Notwithstanding a decade of unprecedented social and economic reforms in Uganda, poverty, vulnerability, and child labour severely undermine the government's overarching goal of poverty eradication. This thesis unfolds by disclosing unprecedented insight on the relationship between vulnerability and poverty, the merits of quantitative vis-a-vis qualitative approaches to poverty analysis, and the role of child labour in Uganda. Chapter I generates the first ever appraisal of vulnerability in Uganda. The findings support the hypothesis that during the past decade, alongside sharp reductions in poverty, vulnerability to poverty in Uganda declined from 57% in 1992/93 to 25% in 1999/00. Such results highlight the importance for policy makers to distinguish between the effective implementation of poverty-prevention and poverty-reduction programmes. Chapter II deepens our understanding of poverty in Uganda, by integrating the country's qualitative and quantitative data, enriching information from one approach with that from the other, and merging the findings from these two approaches into one set of policy recommendations. The results show that this dual approach to poverty analysis enriches the discussion of poverty trends by drawing attention to aspects of poverty and wellbeing neglected by simple construction of poverty indicators. Since poverty of the household is an important determinant of agricultural child labour (ILO, 1992), chapter III investigates the extent to which children contribute to the household's agricultural activities. The conclusion that children play an important role in the farming activities of Ugandan agricultural households is supported by two key findings: (i) Child labour accounts for approximately 9% of the household's annual agricultural earnings; and (ii) on the bases that most child labour is performed on the family farm and smoothly functioning labour markets are rare, land ownership increases the household's demand for child labour in agricultural activities.

This study investigates the forms and processes of interaction that occur in the organisation and management of projects. It takes as its empirical focus of enquiry the situation in the UK construction industry; and uses, as its database, five case studies of medium to large-scale, 'one-off' construction projects. The literature on project organisation and management is reviewed, with attention directed towards the phenomenon of matrix forms of organisation and related processes of management. A critique is developed which assesses the implications of inter-organisational linkages in the coordination and control of project task work. This critique forms the basis for a model of construction organisation and management from which a series of propositions are derived for empirical investigation. Five case studies of construction projects, explored longitudinally and using qualitative research techniques, are described and analysed. The main finding to emerge from the study is that: the more there is a need for a more 'flexible' administrative arrangement and approach towards managing work that is complex, uncertain and interdependent, the less likely this is in fact to occur, to the extent that 'contractual' considerations inform the parties' approaches. This is contingent upon three sets of features: the form and basis of the relationship, and its meaning to those involved; the broader relationship between the organisations concerned (eg their goals, resources); and the internal setting within each organisational group. The implications of the findings for models of project and matrix organisation are assessed. A recommendation is made for the more explicit and separate treatment of interorganisational relationships, due to the differential motivational basis underlying interaction.

