Thesis (M.S.) in Resource Economics and Policy--University of Maine, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-80).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-319).

This thesis concerns middle-scale enterprise and economic development, focussing on the case of Kenya. The distribution of industry in Kenya is characterised by an apparent underdevelopment of middle-scale enterprise compared with micro- and large-scale, a feature frequently referred to as the 'missing middle'. A further distinctive feature of Kenya's middle is the relatively strong involvement by entrepreneurs of Asian origin. The immediate objective of this thesis is to produce a better understanding of these phenomena, argued to be highly relevant to Kenya’s wider economic development. To understand the position of the middle in Kenya, a new concept frame is put forward based on a broadly institutional approach drawing on both new and old institutional economics. This frame sees the potential for middle-scale enterprise in terms of the economic and social context, with formal and informal institutions playing a role. The notion of discontinuity is introduced to describe interactions between elements of structure which produce an adverse exchange environment for enterprise. It is argued that Kenya has a generally hostile environment for middle- scale enterprise, characterised by discontinuities and uncertainty. Entrepreneurs from Kenya's Asian communities are able to escape these generic problems by use of informal social institutions, accounting for their relative success. Evidence from cases studies of middle-scale enterprises owned by Kenyans of both Asian and African origin, together with secondary data, broadly supports the argument. There are strong indications of discontinuities between large and middle- scale enterprise and within the formal institutional environment. Asian entrepreneurs are observed to rely heavily on informal social institutions to facilitate exchange. Such an option does not appear open to aspirant African entrepreneurs. Supporting the development of Kenya's middle-scale will necessitate addressing the discontinuities undermining its development. Simple deregulation and market liberalisation will not suffice.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz 2002. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available online.

No description available.

M.Comm. (Accounting) / To date, a comprehensive theory of accounting has not been developed by accounting academics. This absent theoretic basis for the practice of accounting has created uncertainty within the field amongst both academics and practitioners resulting in practitioners having taken over the role of developing accounting standards. As a result, a number of practical problems have arisen within the sector. In addressing this problem, a body of literature has emerged proposing institutional thinking as a viable basis for the development of an academically sound base for the practice of accounting. This study assesses whether further academic merit can be given to this proposal by establishing whether or not accounting practice does indeed function as an economic institution, specifically within a South African context. Owing to the sophisticated structures that govern the practice of accounting in South Africa, a South African context is considered appropriate for setting international precedence. In fulfilling the research objective, this study follows a three-step, qualitative approach of an exploratory nature. The first step identifies who the major role-players within the field of accounting in South Africa are and explains what their roles consist of. The second step develops a set of criteria which are generally agreed amongst institutional economists to be present in most functioning macro-economic institutions. The third step then applies these criteria to accounting practice in South Africa to assess whether or not this practice functions as a macro-economic institution. The outcomes of the study indicate that accounting practice in South Africa does indeed function as an economic institution with strong interdependencies existing between the key role-players thereby granting further academic credibility to exploring the development of accounting theory from an institutional perspective.

We might wonder, after two centuries of economic science and thousands of articles and books written by economists, if something new can still be said about 'markets'. Today, what new contribution could still be given to a so fundamental concept in economics? This thesis builds on the main legacy of Veblen, Polanyi and Hayek's Institutionalism: the distinction between the 'interactional' level of human sociality and the 'structural' level of society that Veblen named 'institutions'. The three authors tentatively formulated an original idea: the two levels of sociocultural reality are interdependent and mutually constitutive. This is a proto-emergentist ontology of institutions that makes the starting point of the thesis. Convergent results of different disciplines are explored in order to develop such ontology. It is argued that sociocultural systems have properties that make them specific, namely the human capacity to interact in multiple scales of time-space using human language. Sociocultural research cannot be guided by conceptual schemes abstracted from other levels of Nature. This is the bedrock of a Naturalist Institutionalism. To understand institutions we need to discuss meanings and culture; we need to enter the semiotic of Peirce, the founder of Pragmatism. The foregoing implies the distinction of three types of inter-dependent processes in sociocultural systems: the cultural ('norms'); the social (networks, organisations); the material reality. This analytical move enables a redefinition of 'institution': a sociocultural system emergent from inter-related organisations, networks, norms and material reality, which structure individuals and organisations and serves a societal function. In this sense, the 'economy' is a macro-institution and markets are sub-systems of the 'economy', meso-institutions. Thus, a market is a self-organizing, complex, and open system endowed with structural levels emergent from persons' interactions-communications participating in the transformation processes of production, distribution, appropriation and consumption, using matter-energy and symbolic tools. Finally, it is argued that the evolutionary process of markets has a specific sociocultural nature that goes by the name of 'history'. Their motion is discussed with recourse to a model that highlights the interactions of markets with science, state and culture to solve problems of uncertainty and coordination in the processes of competition, cooperation and valuation.