Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-140).

Thesis (M. Sc.)(Botany)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-88). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

My dissertation consists of three essays that examine the role of fixed factors in multi-sector neoclassical growth models, specifically the role of population density in causing the onset of industrialization. The first paper examines the question of why industrialization occurred first in China rather than England. Although industrialization first occurred in England, it is often thought that China, not England, was the world leader in technology at the time. Yet China did not industrialize until 150 years after England and nearly a century after less advanced European countries. This puzzle is examined in a two-sector model with competing agrarian and industrial production technologies. I find that when differences in population density across countries are accounted for, this delayed industrialization by China is the result of decreasing returns to population density in the agrarian technology and is consistent with the theory. In the second paper, the importance of total factor productivity (TFP) in causing industrialization is examined. TFP has long been thought to be the driving force behind industrialization. However, such an explanation cannot adequately account for the staggered timing of industrialization across countries. By accounting for differences in population density, a heterogeneity previously unexplored in the literature, I can account for 49-51 percent of the movement toward industrialization in the two sector overlapping generations model employed by Hansen and Prescott (2002). The third paper presents a sequential competitive equilibrium to solve an infinite horizon two-sector neoclassical growth mode where the two sectors are chosen to represent the agrarian and manufacturing sectors of the economy. In this framework, industrialization is seen to be the relaxing of the non-negativity constrain on the manufacturing sector. It is seen that every country possesses a critical population density upon which it will transition from using solely an agrarian production technology to employing both agrarian and manufacturing technologies. This transition is result of a discrete change in the decision to invest in manufacturing capital. Furthermore, the ability of agents to anticipate industrialization is shown to increase the rate of capital accumulation and hasten the onset of the manufacturing sector.

The third mission encompasses all activities of universities beyond their first and second missions, education and research. An analysis of various countries with different economic, political and geographic features reveals an increased demand for such activities in particular with regard to technology transfer, but also as to the support of the civil society in more general terms. Therefore the universities have to find a new balance between education, research and transfer/extension. However, suitable solutions are often complicated by the orientation of the universities and the policy actors on non-scrutinized paradigms originating in other contexts. The strategies in different countries are embedded in their specific context, making it impossible to determine a best practice. Nonetheless, many interesting approaches can be observed, and mutual learning can be fruitful.

This thesis examines the development of the Jamaican economy from 1920 to 1940. It looks at the attempts of local capital to set up independent ventures in both the agricultural and the indust ri al spheres, and considers the responses of both the imperial a nd local state, and British and foreign capital. The study attempts to exami ne , within the appropriate theoretical framework , t he proc ess of devel opme nt wi thi n a colony at a time of world depression , and t he role of the state, particularly the colonial state, in helping or hinderiug attempts to promote some form of industrialisation . This i s done t hrough a number of case studies in the agricultural and indus trial sectors. Once the British and Jamaican context has been outlined, the a na lysi s o i the agricultural sphere considers the crisis in the sugar indust ry a nd the attempts to find alternatives to it. This focuses on the establishment of Producers Associations, anal ysing t hose groups i nvol ved in them, their relationship with the Jamai can and imperia l gover nment s, and the reasons for their lack of succ ess in sol vi ng Jama i ca ' s agricul tural problems. The industrial section f ocu sse~:; on four case studies: the first considers the establ ishment of a gri c ultural processing, primarily in the form of edible oil s and s oap. The second examines the role of the state in promoting industr ia l enterpri ses through looking at two Acts passed to protect cer tain ventures particularly the match industry. The third case study a na l yses t hEattempts of a multinational to establi s h a branch plant a nd it demonstrates the changes in colonial policy which had occurred by the end of the 1930s. The fourth case study also hi g hlights these c hanges , and because it is an example of a venture whi ch did not receive offic ial sanction brings out the difficulties facing those attempting to transform themselves into an industriall y product ive bourgeoi Si e at this time.

Today, many developing countries are embarking on ambitious programmes to develop large computer-based information systems within their public administration to promote socio-economic development. However, the overall objectives of these investments remain unfulfilled. Success and failures of information systems are largely determined by the performance of organizational members associated with the development and use of information systems. Performance of these members is primarily determined by individual competencies and the environment in which the activities of these members are taking place. Information systems related education and training to create competent individuals has always been a matter of great concern to almost all developing countries. However, public administration in developing countries is an intensely political affair. Organizational politics very often give birth to a number of macro and micro environmental conditions, which constrain certain courses of action of competent individuals. Therefore, individuals, however competent, cannot perform to the best of their abilities. This invariably results in information systems that are ineffective and inefficient. Systematic empirical studies that can increase our understanding of this domain are virtually non-existent. The current research aims to rectify this issue. The research methodology adopted for the current research assumes that organizational members, when involved in a particular activity in a particular context, interpret the situation, and act accordingly. Researchers, by immersing themselves in the members' world can understand their actions. Focusing on two cases within the public administration of India and adopting a hermeneutic approach, the study interprets the actions of different organizational members associated with the implementation of information systems. By relating the performance of these members to the strengths and weaknesses of the information systems, the study makes broad recommendations. Findings of the study reveal that Indian policy makers and implementers have always given significant consideration to information systems related education and training. However, on the other hand, the very factors that India has been trying to address through successive administrative reforms since national independence happen to be the same factors that constrain the performance of competent individuals.

The objective of this research is to analyze the extent to which the information and computer technology (ICT) industry in Winnipeg contributes to or detracts from the objectives of a particular economic theory of the whole community—namely, community economic development (CED). This was achieved by developing a CED framework for analysis, conducting a survey of ICT businesses in Winnipeg to gather the required data, and using the collected survey data to complete the analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that the ICT industry is contributing significantly more to some of the objectives of CED than it does to others.

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