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Bibliography: leaves 148-155. This thesis investigates whether cross-country variations in schooling quality (the productivity of the time spent studying) affect the empirical results in studies of economic growth based on an augmented method of Solow. It was found that schooling quality is positively and statistically significantly associated with mean economic growth rates in regressions which control for physical capital investment rates, population growth rates and secondary school enrolment rates. Education levels of parents, hours of homework and the non-teaching duties of teachers were also significant determinants.

This Thesis undertakes a leverage analysis of mega-events in the context of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. A leverage analysis apparently different from a impact analysis; it focuses on how to maximize the potential positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts for an event that will be held in the future. To analyze the circumstance of the Beijing Olympics that are amendable to leveraging, the research methodology employed is empirical with method of semi-structured in-depth interviews with the government officials, tourism industry people and the local community members in Beijing. This thesis research conducted a leveraging analysis from three perspectives: environmental, socio-cultural, and tourism/economic perspectives. From each perspective, four angles would be investigated: identifying the potential impacts of 2008 Olympics; determining the leveraging activities for the potential impacts; uncovering the opportunities for leveraging the potential impacts, and exploring the challenges in leveraging the potential impacts. Because there is not any existing theory on a leverage analysis in the context of Beijing Olympic Games, this research was conducted with the guidance of "grounded theory". The research indicated that the government aims to take use of the opportunity of hosting the "Green Olympics" to reap the ambition of making Beijing into a "greener" city, but how long would the policies last when the games are over is essential for the effectiveness. Similarly, the socio-culture would be leveraged by implementing the "People's Olympic" theme. Finally, the tourism in Beijing would be leveraged by a series of leveraging activities derived form the Olympic Games. The findings of this thesis research will contribute to the event studies and the leveraging studies.

For many years, migration has been intensively politicised in Australia. Political parties have different stands about migration and the government has raised its transparency to such a high level that the public is aware of developments and policy directions in migration for the present and future years. It was realized that well-educated migrants with skills and experience are able to accomplish better employment prospects and settlement outcomes. Skilled migration has therefore been emphasized. This thesis consists of a literature review on some of the motivations that support the objectives of migration over past years, outcomes brought by migration and overview of the migration program and main categories under skilled migration. As skilled migration has been placed with more emphasis since the 1990s and a larger quota has been allocated to facilitate younger migrants with the skills and expertise that are of use to Australia, it has become necessary to assess the economic impact brought by some of these skilled migrants. Coinciding with the emphasis of skilled migration, the trend of settler arrivals has changed so that Asians have increased their presence in Australia and the focus of this thesis is narrowed down to assess the economic impact of Asian groups. A description of general Asian culture and characteristics is also included in the literature review. Although Asians in Australia maintain their own cultures and some common characteristics, I have chosen the two biggest groups, namely Chinese and Vietnamese, to explore and identify their differences and economic contributions. Apart from ethnicity factor, other elements specifically educational attainment, occupational achievements, labour force status in which they have participated, age, English language proficiency, years of arrival and hours worked are tested for significance in enabling Chinese and Vietnamese migrants to earn income. This study also examines whether higher qualifications would increase the prospects of employability. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Indigenous African shifting cultivation production systems, that were developed over many generations and took into account production potential as well as the constraints imposed by natural resources, are no longer practicable for Nigerian smallholder farmers. These systems relied on long fallow for fertility restoration after a period of cropping. Overpopulation has resulted in lower per capita land availability, necessitating a shift to sedentary cultivation systems. In such systems, fallow is short term (months) compared to shifting systems, where it lasted several years. This shift has resulted in overexploitation of land resources and despite intensification of agricultural production methods, non-sustainable demand on the natural resource base has increased and crop and animal production has declined. This study examined the performance of five maize-based cropping systems consisting of cereal-legume, cereal-cereal and cereal bare fallow rotations, to identify systems that have potential for increased agricultural production in the subhumid and mid-altitude zones of Nigeria. The study was conducted at Richmond, near Sydney, in NSW, Australia from 2000 to 2003. The trial investigated the effects of the combined use of legumes and N fertilizer in CSs to maintain or improve soil fertility, maize crop and maize storage silage production and yield and quality of all crop residues. This study showed that inclusion of a legume in the rotation is an important production and income generating strategy. Owing to their potential for increased maize productivity, to build up N-rich systems and to improve small holder levels of farm income, cropping systems with legumes should therefore be given more research attention in Nigeria / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The restructuring of many national and state electricity industries over the last two decades has created new sets of laws and regulations, market design and participants. Along with those changes, industry risks have also been transformed significantly. Prior to restructuring, government-owned or carefully regulated monopoly private utilities would manage most of these industry risks. With restructuring, however, both the government, through their market regulators, and industry participants need to manage a range of previous,, yet also now new, risks. While the government???s risk management strategy is focused on the industry as a whole, participants are naturally more concerned with their individual risks. The Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) is one of the many electricity markets that were formed through the restructuring process underway worldwide. It created a number of new types of market participants facing different sets of risks. The main objective of this thesis is to examine the management of market risk by these different NEM participants. The methodology used in the thesis involves developing a fundamental understanding of electricity restructuring, the NEM and the various risks faced by the different NEM participants. Data on NEM spot prices, ancillary costs and forward prices are analysed to gain a better understanding of its relationship with market activities. Different risk management strategies, both proactive and reactive, that can be taken by the participants are discussed This thesis has highlighted some of the complexities involved in managing risks in a restructured electricity industry. Risks are never static and changes in market conditions alter the risk exposure of the participants. Therefore, participants will need to constantly monitor their risk exposure and update their risk management strategies. The Cash-Flow-at-Risk methodology is introduced as a possible tool to measure risk and analyse risk management options for different NEM participants.