This study empirically explores the phenomena of corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate restructuring and their relationships with firm's performance in the context of economic reform in China from three main perspectives: the study begins with investigating how Chinese managers perceive CSR, to what extent, managers' attitudes influence their behaviours in restructuring, whether those who are more in faviour of CSR may engage in more socially responsible restructuring; then the study examines the relationship between socially responsible restructuring and firm's financial performance, and the study also analyzes a case study of enterprise restructuring in China defence industy. The three perpectives covered by the study are logically interrelated. It is assumed that by understanding an individual's attitudes toward something, we can predict the individual's overall pattern of response to the object, therefore, an assessment of a manager's attitude toward CSR may provide an indication of the manager's predisposition to respond in a particular way to CSR. Thus, different attitudes toward CSR (in faviour of or against) may result in the different actions (socially responsible or socially irresponsible), and different behaviours may lead to various firm's performance. By analyzing the case study, we can have comprehensive and deep insight into the CSR issues, and have a fuller understanding of the process of socially responsible restructuring in China. The result of the study provides more evidence for the theories about relationship between CSR and firm's performance. The result suggests that there be a positive relationship between attitude and behaviour with regard to CSR, socially responsible value-oriented managers pay more attention to social issues in restructuring. The result also shows that there is a positive association between CSR and financial performance, more social responsibility leads to better financial performance, and financial performance drives socially responsible performance in restructuring. The result further reveals that after restructuring, firms didn't significantly improve profitability as expected by government and management.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a key part of manufacturing economies. However, the move towards globalisation of supply can potentially be harmful to SMEs, which, because of their size and lack of internal resources, often lack the capability to add value to their products and differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Networks are seen as a key method by which SMEs can acquire "know how" on the external environment as well as in collaborating to supply customers to overcome these constraints. However, there is a lack of clarity in the literature on the appropriate type of network to support specific outcomes in SMEs. Nor is there an understanding of the specific characteristics, which define a network's internal dynamic. Without an understanding of network typologies and characteristics it is difficult to effectively support existing networks or seek to develop new ones. This research therefore, focuses on providing an understanding of network typologies and network processes to inform SME network policy and to provide practical help to facilitators of networks in forming and then supporting SMEs in meeting their network objectives. The research takes a longitudinal approach, examining two SME manufacturing networks in the West Midlands region of the UK over a two-year period as well as a Control Group of non-networking firms for comparison. The networks are from the Vertical Supply Chain and Industrial District traditions. The emphasis is on seeking to establish the impact of networking on new processes and new products in the SMEs as well as the external facilitation process. A Case Study approach was undertaken tracking SME activity and obtaining rich insights into the way SMEs behave in networks. A Questionnaire was administered at three stages (start, middle and end) to establish Performance Indicators and to then register changes in performance in the SMEs to reflect on network activity. A version of the Questionnaire was then utilised within a regional sample of SMEs for comparison. The results show that networks support SMEs in learning from others, in sharing ideas, in gaining information on trends, in benchmarking and in assisting in process improvements. The research describes a typology for assessing networks and describes two new distinct network types, a Closed Strategic Network of SMEs from the Supply Chain tradition and an Open Social Network from the Industrial District tradition. A series of "Characteristics" including, Purpose, Trust, Compatibility, Equity and Entrepreneurial and Collaborative Behaviour have been identified. The Typologies, Characteristics and Performance Indicators can be used to systematically help in support of existing networks and in developing new ones. These Typologies, Characteristics and Performance Indicators, have been incorporated into a Three- Stage Networking Model. The research defines the types of facilitation needed at distinct stages of development in the Model and also identifies how SMEs then make partnership arrangements (in dyadic relationships) to transfer to a business relationship external to the network.

This thesis is a collection of theoretical essays in the area of trade policies, mergers and foreign direct investment. We employ partial equilibrium analysis to investigate various issues concerning the above topic. In the first chapter we review theoretical works that investigate the links between trade policy and merger activity. We focus our attention on Falvey (1998) which analyses the effects of tariff policy on mergers and reaches the conclusion that tariffs tend to encourage mergers involving small firms based in the restricting country but discourage mergers involving small firms based in the non-restricting country. In the second chapter we extend Falvey (1998) to include the effects of the quotas on merger profitability. The quotas tend to discourage mergers involving small firms from both restricting and non restricting countries. When a ranking of the tariff and the quota regimes can be made, mergers gains are larger under the equivalent quota regime. In the third chapter we investigate tariff and quota equivalence when firms have the option of direct investment. High tariffs induce a foreign firm to switch from trade to investing directly in the home country. Restrictive quotas, however, induce a foreign firm to engage in direct foreign investment in addition to trade. The two regimes are not always equivalent especially in terms of the level of imports. In the fourth chapter we use game theory to investigate the interaction between welfare maximising home government and a foreign firm capable of choosing the direct foreign investment option. If the foreign firm move first, it may pre-empt the home government by committing to the direct investment option if the optimal tariff is expected to be high. If the home government move first, it may need to set the tariff below the optimal level so that direct foreign investment is not induced.

