‘With a little bit of luck…’ Coping with adjustment in urban Ghana, 1975–90

Africa ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Brydon
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
World Market ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Economic Decline ◽  
Volatile Element ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The World ◽  
Field Notes

AbstractUsing largely anecdotal evidence from field notes, the article traces Ghana's formal economic decline through the 1970s. Perceptions of striving for survival and success are sketched out during this overwhelmingly pessimistic period. There follows a description of people's views about survival and ‘the state of play’ in Ghana's economic progress in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These discursive comments are followed by some simple quantitative material about work, the availability of jobs and the structure of the labour market at the time. What becomes obvious, given that Ghanaians are actually continuing their lives much as they have in the past, is that the IMF's and World Bank's policy prescriptions and strategies for the development of manufacturing industry, for attracting the ‘world market factories’ of the multinationals, are not being achieved. Instead, Ghanaians have focused (as they always have) on strategies for networking and getting a break: striking it ‘lucky’, in fact. The relatively newly discovered volatile element in the World Bank's calculations has long been a (if not the) core factor in the plans of many small enterprises. Meanwhile Ghanaians are trying, hoping for some ‘luck’, to survive and even prosper into the next millennium.

Are export earnings from India’s bilateral intra-industry trade with the US and China robust enough?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagnik Bagchi ◽  
Surajit Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  
Current Account ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Current Account Deficit ◽  
Export Price ◽  
World Market ◽  
Export Share ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Industry Trade ◽  
The World

Purpose This paper aims to explore whether India’s export basket in the bilateral intra-industry trade (IIT) with two of its top trading partners characterize robust export earnings or not. This is pertinent for two reasons. First, India has a persistent problem of current account deficit for over decades now. Second, whether India’s export diversification strategy by participating in global value chains to improve export share in the world market led to the problem of the fallacy of composition. Design/methodology/approach This study considers bilateral trade data between India-USA and India-China at the HS-6 digit level over the period 1990–2018. The magnitude of total IIT is computed using the Grubel and Lloyd (1971) index. This paper then uses the unit value dispersion criterion to disentangle the magnitude of total IIT into horizontal and vertical IIT. Through a stepwise econometric exercise, this paper explores the attributes of exported goods in the IIT basket in terms of the directions of ToT, export share and export-price elasticity. Findings Across the two country pairs, the major contributors to the upsurge in IIT are five manufacturing industry groups of chemical, plastics and rubber, textiles, base metals and machinery and mechanical appliances. Across the industry groups, the dominant form of IIT has been low vertical IIT. Most of the industry groups do not characterize robust export earnings as the commodity groups have an elastic demand and an increasing trend of Terms of Trade (ToT). The exceptions are the industry groups of chemicals and textiles in India-China and India-USA, respectively. Research limitations/implications The concern of slim export earnings in most industry groups offers scepticism in maintaining the sustainability of the current account. The problem of the fallacy of composition also cannot be ruled out given the dominance of low vertical IIT. This study argues that these industry groups need to engage in labour market reforms and require access to easy credit to achieve competitiveness in the world market. Originality/value The analysis performed in this paper attempts to integrate the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis in the context of IIT. Empirical evidence to such an issue is not profound.

scholarly journals Trends on the Artificial Fertilizer Market and in Fertilizers Use in Hungary

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Gergő Ács
Keyword(s):  
Base Material ◽  
World Market ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
Fertilizer Use ◽  
The Past ◽  
Crude Oil Prices ◽  
The World ◽  
Primary Base

The fertilizer market in Hungary is rather concentrated, which has a strong influence on the price of the fertilizer. Our domestic fertilizer use is primarily determined by that of nitrogen. The use of phosphorus is also significant but the trends in the use of potassium do not match the total quantities applied in individual years. Consequently, it can be concluded that the majority of farmers still focus on the application of nitrogen and also apply phosphorus but either neglect or do not pay enough attention to potassium fertilization. The changes in fertilizer prices between 2006 and 2017 can be broken down into two periods. Until 2012 a very important and dynamic increase was observed as a result of which the prices of N, P and K fertilizers increased by 80-120%, 160% and about 120%, respectively. This was followed by a downturn in the market and in relation to 2012 prices there were 20-30/ decreases experienced until 2017 but the rate of this lagged behind the prices in other European countries. Owing to this trend the prices of N, P and K have increased by 60%, 100% and 80%, respectively, over the past ten years. The correlation between fertilizer application and the prices of fertilizers in any given year is low but there is a positive one observed between fertilizer application and the fertilizer prices in the preceding year. This means supposedly that farmers mostly buy the fertilizers they wish to apply not in the current but in the preceding year and store them until these are applied. There is a strong correlation seen between fertilizer prices and the prices of corn and wheat, which means that fertilizer traders also keep tabs on economic results and also increase fertilizer prices under the influence of higher prices. Furthermore, it can be claimed that there is no correlation between crude oil prices on the world market and domestic N fertilizer prices. This is an important factor since the primary base material of N fertilizers is natural gas and their production involves considerable energy costs as well. It can be seen, however, that this is not what determines our domestic fertilizer prices, which can be explained by the fact that the price calculations by the determining actors on the Hungarian fertilizer market is not based on costs but on the demand. JEL Classification: Q13

scholarly journals Contemporary understanding of the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth

