bahia were selected. The h chapter presents as its core section the extensive narratives of twelve micro-entrepreneurs, who represent a continuum of outcomes from cases of encouraging success to cases of complete failure. I the next chapter, chapter six, the data is screened using a extensive and methodical cross case analysis. From the statements of the interviewees nine distinct propositions emerge as the core findings of the study. These propositions match with the factors that influence the success or failure of the microenterprises as seen by the microentrepreneurs themselves: Drive and dedication, Schooling and competence, Family ties and other networks, Capital and loans, Business project, Chance and risk, Support, Rules and regulations, and Environment and context. The study postulates that the factors Drive and dedication, Schooling and competence, and Family ties and other networks are the most important. Chapter seven covers the effects of the demographical attributes of the microentrepreneurs and describes the casual relationships between the nine selected factors. Special attention is paid to the relative importance of each factor. The final chapter, the Conclusion, offers a summary of the findings and describes how they contribute to the three domains of knowledge: the structure and the agency of enterprises, the insight into the microentrepreneurs perceptions, and the development theory of micro- enterprises. It also highlights the implications of the findings for practitioners, support organisations, and official institutions, as well as making suggestions for further study. The final chapter ends with words of encouragement and caution.

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This thesis outlines the history of the Volta River Project indicating the origin of the initiatives behind the project and the method of implementing it in the face of opposition. A discussion of the variety of aims and expectations of those involved by the scheme indicates widely divergent interests at work. The effects of the scheme are described at length; both the main effects desired by the participants and the so-called side-effects. The extent to which each interest group managed to achieve its aims is described as an aid to assessment of the project. As a result the value of the project to Ghana is called into question, and an indication is given of fundamental criticisms of such projects in general.

There is a wealth of theoretical as well as empirical society-oriented research which is generally discussed under the rubric of sociological theories of the State and which, unfortunately, at present is not made full use of in the study of International Relations. The thesis aims to create the conditions that will enable us to 'tap' this material for the benefit of the study of international relationships. The thesis provides evidence that analyzing politics in terms of 'the State' directs out attention to a single central problem, the interrelation between the governing institutions of a country amid other aspects of that society. Modern theories of the State discuss the nature of the political process which is the process by which societies organise themselves. Therefore, the political process itself is located at the centre of the analysis. International interactions are then classified into two categories: formal interactions which are defined as all those emanating from the governing institutions of a country, and informal interactions, which encompass all other types of interactions. 'Informal interactions', that is, private trade and investment, the flow of ideas, immigration, the dissemination of techniques and technologies, etc, create a substratum of unmeditated links among what appear on the surface as independent, separate societies. Although varied and chaotic in their origins, they are much more predictable in their social effects. A significant portion of them conform to two simple patterns, named respectively horizontal and vertical links. The first pertains to cases whereby, in one form or another, a group of people residing in one formation are linked directly to a group residing in another, thus resulting in an 'informal' vertical tie between the two social formations. Horizontal links are links of competition. They are based on the principle that competitors tend to modify their behaviour to improve their competitive position. Both ties effect structural changes within social formations that reverberate through their 'domestic' political processes. These links are the principal channels by which 'domestic' political processes are 'externalized' and in turn 'internalized' on a world scale -- they are the primary forms by which International Relations and the domestic political processes are inter-linked.

This thesis is an exercise to apply macro-economic analysis to the Japanese National Pension Scheme. Though this treats the effect of the National Pension Scheme on the national economy, the analysis is limited to its impact on national expenditure and on economic growth. Other important aspects, such as in¬ come redistribution, are not considered, though a short reference is made to the built-in stabilizing effectiveness of the pension scheme. I have concentrated on the problem of growth because of its importance in the case of the Japanese economy. I shall try to demonstrate the impact of the new National Pension Scheme on future economic growth and this requires me to examine the special features of the institutional framework of the Japanese National Pension Scheme in so far as it may affect the structure of government investment. In analysing the effect of the Scheme, some of the analytical tools of macro-economics, such as the Keynesian income determina¬ tion model, a growth model of a Harrod-Domar type, etc., are used. In analysing the effects on national expenditure only the direction of changes in expenditure produced by the Scheme are indicated. Given present information,an econometric model would not seem to be appropriate. In essence, this is an analysis of the pension scheme, yet several important traditional topics of social security are considered because they form the background to a study of pensions. Although a short statistical and historical description of the place of social services in the economy is given, historical details are not the main concern of the present thesis. Administrative details of the financing of the Scheme are not provided, although considerable space is given in the analysis to the structural framework of the Japanese pension scheme.