This dissertation consists of four chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction and summary of the thesis. This thesis consists of three essays (chapters 2-4) within the field of macroeconomics and development. The purpose of this first chapter is to provide an overview of the issues covered and the results obtained. Chapter 2: Life cycles, oil cycles, or financial reforms? Private savings rates in Indonesia. What goes steady with private savings? This chapter investigates reasons for the sustained growth in private savings in Indonesia between 1970 and 1994, in a period characterised by economic growth, demographic changes, terms of trade movements, and some financial reforms. The main finding is that predictions from a simple life cycle model do well in as much as the growth in private savings rates is associated with a fall in the dependency ratio. This suggests that the a reduction in the number of children relative to working age population has alleviated houshold budget constraints, thereby boosting savings rates. Chapter 3: Incredibly helpful? Foreign aid and stabilisation reforms in sub-Saharan Africa. What is the role of foreign aid in macroeconomic stabilisation? This study addresses the ambiguous impact of aid on stabilisation reforms in the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire and Zambia. These countries have all received significant amounts of aid in connection with stabilisation attempts, but differ in their respective achievements. One important reason for the discrepancies appears to be that reform commitment as well as aid conditionality is more credible in some circumstances tha others. A review of factors with potential influence on reforms suggests that stabilisation aid has been less effective in countries with a history of high levels of aid, and that stabilisation has followed on comprehensive reform programs which have not been undermined by preceding failed reform attemts. Chapter 4: Foreign Direct Investment and Structural Adjustment Lending. The recent surge in FDI flows to developing countries has been attributed to liberalisation efforts. Using data on World Bank structural adjustment lending for a sample of developing countries, this chapter looks at the impact of the design and outcome of structural adjustment programs on multinational firms’ investments. An important finding is that there are considerable changes before and after reforms regarding the characteristics which attract FDI, with an increased importance of the economic environment of host countries. While we find no convincing relationship between the results of reforms and an increase in FDI inflows, there is evidence that countries that undertook consecutive reform programs experienced higher growth in FDI. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

A large part of the poor people in the world is dependent on local natural resources for their survival. Often, these resources are managed as common-pool resources; that is, they are used in common by a limited group of people, who are dependent on each other in their use of the resource. The first two essays in this dissertation explicitly examine the effects of poverty on common-pool resource management. I show that if utility is a non-homogeneous function of consumption, both income level and income distribution affects the chances for cooperative management of common-pool resources. In the first essay, I let the S-shaped relationship between health and consumption be reflected in an S-shaped utility function, and use game theory to examine the effects on cooperation. I find that the chances for cooperation are greater if the users of the common-pool resource are relatively well off than if they are very poor, but greatest of all in groups of users just managing to get the food they need to remain in good health. In the most relevant consumption levels, a temporary decrease in consumption may cause cooperation to fail. In the second essay, I show that income inequality decreases the scope for cooperation. In poor groups of users, the poorest will be the ones unable to cooperate, while in richer groups of users, the richest will be the ones who can not commit to cooperate. Alms-giving, an unequal sharing of the gains from cooperation and even a certain amount of free-riding are ways of making cooperation possible despite inequality. In the third essay data from ten, and case studies of five, irrigation systems in Nepal are analysed. The results show a positive correlation between income level and cooperation and a negative correlation between income inequality and cooperation, which supports the results from the first two essays. However, while the theoretical essays focus on the incentives to cooperate, the empirical analysis shows that it is at least as important that the users find a way to coordinate their efforts. The case studies, in particular, emphasise the importance of having a person as a leader. Furthermore, cooperation works better when a large share of the users belongs to the same ethnic group. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2002</p>

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att ha arbetat i u-land genom organisationen Läkare utan gränser. Studien genomfördes som en intervjustudie baserad på semistrukturerade frågor. Fyra sjuksköterskor som under de senaste två åren arbetat i u-land deltog i studien. Resultatet visade att viljan att rädda liv i kombination med spänning och äventyr motiverade sjuksköterskorna att arbeta. Innan uppdragen fick sjuksköterskorna gå en förberedande kurs genom Läkare utan gränser. De tyckte att det var bra att ha yrkeserfarenhet innan uppdragen. Arbetsuppgifterna handlade mycket om att utbilda och handleda lokalbefolkningen samt att organisera arbetet och det stämde inte alltid överrens med sjuksköterskornas förväntningar. Alla upplevde någon form av stress och frustration. Gemensamt var stressupplevelsen av att ha ett stort ansvar. Rädsla för smitta vara inget som förekom bland sjuksköterskorna då de använde sig av basala skyddande medel. Mötet med den nya kulturen och befolkningen upplevdes som både positivt och negativt. I studien framkom positiva upplevelser av att göra någonting för folket ute i världen. Negativa aspekter i volontärarbetet var bristen på resurser, det stora ansvaret och känslan av att inte räcka till. Sjuksköterskorna som deltog i studien rekommenderade intresserade sjuksköterskor att arbeta i u-land. Det är viktigt att som person vara flexibel, ödmjuk och ha människokärlek och man växte som människa.</p>

Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att ha arbetat i u-land genom organisationen Läkare utan gränser. Studien genomfördes som en intervjustudie baserad på semistrukturerade frågor. Fyra sjuksköterskor som under de senaste två åren arbetat i u-land deltog i studien. Resultatet visade att viljan att rädda liv i kombination med spänning och äventyr motiverade sjuksköterskorna att arbeta. Innan uppdragen fick sjuksköterskorna gå en förberedande kurs genom Läkare utan gränser. De tyckte att det var bra att ha yrkeserfarenhet innan uppdragen. Arbetsuppgifterna handlade mycket om att utbilda och handleda lokalbefolkningen samt att organisera arbetet och det stämde inte alltid överrens med sjuksköterskornas förväntningar. Alla upplevde någon form av stress och frustration. Gemensamt var stressupplevelsen av att ha ett stort ansvar. Rädsla för smitta vara inget som förekom bland sjuksköterskorna då de använde sig av basala skyddande medel. Mötet med den nya kulturen och befolkningen upplevdes som både positivt och negativt. I studien framkom positiva upplevelser av att göra någonting för folket ute i världen. Negativa aspekter i volontärarbetet var bristen på resurser, det stora ansvaret och känslan av att inte räcka till. Sjuksköterskorna som deltog i studien rekommenderade intresserade sjuksköterskor att arbeta i u-land. Det är viktigt att som person vara flexibel, ödmjuk och ha människokärlek och man växte som människa.