The purpose of this study is to perform a rigorous testing and analysis of accounting disclosure practices in a developing country which has adopted the International Accounting Standards (IASs) and has changed towards an economic policy of privatisation after many years of a socialist era. The study also measures the effects on disclosure levels of changes in the economic policy and the new regulations. Furthermore, it investigates the relationship between disclosure levels and company characteristics. A review of the theories which have been used in previous research as a basis for explaining disclosure practices is used to establish a priori expectations. The Egyptian economic and social environment and the Egyptian accounting regulations and standards are outlined. From the theory, previous research and the particular circumstances of Egypt, specific empirical research questions are generated and then transformed into hypotheses. A mandatory disclosure list is created which combines the disclosure requirements of the IASs and national regulations using a technique of segmentation which takes into consideration four factors: a) whether the IASs disclosure item is also required both by local established regulations (Companies Act; CA) and by local new regulations (CML); b) whether the IASs disclosure item is required only by local new regulations; c) whether the IASs disclosure item is available in the native language; and d) in which part of the annual report is the disclosure item located. This technique of segmentation leads to different combinations of disclosure total indices (IASs, CML, CA), partial indices (Partial CML Arabic and Partial IASs not Arabic) and nine sub-indices. This allows detailed statistical analysis and richer interpretation of results. Matched pairs of the annual reports of a sample of Egyptian listed companies in 1991 and 1995 are compared using the aforementioned segmentation of total, partial and sub-indices. Also, a larger sample of 1995 annual reports is analysed to compare the different indices and to investigate any relationship between the indices and selected company characteristics using both univariate and multivariate analysis. The study concludes that accounting disclosure by Egyptian listed companies was significantly greater in 1995 than in 1991. Public sector companies which were the largest in size and actively traded in the Stock Exchange provided the highest CML disclosure. Companies audited by one of the `big-six' offered the highest IASs disclosure. Specific explanations for the increase in various accounting disclosure items and the relationship between various disclosure practices and specific company characteristics are offered based on the segmentation. Theoretical models of agency and capital needs appear to be applicable to the findings regarding Egypt, but the applicability of signalling theory is not clear. Other issues relating to theory are explored in the context of the research findings. Several conclusions are drawn and some policy implications are discussed.

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Material prosperity of countries depends on the use of their endowment of natural resources. Land management decisions, in particular, also affect the conservation of biological diversity, which is an asset for not only for the host country, but also for the rest of the world. There is a growing recognition that the contribution of biological resources both to sustainable national development and to the well being of the international community has been underestimated in the past. Based on both theoretical analysis and case study material from Mexico, this dissertation discusses the land-use related factors giving rise to the loss of biodiversity, as well policy options and management practices that may allow sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation. The introductory chapter summarises the scientific and economic debate, including disagreements about the definition of biodiversity management objectives. Chapter 2 analyses the sequence of land use changes typically observed in a number of tropical countries, and discusses interventions which could alter the incentives for land conversion. The Convention on Biological Diversity stipulates that developing countries should be reimbursed for the 'incremental cost' of activities that help conserving biodiversity. Chapter 3 proposes a model which addresses the allocative and incentive implications of the incremental cost mechanism. The empirical part of the dissertation first discusses the social and economic factors that have been responsible over the last few decades for land us change and depletion of biological resources in the study area in Mexico (chapters 4 and 5). A linear programming economic model is then proposed, for simulating, at the farm level, further impacts over the next decade (chapter 5). Based on a model of aggregation over space and time of farm-level decisions, chapter 6 analyzes the appropriate mix of conservation and sustainable use management options in the study area, providing estimates of their cost implications and discussing possible funding sources. Chapter 7 concludes with policy implications and options for future research.

West African trade is highly ethnicised to ensure commercial success in the face of adverse environmental conditions and lack of basic institutions. The maintenance of trust and the enforcement of contracts are, as elsewhere, key elements in the pursuit of sustainable enterprise. Building on core literature that examines both the use of ethnicity in trade and the nature of African clandestine trade, the thesis addresses the ways in which social groups construct solutions to problems that arise in high-risk settings. The work focuses on the Sierra Leone diamond industry and is organised in chapters that describe the major market players and their tactical approaches. There is particular emphasis on how these systems have changed over time, identifying the gambits used to extract diamonds. Beginning with the introduction of the 1956 Alluvial Diamond Mining Scheme, the thesis traces the emergence of Lebanese Shi'ite and Maronite competition in the Sierra Leone diamond trade, and extends through the period following the 1991 Revolutionary United Front incursion. In the face of political turmoil and virtual State collapse, industrial participants have been obliged to formulate flexible, locally-specific strategies to ensure commercial success. As diamonds have become scarcer and more dangerous to find, the sectarian Shi'ites have shown greater effectiveness in weathering adversity than their rivals. The thesis then examines the strategies of local-born players in the trade. As Kono, the principal diamond field, has become overworked, the market axis has recently shifted to the more southerly, Mende controlled, Tongo and Zimmi regions. Competition in these areas between a coalition of northern-based soldiery and youth, and the Mende-aligned kamajoisia militia, has been the cause of protracted conflict since mid-1997. Kamajoisia fighters, under social obligation to mine without the prospect of immediate pay, have succeeded in maintaining production for elite groups when investment capital has been non-existent. This militia domination has radically altered the industrial landscape. Lebanese participation has become highly condensed while militaristic multi-nationals have failed to expand to their expected potential. Threats to the present status quo remain from those excluded from both society and from legitimate access to resources. Reconstructed ideologies that address local grievances will continue to attract support as regional imbalances of wealth and poverty increase with time. Politically powerful networks of non-Mende elites will also seek to undermine diamond-related power in the south. Duplicitous in affiliation and seeking their own portion of a global market they are likely to pursue disruption at all levels, condemning Sierra Leone to a foreseeable future of sporadic violence.

The evolution of ideas on socio-economic development is first considered to show that they were theoretical in the beginning, and tended to be generalised and accorded global applicability, but were revised as experiences in the developing countries increased knowledge of the development process. The nature of the construction industry and its role in development are next discussed, and the features of the task of improving it identified. It is observed that the industry faces problems in every country. In reviewing existing studies of the construction industries of developing countries, the similarity between their diagnoses of the problems and prescriptions for improvement are noted. Generally, they suggest that construction can constrain development and therefore it should be improved and expanded to avoid this. Main themes of current proposals for improving construction in developing countries are crystallised and compared with Ghana's experience in developing its industry between 1951 and 1979. After showing that Ghana has attempted to implement most of the current proposals without significant success, it is observed that certain socio-cultural, historical and political factors underlying the industry's problems and hindering their solution are often overlooked, and that the issue of improving construction is complex and variable. Furthermore, despite generally depressing conditions, and contrary to usual calls for new procedures and systems and additional resources, much can be gained by utilising existing institutions, arrangements and resources more effectively. The need for practical approaches is emphasised. A programme for improving Ghana's construction industry is formulated. Suggestions for modification of current ideas on the construction industries of developing countries are made, especially the need for strategies to be country-specific and dynamic, the importance of a time perspective, and the usefulness of according orders of priority to particular measures, and concentrating on those easiest to implement, or with greatest linkage effects.