The germ of this thesis was born when the author read "Implementation" by J.A. Pressman and A. Wildavsky. This book stimulated the author's interest in the interpretation of Central Government policy by local authorities of differing political complexions. This thesis reviews and researches the impact of the implementation of Central Government policy by local authorities and attempts to assess the reasons for divergence in policy between Conservative and Labour controlled authorities. The question posed is whether politics accounts largely or wholly for policy divergences, or whether it is other factors. From the research undertaken by the author, it would appear that political complexion is only one factor in a very complex network of influences upon policy implementation. The thesis covers factors such as the personality of the actors involved, inter and intra departmental relationships, and professional linkages as well as the more traditional elements of local and central government interactions. The focus is on the implementation of housing policy in Portsmouth, a predominantly Conservative controlled authority, and Derby, a predominantly Labour controlled authority, during the period 1945 to 1974.Both authorities were faced by similar problems in the period reviewed, and yet each adopted its own distinct policy, as the skylines of the two cities reflect today.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate spatial and temporal aspects of agricultural change in southern Derbyshire between 1770 and 1870. During this period it is argued that the progress of dairying showed strong continuity with the developments of preceding centuries and experienced growth ahead of the reorientation towards liquid milk production in the latter nineteenth century. Contemporary and modern sources have been consulted, important among which are sale advertisements and other agricultural reportage published in the Derby Mercury newspaper. A significant outcome has been the elaboration of the prime role of dairying and the production of farmhouse cheese in the southern Derbyshire farm system with cattle and pig fattening, sheep rearing and grain production as subsidiary enterprises. Dairying was most intensively developed on heavier land: marls of the Mercian Mudstone, shales of the Westphalian and glacial till sheets but less so to the south of the Trent where soil conditions are more varied. Between 1770 and 1870 dairy production increased substantially as the proportion of land in arable declined. Contributory factors discussed include farm enlargement, higher stock rates and improved cattle breed. Of particular note was the feeding of brewers' grains from Burton. It is argued that as a consequence pastures may have been sustained above the common low level of management characteristic of the times. The dairy system emerges as a progressive feature of clayland sector agriculture and while not generally 'revolutionary' some farmers achieved a degree of refinement to match the concept of ‘High Farming’.

A thesis presented on the land market in England between 1951 and 2001, determining an econometric VAR model of land prices that establishes a link between the price of agricultural land in England and variables that are under the influence of policy makers. The model makes use of the Johansen technique to determine the short run and long run effects of variables that control land prices.

The objectives of this thesis are twofold. First, to investigate the link between foreign competition and the decline of unionisation in Britain during the 1980s and early 1990s. Second, to examine the impact of international trade on the wage bargaining strength of trade unions as measured by the union wage gap of individual workers. The study focuses primarily on the manufacturing sector given that it has suffered the heaviest decline in unionisation and is the most tradable and open sector of the UK economy. An important aspect of the thesis is the data used. The empirical analyses are carried out using labour market information from large individual and firm level surveys such as the New Earnings Survey Panel Dataset and the Workplace Industrial Relations Survey matched with industry trade data compiled from the OECD's International Trade by Commodities Statistics. The results demonstrate that foreign competition had, at most, a weak impact on the extent of unionisation in UK manufacturing. It seems more likely that the anti-union policy pursued by Thatcher's Conservative Government restricted the exercise of union power whilst providing employers with the opportunity to reaffirm their prerogatives and marginalize the union movement. On the other hand, we do find that increased openness to international trade served to moderate union wage demands during the 1980s. Although, it would appear that the disciplining effect of foreign competition diminished over time as the union mark up was not adversely affected towards the mid-1990s.

Due to the rapid changes in manufacturing environment, management innovation has been of heightened interest for industrial practitioners. All over the world, organizations are searching for the best approaches that allow them to sustain growth and competitiveness. Of equal importance is the adoption and transfer of management practices that have been successfully applied in various environments. This research is primarily concerned with the adoption of management practices to Thai industry. The questions of interest are: what impedes or enhances the adoption of management practices, what kinds of applications are more difficult to adopt, and what are the critical success factors in the adoption process. This study involves an empirical study of 53 Thai companies that are interested in adopting, or are adopting quality management. Of particular interest is the implementation of total quality management (TQM) and ISO 9000 as they are widely recognized among Thai practitioners. The findings lead to greater understanding in the issues of quality management evolution of Thai industries. The research also deals with in-depth case studies of seven companies in Thailand and Japan, whose results validate the findings from the empirical studies and offer further insights into the critical success factors in the adoption process. The overall conclusions have been drawn from a combination of the quantitative analyses and the case studies. Important contributions of this work are as follows. 1. It provides greater insights into the various stages of development of Thai manufacturing industries toward quality management by investigating the characteristics of organization and technology. The findings are useful in that they recommend the approaches appropriate for each stage of organizational and technological development. 2. Based on the systematic studies of Thai and Japanese manufacturing industries, the findings add to existing management theories by pointing out the critical success factors in the adoption of management practices. The investigation also leads to a framework for the transfer of quality management to the Thai industry. The framework serves as a general guideline for those wishing to successfully adopt management practices.