From Introduction: Education, in the broadest sense of the term, is as old as man himself, but the attention devoted to it has fluctuated to extremities over time. The "Economics of Education", as a separate study, has suffered the same cyclical life, but has in recent years experienced a prolonged revival of interest, eapecially with regard to the concept of "Human Capital".

The study has explored the social sustainability of biogas production in a local village of Sogwala which is located in the Lower Gweru District of Zimbabwe. The social sustainability assessment was based on the two concepts of social sustainability, namely human capital and social capital with particular emphasis on their respective elements and aspects. Qualitative and quantitative research methodology methods were used on a sample of 100 households using biogas and some key informants. Analysis of the variance was used to determine whether biogas production could account for any effects on the social and human capital elements of the Sogwala community. An overview and descriptive statistics analysis of the findings from the study have been provided where the biogas users’ experiences, perspectives are discussed and results were assessed. For instance, effects on the aspects of social capital elements which include increases in the social group membership of households after the introduction of biogas production the village; the performance of biogas energy as compared with other fuel sources in terms of accessibility, efficiency and the degree of labour needed for continual production of biogas. In view of the human capital element, assessment is done on the economic status per household before and after the production of biogas, where emphasis is placed on the aspects of employment, education and health indicators within the social sustainability context. The fundamental benefits from biogas production are considered and discussed with the technical issues surrounding biogas production also being presented. This is not just a technical unit for providing alternative energy supply, but it requires management, labour and knowledge, skills to operate on a daily basis for it to have an impact that can bring positive change to the daily social lives of both the young and old.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) have become a major problem in the relationship between the industrialized West and the developing South, primarily because the West demands that developing countries adopt and enforce Western IPR. Since the relationship between US corporations and Chinese businesses is among the most successful and at the center of the current process of globalization, IPR have been a major cause of conflict and controversy between them and serve as an exemplar for this thesis. I argue, first, that the reason that a large number of Chinese businesses, especially privately-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, infringe foreign IPR lies in the nature of the difference between what have been mostly low-tech traditional Chinese businesses and high-tech industrial economies, to which intellectual property laws belong. Second, I demonstrate that the steady improvement of intellectual property protection in the more successful areas of development in the Chinese economy suggests that the solution for improved IPR protection in China and perhaps other emerging nations will follow, not precede, the development and transformation of a low-tech pre-industrial economy into an industrial high-tech economy.

It is my view, that a serious impediment, in the development and growth of economically underdeveloped Latin American countries with high rates of population growth, is the inability of their economic systems to utilize and absorb continuous additions to their labor force productively. As this condition is expected to persist especially in the rural or agricultural sector of the economy, it is my argument that "push" and "pull" factors can and do operate to mobilize 'redundant', surplus or unemployed labor from sectors or regions where employment opportunities are lacking to sectors where employment opportunities are believed to be in abundance. An important premise then, is that we cannot be optimistic about the possiblity of raising aggregate production over short, or even long run periods in a sector such as agriculture which is hampered by high rates of unemployment and low labor output ratios. In turn, it is my position that if we are "committed" to the economic objective of accelerating the development of the economy's stagnant regions, labor mobility and the reallocation of labor (i.e., reducing conditions of surplus or marginally employed labor in labor surplus areas), to labor intensive "industry" is a necessary prerequisite to the raising of productivity and the encouragement of savings and investment. Accordingly, as we cannot expect that quantities of labor from one sector can be reallocated immediately to another i.e., a question of the "quality" of labor demanded and supplied, an accompanying strategy for the qualitative development of the "human factor" is proposed. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This work concentrates on Yemen, a developing country which also belongs to the list of the least developed countries of the world. This diploma work describes the situation in Yemen in the beginning of 21st century. With the help of presentation of general problems of the developing countries and instruments that solve these problems, together with the presentation of the current situation in Yemen, suggestion for improvement in the surveyed country are made.

Cette thèse en quatre parties aborde différents aspects de la décentralisation dans les pays en développement. Après avoir introduit notre travail et passé en revue la littérature sur ce thème(chapitre 1), nous nous attachons à étudier l'existence et la nature des interactions horizontales entre les gouvernements locaux dans un contexte de faibles ressources budgétaires et d'absence de démocratie locale (respectivement, chapitres 2 et 3). Nous analysons ensuite les relations verticales entre le gouvernement central et les gouvernements locaux, plus précisément, les effets et les déterminants de l’allocation des transferts intergouvernementaux (respectivement,chapitres 4 et 5). Enfin, nous déterminons l’impact final de la décentralisation sur l’accès des populations locales aux services de base (chapitre 6). / To improve the efficiency of the public sector, a decentralization process has been engaged in a large number of developing countries. This thesis, in four parts, analyzes various aspects of decentralization in developing countries. Part 1, which consists in a review of literature, studies the expected theoretical effects of decentralization, examines their relevance in the particular context of developing countries and, draws up a critical assessment of empirical studies evaluating the existence of such effects (chapter 1). Part 2 focuses on the relevance of an essential argument in favor of decentralization, largely ignored in studies on developing countries: the "competition principle". More precisely, we analyze the existence of strategic interactions between local governments in a context of weak fiscal resources (case of Benin, chapter 2) and in the absence of local democracy (case of China, chapter 3). Part 3 relates to the vertical relationship between the central government and local governments. In particular, we focus on the effect of central fiscal transfers on the level of local own-Revenue in Benin (chapter 4) and on the determinants of the allocation of fiscal transfers between local governments in Senegal (chapter 5). Finally, in part 4, we determine the average and distributional impacts of decentralization on the access to basic services by local population (chapter 6).