2019 ◽  
pp. 313-325
Author(s):  
Borislav Grozdic ◽  
Valerija Dabetic
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Value System ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Common Value ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Spiritual Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Definition Of

In the aggressive dominance of critical rational thinking over the mythical worldview, myth as a historical and effective force does not lose its actuality and importance, because myths often hide deeper messages than what history can offer. In such a social context, the significance of the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth - the commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom, as a lasting common value of the Serbian people, returns as a theme. In spite of its omnipresence, the opinion prevails that the myth belongs to the past, and if it is not yet obsolete, it certainly should be. The authors advocate the idea that myth, as a comprehensive experience of the world, and therefore the Kosovo myth as well, is a factor of national integration, a part of collective identity, and a common value system. Analysing the secular and spiritual understanding of the Kosovo myth, the authors point out the importance of the vivid memory of the prince Lazar?s commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom. For Christians, this represents the value and goal above all others and it forms the core of the Serbian historical consciousness and spiritual community. The paper shows that the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth is not understood or it is misunderstood nowadays, since the commitment to Kosovo is perceived as a call and an obligation to die for it. The authors conclude that the Kosovo myth is not a call to die in the war, on the contrary, it is a struggle for external and internal freedom, as well as for the highest values that are implied by the definition of the Heavenly Kingdom ? peace, love, honour, justice, dignity, and others.

World-System Theory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Chase-Dunn ◽  
Marilyn Grell-Brisk
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Latin American ◽  
World System ◽  
World Market ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Immanuel Wallerstein

The world-system perspective emerged during the world revolution of 1968 when social scientists contemplated the meaning of Latin American dependency theory for Africa. Immanuel Wallerstein, Terence Hopkins, Samir Amin, Andre Gunder Frank, and Giovanni Arrighi developed slightly different versions of the world-system perspective in interaction with each other. The big idea was that the global system had a stratified structure on inequality based on institutionalized exploitation. This implied that the whole system was the proper unit of analysis, not national societies, and that development and underdevelopment had been structured by global power relations for centuries. The modern world-system is a self-contained entity based on a geographically differentiated division of labor and bound together by a world market. In Wallerstein’s version capitalism had become predominant in Europe and its peripheries in the long 16th century and had expanded and deepened in waves. The core states were able to concentrate the most profitable economic activities and they exploited the semi-peripheral and peripheral regions by means of colonialism and the emergent international division of labor, which relies on unequal exchange. The world-system analysts all focused on global inequalities, but their terminologies were somewhat different. Amin and Frank talked about center and periphery. Wallerstein proposed a three-tiered structure with an intermediate semiperiphery between the core and the periphery, and he used the term core to suggest a multicentric region containing a group of states rather than the term center, which implies a hierarchy with a single peak. When the world-system perspective emerged, the focus on the non-core (periphery and semiperiphery) was called Third Worldism. Current terminology refers to the Global North (the core) and the Global South (periphery and semiperiphery).

scholarly journals Konfirmation i en neoliberal tidsalder

Politik ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Arly Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
Rational Basis ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Neoliberal Policies ◽  
Out Of School

The neoliberal discourse is part of a larger shift from democratic to neoliberal policies that has been occurring over the past several decades; a shift accompanied by both discursive and structural changes in society. If the neoliberal discourse is transforming the core functions of government around the world, then this must also be true in the case of the close co-operation between the Danish state and the national church in Denmark. In this paper the cases of con ict over and transformation of the position of con rmation teaching in Den- mark is analyzed in order to nd out if the changes is a result of neoliberal policies in Denmark or simply a matter of structural changes caused by another rational basis. e friction over con rmation teaching is not only about the position of con rmation teaching in or out of school but a case showing consequences of how the neoliberal discourse is transforming religious authority in Danish society. 

scholarly journals Analyzing the Current Problems and Prospects for Enterprise Development in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (525) ◽  
pp. 247-252
Author(s):  
I. V. Nosach ◽  
◽  
N. V. Vodolazska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Innovation System ◽  
World Market ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Investment Climate ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Government

