Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-171).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).

This dissertation contains three chapters on international trade and investment in children's human capital in developing countries. The first chapter examines the effects of changes in labor market opportunities for women on the bargaining power of women within households and, ultimately, on investment in children's human capital. I show that a positive demand shock for female labor in a woman's age category increases her bargaining power, and this raises investment in the health of girls relative to that of boys within the household. To identify this effect, I exploit the geographic heterogeneity in demand for younger versus older female labor within the Mexican export manufacturing sector and its differential changes across municipalities between 2002 and 2005. I find that a 1 percent increase in labor demand for older (mostly married) women, caused by a demand shock to the export manufacturing sector, raises the share of decisions made by the wife in a household by 1.3 percent and the chance of a daughter being in good health by 1.1 percent. Previous research has shown that school enrollment in developing countries responds to a change in the return to education generated by a change in demand in the export sector, that pays higher wages for a given skill level. In the second chapter of my dissertation, using data from Mexico, I show that the negative effects of a lower return to education are not limited to lower rates of school enrollment. Parents also respond to a decrease in the return to education for children, as a result of an increase in labor market opportunities for very young, unskilled labor in the export sector, by reducing spending on children's education even while they are enrolled at school. This suggests that parents respond along the intensive margin as well as on the extensive margin. Firm level studies offer mixed results on the effect of ex-ante liquidity constraints on firms' export status. The third chapter of my dissertation explores the same matter using a new methodology. I predict that, controlling for the firms' productivity level and given that firms were not exporters in the previous period, a larger appreciation of the real exchange rate should have a larger positive effect on the probability of less-liquidity-constrained firms becoming exporters. I test this prediction using a panel of Mexican manufacturing firms and find robust evidence in its support. / text

Questa tesi mette in evidenza e studi una possibile trade-off tra stabilità e l'efficienza economica che un ente governativo può affrontare quando si cerca di costruire un progetto di valore sociale in un paese in via di sviluppo instabile. Nel primo capitolo, i rivedere l'attuale stato di avanzamento in materia di appalti in cui espongo le sfide con i processi di approvvigionamento attuali nei paesi in via di sviluppo. La revisione dimostra infatti che l'assunzione di acquiescenza militare è una grande svista nel tentativo di ottenere un sistema di appalti solido ed efficace in un paese in via di sviluppo. Come espone Laffont che nella letteratura di appalto la necessità per le spese di revisione è stata presa in considerazione con attenzione all'impegno imperfetta delle procedure di controllo e della corruzione dei revisori dei conti. Questo contributo esamina le varie situazioni di sviluppo e di appalti all'interno di un paese in via di sviluppo e gli effetti dello stato attraverso il suo esercito. Particolare esposizione è data per selezionare gli stati africani. / This thesis highlights and studies a possible trade-off between stability and economic efficiency that a government agency may face when trying to build a socially valuable project in a unstable developing country. In the first chapter, i review the current progress made in procurement where I expose the challenges with the current procurement processes in developing countries. The review indeed shows that the assumption of military acquiescence is a big oversight in the endeavor to obtain a solid and effective procurement system in a developing country. As Laffont exposes that in the procurement literature the need for auditing costs was taken into account with attention given to imperfect commitment of auditing procedures and to the corruption of auditors. This contribution surveys the various situations of development and procurement within a developing country and the effect of the state through its military. Particular exposition is given to select African states.

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During our study trip to Tanzania we discovered one of the great issues for farmers to be need of running water. So we asked ourselves: How can water from Lake Victoria be transported to the small scale farmer’s household and farm in the most optimized way? During the stay in North West of Tanzania we made field trips to the rural areas in Mara Region in order to understand the farmers who are the potential users. We performed semi structured interviews and observations during the whole field study. We also came to the conclusion that wind is a good source of power which can be used to pump water. The wind comes in from Lake Victoria in the same direction everyday. So therefore we decided to construct a water pumping wind power station for small scale farmers.

In this thesis, trade with waste between developed countries and the third world will be presented to analyze whether waste‐trading can create a possible win-win situation. To carry on this question problem, three theories have been considered to explain why and how developing countries can be affected by international waste-trade. A few case-studies regarding waste-trade in developing countries such as, India, China and Vietnam, will show the situation of waste-trade today. These theories and case-studies will set the foundation for analysis and conclusion. To sum up, trade with waste is a complex problem that can affect the importing country in both positive and negative ways. If the negative externality that is caused by handling waste is controlled with a tax or regulation, trade with waste can be a win-win situation for the trading countries.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) process is an initiative by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and various Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) deal with poverty. It is in some sense an updated and improved version of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) that were implemented in the 1980s. This study examines one of the central aspects of the PRS process which is national ownership that is expected to be achieved by means of the participation of various interested groups and individuals in the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRS Paper). These would include: non – governmental organizations, civil society organizations, faith based organizations, academics, women’s groups, academics and members from the private sector. National ownership of the formulation of the RPS Paper is examined by looking at 4 country studies, namely, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.