This thesis reveals some major weaknesses in development strategies based primarily on economic growth and suggests the development record can only be improved significantly by adopting a process of experimental evolution. The obvious starting point is defining and describing development. Development is defined as neither more nor less than the improvement of individual and social welfare, and the first chapter draws on some of the social sciences' literature in an attempt to describe individual and social development. While this description is far from definitive, several tentative conclusions may be drawn. Individuals have a wide variety of needs, from the basic physiological and psychological to those higher needs for fulfillment. These needs are satisfied in varying degrees by the social system (or the social delivery systems). There is no evidence that one type of social system performs better over all than any other. The components of the social system, the subsystems have a complex (and as yet poorly understood) interdependence and interaction, such that disruption of one subsystem is likely to produce (largely unforeseen) ramifications throughout the rest of the social system. Beyond the few basic physiological needs, economic activity satisfies few of the needs and many economic activities inhibit or even preclude many needs' satisfaction. And finally, any intervention which significantly disrupts the social system is likely to be counter-productive, as the reduced systemic performance generally negates the benefits derived from the intervention. For these reasons it is suggested there is little justification for social evangelism or mimicry and that disruptive strategies necessarily have anti-developmental consequences. Economic growth is neither costless nor priceless. The economic evaluations of the last two decades of 'development' efforts bear out this conclusion, that the development record for the Third World has been disappointing and less than adequate, and that the major cause was unanticipated societal repercussions. This appears to have been the case whether the strategies were explicitly disruptive or (as was more generally the case) inadvertently so. There are, however, other reasons for the poor record as well. The traditional 'barriers to development1, and numerous external or unalterable factors (comparative advantages, established markets, demand and supply limits, the 'development of underdevelopment') each contribute in varying degrees to circumscribe the economic growth potential of each country. These constraints further weaken the case for economic growth strategies that require easy access to open markets and to limited resources. It is recognized that a concerted effort is necessary to reduce these external barriers to economic growth, to more equitably distribute the world's resources and income. It is also necessary to develop, at this time, a developmental process that may be applied in any country, within these constraints. The process must seek to determine the level of social performance within the society, because every society has both strengths and weaknesses— and most have more strengths than weaknesses. It must involve the people in determining the level of performance and in defining their own social goals, because only they can legitimately do it and because the involvement is in itself developmental. The intervention must be designed to maintain the level of performance in non-target subsystems (minimize disruption) and it must be flexible, suitable for modification as problems arise. These objectives are facilitated by experiments small in scale and scope. Finally the process must include monitoring and evaluation, not only of the target subsystem, but of the whole social performance. This is necessary to permit adjustments to the strategy, to ensure there are no negative impacts in other institutions, and to improve our understanding of social system behavior, a prerequisite for more efficient development strategies. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This research seeks to identify the factors that account for the variation in development levels across nations by focusing on the institutional components of development, especially the effects of financial market development on economic and political development. I argue that financial market institutions are critical to economic and political development, and provide a partial explanation for the variation in development observed across nations. Financial market development affects political development indirectly through greater economic efficiency and growth and directly by reducing poverty, increasing economic equality, strengthening the middle class and increasing political participation. Increased financial market development also produces more efficient institutions and eliminates certain perverse incentives in government that result in corruption. The action mechanisms rest largely on the idea that increasing access to financial services allows the lower and middle- income segments of society to smooth their income and invest in high return activities that can lift people out of poverty. These improvements distribute both economic and intellectual resources throughout society and provide greater opportunities for political entrepreneurship from all societal groups. This, along with greater ability to participate either through monetary means or greater time, increases political participation and democratic development. Using a variety of econometric techniques to analyze data on 190 countries over 28 years (1975-2003), I show that financial market development has a significant effect in several areas of development. Specifically, I find that financial market development reduces poverty and income inequality and reduces the level of corruption. Increasing financial market development also increases political competition and civil rights protection in addition to increasing the effectiveness of government and regulatory levels. Ultimately, I assert that while financial market factors have not been previously targeted as sources for development, they may provide an effective policy tool for fostering equitable development in a variety of economic and political situations. I further argue that the state must have a greater role in development than the prevailing neoliberal paradigm prescribes, and must actively seek to develop institutions that support financial market development.

This study examined the impact of in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing economies. ‘Institutional Advancement ‘is defined as the degree to which a host country's institutional environment matches the standards well-established in developed market economies. The World Governance Indicators developed by the World Bank were used as a measure to determine Institutional Advancement. The developing and developed economies were compared to determine whether Institutional Advancement had the same effect in attracting FDI in different economies. An additional variable, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was introduced to investigate whether the state of the economy in each of the economy types also impacted on inward FDI. Data was collected from 2000 to 2009, however the analysis was done from 2002 due to the absence of a report on the World Governance Indicators in 2001. The results show that the World Governance Indicators did not present significant evidence that they impacted in attracting FDI in developing economies. GDP appeared to be a better predictor of FDI inflows than the World Governance Indicators in developing economies. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This article develops guidelines for improving cooperation between public libraries and school libraries in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A literature review contextualizes recent developments in the library and information services (LIS) sector, as well as cooperation initiatives abroad and in some of the country’s provinces. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to public and school librarians, interviews with senior managers in the public library and school library sub-sectors of the Eastern Cape Province, and from official records and policy documents. Analysis and interpretation of this data provided a platform for developing guidelines for cooperation, and indicating what conditions as well as what roles and responsibilities at national, provincial, and local levels are necessary for their successful implementation. The guidelines, while specifically informed by data relevant to the Eastern Cape Province, follow the broader pattern set out in the recent Strategic Guidelines for Collaboration between Community Libraries and Schools 2013-2015 document crafted by the National Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the National Department of Arts and Culture (DAC). / Dissertation (MIS)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Information Science / MIS / Unrestricted