Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ranks extremely low in terms of development indicators even by regional standards. Poverty in the country is exacerbated by the DRC's long-embedded culture of political rent-seeking and corruption, which has historically shaped the government's involvement in the mining sector. By the 1990s, the government's mismanagement of the industrial mining sector led to its decreased productivity and near decline. At the same time, the artisanal mining sector has expanded, and now employs a large amount of the country’s poor. However, many issues remain related to the legal structure governing the artisanal mining sector and opportunities for artisanal miners to sell their products. This thesis explores the potential for transforming mining practices and market structures in the DRC to better promote development and poverty alleviation.

This study has two purposes; first to describe the marketing boards of British Columbia with regard to their nature, scope of power, organizational structure, quota and pricing policies, distribution of returns and policing, and secondly to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing boards with particular attention to the B.C. Broiler Marketing Board. The theory of cartels provides a framework for the analysis of the marketing boards and their effects. Data for the study were obtained primarily from the various boards, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, and the Canada Department of Agriculture. The B.C. Broiler Board was examined in more detail than the other boards. This Board was used as a case study in analyzing some of the propositions developed in the marketing board model, against actual data of the broiler industry of British Columbia. The conclusions of this study are based upon detailed analysis of the effect of the Broiler Board and more casual observations of the other boards. In general, the producers receive a higher and more stable price for their product, and their membership in the marketing boards appears to engender higher and more stable incomes than could have been obtained by independent producers. This implies that consumers are paying higher prices for the products, provided all other things are held equal. In some instances consumers may benefit from a longer marketing season for local produce, and a wider range of processed products than would have been possible without the marketing boards. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of commodity promotion activities on the United States' hazelnut farmer's economic welfare. Commodity promotion activities, such as generic advertising and research, are the responsibilities of government mandated commodity commissions, such as the Hazelnut Marketing Board (HMB). The HMB is a state mandated cartel, organized under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (i.e. the Marketing Order) and amended in 1981, 1986, and 1989 (7 CFR Part 982, FR Doc. 81-14045 FR Doc. 86-18438, FR Doc. 89-26187). HMB promotion activities are funded by taxes levied on U.S. hazelnut farmers. To ensure that promotion provides a net benefit to these farmers this research uses Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the assessments under various assumptions about the market's conditions. A non-linear system of equations (SEM) with Monte Carlo simulation was utilized to produce these estimates. / Graduation date: 2013