This thesis is concerned with examining issues of theoretical validity and bias in contingent valuation (CV) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods in low income countries. This thesis contributes to the small body of literature on the application of CV and DCEs in low income countries and in populations which have little or no formal education. Theoretical validity is examined by testing whether willingness to pay corresponds to theoretical expectations focusing on gender and willingness to pay, sensitivity to scope, starting point bias, and strategic bias in CV. The theoretical validity of the DCE method in populations with no formal education is also explored. It is found that whilst iterative methods to elicit willingness to pay often mimic local market conditions in low income countries they are prone to starting point bias and strategic bias. An association between gender and willingness to pay was also found. Issues of gender, starting point bias and strategic behaviour can be tested for and controlled for in the estimation of willingness to pay and do not present an insurmountable problem. Willingness to pay was also found to be insensitive to the size of the benefit in CV. Using the DCE method, it was found that with the use of visual aids, DCEs can be used among respondents with no formal education. It is concluded that CV and DCEs are feasible and valid in populations with low levels of education when surveys are conducted using trained enumerators and administered using face-to-face interviews. This suggests that both techniques are capable of being used in wide variety of settings. The exception to this is a lack of evidence on sensitivity to scope. Further research is therefore required into sensitivity to scope. Further research is also required to examine the association between gender and willingness to pay.

The principal objectives of this thesis are to assess the value to Nepal of developing the use of mini-micro-hydro as a modern energy source in the rural areas and, at the same time, of promoting the domestic manufacture of mini-micro-hydro turbines and associated equipment as a means of creating a modern engineering sector within the country. Development of the mini-micro-hydro sector is viewed as a possible solution to two of the country's urgent economic problems. A sustainable and efficient means must be found of supplying the energy needs of areas remote from the national grid and, at the same time, it is important for the country to develop a nucleus of modern engineering capability in capital goods manufacture: the existence of a capital goods sector is widely understood to be a necessary condition of technological progress and a key to the achievement of on-going economic growth. This study investigates the potential of mini-micro-hydro development as a means of providing complementary solutions to these two problems. Mini-micro-hydro plants installed in the rural areas generate energy in an environmentally-friendly manner, but what, it may be asked, are the returns in commercial and in social terms on such installations? The manufacture of mini-micro-hydro equipment is already being undertaken in Nepal: does this activity offer the prospect of technology transfer and the development of enhanced technological capability? A third, subordinate, objective of the study is to determine whether, if a case is made for promoting the installation and manufacture of mini-micro-hydro units, the stance of the government, and of other institutions, is as helpful as it could be to achieving these ends. The conclusions of the study - from investigation of mini-micro-hydro operations in rural areas, and from examination of the technological capabilities developed by the turbine manufacturing firms - are that a positive case can indeed be made for encouraging in Nepal both the use of mini-micro-hydro units and their manufacture. It would however appear that certain changes in government policy and more active involvement by research institutions would be of assistance for the advancement of the mini-micro-hydro sector.

No description available.

This thesis examines the NATO's adaptation of a new security focus towards forward defense in the 21st Century. Until the late 1990s, the strategic focus of NATO was on mutual defense based on a collective response guaranteed by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. Since the adoption of NATO's Strategic Concept (1999), the Alliance has shifted their strategic focus toward a forward defense strategy. As NATO assumed more operational responsibilities, and deployed forces out-of-area in non-Article 5 missions, the disparity of military capabilities, operational challenges, and cultural and institutional differences within the Alliance gave rise to the question, "Is NATO the most effective instrument with which to execute a strategy of forward defense?" A review of the expeditionary campaigns in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq determines the efficiency of the Alliance as an expeditionary security actor. The modernization of European military capabilities are described in relation to NATO, and how these programs either complement or duplicate existing structures and capabilities. Furthermore, inherent structural flaws in NATO's composition are examined, as well as cultural and ideological differences within the Alliance and their effects on out-of-area operations. Finally, challenges and issues that may confront NATO in the future during the execution of their forward defense strategy are discussed.

Modern literature has many research in the field of entrepreneurship, but most of them do not explain the characteristics of entrepreneurial activity in developing countries. Thus, this research uses  regression analysis of panel data for the cross-country analysis of factors influence the level of entrepreneurial activity in 52 developing countries. The paper provides empirical information about the individual characteristics, regulatory standards countries, as well as some macroeconomic indicators. Individual factors (gender, age), indicators of respondents’ self-evaluation and assessment of the environment, in which they are located have a significant impact on entrepreneurial activity in developing economies. In terms of macroeconomic indicators, it was concluded on the positive effects of GDP growth and the lack of impact of unemployment on the level of entrepreneurial activity.