Cotton has been grown in central Asia for over 2,000 years, and is a major crop in Turkmenistan, where medium staple G. hirsutum is the dominant species, cultivated on 80%of the cotton growing area. Many of the cultivars used in Turkmenistan until the time of independence from Russia were from Uzbekistan. Since independence, the original suite of long staple G. barbadense and medium staple Uzbek cultivars has been considerably changed in Turkmenistan by selection for early maturity and productivity. Cotton yields in Turkmenistan have been declining since independence and were below 2t/ha in 2001 when the TACIS ‘Support to the Cotton Sector Project’ commenced, of which research reported in this thesis was a part. The main factors determining seed cotton yields in this country are quantity of irrigation water applied, nitrogen fertilization, deep ploughing, and plant population. Of these four important factors, plant density is the only one that individual farmers can control, as the others are either state controlled or require equipment held collectively. The aim of the research described in this thesis was to improve cotton production in Turkmenistan through optimising plant population. The use of optimum plant populations in the cotton fields of Turkmenistan has a substantial potential for economic benefit to the farmers of that country. Changing plant populations would require none of the structural changes involved in changing the other important yield factors. Quantity of irrigation water applied is controlled by the state; nitrogen fertilizer is a state controlled input in Turkmenistan and deep ploughing depends on equipment communally held and sometimes unavailable. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (Agriculture)

The relationship between stock market development and economic growth has been an important issue of debate. A well functioning stock market can affect economic growth through the channelling of more saving to investment and the improvement of capital productivity with efficient allocation of resources. This contrasts with the view that stock market development has little relevance, or is even unimportant, to real economic activity. In this respect, the majority of the empirical studies are concerned with advanced markets and developed emerging markets, and none exist for Arab markets. The argument of this study is that economic growth is a function of stock market development and economic reform indicators, with the main determinants of growth as the control variables set. The study considered a comprehensive theoretical framework that linked stock market development to economic growth. It presented a comparative assessment on macroeconomic level and stock market development indicators for the Arab countries with the East Asia-Pacific countries and the G-7 economies. The most important finding indicated that Arab stock markets have no significant effect on economic growth due to the lack of transparency and illiquidity that limit the effectiveness of these markets in the economy. In contrast, the results from the East Asia-Pacific countries and the G-7 economies suggested that stock market development has a significant effect on, and is positively correlated with, economic growth. / Doctor of Philosophy (Economics and Finance) (PhD)