The article is aimed at studying the analysis of modern problems and prospects for the development of enterprises in Ukraine. Analyzing the latest researches and publications of scientists, the general theoretical bases of problems and prospects for the development of domestic enterprises were considered. The article covers and theoretically substantiates modern problems of entrepreneurship development, which periodically require their study and research, taking into account constant changes in the economy. In general, enterprises play a significant role, because their effective activities is a source of economic growth, which ensures employment in the country and directly affects the improvement of the quality of life of the population, solving social problems and overcoming poverty. However, Ukrainian economy continues to situate «on the swings» in a constantly changing tendency. It is especially influenced by such factors as raising the US dollar exchange rate, reducing attractiveness in the world market, and recently the introduction of quarantine restrictions in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, which has had a significant impact on its development both in Ukraine and around the world. At the same time, precisely the small enterprises play a leading role in creating an effective economy of Ukraine, despite the fact that their development is uneven and they have not taken a proper place in the structure of the national economy. Thus, for the government of the country should become priority directions for stimulating the innovative activity of the entrepreneurial sector, introducing European approaches to the development of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the formation of a favorable regulatory environment, innovation and investment climate. Moreover, the implementation of this policy should be carried out purposefully, consistently and systematically, as part of the complex of the national innovation system.

scholarly journals Advantages of chinese production in the context of globalization

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
W. Yuanlong ◽  
W. Xizhe
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Large Population ◽  
World Market ◽  
Excess Capacity ◽  
Industrial Products ◽  
Industrial Market ◽  
The World ◽  
Chinese Industry

A large number of exports of cheap industrial products completed the initial accumulation of capital in China, but this manufacturing industry, which has not mastered the basic technologies, is very fragile. With the development of science and technology, the economy of various countries is gradually globalizing. China is currently the second largest economy in the world, and due to its large population, this also makes China a huge sales market, but due to the large amount of excess capacity, China’s excess industrial market cannot be digested by its own country. In addition to the modernization of China’s manufacturing industry, it is inevitable that Chinese industry will simultaneously enter the world market. China’s manufacturing industry will face difficulties, but at the same time it has its own unique advantages.

scholarly journals Revitalizing homoeopathic medical education for the COVID-19 era: Integrating Hahnemannian thought, Principles of Medical Education, and the core of the National Educational Policy, 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 82-87
Author(s):  
Kumar M. Dhawale
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
The Core ◽  
Medical Establishment ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
National Educational Policy ◽  
To Come

Homoeopathic medical education finds itself at a crossroad, especially in the present era of COVID-19. Homoeopathy has lived up to its reputation for effective intervention in the past epidemics; however, this time, we have been at a somewhat loose end, finding ourselves at the mercy of the dominant medical establishment. We can emerge from this scenario by appealing to the sound principles enunciated by our Master, Dr. Hahnemann, but not shying away from incorporating the considerable advances that have taken place in the world of Medical education. The country’s health needs have changed significantly; the post-COVID-19 changes are likely to be far reaching. The current climate in which the National Educational Policy 2020 has been instituted and the National Homoeopathy Commission Act passed by the Parliament is propitious to bring about far-reaching changes in our educational system and institutions. This concept paper explores each of these strands and then weaves them together to suggest some guidelines for academicians, clinicians, and researchers to work on to revitalize homoeopathic education in the years to come.

The Problem of Time

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Callender
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Albert Einstein ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Core Features

In early childhood we come to model the world as having a special present that carves the world up into a past, present, and future. We regard the past as fixed and the future open, and we feel that this structure updates itself, or flows. The core features of this conception of time—manifest time—appear to be virtually universal, and they pervade our language, thought, and behavior. Yet manifest time seems to conflict with time as understood by physics. This conflict worried Albert Einstein, but the philosopher Rudolph Carnap pointed toward a way forward.

scholarly journals On Quentin Meillassoux and the Problem of Evil

Open Theology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-131
Author(s):  
Claude Mangion
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Central Thesis ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Quentin Meillassoux

AbstractThe problem of evil and the injustice it brings out has a long history in western philosophy and it has been one of the core arguments against the existence of God as an all-powerful and all-good Being. In a number of texts Meillassoux agrees with this line of argument, but he also argues that atheism fails to take into account the injustice of evil. His central thesis is that while the existence of evil discounts the existence of the ‘revealed’ God, he proposes a messianic vision where we can hope for the arrival of a God who will have the power to rectify the injustices that have been committed. To justify the possible arrival of such a being Meillassoux describes the world as a contingent place such that things happen without a necessary reason. This explains why, in the past, novel and inexplicable situations (‘advents’) have arisen and, possibly, others might arise. One such possibility is the arrival of a God who will redeem all the injustices suffered within the world.

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