In Bangladesh, use of modern contraceptive methods has increased dramatically in the last decade. However, the level of use has not been the same between rural clusters. This dissertation investigates the plausible reasons for areal variations in use of modern contraception in rural Bangladesh. This study randomly selects sixteen rural clusters as sub-samples from the 1991 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey of Bangladesh. Information from female respondents of eligible age, as well as family heads and family planning workers are collected along with cluster-level community data, and family level information. The data are analyzed using simple bivariate tables as well as more sophisticated multilevel analysis using the software 'MLn'. Analysis of respondents using modern reversible methods finds that apart from the woman's age and number of living children, education of the family planning worker is the most influential predictor of use. Other significant predictors of ever use of modern reversible methods are the woman's education, religion, socio-economic status and her position within the family. Bari-level random effects were significant, indicating that a woman with `typical' characteristics but residing in the most favourable bari would have a higher probability of use than a woman with very favourable characteristics residing in a `typical' bari. Simultaneous confidence intervals of probabilities of use, for all clusters, found that most clusters were not significantly different in their ever use, although pockets of low use were observed. Analysis of acceptors of sterilization finds that apart from age and number of living sons, religion is the most influential predictor of use. Non-Muslims are more likely to be acceptors. Other significant predictors are the woman's education, position within the family, the participation of bari members with non-government organisations, and sanction of bari girls' education by bari head. Bari-level random effects showed in the same directions as those in the modern reversible methods model. Heterogeneity in the bari-level effect could not be explained by the recorded explanatory variables. After controlling for these explanatory variables, between-cluster variance was very small for users of sterilization. However, educated women had more between-cluster variance compared to non-educated women. Religiosity, attitude and beliefs of the respondents are vitally important in shaping attitudes towards contraceptive use. Replacement of some family planning workers with those having appropriate education and training are recommended. Family Planning programmes are strongly recommended to target `bari heads' and encourage them to look favourably upon modern contraception. Attempts should be made at removing ill-conceived religious barriers. Further recommendations are to encourage non-government organisations in areas which have low contraceptive prevalence, and encourage female education and emancipation generally.

The focus of this work lies in an examination of the effect of technological sophistication upon, and the reactions to technological sophistication by, the United States in its active participation in the international arena. Specifically, this work is to be an examination of one aspect of twentieth century technology, that of the transfer of technology, within the foreign policy considerations of the United States. This work will be further limited to an examination of American foreign policy of technology transfer to the underdeveloped countries of the world.

This study of rural primary teachers' life histories, their sources of motivation and their views of teaching, is an attempt to discover the conceptual frames out of which teachers conduct their lives and work in order to improve the theory and practice of teacher development The research methodology used in the study combined grounded theoty (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) with narrative and life history approaches (Goodson, 1992; 1995; Thomas, 1992; 1995). Comparative interview data was collected from sixty eight rural primary teachers, and ten teacher developers. advisers and educators. In a second phase of data collection, the preliminary findings were reopened to teacher educators, advisers, and inspectors in four workshops, as a way of testing emergent theory. Observation and participant observation were used in these workshops. Document analysis, journal writing and the methodological tools of coding data and writing analytical memos during data analysis fonned the basis on which theory was generated. As a study in life history method, the study sought to bring to the 'story of action' a 'theory of context', placing teacher narratives within their broader relationship to schooling, society, and history (Goodson, 1992a, p.241). The particular life histories of rural African teachers in South Africa marked them as both powerless and powerful; as victims and agent'; in post-Apartheid society. On the one hand, teachers represented themselves as victims of poverty and oppression, while on the other they regarded their aspirations to join the educated middle classes as having succeeded. They were 'somebodies'. Ambivalence played itself out at many levels in the narratives. This was most evident in the way in which teacher stories about career motivation and the practice of teaching shifted between the instrumental and the relational. Status, salary, 'knowledge' and results were held in tension with idealism, nation-building and pedagogic love in their narratives. The analysis of teacher 'frames' (Barnes, 1992) thus worked towards reflecting these tensions, ambivalences and contradictions. The study makes a contribution to knowledge in three areas. Firstly, it combines the methodologies of grounded theory, narrative and life history method in a way which allows for the expression and representation of teacher 'voice'. Secondly, narrative and life history methods are applied in a new context, with rural primary teachers in South Africa; and with a new purpose in that context, that is towards a theory of teacher development. The third contribution the research makes to knowledge is in its use of a combination of narrative and matrix analysis in theorising the complex and contradictory frames of teachers. This allows narrative methodology to move beyond the telling of teacher stories to a more complex level of analysis for which the matrix diagrams provide the conceptual tools.

No description available.

In this thesis, we aim to find the relationship between the economic crisis and the rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia. In addition, we focus on the political framework, as defined by the 1974 Constitution, which significantly changed the course of Yugoslav institutions after the death of Tito. We find that the rising levels of debt and economic misbalance across republics were key contributors to increasing tensions between republics. We conclude that the combination of these factors with the lack of political will, stemming from decentralization and increased power to republics, as the main culprits behind the rise of nationalism. We build on the existing literature, contributing to the further cross-examination of reasons behind the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The importance of this thesis is related to the political elite, who can apply key takeaways from the case of Yugoslavia to the modern geopolitical context dealing with economic and political crises.